Last Monday the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://www.ksc.nasa…] took in this view [ http://spaceflight.…] as they approached the developing International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.…] (ISS). From top to bottom, the astronauts saw a station currently consisting of the Progress supply module, the Zvezda service module [ http://www.shuttlep…], the Zarya cargo module [ http://www.shuttlep…], and the Unity connecting module [ http://www.shuttlep…]. Never before had astronauts seen the station since the remote-controlled additions of Progress [ http://www.space.co…] and Zvezda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Energy collecting flat solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…] can be seen extending from some of the modules. Soon after this picture was taken, Atlantis docked with the ISS [ http://www.shuttlep…] at the Unity [ http://spaceflight.…] end. The astronauts have worked hard [ http://www.shuttlep…] unloading supplies, installing and testing equipment, and even planning to reboost the floating space station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] to a higher orbit. The Shuttle and its entire crew are scheduled to return to Earth Wednesday. The Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://www.ksc.nasa…] is then scheduled to visit [ http://spaceflight.…] the ISS in two weeks.
Explanation
Last Monday the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://www.ksc.nasa…] took in this view [ http://spaceflight.…] as they approached the developing International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.…] (ISS). From top to bottom, the astronauts saw a station currently consisting of the Progress supply module, the Zvezda service module [ http://www.shuttlep…], the Zarya cargo module [ http://www.shuttlep…], and the Unity connecting module [ http://www.shuttlep…]. Never before had astronauts seen the station since the remote-controlled additions of Progress [ http://www.space.co…] and Zvezda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Energy collecting flat solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…] can be seen extending from some of the modules. Soon after this picture was taken, Atlantis docked with the ISS [ http://www.shuttlep…] at the Unity [ http://spaceflight.…] end. The astronauts have worked hard [ http://www.shuttlep…] unloading supplies, installing and testing equipment, and even planning to reboost the floating space station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] to a higher orbit. The Shuttle and its entire crew are scheduled to return to Earth Wednesday. The Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://www.ksc.nasa…] is then scheduled to visit [ http://spaceflight.…] the ISS in two weeks.
