STS-115

STS-115
The ISS above Earth, following the installation of a new truss segment and solar arrays during STS-115
NamesSpace Transportation System-115
Mission typeISS assembly
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2006-036A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.29391
Mission duration11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds
Distance travelled7,840,000 kilometres (4,870,000 mi)
Orbits completed188
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Atlantis
Launch mass122,397 kg (orbiter)[1]
Landing mass90,573 kilograms (199,679 lb)[2]
Crew
Crew size6
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateSeptember 9, 2006, 15:14:55 (2006-09-09UTC15:14:55Z) UTC
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
End of mission
Landing dateSeptember 21, 2006, 10:21:30 (2006-09-21UTC10:21:31Z) UTC
Landing siteKennedy, SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude157.4 kilometres (97.8 mi)[3]
Apogee altitude226.6 kilometres (140.8 mi)
Inclination51.6 degrees
Period91.6 minutes
Docking with ISS
Docking portPMA-2
(Destiny forward)
Docking dateSeptember 11, 2006, 10:46 UTC
Undocking dateSeptember 17, 2006, 12:50 UTC
Time docked6 days, 2 hours, 4 minutes

(L-R) Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Christopher J. Ferguson, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, Brent W. Jett Jr., Steven MacLean
← STS-121
STS-116 →

STS-115 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the first assembly mission to the ISS after the Columbia disaster, following the two successful Return to Flight missions, STS-114 and STS-121. STS-115 launched from LC-39B at the Kennedy Space Center on September 9, 2006, at 11:14:55 EDT (15:14:55 UTC).

The mission is also referred to as ISS-12A by the ISS program. The mission delivered the second port-side truss segment (ITS P3/P4), a pair of solar arrays (2A and 4A), and batteries. A total of three spacewalks were performed, during which the crew connected the systems on the installed trusses, prepared them for deployment, and did other maintenance work on the station.

STS-115 was originally scheduled to launch in April 2003. The Columbia accident in February 2003 pushed the date back to August 27, 2006, which was again moved back for various reasons, including a threat from Tropical Storm Ernesto and the strongest lightning strike to ever hit an occupied shuttle launchpad.

  1. ^ "Spaceflight mission report: STS-115".
  2. ^ "Spaceflight mission report: STS-115".
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ql was invoked but never defined (see the help page).