Twenty years ago today, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on STS-115, the first International Space Station assembly mission conducted following the Columbia disaster.
BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – Twenty years ago today, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on STS-115, the first International Space Station assembly mission conducted following the Columbia disaster.
Atlantis launched from Launch Pad 39B at 11:14 a.m. EDT on Sept. 9, 2006, carrying six astronauts on an important mission to resume construction of the orbiting laboratory.
During the mission, the crew delivered and installed the massive P3/P4 truss segments and two new solar arrays. The equipment expanded the station’s power-generation capabilities and prepared it for future laboratory modules.
The astronauts completed three spacewalks to connect the new truss, deploy the solar arrays and prepare the station’s systems for continued assembly.
The STS-115 crew included Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Christopher Ferguson and mission specialists Joseph Tanner, Daniel Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steve MacLean.
Atlantis returned safely to Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 21, 2006, concluding a mission that lasted 11 days, 19 hours and six minutes.
STS-115 represented an important milestone for NASA and its international partners, restoring momentum to the construction of the International Space Station following a lengthy pause after the loss of Columbia and its seven-member crew in February 2003.
The successful flight cleared the way for additional shuttle missions that ultimately completed the station’s primary assembly.
