Shuttle Atlantis Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission

Feb. 20, 2008

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
john.yembrick-1@xxxxxxxx

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@xxxxxxxx

RELEASE: 08-061

SHUTTLE ATLANTIS CREW RETURNS HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew landed at
9:07 a.m. EST Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., after
completing a 13-day journey of nearly 5.3 million miles in space. The
STS-122 mission expanded the size and research capabilities of the
International Space Station with the delivery of the European Space
Agency's Columbus laboratory.

Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier
described STS-122 as one of the program's most successful space
station construction missions.

"These missions are extremely challenging, and a great deal of
preparation and teamwork are required to get these vehicles ready to
fly," Gerstenmaier said. "We're focused on completing assembly and
moving into the full utilization phase of the station. This mission
opens the door for another one of our international partners to join
in the important work and science on the space station."

Steve Frick commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Alan
Poindexter, Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley
Love and European Space Agency astronauts Hans Schlegel from Germany
and Leopold Eyharts from France. Eyharts remained aboard the space
station, replacing Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Dan Tani, who
returned to Earth on Atlantis after nearly four months on the
station. Eyharts will return on shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission,
currently targeted for launch on March 11, 2008.

The mission included three spacewalks to outfit Columbus with power,
data and cooling cables, installation of two science experiments on
the lab's exterior, replacement of an expended nitrogen tank on the
space station's cooling system, and retrieval of a failed space
station control moment gyroscope -- a device that helps control the
orientation of the station -- for its return to Earth.

Several inspections in orbit revealed no damage to Atlantis, and the
shuttle's thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry on
Tuesday. Workers immediately will begin processing the Atlantis for
its next flight to service the Hubble Space Telescope, targeted for
Aug. 28.

STS-122 was the 121st space shuttle flight, the 29th flight for
shuttle Atlantis and the 24th flight to the station.

With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next
phase of station assembly. The STS-123 mission will deliver the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo logistics module and Canada's new
robotics system, Dextre, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator,
to the station.

For more about the STS-122 mission and the upcoming STS-123 mission,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


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