STS-115/12A Mission Gallery

STS-115/12A

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 Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center on 9 September 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 27 August 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.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut MacLean became the first Canadian to operate Canadarm2 and its Mobile Base in space as he was handed a new set of solar arrays from Ferguson and Burbank controlling the original Canadian robotic arm, the Canadarm. MacLean performed a spacewalk, becoming only the second Canadian, after Chris Hadfield to do so.

The mission patch worn on the clothing used by the astronauts of STS-115 was designed by Graham Huber, Peter Hui, and Gigi Lui, three students at York University in Toronto, Ontario, the same university that Steve MacLean attended. The students also designed Steve MacLean’s personal patch for this mission.

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

Mission Information

Launch: Sept. 9, 2006 11:15 a.m. EDT

Landing: Sept. 21, 2006 6:21 a.m. EDT

Orbiter: Atlantis: (OV-104)

Mission Number: STS-115 (116th shuttle flight)

Launch Pad: 39B

Mission Duration: 11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds

Distance Travelled: 7,840,000 kilometres (4,870,000 mi)

Orbits Completed: 187

Landing Site: KSC

Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

Primary Payload: Nineteenth station flight (12A), P3/P4 arrays

Docking Port: PMA-2; (Destiny forward)

STS-115 Seating Assignments	08.24.06
Ascent	Descent
1. Brent Jett	1. Brent Jett
2. Chris Ferguson	2. Chris Ferguson
3. Steve MacLean	3. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper
4. Dan Burbank	4. Dan Burbank
5. Joe Tanner	5. Joe Tanner
6. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper	6. Steve MacLean
Seats 1-4 are on the flight deck; seats 5-7 are on the middeck.

Click Here for Complete Mission Information (NASA)

Click Here for Complete Mission Information (Wikipedia)

Here are Some of the Finest Images from STS-115/12A

ISS013-E-81630 (16 Sept. 2006) — The Expedition 13 and STS-115 crewmembers gather for a group portrait during a joint crew press conference in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Atlantis was docked with the station. From the left (front row) are European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter, Expedition 13 flight engineer; cosmonaut Pavel V. Vinogradov, commander representing Russia’s Federal Space Agency; and astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, NASA space station science officer and flight engineer. From the left (second row) are astronauts Joseph R. Tanner, Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, both STS-115 mission specialists; and Brent W. Jett, Jr., STS-115 commander. From the left (top row) are astronauts Christopher J. Ferguson, pilot; Daniel C. Burbank and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steven G. MacLean, both mission specialists.

Thank you Dr. MacLean for being so very gracious for taking the flag into orbit to honour those who serve and thank you for taking the time to paint with me. It was my profound honour sir.