STS-122
Atlantis launches with Columbus
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| Mission type | ISS assembly |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2008-005A |
| SATCAT no. | 32486 |
| Mission duration | 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes, 50 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 8,500,000 kilometres (5,300,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 202 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
| Launch mass | 121,264 kilograms (267,341 lb) |
| Landing mass | 93,536 kilograms (206,212 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members |
Stephen Frick Alan G. Poindexter Leland D. Melvin Rex J. Walheim Hans Schlegel Stanley G. Love |
| Launching | Léopold Eyharts |
| Landing | Daniel M. Tani |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 7 February 2008, 19:45 UTC |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 20 February 2008, 14:07:10 UTC |
| Landing site | Kennedy SLF Runway 15 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 331 kilometres (206 mi) |
| Apogee | 339 kilometres (211 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Period | 91.23 minutes |
| Epoch | 9 February 2008 |
| Docking with ISS | |
| Docking port |
PMA-2 (Harmony forward) |
| Docking date | 9 February 2008, 17:17 UTC |
| Undocking date | 18 February 2008, 09:24 UTC |
| Time docked | 8 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes |
|
 Left to right - Front row: Frick, Eyharts, Poindexter; Back row: Melvin, Walheim, Love, Schlegel |
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STS-122 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS), flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis. STS-122 marked the 24th shuttle mission to the ISS, and the 121st space shuttle flight overall.
The mission was also referred to as ISS-1E by the ISS program. The primary objective of STS-122 was to deliver the European Columbus science laboratory, built by the European Space Agency (ESA), to the station. It also returned Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel M. Tani to Earth. Tani was replaced on Expedition 16 by Léopold Eyharts, a French Flight Engineer representing ESA. After Atlantis' landing, the orbiter was prepared for STS-125, the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope.
The original target launch date for STS-122 was 6 December 2007, but due to engine cutoff sensor (ECO) reading errors, the launch was postponed to 9 December 2007. During the second launch attempt, the sensors failed again, and the launch was halted. A tanking test on 18 December 2007 revealed the probable cause to lie with a connector between the external tank and the shuttle. The connector was replaced and the shuttle launched during the third attempt on 7 February 2008.
STS-122 was the ISS Assembly Flight 1E, which delivered the European Columbus laboratory module to the station, along with the Biolab, Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL), European Drawer Rack (EDR), and European Physiology Modules (EPM) payloads.
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