Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks with International Space Station

Space Shuttle Atlantis reached its destination at 10:17 a.m. CDT (1517 GMT) today when it docked with the International Space Station. Docking occurred as the two vehicles flew over western China.

STS-112 Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus, David Wolf, Piers Sellers and Fyodor Yurchikhin will enter the station for the first time about 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT) today.

The main objective of STS-112’s visit to the orbital outpost is the installation of the S1 (S-One) Truss, which is currently in Atlantis’ payload bay. The S1 is slated to be attached to the station Thursday. The crew will perform three spacewalks to attach the S1 and activate it.