Five years ago today — September 9, 2006 — the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station.
(Joseph R. Tanner waves at Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper during their spacewalk. NASA image.)
Mission STS-115 was the latest ISS construction mission. U.S. astronauts Brent W. Jett, Jr., Christopher J. Ferguson, Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joseph R. (Joe) Tanner, and Daniel C. Burbank, along with Canadian astronaut Steven G. MacLean, installed the P3/P4 truss, a major structural element that included additional solar panel arrays.
Here’s the station before the P3/P4 truss was installed:
(ISS, taken by STS-115 prior to docking. NASA image.)
And here’s the station after:
(ISS, taken by STS-115 after undocking, showing the new P3/P4 truss and solar arrays. NASA image.)
And here’s a nice shot of one of the new solar panels being extended:
(Detail image of new ISS solar array. NASA image.)
For more photos, check out the STS-115 Shuttle Mission Imagery page.
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