Image above: The International Space Station is viewed from Space Shuttle Atlantis after undocking Tuesday, June 19 at 10:42 a.m. EDT. Image credit: NASA

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Commander helps managers plan for future computer repairs

International Space Station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin carried out troubleshooting efforts on Russian segment’s central computer and terminal computer on Thursday. This procedure will not impact operation of the two channels of each computer that have been in control of Russian system operation since the restart on June 15.

The troubleshooting procedure is designed to help Russian mission managers further assess their plans for repair of the computer systems, including possible replacement of components with new hardware to be flown on the next Progress supply ship due to arrive at the station on July 24.

Meanwhile, the space shuttle crew that left the station Tuesday, landed at 3:49 p.m. EDT Friday at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

STS-117 left the International Space Station bigger and more powerful than it was when they arrived. Atlantis also delivered a new Expedition 15 crew member to the orbital outpost.

Astronaut Clayton C. Anderson, KD5PLA

Expedition 15 welcomed its visitors onto the station June 10 shortly after Atlantis docked.

A few hours later Astronaut Clayton Anderson, KD5PLA, replaced Suni Williams, KD5PLB, as a flight engineer on the Expedition 15 crew.

Williams returned to Earth with STS-117, wrapping up a six-month-plus stay in space during which she became the new record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

On June 11, the STS-117 crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment onto the station. The visiting astronauts conducted four spacewalks to activate the new truss and its solar arrays. The S3/S4 also contains a rotary joint that will allow its arrays to track the sun. The S3/S4 arrays increase the station’s power generation capabilities.

The STS-117 crew also assisted with the retraction of the Port 6 (P6) truss array. The P6 will be relocated from atop the station to the end of the Port 5 truss by a future shuttle crew.

The next shuttle mission scheduled to visit the International Space Station is STS-118 in August.