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Music

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Space shuttle Atlantis pierced a bright-blue Florida sky over

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NASA's Kennedy Space Center for an on-time launch on Nov. 16, 2009,

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beginning the fifth and final shuttle mission of the year.

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The liftoff also was the 31st shuttle mission to the

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International Space Station and Atlantis' 31st flight overall.

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Atlantis, with six crew members aboard, played catch-up

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with the orbiting laboratory during the first two flight days

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as the crew conducted the shuttle's exterior inspection.

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On Nov. 18, Commander Charlie Hobaugh carefully guided the shuttle

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toward a successful docking to the space station's Harmony module

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as the two orbited 225 miles above Earth.

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The arrival brought together a combined crew of 12 as the hatches

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between the two spacecraft were opened.

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The shuttle carried 14 tons of supplies and spare parts

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for the station's electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, communications

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and robotics systems.

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In addition, station Flight Engineer Nicole Stott would catch a ride back

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to Earth after 91 days in space becoming the last station crew member

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to ride aboard a shuttle.

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The heart of the mission's work was accomplished in three spacewalks

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during the seven days of docked operations.

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First up were spacewalkers Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher,

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with Barry Wilmore and Leland Melvin supporting them

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with the station's robotic arm.

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During their six-hour, 37-minute spacewalk, the duo completed

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a number of tasks, including antenna installation and lubrication

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of the Japanese robotic arm.

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The second spacewalk of the mission teamed Foreman with

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Randy Bresnik.

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The six-hour, eight-minute outing included not only scheduled tasks

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such as deployment of a spare parts payload attachment system

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on the upper part of the Starboard 3 Truss but some additional get-ahead

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work as well.

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Bresnik and Satcher conducted the third and final spacewalk

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in five hours and 42 minutes.

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The spacewalk's most lengthy task was the installation of a 6.2-foot-long,

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1,240-pound high-pressure oxygen tank that Melvin and Wilmore

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maneuvered using the station's robotic arm.

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After a final day of docked operations, the two spacecraft parted ways,

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and the Atlantis crew conducted a final inspection in preparation

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for the homecoming trip back to Earth.

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Once again, the Florida sun shined on the Atlantis astronauts

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as they bookended their mission with an on-time landing at Kennedy.

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Having traveled more than 4.5 million miles during 171 orbits of Earth,

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touchdown came on Nov. 27, ending the successful 11-day mission.

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