NASA's Last Space Shuttle Atlantis Is Safely Attached to International Space Station

(NASA text) At 11:07 a.m. EDT, Commander Chris Ferguson guided space shuttle Atlantis into pressurized mating adapter #2 on the International Space Station’s Harmony node. The two spacecraft were flying about 240 miles high, east of New Zealand, at the time they docked.

A video camera on the International Space Station captured this image of space shuttle Atlantis docked to pressurized mating adapter #2 on the station's Harmony node. Credit: NASA TV

This was the 12th and final time Atlantis docked to the space station. It was the 46th shuttle docking to a space station, nine to the Russian Mir station and 37 to the International Space Station. Atlantis performed seven of the nine Mir dockings. This was the 86th space shuttle rendezvous operation and the 164th “proximity operation” in the history of the Space Shuttle Program, where a shuttle conducted operations in close proximity to another spacecraft.

The shuttle and station crews will open hatches and hold the traditional welcome ceremony at about 1:19 p.m. Atlantis’ crew of Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will join Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov of Russia, Satoshi Furukawa from Japan, and NASA’s Ron Garan and Mike Fossum.

The combined crew of 10 begins more than a week of docked operations, transferring vital supplies and equipment to sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired.

Today’s Mission Status Briefing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the Mission Management Team Briefing is set for 4 p.m. Both will air live on NASA TV and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Astronauts Welcomed Aboard ISS (International Space Station)

At 12:47 p.m. EDT, hatches were opened between the International Space Station and space shuttle Atlantis, beginning the joint phase of the STS-135 mission.

NASA Television will air a Mission Status Briefing with STS-135 Lead Shuttle Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho at 1:30 p.m., or immediately following the standard welcome ceremony between the crews.

At 4 p.m., chairman of the Mission Management Team and Deputy Manager of the Space Shuttle Program LeRoy Cain will hold a news conference on NASA TV.