Shuttle Atlantis at space station

September 12, 2006

The Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on Monday, (September 11) to prepare to hand over a 35,000-pound (15,880-kg) truss for attachment to the half-finished research outpost. Before climbing into the station, the Atlantis astronauts prepared to deliver the structural truss to the outpost, used the shuttle's robot arm to latch onto the 17-1/2 tonne girder in Atlantis' cargo bay. The 45-foot (14-metre) girder, which contains a new pair of power-providing solar arrays, will be passed over to the station's robot arm later on Monday.