Archambault Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Three children. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. US Air Force US Air Force

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 17 - 1998. Active Entered space service: 4 June 1998. Number of Flights: 1.00. Total Time: 13.84 days.

Official NASA Biography - 1998

NAME: Lee Joseph Archambault (Major, USAF)

NASA Astronaut Candidate (Pilot)

PERSONAL DATA:

Born August 25, 1960 in Oak Park, Illinois, but considers Bellwood, Illinois to be his hometown. Married to the former Kelly Renee Raup. They have three children. Recreational interests include weight lifting, golf, running, and ice hockey. His parents, Lee and Mary Ann Archambault, reside in Addison, Illinois. Her parents, Linda Post and Henry Raup reside in Royal, Illinois and Tavares, Florida, respectively.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Proviso West High School, Hillside, Illinois in 1978. Earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana, in 1982 and 1984, respectively.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Order of Daedalians (fraternity of military pilots), University of Illinois Alumni Association, University of Illinois Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering Department Academic Advisory Committee.

AWARDS:

Military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster), Air Medal (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster), Aerial Achievement Medal (4th Oak Leaf Cluster), Commendation Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster), Air Force Achievement Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, and various other service awards.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Distinguished Graduate and Liethen-Tittle Award (top graduate) from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Distinguished Graduate from the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School. Graduated with Honors from the University of Illinois. University of Illinois Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering Outstanding Recent Alumnus.

EXPERIENCE:

Archambault received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force from the Air Force Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, in January 1985. Upon completion, he attended the Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard AFB, Texas, and earned his pilot wings in April 1986. He then reported to Cannon AFB, New Mexico, where he served as a combat ready F-111D pilot in the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing until April 1990. In May 1990, he transitioned to the F-117A Stealth Fighter in the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB/Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. From November 1990 through April 1991, he deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and flew twenty-two combat missions in the F-117A during the Gulf War. He served a second F-117A tour in Saudi Arabia from August 1991 through December 1991 in support of post-Desert Storm peacekeeping efforts. In August 1992, Archambault was reassigned to Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where he served as an F-117A instructor pilot and operational test pilot for the 57th Wing. Archambault attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California, from July 1994 until June 1995. In July 1995, he was assigned to the 46th Test Wing at the Air Force Development Test Center, Eglin AFB, Florida. There, he performed weapons developmental flight tests in all models of the F-16. Archambault was the assistant operations officer for the 39th Flight Test Squadron when he was selected for the astronaut program.

He has logged over 3000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August 1998. Astronaut Candidate Training includes orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Following a period of training and evaluation, he will receive technical assignments within the Astronaut Office before being assigned to a space flight.

• 8 June 2007 Flight: STS-117. Flight Up: STS-117. Flight Back: STS-117. Flight Time: 13.84 days.

19 July 1985 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 17 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Of 25 Americans, eight pilots and 17 mission specialists.

Atlantis' climb to orbit was flawless, carrying a seven-member crew. Aboard Atlantis are Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John “Danny” Olivas, Jim Reilly and Clayton Anderson.

As Atlantis launched, the International Space Station flew 220 miles above the southern Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia. On the station awaiting Atlantis’ arrival are Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineers Oleg Kotov and Suni Williams. The station crew watched Atlantis’ launch on a video link sent by Mission Control.

Atlantis will link up with the station on Sunday to begin a joint mission that will increase the complex’s power generation capability. Using the shuttle and station robotic arms and conducting three spacewalks, the astronauts will install another set of giant solar array wings on the station and retract another array, preparing it for a future move.

Anderson and Williams will switch places within hours after Atlantis arrives. Anderson will begin a four-month stay on the station. Williams will journey home on Atlantis. Williams has been on the station since December and will return to Earth with a record for the longest female spaceflight in history.

After reaching orbit, Atlantis’ crew began procedures to open the shuttle’s payload bay doors and set up computers and other equipment. They also will power up the shuttle's robotic arm to check its operation. They will use the arm on Saturday to inspect Atlantis’ heat shield. On Sunday, Atlantis is scheduled to dock to the station at about 2:36 p.m. CDT. The shuttle crew begins a sleep period at 12:38 a.m. CDT Saturday and will awaken for their first full day in space at 8:38 a.m. CDT Saturday.

“Big Boy Toys” by Aaron Tippin, sounded on board the orbiter at 9:10 a.m. CDT, played for Commander Rick Sturckow. The crew was given an extra half hour to sleep this morning after being kept up late to finish downloading in-cabin video.

Today Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to unberth the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) for a detailed examination of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. Last night they took a closer look at an area of insulation blanket on the port orbital maneuvering system pod that was seen to be pulled away from adjacent thermal tiles during the robot arm checkout late Friday.

In parallel to today's inspection, Mission Specialists John “Danny” Olivas, Jim Reilly and Clayton Anderson will conduct a thorough checkout of the spacesuits to be worn during the three spacewalks planned for the docked operations at ISS and prepare them and other EVA hardware for transfer to the station.

Later, in preparation for docking, the crew will install a centerline camera, extend the outer ring of the Orbiter Docking System, and check out rendezvous tools. Sturckow is scheduled to fly Atlantis to a docking with ISS at 2:36 p.m. Sunday.

After hatch opening and welcome, Anderson will transfer his seat liner into the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Zarya module and officially become a member of the station’s Expedition 15 crew, joining Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov. Flight Engineer Suni Williams, who’s been in space since her launch last Dec. 9, joins the shuttle crew and will return to Earth with them.

Delivery of the S3/S4 Truss segment, which includes a new pair of giant solar arrays for power generation, begins shortly after docking tomorrow when the shuttle robot arm is used to lift it from the payload bay and hand it off to the station’s robotic manipulator. Installation of the truss segments occurs Monday in conjunction with the first spacewalk of the mission, conducted by Reilly and Olivas.

Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson used the shuttle’s robotic arm and an extension boom-mounted sensor system to inspect the heat shield on Atlantis’ wing leading edges and nose cap.

Last night the crew used the robotic arm to take a closer look at an area of insulation blanket on the port orbital maneuvering system pod that was seen to be pulled away from adjacent thermal tiles.

Prior to stowing the boom, the crew utilized the added reach to send Mission Control engineers up-close video of the displaced portion of the blanket. It will be analyzed along with the video from Friday night.

In preparation for Sunday’s docking, the crew extended the shuttle’s docking ring and checked out the rendezvous tools. The crew also installed a docking system centerline camera that will be used by Commander Rick Sturckow to align Atlantis with the station’s docking port.

While the robotic arm survey proceeded, Mission Specialists Danny Olivas, Jim Reilly and Clay Anderson checked and prepared the spacesuits they’ll wear during the three spacewalks on the fourth, sixth and eighth days of the mission. The major objective of the spacewalks is to install the station's newest component, the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segments, unfurl a new set of solar arrays and fold and pack the right side of the Port 6 solar array.

On the space station, Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Suni Williams prepared the orbiting laboratory for Atlantis’ arrival tomorrow. She readied the digital cameras that will be used to take high-resolution photos of the shuttle's heat shield. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin pressurized the docking port at the back end of the U.S. laboratory, Destiny.

Tomorrow as Atlantis makes its final approach to the station, Sturckow will take control of Atlantis and begin a slow back-flip rotation allowing Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov to photograph the shuttle’s heat shield. Williams will videotape the maneuver.

Once the back-flip is complete, Sturckow will maneuver Atlantis to docking, setting the stage for a week of joint operations between the two crews.

After hatch opening and welcome, Anderson will transfer his seat liner to the Soyuz spacecraft and officially become a member of the station’s Expedition 15 crew, joining Yurchikhin and Kotov. Williams, who’s been in space since her launch last Dec. 9, will return home with Atlantis’ crew.

Delivery of the S3/S4 Truss segment, which includes a new pair of giant solar arrays for power generation, begins shortly after docking tomorrow when the shuttle robotic arm is used to lift it from the payload bay and hand it off to the station’s robotic manipulator. Installation of the truss segments occurs Monday in conjunction with the first spacewalk of the mission, conducted by Reilly and Olivas.

Shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow was the first to enter the station followed soon after by the rest of the STS-117 crew.

The shuttle and space station docked at 2:36 p.m. CDT while traveling 220 miles above the northeast coast of Australia. Atlantis’ stay is planned for seven days of joint operations. Hatch opening between the two spacecraft occurred at 4:04 p.m. CDT.

Shortly after welcoming the shuttle crew, station Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and shuttle Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson transferred Anderson’s customized Soyuz seat liner into the Russian spacecraft in place of that of Flight Engineer Suni Williams. The transfer at 7:55 p.m. CDT marked the official swap of Anderson for Williams as a station crewmember. Williams spent 181 days on the station and now is an Atlantis crewmember for the remainder of the mission. She has been in space for 183 days.

Prior to docking, Sturckow flew Atlantis through an orbital back flip while stationed about 600 feet below the space station. The maneuver was documented with long-range, high resolution cameras by Kotov and Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin to document the shuttle’s heat shield.

Mid-morning, Mission Specialist John “Danny” Olivas used a 400 mm camera to get up-close shots of the port orbital maneuvering system. He shot those photos from the crew cabin aft window. During a check Friday night, an area of insulation blanket on the pod was seen to be pulled away from the adjacent thermal tiles. Those photos were downlinked for review by imagery analysts and mission managers.

Following docking, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester used the shuttle's robotic arm to grapple the 17.8 ton S3/S4 truss, lift it from its berth in the payload bay, and maneuver it for handover to the station's Canadarm2. The S3/S4 truss is the heaviest station payload the shuttle has carried, to date.

After hatch opening, Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Suni Williams used the Canadarm2 to take the truss from the shuttle’s robotic arm. That task was completed at 7:28 p.m. CDT marking the completion of handover of the new truss segment to the station. The truss will remain grappled to the station’s arm overnight and installed Monday in conjunction with the first spacewalk by Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and Olivas.

The first of three planned spacewalks is scheduled to begin just before 2 p.m. CDT Monday and will be staged out of the station’s Quest airlock. Archambault, Kotov and Forrester will position the truss at the edge of the S1 truss using the station’s arm. Reilly and Olivas will connect power cables on the truss, release restraints for the Solar Array Blanket Boxes that hold the solar arrays and the Beta Gimbal Assemblies that serve as the structural link between the truss’ integrated electronics and the Solar Array Wings.

Reilly and Olivas will spend tonight "camped out" inside the Quest airlock, with air pressure lowered to help purge nitrogen from their bodies in preparation for the excursion.

The shuttle crew was awakened at 8:08 a.m. with “Riding the Sky,” written and performed by Johnson Space Center employees David Kelldorf and Brad Loveall for Mission Specialist Clayton Anderson. At the same time, a wakeup tone sounded on the station for Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Suni Williams. Rendezvous operations for the shuttle crew to bring their ship together with the station begin at 9:38 a.m., and the terminal initiation engine firing, which puts Atlantis on course to close the final nine miles to the station, is set for 12 p.m.

At 1:37 p.m., at a distance of 600 feet below the station, Atlantis Commander Rick Sturckow will fly the rendezvous pitch maneuver. The maneuver is a back flip that will allow Yurchikhin and Kotov to photograph heat shield tiles on the shuttle’s underside. The images will be transmitted to the ground for analysis.

After the hatches open, Kotov and Anderson will transfer Anderson’s customized Soyuz seat liner into the Russian spacecraft in place of that of Williams. The transfer will make Anderson an official station crew member, and Williams a member of the shuttle crew. Delivery of the flight's primary payload, the bus-sized S3/S4 truss element with its new solar arrays, will start at about the same time. Using the shuttle robotic arm, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester will grapple the 35,678-pound truss section, lift it from the payload bay and hand it off to the station's robotic arm, controlled by Williams.

The truss section will be installed Monday in conjunction with the first spacewalk of the flight, conducted by Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and John “Danny” Olivas. Reilly and Olivas will spend tonight "camped out" inside the Quest airlock, with air pressure lowered to help purge nitrogen from their bodies in preparation for the excursion.

The work culminated in a 6 hour, 15 minute spacewalk by shuttle astronauts Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas, who focused on final attachment of bolts, cables, and connectors to begin the activation of the truss and ready it for deployment of its solar arrays.

The spacewalk began at 3:02 p.m. CDT and ended at 9:17 p.m. CDT and was the 84th devoted to station assembly and maintenance totaling 515 hours, 20 minutes.

The spacewalk was delayed for about an hour after the station temporarily lost attitude control when the station’s control moment gyroscopes went offline due to the mass of the new truss segment in the final stage of its attachment. The loss was not unexpected because of the station’s skewed asymmetry as the 17.8 ton bus-size S3/S4 truss was being moved toward the S1 truss.

Pilot Lee Archambault, Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester and Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov tightened the final of four bolts permanently mating the new 45-foot truss to the outboard end of the S1 truss. The installation paved the way for the start of the spacewalk – the fourth for Reilly and first for Olivas. Once completed, the truss will stretch 356 feet from end to end.

Once the spacewalk began, Reilly and Olivas moved quickly through their tasks of releasing the launch restraints on the four Solar Array Blanket Boxes, which house the folded solar arrays. Their work sets the stage for the deployment of the solar arrays Tuesday.

The day began at 8:08 a.m. with the wakeup song “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, played for Mission Specialist Danny Olivas. Olivas and Mission Specialist Jim Reilly completed a 6-hour, 15-minute spacewalk yesterday to complete the hardware installation of the S3/S4 Truss segments, which cleared the way for flight controllers to activate the new components.

Overnight ISS flight controllers commanded the initial minimal deployment of both solar array wings. Starting at 10:43 this morning shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Steve Swanson, Suni Williams, Olivas and Reilly are scheduled to observe and assist in the complete deployment of those solar arrays to their full 115-foot length.

After lunch the shuttle crewmembers all get a couple of hours off duty before beginning preparations for a spacewalk by Forrester and Swanson tomorrow. They will assist with the initial stages of retraction of the starboard side solar array on the P6 module before removing the remaining launch restraints on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint on S3/S4. That’s required to permit the SARJ to rotate so the new solar arrays can track the sun while the station orbits the Earth.

The shuttle crew and the Expedition 15 crewmembers, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson, are awaiting word from the Mission Management Team on the plan for the mission’s third and fourth spacewalks. The MMT extended the mission by two days and added a fourth EVA to provide time to repair the raised thermal blanket on the Orbital Maneuvering System pod. A decision about whether that job will be done on EVA 3 or EVA 4 is expected today.

Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson, who camped out in the Quest airlock as part of their spacewalk preparations, and their crewmates were awakened at 8:08 a.m. CDT with “Questions 67 and 68” by Chicago, played for Pilot Lee Archambault.

While Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Suni Williams help the spacewalkers get ready, the other Atlantis astronauts will be working the early steps of retraction of the 2B solar array wing, on the starboard side of the P6 Truss. Commander Rick Sturckow, Archambault and Mission Specialist Jim Reilly will send commands and monitor the retraction for any repeat of the difficulties with folding panels and sticking guide wires that were encountered on a similar retraction last December.

When Forrester and Swanson exit Quest at 1:03 p.m. they’ll move up the P6 Truss to monitor the retraction and to assist if required. Forrester, who will be in a foot restraint on the station’s robot arm, and Swanson will have specially-prepared tools to use to help the panels of photovoltaic cells fold properly.

After 45 minutes the spacewalkers will move on to the primary job of the day, preparing the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint between the S3 and S4 Truss segments for rotation. Forrester and Swanson will remove all remaining locks and restraints that held the joint safely in place during launch so that the joint is free to rotate, enabling the new solar array wings on S4 to track the sun as ISS orbits the Earth. The spacewalk is scheduled to end at 7:33 p.m.

Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clayton Anderson are scheduled to work on the transfer of supplies, and Anderson has time in his schedule for handover briefings and familiarization with his new home in orbit.

While the crew worked in space, Russian flight controllers with assistance from counterparts in Mission Control, Houston, continue to troubleshoot why navigation computers in the Russian segment are not operating.

Commander Rick Sturckow, along with Pilot Lee Archambault, Mission Specialist Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, meticulously retracted the solar array blanket atop the P6 truss another three bays worth of panels.

In parallel, Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas completed a review of procedures for Friday’s spacewalk, with the first task being to restore a thermal blanket on the shuttle’s left Orbital Maneuvering System pod to its preflight condition using hands, medical staples, and pins to secure it in place. That spacewalk is set to begin at approximately 12:38 p.m. CDT.

After completing that task – timelined to take about 2 hours – the two astronauts will turn their attention to assisting with the retraction of the remaining paper-thin panels of a solar array, which provided early power to the station’s pressurized modules, life support and avionics equipment.

Throughout Thursday, the crew carefully sent commands to retract the array as much as possible ahead of Friday’s spacewalk. By last count, 15½ of the 31½ bays remain to be folded into a 20-inch-deep protective box.

As the crew headed into the final hours of Flight Day 7, the seven shuttle and three station crewmembers reviewed procedures for Friday, focusing on the blanket repair task of the spacewalk. Olivas will perform the repair while in a foot restraint on the end of the shuttle’s robotic arm. The thermal blanket pulled loose during launch a week ago and was first noticed during a standard vehicle inspection by the crew shortly after launch.

The repair procedure will involve pressing down on the blanket and stapling one side of the 4-by-6-inch raised corner to an adjacent blanket. Olivas then will pin the other side of the blanket to a thermal tile. Engineers on the ground are conducting tests of the repair on mockups created to mirror the damaged blanket in space. The test articles are being subjected to heat loads and wind effects similar to what is expected for that part of the shuttle during reentry.

Flight controllers also stayed busy on the ground troubleshooting a problem with Russian computers that provide backup attitude control and orbital attitude adjustment for the station’s control moment gyroscopes. Russian specialists are working closely with United States teams, concentrating on troubleshooting and restoring computer capabilities. They were able to get the computers working intermittently during the day and will continue working on the problem overnight. The station remains in a safe configuration, with attitude control handled by its control moment gyroscopes.

Before going to sleep just after 11 p.m., the crew also will talk about the mission with radio and television stations. That interview on NASA TV from the station’s Destiny laboratory is set to begin at 8:58 p.m. Reilly and Olivas then will head into the Quest airlock to begin their campout prebreathe protocol designed to reduce the amount of nitrogen in their bodies, thus shortening the time required Friday to breathe pure oxygen ahead of the start of their second spacewalk of the mission.

At 7:39 a.m. CDT Mission Control in Houston played the wakeup song “Indescribable” by Chris Tomlin for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester, who completed a 7-hour, 16-minute spacewalk with Mission Specialist Steven Swanson yesterday. The crews had been awakened at 6:23 a.m. by a false fire alarm in the Zarya module, which was the result of troubleshooting Russian segment navigation computers which had just been successfully restarted by Mission Control in Moscow.

Beginning at 10:38 a.m. Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson joins Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, Swanson and Mission Specialist Suni Williams to resume commanding the retraction of the solar array wing on the starboard side of the P6 Truss, which was about half retracted yesterday before and during the spacewalk. That job is on the schedule for the latter half of spacewalk 3 on Friday if it is not completed today.

In the meantime Forrester will work with Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas to review the procedures for that spacewalk. Olivas will get in a foot restraint on the shuttle robot arm to repair the orbital maneuvering system pod thermal blanket that pulled away from the adjacent thermal tiles on launch last week. There is time in the schedule this afternoon for the crewmembers to practice the repair technique, and then this evening to conduct a tagup with spacewalk specialists in Houston before the spacewalkers begin their campout prebreathe protocol in the Quest airlock.

At 8:58 p.m. Sturckow, Archambault, Forrester and Swanson will discuss the progress of their flight in interviews with Fox News Radio and Denver television stations KMGH-TV and KUSA-TV.

During a news briefing from the Johnson Space Center Saturday afternoon, International Space Station Program Manager Michael Suffredini said, “We’re having a great day on orbit today.”

Yesterday, station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov were able to reenable four of the six channels in the computer systems after bypassing what appears to be a faulty power switch with external cabling.

The Russian cosmonauts repeated that same modification today on the last two channels, which were originally suspected to have failed. They are continuing to checkout and troubleshoot the computers. Meanwhile, the forward plan is to keep the original four channels active and keep the other two channels in "stand by" mode.

Engineering teams also plan to test the Russian attitude control system as early as Sunday morning, in order to confirm that it is operating and working well in concert with the U.S. system. The specifics of the test are still being defined but once executed, the teams will determine when shuttle Atlantis will depart the station. Undocking is currently scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Onboard, the rest of the crew today focused on transfer activities as well as preparations for a fourth spacewalk tomorrow. The ten astronauts, including Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, and shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and mission specialists Pat Forrester, Steven Swanson, Danny Olivas, Jim Reilly and Sunita Williams, also participated in a joint crew news conference.

During their crew sleep, Williams established a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a female. At 12:47 a.m. CDT, Williams surpassed the longstanding 188 day and 4 hour record set by astronaut Shannon Lucid at the Mir space station in 1996.

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Williams of the record. “It’s an honor to be here.”

The four spacewalkers spent time working on the U.S. spacesuits. Olivas and Reilly finished their post-spacewalk spacesuit reconfiguration tasks, while Forrester and Swanson configured their suits and tools for their second spacewalk. The final spacewalk of the flight is set to begin Sunday morning at 11:33 a.m. CDT.

The spacewalk will include a few wrap up tasks associated with the new truss segment, including installation of the Drive Lock Assembly 2, which with a second DLA, drives rotation of the S3/S4 Truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The spacewalkers also will remove the final six launch restraints on the SARJ to enable its rotation and remove a keel pin and drag link from S3. They’ll also complete installation of a debris shield on the Destiny laboratory, install a computer network cable on Unity and remove a Global Positioning System antenna.

Today’s wakeup call came at 5:38 a.m. CDT with “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” by Chicago, played for Pilot Lee Archambault. Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clayton Anderson were awakened on board ISS at the same time.

At 7:45 a.m. Archambault and Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester will begin powering on shuttle systems that have been turned off to conserve power during the docked phase of the flight, and at 8:28 Mission Specialists Steven Swanson and Jim Reilly will set up the centerline camera in the orbiter docking system.

At 9:42 a.m. the hooks and latches holding Atlantis and ISS together will release, and springs in the ODS will push the shuttle away. Archambault will fire shuttle thrusters to move 450 feet in front of the station before starting a full flyaround at 10:07 a.m. to get a good look at the reconfigured spacecraft.

At 11:25 a.m. another firing of Atlantis’ thrusters will begin the final separation of the two spacecraft for this flight. At a range of 46 miles Archambault, Forrester and Swanson will use the shuttle robot arm to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System from the starboard payload bay sill and conduct a late inspection of the thermal protection system on both wings and the orbiter’s nose cap.

Today and tomorrow Mission Specialist Suni Williams, in the 192nd day of her spaceflight, will be scheduled for more exercise to help prepare her for Thursday’s scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center, when her body will feel the pull of gravity for the first time since her launch last December.

Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson wished his former crewmates Godspeed, as they left him behind on the station. Mission Specialist Suni Williams replaced Anderson aboard the shuttle for the return trip home after six months in space, setting a new record for time spent in space by a female.

They haven’t gone far yet, however. Pilot Lee Archambault took control of Atlantis shortly after undocking and lapped the station at a distance of 600 feet as crewmembers documented the larger, more capable station and their handiwork with video and photos.

During the eight days, 19 hours and six minutes docked to the station, the combined shuttle and station crews helped build the station into a near-symmetrical configuration, adding a new starboard truss segment and solar array pair, while folding another array in preparation for its relocation later this year.

Atlantis’ trip to the station brings the cumulative time spent by all space shuttles at the station to 151 days, four hours and 52 minutes.

After the fly-around, Archambault fired thrusters to separate Atlantis to a safe distance for the night while fellow crewmembers performed additional scans of the wing leading edges and nose cap. The imagery will be evaluated overnight by ground engineers in Houston to ensure Atlantis incurred no micrometeoroid debris damage during its time in space.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9:08 p.m., and wake up at 5:08 a.m. Wednesday to check out entry systems and pack up equipment ahead of Thursday’s planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

The astronauts’ wakeup call came at 5:08 a.m. with “If I Had $1000000” by Barenaked Ladies, played for Mission Specialist Suni Williams, who’s in the 193rd day of her spaceflight.

The entire crew will be involved in routine deorbit preparations by 8:10 a.m., starting by stowing items in the crew cabin.

At 8:58 a.m. Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and Mission Specialist and Flight Engineer Steven Swanson will power up one of the auxiliary power units and conduct a checkout of the orbiter’s flight control surfaces, and at 10:08 a.m. begin a test firing of each of Atlantis’ reaction control system jets to ensure that both systems are ready for deorbit and landing. All seven crew members gather for a deorbit briefing at 11:28 a.m.

The shuttle astronauts take a break from packing at 2:03 p.m. to talk about the flight in interviews with NBC News, ABC News and CNN Live, then return to packing up for landing. The schedule calls for stowage of the Ku-band communications antenna at 5:58 p.m., just before Mission Specialist Jim Reilly and Williams set up a recumbent seat on the middeck for Williams to use during entry and landing.

The International Space Station’s crew is enjoying a day off duty as they shift their sleep cycle. Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clay Anderson are scheduled to go to sleep at 4:30 p.m. and get up at 1 a.m. tomorrow, returning to the normal station wakeup time.

Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and Mission Specialist and Flight Engineer Steven Swanson checked out Atlantis’ hydraulic systems and flight control surfaces beginning at 8:58 a.m. today. That was followed closely by the steering jet tests at 10:08 a.m.

All seven astronauts spent the day stowing equipment for the landing, and then came together just after 2 p.m. to discuss their mission with NBC, ABC and CNN. The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 8:38 p.m. and wake up at 4:38 a.m. Thursday.

The Mission Management Team worked into the early evening to ensure the shuttle is safe for landing. Some fuzz from a gap filler poking out on the outer edge of the left wing was noticed during Tuesday’s late inspection and deemed safe for reentry based on its location and measured protrusion of about 4/10 of an inch. Also, the MMT reviewed additional data presented on the thermal blanket damaged during launch on June 8. The blanket was repaired during the third spacewalk of the mission and cleared for reentry.

Discussions centered around thermal models developed by engineers to assess whether any damage may have occurred to underlying structure, but photographs taken by Danny Olivas – who affected the repair – clearly showed no heat effects.

Entry Flight Director Norm Knight indicated that the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, would be the only landing site considered Thursday, based on consumables that provide flexibility to land as far out as Sunday. The weather forecast shows a chance of rain showers within 30 miles of the runway at landing time with a cloud deck at 5,000 feet – both are landing violations. The plan calls for a deorbit engine firing at 11:50 a.m. for the 12:55 p.m. landing and a 1:25 p.m. deorbit burn for the 2:30 p.m. landing opportunity.

If landing is moved to Friday, two landing opportunities would be available in Florida and two in California at the Edwards Air Force Base. Three sites would be available Saturday in order of preference – Florida, California or at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

The crew was waved off from its second and final landing attempt at 12:38 p.m. CDT when Mission Control sent word that rain showers were within 30 miles of the center accompanied by low clouds.

Shortly after the weather wave off, Entry Flight Director Norm Knight directed support for the backup landing site Friday at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert. Knight intends to bring Atlantis home Friday to either Kennedy or Edwards.

The crew reopened Atlantis’ payload bay doors for its bonus day in space and executed a brief engine firing to adjust its orbit for the proper landing opportunities on Friday. The engine firing now enables the backup landing site at Edwards to be available, if required, ninety minutes earlier than previously planned when winds are expected to be calm.

There are multiple deorbit opportunities available for Atlantis’ astronauts tomorrow. The Florida weather forecast for Friday includes the possibility for more thundershowers. The Edwards forecast is favorable.

On Friday, landing preparations begin at 8:13 a.m. CDT, and the crew should close the payload bay doors at 9:36 a.m. If the weather cooperates, Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault will conduct the deorbit burn at 12:16 p.m. to allow Atlantis to free-fall out of orbit and begin its descent toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 1:18 p.m.

There is another landing opportunity on the following orbit, which would put Atlantis on the ground at Edwards at 2:49 p.m. or at Kennedy at 2:54 p.m. There are two additional opportunities at Edwards tomorrow.

Here are predicted times for tomorrow’s landing opportunities (all CDT):

ORBIT / SITE / DEORBIT BURN / LANDING
218 / Kennedy / 12:16 p.m. / 1:18 p.m.
219 / Edwards / 1:46 p.m / 2:49 p.m.
219 / Kennedy / 1:52 p.m. / 2:54 p.m.
220 / Edwards / 3:21 p.m. / 4:24 p.m.
221 / Edwards / 4:58 p.m. / 5:59 p.m.

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin continued planned troubleshooting on the Russian segment’s central and terminal computers which malfunctioned during Atlantis’ visit to the complex. Yurchikhin disconnected jumper cables from one backup channel for each of the two computers that bypassed a secondary power switch and powered down the backup computers. He then attempted to restart those channels to see if they would run properly without the jumpers in place, but the procedure was not successful, confirming what flight controllers expected to see.

Russian specialists directed that the two channels remain off for the night without the jumper cables installed as they continue their systematic troubleshooting. Two other channels for each of the two computers continue to function flawlessly in support of Russian segment systems.

In addition, Russian flight controllers restarted the Elektron oxygen generation system, putting it into operation for the first time since the computer failures earlier this month.

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

It was the 51st shuttle mission to end with a landing at the Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Atlantis touched down on concrete runway 22 at 2:49:38 p.m. concluding a 13 day, 20 hour, 12 minute flight. NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will deliver Atlantis back to Florida in about a week so that it can be prepared for a December flight carrying the next laboratory module to the station on behalf of the European Space Agency.

The crew spent the morning in the world’s largest holding pattern as flight controllers kept a close eye on weather. Showers, thunderstorms and low clouds at Kennedy Space Center knocked Florida out of the running on both the first and second landing opportunities of the day, so flight controllers took their first chance at Edwards, where weather was pristine.

Atlantis crew members, Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, Danny Olivas, Jim Reilly and Sunita Williams, who is returning home after 194 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes in space, will return to Houston on Saturday. A welcoming ceremony for the crew's return to Houston is planned for 4:15 p.m. Saturday at NASA Hangar 276 at Ellington Field.

During Atlantis’ mission to the International Space Station, the crew performed four spacewalks during which they worked with the station crew to build the station into a near-symmetrical configuration, adding a new starboard truss segment and solar array pair, while folding another array in preparation for its relocation later this year.

Atlantis also delivered Clay Anderson, the station’s newest flight engineer, who will spend the next six months living and working on the station.

The next shuttle mission, targeted for early August, will see the return to flight of space shuttle Endeavour to deliver another segment of the station’s truss and 5,000 pounds of food, clothing, supplies and spare parts. Endeavour’s last mission was in December 2002.