Shuttle Atlantis streaks across the black, morning sky as it lifted off from the coast of Florida heading out over the Atlantic Ocean.
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Courtesy of NASA
Atlantis Soars to the ISS
News story originally written on July 13, 2001
The Shuttle Atlantis lifted off early in the morning on Thursday, July 12th. Shuttle Atlantis has one new engine. Everything went smoothly with that engine and with the launch of Atlantis.
Atlantis is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) later tonight. The shuttle Atlantis is carrying a new Joint Airlock for the space station. Astronauts will perform three spacewalks to connect the Joint Airlock onto the ISS. This new component of the station will allow for future spacewalks directly from the ISS.
Atlantis will return to Earth on July 22, 2001, carrying its five crew members, Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh, Mission Specialists Mike Gernhardt, Jim Reilly and Janet Kavandi.
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