Welcome to STS 115
So here I am at my very first shuttle launch. The space shuttle Atlantis will be carrying a roughly 16,000 kg truss, complete with solar arrays, into orbit. It’s an essential part of the International Space Station (ISS), which will need the extra juice to keep growing. It’s also an important test in the return to normal shuttle flights, because it’s the first flight to resume construction of the ISS, something that ended after the break-up of the Columbia upon re-entry in 2003.
Mission planners are telling us that this is one of the most logistically complex shuttle flights ever attempted. For starters, that truss is heavier than any payload ever carried into orbit. Furthermore, assembling it will require three separate space walks.