HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts transferred equipment and supplies between the shuttle and the International Space Station on Saturday in preparation for their departure Sunday, after more than seven days of docked operations.
The cargo carrier that brought six new 375-pound batteries to the station was returned to the shuttle with the old station batteries. They were replaced during the mission’s second and third spacewalks on Wednesday and Friday. Cargo bay latches securing the carrier were closed at about 4:50 a.m. CDT.
Moments later Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Garrett Reisman, at the controls of Canadarm2 in the station’s new cupola, released the arm’s grip on the carrier. They put the robotic arm in a parking position, completing its work for the STS-132 mission of Atlantis.
Beginning about 6:40 a.m. the Atlantis crew and station Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson spent about 20 minutes answering videotaped questions from students at 12 NASA Explorer Schools around the country. The schools’ three-year partnerships with NASA are aimed at increasing students’ interest in science, technology and mathematics.
Departure preparations and transfer activities occupied some of the crew’s morning. Much of the transfer work focused on moving items between the station and Atlantis’ middeck. After the hour-long break for the midday meal and a couple of hours of early afternoon work, the crew was given almost three hours of off-duty time.
On Sunday crew farewells and hatch closure are to begin a little after 7 a.m. Undocking is set for 10:22 a.m.
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