2 a.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew gets some well deserved time to relax today. After the successful addition of new components to the International Space Station, five days of joint operations with the Expedition 13 crew and three successful spacewalks, they have some off-duty time.
They do have some post-spacewalk and transfer tasks scheduled.
The crew, Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Joe Tanner, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean, got to sleep late. The wakeup music at 12:15 a.m. CDT was "Twelve Volt Man" by Jimmy Buffett. It was for Burbank.
After an off-duty morning, the STS-115 crew will be joined by the Expedition 13 crew of Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter for a crew photo. A joint crew press conference is scheduled for 7:35 a.m.
Jett, Burbank, Tanner, Stefanyshyn-Piper and MacLean will also participate in interviews with CBS News, NBC News and ABC News at 8:35 a.m. Both of the press events will air on NASA TV.
Throughout the afternoon, the crew will work on various tasks including cleaning and configuration of the spacesuits, transfer of remaining cargo and supplies to the station and the removal of the REBA, Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly.
The next STS-115 mission status report will be issued Saturday afternoon, or earlier if events warrant.
