STS-122

**STS-122** is the name of the 121st flight of the Space Shuttle, taking seven people into outer space to visit the International Space Station. The flight delivered a module to the space station, called _Columbus_. The Space Shuttle _Atlantis_ carried the module. The flight started at 19:45 UTC, on 7 February 2008, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight ended on 20 February, at 14:07 UTC, when the Shuttle went back to the Kennedy Space Center.

## Crew

Seven people were aboard the Space Shuttle. They are; Stephen Frick, who was the Commander, the man in charge of the Space Shuttle, Alan G. Poindexter, who was the Pilot, the man who flied the Shuttle, Leland D. Melvin, Rex J. Walheim, Hans Schlegel and Stanley G. Love, who were there to fit the _Columbus_ onto the space station. Léopold Eyharts was also on board. He lived on the Space Station for a month. Daniel M. Tani, who was on the space station came home aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.

### Launch

The flight was originally scheduled to launch, on 6 December 2007. A problem with a part of the fuel tank used to work out how much fuel was left went wrong, which meant the start of the flight had to be delayed. After the same part went wrong in an attempt to start the flight on 9 December, the start of the flight was moved to January 2008, and later to February. The flight started on 7 February 2008. Some people at NASA were worried that bad weather might stop the launch, but the bad weather cleared up in time for a good launch.

### Landing

At 13:00 UTC, a 2-minute-43-second de-orbit (opposite of making an orbit) burn was conducted. Then it entered in the atmosphere at 13:35 UTC. _Atlantis_ touched down on Runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center at 9:07:10 EST (14:07:10 UTC). The wheels of the orbiter stopped at 09:08:08 EST (14:08:08 UTC).

## Mission

The people aboard STS-122 had several jobs to do. The main job was to add the new room, or module, _Columbus_, to the space station. To do this, a robot arm, called a Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, will be used to lift _Columbus_ out of the Space Shuttle, and move it over to a gap in the side of the space station. Two of the crew will then go outside, and fit parts to the module. _Columbus_ will be used for scientific research.

## Infobox (spaceflight/dock)

- **docking target**: International Space Station, ISS
- **docking type**: dock
- **docking port**: PMA-2
<small>(Harmony forward)</small>
- **docking date**: 9 February 2008, 17:17 UTC
- **undocking date**: 18 February 2008, 09:24 UTC
- **time docked**: 8 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes


## Infobox (spaceflight)

- **name**: STS-122
- **image**: STS122 launch.jpg
- **image caption**: _Atlantis_ launches with _Columbus_
- **insignia**: STS-122 patch.svg
- **mission type**: ISS assembly
- **operator**: NASA
- **cospar id**: 2008-005A
- **satcat**: 32486
- **orbits completed**: 202
- **mission duration**: 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes, 50 seconds
- **launch site**: Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, LC-39A
- **launch date**:  UTC
- **landing date**:  UTC
- **landing site**: Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Shuttle Landing Facility, SLF Runway 15
- **crew size**: 7
- **crew members**: Stephen Frick
Alan G. Poindexter
Leland D. Melvin
Rex J. Walheim
Hans Schlegel
Stanley G. Love
- **crew launching**: Léopold Eyharts
- **crew landing**: Daniel M. Tani
- **crew photo**: STS-122crew.jpg
- **crew photo caption**: Left to right - Front row: Frick, Eyharts, Poindexter; Back row: Melvin, Walheim, Love, Schlegel
- **apsis**: gee
- **orbit epoch**: 9 February 2008
- **orbit reference**: geocentric orbit, Geocentric
- **orbit regime**: Low Earth orbit, Low Earth
- **orbit period**: 91.23 minutes
- **orbit inclination**: 51.6 degrees
- **programme**: Space Shuttle program
- **previous mission**: STS-120
- **next mission**: STS-123