February 5, 2018 - New Voyage of Columbus
New Voyage of Columbus Ten years ago this week, the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on the 13-day STS-122 mission to the International Space Station, the highlight of which was delivering the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus laboratory module to the ISS. This was the third launch attempt for Atlantis, as two prior attempts in December 2007 were postponed because of faulty fuel sensors. Two days after its successful launch, Atlantis docked with the ISS. A few days later, using the ISS robot arm along with help from spacewalking astronauts, the crew removed Columbus from the shuttle’s cargo bay and attached it to its new permanent home on the ISS. STS-122 also facilitated a partial ISS crew swap, ferrying one ESA astronaut to the space station and returning another to Earth.
Image credit: NASA
Weekly Calendar
February 5-11, 2018
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 5
1965: First test of Apollo Service Propulsion System engine
1967: Lunar Orbiter III launched
1971: Apollo 14 lands on Moon
1974: Mariner 10 uses gravity of Venus to adjust trajectory toward Mercury
Tuesday 6
1971: Alan Shepard hits first golf balls on Moon
Wednesday 7
Last Qtr Moon 10:54 AM ET
Jupiter 4° south of Moon
1984: Bruce McCandless makes first untethered spacewalk during STS-41B
1999: Stardust comet probe launched
2001: STS-98 Atlantis launched
2008: STS-122 Atlantis launched
Thursday 8
1828: Jules Verne born
1974: 84-day Skylab 4 mission ends, last crew to occupy Skylab
2010: STS-130 Endeavour launched
Friday 9
Mars 4° south of Moon
Vesta 0.9° north of Moon
1971: Apollo 14 returns from Moon; last post-mission quarantine
Saturday 10
Mars 5° north of Antares
1990: Galileo spacecraft passes by Venus on its way to Jupiter
1992: First Atlas II launch
Sunday 11
Moon at apogee
Saturn 2° south of Moon
1970: First Japanese satellite launched
1984: STS-41B Challenger makes first shuttle landing at KSC
1997: STS-82 Discovery launched
2000: STS-99 Endeavour launched
2010: Solar Dynamics Observatory launched