Cape Canaveral: The shuttle Atlantis arrived
at the International Space Station on Sunday amid a flurry of
picture-taking intended to make up for a curtailed safety
survey the day before.
Four of the six space station residents snapped hundreds
of pictures as Atlantis made its final approach. The shuttle
performed a slow backflip so all its surfaces could be
photographed. An hour later, it docked flawlessly with the
station, 220 miles (354 kilometres) above the South Pacific.
Yesterday, a snagged cable prevented the six shuttle
astronauts from properly inspecting their ship. NASA ordered
up extra pictures and, in fact, doubled the usual number of
space station photographers.
The astronauts may try to free the cable during a
spacewalk this week.
"Thanks for the pictures. It's all about the pictures,"
shuttle pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli told the station crew.
"The perfect lighting, and you guys look marvellous,"
replied Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, one of the
photographers.
The photo shoot lasted just a few minutes against a
breathtaking backdrop of the Portuguese coast, Spain, France
and northern Italy.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 16, 2010, 22:18