WASHINGTON – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space, today congratulated the Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station (ISS) crews on their successful construction tasks. The Shuttle Atlantis crew will continue work on the ISS before they are scheduled to return on September 20.
“The International Space Station is now an important step closer to supporting unique research in a permanent orbiting laboratory,” Sen. Hutchison said. “The crew is making historic contributions that will yield benefits we cannot even fully imagine yet.”
The deployment of the radiator on the new solar array truss segment today marks the successful completion of the major task of this mission. With the arrays attached, the power generation capability of the ISS is doubled. The improvement enhances the station’s ability to support research and allows for the addition of research laboratories waiting on the ground for launch.
