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Press Release

Planetary Society Congratulates World Space Agencies on International Mission

Click to enlarge > A Visit from Atlantis This remarkable image of the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis docked with the International Space Station (ISS) was taken at a range of 190 nautical miles. To record the fast moving pair, astronomers at Clay Center Observatory, near Boston, Massachusetts, planet Earth, used a satellite tracking system and 25-inch diameter telescope in combination with a digital video camera. In the sharp picture, Atlantis is below and left of center. The aft view shows three main engines just below its vertical tail glinting in the sunlight. With the Sun shining from below, the body of the orbiter casts a long shadow across the ISS itself and impressive details of the ISS solar arrays used for power generation are easily visible. The large set of solar arrays installed at the lower right was delivered during this visit from Atlantis. Credit: Ron Dantowitz, Marek Kozubal, Clay Center Observatory

Pasadena, CA, — The Planetary Society congratulates both the astronaut crews and all the space agencies of the world involved with the successful mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station over the past two weeks.  In addition to attaching the first element of the Japanese module and a new Canadian robot arm, the crews carried out several other missions involving Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada and the U.S.

"What is going on up there is fantastic, and the space agencies should be ballyhooing more both the engineering achievements as well as the international cooperation involved," said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society.

The International Space Station is truly living up to its name. Two separate spacecraft -- the U.S. Shuttle Endeavour and the Russian Progress resupply craft -- were docked together at the station during this mission. On April 3, the European Space Agency’s  Jules Verne cargo ship will arrive at the space station.  A week later a different Russian Soyuz craft will arrive on April 10 for a crew swap.

"This international cooperation on a daring and complex job of construction in Earth orbit bodes well for our eventual goal of sending humans to Mars as a global venture," noted Friedman.

About the Planetary Society

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Planetary Society has inspired millions of people to explore other worlds and seek other life. Today, its international membership makes the non-governmental Planetary Society the largest space interest group in the world. Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman founded The Planetary Society in 1980.