spacetoday.net: Shuttle docks with ISS; first EVA delayed

Posted: Sat, Feb 9, 2008, 8:06 PM ET (0106 GMT)

The space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station on Saturday, but a spacewalk planned for Sunday to help install the new Columbus lab module has been delayed 24 hours because an astronaut medical issue. Atlantis docked with the ISS at 12:17 pm EST (1717 GMT), slightly ahead of schedule, and hatches between the shuttle and station opened less then 90 minutes later. Late Saturday afternoon, though, NASA announced that the first of three EVAs planned for the mission, which had been scheduled for Sunday, would be delayed 24 hours because of an unspecified medical issue with a member of the STS-122 crew. Mission managers declined to disclose any details, citing medical privacy concerns, but did say that European astronaut Hans Schlegel, who had been planned to participate in the EVA, would be replaced by Stan Love, another STS-122 astronaut. The EVA is designed to prepare the Columbus module, in the shuttle's cargo bay, for installation on the ISS.