Posted: Fri, Feb 16, 2001, 2:38 PM ET (1938 GMT)
The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station Friday morning, wrapping up a week's stay at the orbiting facility that featured the installation of a key laboratory module. The shuttle separated from the space station at 9:06 am EST (1406 GMT), and pulled away after completing a "half loop" flyaround of the station. During their week at the station the STS-98 crew installed the new Destiny lab module, which provides key laboratory space for the station as well as new guidance control systems. The gyroscopes in Destiny that will be used for attitude control of ISS were spun up earlier this week and are working fine, with the exception of a minor, momentary glitch in one gyro Thursday. The shuttle crew will take Friday afternoon off before spending Saturday packing up in preparation for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at about 12:50 pm EST (1750 GMT) Sunday. The next mission to ISS, the STS-102 flight of Discovery with the Expedition Two crew, is scheduled for launch March 8.

Related Links:

•  NASA Human Spaceflight shuttle information