Shuttle prepares to leave space station

Atlantis' crew spent its last full day docked to the station Alpha by firing the shuttle's rockets and lifting the station 26 kilometres in orbit. The five-member Atlantis crew and three-member Alpha crew also moved supplies from the shuttle and enjoyed a bit of down time on the busy mission to get to know one another at their new perch of 380 kilometres above Earth.

The station's astronauts also received word that they will have a different kind of company for a bit longer in space. The 15-year-old Russian space station Mir, which Alpha is to replace, is to stay in orbit at least for another week past March 6, the date on which it was to have made a deadly dive into Earth's atmosphere. Now, because of changing conditions in Earth's atmosphere, that date has been moved back somewhere between March 13 and 18, the Russian space agency said. Mir is to burn up somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Atlantis' own journey back to Earth - though not so final - is to begin with the undocking at 1406 GMT Friday. Its 11-day mission is to end two days later with a touchdown planned at the shuttles' base, Cape Canaveral in the U.S. state of Florida. The highlight of its latest mission was the installation of the 1.4-billion-dollar science lab and the station's new nerve centre, Destiny. The priciest addition to the station increased the number of living modules on Alpha to four.

Atlantis' mission proceeded flawlessly except on one point: Destiny's carbon dioxide-removal system failed to work, even after astronauts worked on it through Monday night into Tuesday morning. But the station's crew called Atlantis' stay a success. It brought some extra elbow room along with some company - and, among the 1,400 kilograms of supplies, a DVD player and 20 movies.

(dpa)