The US spacecraft Atlantis undocked Tuesday from the orbiting space station to begin its earthward journey, pausing only for a slow motion circle around the station to photograph its stunning growth, according to dpa. During the 12-day mission, US astronauts mounted the next major pair of solar collecting panels onto the International Space Station, once more in balance with large rectangular "sails" on either side. Pilot Lee Archambault backed the orbiter 150 metres from the station, performed the full fly-around for photographs, and then completed the final separation burn about 1628 GMT, NASA officials said. On board Atlantis, which is expected to land Thursday at 1754 GMT at Cape Canaveral, Florida, are seven astronauts, including Sunita Williams, the Indian-American who has spent six months in zero gravity - and inspired a spicier space diet that included wasabi sauce and curry. US Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson remained behind to replace her, joining the Russian station commander and cosmonaut who will continue their orbiting mission in the station. His mission is slated to last until October. The undocking occurred at 1442 GMT, as the shuttle and station were over the Coral Sea northeast of Australia. Later Tuesday, Archambault and US astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson are to inspect the shuttle's thermal protection system using the special robot arm developed after the 2003 explosion of the Columbia shuttle. During one of the four spacewalks carried out while the shuttle was docked, astronauts stapled fast a tear in the thermal blanket that protects the spacecraft from the intense frictional heat of re- entry into Earth's atmosphere. A tear in the blanket on the Columbia's leading wing edge was blamed for the 2003 disaster that claimed seven lives and plunged the space station construction programme into a two-year hiatus. NASA shuttles, which can lift heavier loads than companion Russian spacecraft, are to be phased out after 2010, when space station construction is to be finished. The final station will be able to house six, instead of the current three, astronauts. During the Atlantis mission, a failure of the station's Russian navigation computers was blamed on the connection to the new electricity-generating solar panels. After several days of unease - the computers are vital to controlling the pitch and altitude of the space station - the astronauts fixed the power source problem with a jumper cable. The system was given another last minute test on Monday and given the all-clear - saving the Atlantis from extending their mission another day. Atlantis was to carry one of the computers back to Earth for further examination, NASA officials said last week.
