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Nov 24, 2009 6:16 pm US/Eastern
Atlantis And ISS Crews Prepare For Departure
CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4) ―
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Astronauts from the Atlantis shuttle are seen Nov. 19, 2009, on a spacewalk at the International Space Station.
AP
The crews of the International Space Station and the shuttle Atlantis have said goodbye, preparing for the shuttle to undock from the space station early Wednesday morning.
After nearly a week together, the crew of the Atlantis is now preparing to come home on Friday.
Atlantis delivered nearly 30,000 pounds' worth of big spare parts to the space station. The outpost is now 86 percent complete, with a mass of nearly 760,000 pounds, according to NASA. Primary construction will wrap up next year.
NASA's new dad in space, Randolph Bresnik, was eager to get home. Abigail Mae Bresnik was born late Saturday, just hours after his first spacewalk. Bresnik said Tuesday he had no problems focusing on his job in orbit while awaiting his daughter's birth. "Fortunately, I've got a little over 20 years of good Marine Corps training on compartmentalizing," Bresnik said during a crew news conference.
Bresnik said he wants to see his family as soon as possible after Atlantis lands. Wife Rebecca was figuring on waiting for him back home in Houston, with the baby and their 3 1/2-year-old son.
Astronaut Nicole Stott, leaving the station after three months, called for a "group hug" with her five former roommates. Then she embraced each one separately and, folding up her arms and legs, was pushed all the way into the shuttle like a big package. "Gentle," she urged, floating through the hatch.
Stott, meanwhile, was missing her husband and 7-year-old son, as well as being out in the sunshine. "Pizza has been sounding really good," she told reporters. She's also craving a cola with crushed ice.
The men -- six on the shuttle and five on the station -- parted company with handshakes.
The remaining crew's Thanksgiving meal will be nothing special, per Commander Charles Hobaugh's wishes. They'll eat the prepackaged menu for that day: chicken fajitas, beef brisket, and sweet and sour pork.
"Thanksgiving isn't all about what you eat. It's the people you spend it with. This has become my second family," he said.
That family will soon be breaking up even further; three of the remaining five residents will return to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule next week. The remaining two occupants will hold down the orbiting fort until three more astronauts fly up in another Soyuz right before Christmas.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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