Atlantis as viewed from the ISS shortly after undocking
Atlantis pilot Alan Poindexter is performing a fly-around maneuver of the International Space Station at a distance of 450 feet. The shuttle crew will photograph the station.
Then the shuttle will perform one of two separation burns to put Atlantis some 40 miles behind the station, while it performs a late inspection of its thermal protecion system before returning to Earth Wednesday.
Meanwhile, at Kennedy Space Center, shuttle Endeavour reached the mid-point in its six-hour roll to launch Pad 39A at 2:30 a.m.
Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station about 4:24 a.m. EST. Atlantis added the 27,000-pound, 500-cubic-meter European Columbus module to the ISS. Endeavour, which launches March 11, will carry the Japanese Kibo module to the space station.
Atlantis will make a 9:06 a.m. Wednesday landing at KSC.
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