HOUSTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Both Expedition 13 and Expedition 14 International Space Station crews watched space shuttle Atlantis re-enter the Earth's atmosphere Thursday.
Expedition 14 Cmdr. Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin arrived at the station Wednesday to begin their 6-month tour of duty. They are replacing Expedition 13 Cmdr. Pavel Vinogradov and NASA science officer Jeff Williams.
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who arrived at the station in July, officially switched Wednesday from Expedition 13 to Expedition 14.
All of the ISS's crew members watched as the shuttle created a glowing contrail during its early Thursday plunge into the Earth's atmosphere. Williams and Lopez-Alegria provided commentary of the event to NASA Mission Control in Houston. The space station was a few hundred miles ahead of the shuttle at the time.
Atlantis and the STS-115 crew had delivered the P3/P4 truss to the station last week.
Also at the station is American Anousheh Ansari, who is the first female spaceflight participant to visit the station. She arrived with Expedition 14, flying under a $20 million contract with the Russian Space Agency.
Vinogradov, Williams and Ansari are to return to Earth Sept. 28.
