Astronauts on the International Space Station and visiting space shuttle Atlantis said goodbye on Monday as they closed the hatch between their two ships in preparation for the shuttle’s departure on Tuesday. The space travellers spoke warm words of friendship and shook hands before the seven Atlantis crewmembers floated into their spacecraft.

Astronauts on space shuttle Atlantis prepared for a walk in space on Monday to add a giant new piece to the International Space Station, and Nasa engineers pondered whether a bump in the ship’s heat protection system needs repair.

The space shuttle Atlantis winged toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday, lugging a heavy payload for the orbital outpost and troubled only by a small tear in a heat-protecting thermal blanket. Nasa plans to fly 12 more missions to complete the station.

Astronaut Lisa Nowak’s attack on a rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut sent shockwaves on Tuesday through a tightly-knit Nasa community accustomed to its crewmembers showing the ”right stuff,” and not getting involved in love triangles. Johnson Space Centre director Michael Coats said in a statement the space agency was ”deeply saddened by this tragic event”.

Astronauts on shuttle Atlantis conducted a final inspection of their spacecraft’s heat shield on Monday as they began early preparations for their return to Earth. They used a sensor-laden robot arm to scan the shuttle’s wings and other surfaces that bear the brunt of super-hot temperatures.