Don't forget those who did the really hard work: The employees of United Space Alliance(USA).Great job to all the folks down there at NASA! Good Luck Atlantis!
The shuttle has very little delta V on-orbit, so they want to take the most economical path possible, which means waiting until the planes are exactly aligned. That usually means a day or two in a catch-up orbit and performing rendezvous maneuvers, if you really want to finesse it (which they do).So, now it takes several days to reach the ISS? I can see why (ISS is currently above New Zealand), but wasn't there a better launch window?
OTOH, I can imagine the astronauts preferring the long scenario. The more days in space the better :beach:.
Also, they have loads of things to do prior to docking.The shuttle has very little delta V on-orbit, so they want to take the most economical path possible, which means waiting until the planes are exactly aligned. That usually means a day or two in a catch-up orbit and performing rendezvous maneuvers, if you really want to finesse it (which they do).