|
|
|
|
| New Crew, New Lab Racks to be Launched to ISS |
| A new International Space Station crew, the first flight of an Italian-built Multipurpose Logistics Module and the first scientific rack for the U.S. laboratory Destiny highlight the STS-102 mission of Discovery, scheduled for launch no earlier than March 8 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew changeout is the first for the ISS, and the logistical module, named Leonardo, is the first of three that will serve as pressurized moving vans, bringing equipment and supplies to the space station. Aboard Leonardo will be the Human Research Facility scientific rack to be installed aboard Destiny, the scientific cornerstone of the ISS. Destiny is the most advanced and most versatile scientific research facility ever launched into space, and the Human Research Facility enables the U.S. laboratory to begin to fulfill the purpose and the promise for which it - and the entire International Space Station - is being created. The space station eventually will have six laboratories. Leonardo will be lifted out of Discovery's payload bay and attached directly to Destiny for the unloading of its cargo, which includes half a dozen systems racks and the Human Research Facility experiment rack. The systems racks will provide electrical power and control of the station's robotic arm supplied by Canada, which will arrive on the next assembly mission. One rack will contain emergency crew health care equipment. Near the end of the shuttle's mission, the MPLM will be returned to the cargo bay and returned to Earth for refurbishment and reuse on a mission this summer. The MPLM is valued at $150 million. James D. Wetherbee, commanding his fourth mission and making his fifth flight into space, leads the shuttle crew. He brings a unique management perspective to this operational role on this flight. He served as deputy director of the Johnson Space Center, and now is chief of flight crew operations. Pilot James M. Kelly, a former Air Force test pilot, is making his first space flight. Australian-born Mission Specialist Andrew S.W. Thomas spent 141 days and 2,250 orbits aboard the Russian Mir space station. Mission Specialist Paul W. Richards, also making his first space flight, worked as a NASA engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center, developing tools for space walkers for the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Project before being selected as an astronaut in 1996. Because of the space station crew replacement, three crews will be involved in the flight of Discovery. The orbiter will carry Expedition Two Commander Yury Vladimirovich Usachev, and Flight Engineers James S. Voss and Susan J. Helms to the ISS to replace the Expedition One crew, Commander William M. Shepherd and cosmonauts Soyuz Commander Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, who arrived aboard the station on Nov. 2, 2000. Expedition One crewmembers will come home in Discovery. About 41 hours after its launch Discovery is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station. In addition to the new crew and the Multipurpose Logistics Module, Discovery also brings to the ISS the Integrated Cargo Carrier and two Assembly Power Converter Units (APCU's) in the orbiter's cargo bay, and ISS equipment and supplies in the Orbiter crew compartment. The Integrated Cargo Carrier carries the Pump and Flow Control Subassembly, the Lab Cradle Assembly, the External Stowage Platform, and the Rigid Umbilical which are attached or installed on the ISS during the two scheduled space walks. A Quick Look at the STS-102 Mission Discovery will spend almost eight days attached to the ISS. Transfer of equipment begins less than three hours after docking, which occurs during the crew's flight day three. Later in flight day three, hatches will be closed so pressure in Discovery's cabin can be lowered in preparation for a space walk The first of two space walks scheduled for flight day four will see Voss and Helms prepare for the relocation of one of the docking ports attached to the ISS Unity module to prepare for MPLM docking. Leonardo must be attached to the lower port of Unity to facilitate its unloading. The space walkers also will install a cradle keel mechanism on the roof of Destiny, which will be used later in the ISS assembly sequence to mount additional hardware. Voss and Helms also will install an umbilical cable tray on Destiny in preparation for the delivery of the ISS' robotic arm in April. A highlight of flight day five will be installation of Leonardo to Unity using the orbiter's robotic arm. Once Leonardo is attached to Unity half a dozen power, data and fluid connecters will be hooked up. The following day the ISS crew will begin transferring systems racks from Leonardo to the U.S. lab Destiny, while Discovery crewmembers focus on the mission's second space walk. During this space walk, Thomas and Richards will install a stowage bin to the truss and deliver a replacement pump system that would be used to help ammonia flow to critical avionics on the ISS, if required. Italian-built Leonardo brings to the new U.S. laboratory Destiny six system racks. Two are DC-to-DC Converter Unit (DDCU) racks to convert power into a suitable form for ISS experiments and other station activities. Two are robotic workstation racks for control of the station's Canadian robotic arm and its four cameras, starting on Mission 6A. The Avionics No. 3 Rack has the hardware to activate the Ku Band and some orbital replacement units for other systems. The Temporary Crew Health System Rack contains emergency medical equipment, including a defibrillator. Leonardo also is bringing equipment and supplies to the ISS in three resupply stowage racks and four resupply stowage platforms. Leonardo can transport as many as 16 racks in its 2,698 cubic feet. The arrival aboard Leonardo of the first scientific rack for the U.S. laboratory is significant in that it is a major step toward the beginning of scientific research aboard the space station. The Human Research Facility is a milestone, which will mark the beginning of major scientific research capability aboard the space station. Destiny, installed on the STS-98 mission of Atlantis in February, has slots for 24 of the interchangeable racks (six on the top, six on the bottom and six on each side). Eleven are systems racks, and one slot has Destiny's 20-inch-diameter, optical-quality window. Remaining slots are available for scientific racks. Flight day seven will focus on transfer of equipment and supplies to the station from Discovery and from Leonardo, as well as stowage of equipment from the station to Leonardo. Several hours are allotted for handover sessions with the Expedition One and Expedition Two crews. Crew transfer is a carefully thought out and choreographed process carried out one replacement at a time. As a member of the Expedition Two crew formally transfers from the shuttle to the ISS, that crewmembers custom-designed seat liner, called an Individual Equipment Liner Kit, is installed in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station. The seat liner of the replaced crewmember is removed from the Soyuz, and that individual then becomes a member of the shuttle crew. Usachev and Gidzenko make the switch on flight day three, Krikalev and Voss on flight day five and Shepherd and Helms on flight day nine. Equipment and supply transfer operations are scheduled during flight day eight. Transfer activities continue on flight day nine. The crew will leave Leonardo and deactivate the MPLM on flight day 10. Loaded with unneeded equipment and refuse from the ISS, it will be returned to Discovery's cargo bay to be taken back to the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery departs the space station on the crew's flight day 11 and is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center a little more than two days later, no earlier than March 20. STS-102 is the eighth space shuttle mission in support of space station assembly, the 29th mission of Discovery and the 103rd flight in shuttle program history. Expedition One Crew Return Plans Concluding a four-month stay in space, the first resident crew of the International Space Station will feel the effects of gravity for the first time as Discovery touches down at the Kennedy Space Center. In space, many of the body's systems, which were designed for the one-gravity environment of Earth, are subjected to fewer demands than normal. The heart is not required to work as hard to pump blood through the body; bones and muscles are not used as intensively; and the brain must learn to adapt to altered input as the inner ear, eyes, muscles and joints no longer have the constant of gravity as an indicator of position and orientation. Living in a microgravity environment, astronauts learn to modify the way they eat, move, and operate equipment, and how to respond to the internal changes experienced by their bodies. Living in such an environment since their October 31 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev observed a strict regimen of exercise designed to maintain both cardiovascular health and muscle and bone strength. Exercise is an effective countermeasure to the physiological effects of microgravity and can reduce the amount of time required for an astronaut to readapt. When the Expedition One crew returns on board Discovery, they will spend several weeks readjusting to life on Earth. Just as they had to respond to altered sensory inputs in space, they will need to readjust their bodies back to the sensation of gravity. The time required to readapt is related to the duration of the mission. American and Russian flight surgeons, and strength, conditioning and rehabilitation specialists, will work with the crew members to ensure their adaptation and begin a period of rehabilitation to restore bone and muscle strength. Researchers also will gather data on the three crew members to expand the existing knowledge of the effects of long-term flight on the human body. Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev will be seated in specially-designed recumbent seats on Discovery's middeck for entry and landing. Returning to Earth in this reclined position, allows the g-forces experienced during reentry and landing to be distributed more evenly through the astronaut's body, allowing them to adapt more gradually to the presence of gravity. Returning astronauts, including Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev may experience orthostatic intolerance, a feeling of light headedness or fainting when standing in an upright posture, as they return to Earth. Returning to Earth in these recumbent seats, rather than sitting in an upright position, reduces the effects of orthostatic intolerance. The light headedness occurs when gravity pulls fluids downward, away from the heart and head. Recovery is generally rapid and there are no requirements for the Expedition One crew to be removed from Discovery in a reclining position. The crew will not be medically monitored during the re-entry, but will undergo routine post-flight evaluations by flight surgeons shortly after landing. Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev then will join their STS-102 crew mates in the crew quarters building at the Kennedy Space Center for a brief reunion with their families prior to more extensive physical exams. One day after landing, the combined STS-102 and Expedition One crews will return to Houston. The Expedition One crew members will begin a rehabilitation and medical observation period of approximately 45 days, as flight surgeons and rehabilitation specialists work with them to assist in their readaptation to life on Earth. Gidzenko and Krikalev will continue their rehabilitation program following their return to Russia, within a few weeks after landing. The rehabilitation program is highly individualized for each crew member. The length, duration and intensity of the rehabilitation sessions will be influenced by feedback from each crew member, the rehabilitation specialist and the attending crew surgeon. In general, the program begins with massage, assisted walking, stretching and mild resistance exercise, water exercise andmanual resistance exercise. The following table outlines the basic rehabilitation plan for the first seven days: R+1 Assisted Walking 0-100 steps Total Body PNF (hold/relax/stretch) 1 set: 2 seconds concentric 4 seconds eccentric Massage/Sauna/Whirlpool R+2 Crew Day Off Suggest assisted walking & flexibility R+3 Assisted or Unassisted Walking 100 steps - 1 mile Total Body PNF (hold/relax/stretch 2 sets: 2 seconds concentric 4 seconds eccentric Massage/Sauna/Whirlpool R+4 Water Exercise Therapy Warmup/Flexibility Cardio Workout Strength Training Cool Down/Flexibility R+5 Cardio Workout: 12-15 minutes (recumbent bike, orbiter treadmill, etc) Flexibility Total Body Strength Training 1-3 sets x 12-15 reps Massage/Flexibility R+6 Water Exercise Therapy Warmup/Flexibility Cardio Workout Strength Training Cool Down/Flexibility R+7 Cardio Workout: 15-20 minutes Flexibility Total Body Strength Training 1-3 sets x 12-15 reps Massage/Flexibility |
