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| New Crew, New Lab Racks to be Launched to ISS |
| Rotation of the International Space Station crew, the third flight of an Italian-built Multipurpose Logistics Module delivering additional scientific racks, equipment and supplies for the space station, and two spacewalks highlight the STS-105 mission of Discovery, scheduled for launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew changeout is the second for the ISS, and the logistical module, named Leonardo, is making its second flight to the space station. An identical module named Raffaello has flown once. The STS-105 mission will involve three crews. They are the four-member crew of Discovery, the three members of the Expedition Three crew to be launched to the space station, and the three members of the Expedition Two crew returning to Earth aboard the shuttle. Commanding the Discovery crew will be Scott Horowitz, an Air Force colonel with a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, making his fourth flight into space. Pilot will be Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow, a Marine major, former test pilot and veteran of a previous flight to the space station. Patrick G. Forrester, an Army lieutenant colonel and former test pilot, is making his first flight to space as mission specialist 1. Daniel T. Barry, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering/computer science and an M.D. degree, is mission specialist 2. This is his third mission to space. The Expedition Three crew of the space station launching aboard Discovery is made up of an astronaut and two cosmonauts. Its commander is Frank Culbertson, 52, a retired Navy captain and former test pilot making his third flight into space. Cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov, 39, a Russian Air Force lieutenant colonel who served as commander of a 115-day mission aboard Mir in 1995, will be Soyuz pilot. Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, 41, from RSC Energia and on his first space mission, will serve as a researcher and flight engineer. The Expedition Two crew returning to Earth aboard Discovery is cosmonaut Yury Usachev, its commander, and astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms. They were taken to the station aboard Discovery on a flight that launched March 8. Expedition Two began the major scientific investigations aboard Destiny that are the purpose of the orbiting laboratory, and paved the way for more to come. About 46 hours after its launch Discovery is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station. The shuttle will spend almost eight days attached to the ISS. Transfer of equipment from the orbiter's middeck begins less than three hours after docking, which occurs during the crew's flight day three. Leonardo will be lifted out of Discovery's payload bay on flight day four and attached directly to the station's Unity node for the unloading of its cargo. 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 equipment and supplies to the station. The pressurized moving van first flew on Discovery on the STS-102 mission to the space station in March 2001. Among items in Leonardo will be two EXPRESS Racks to be installed in the station's U.S. laboratory Destiny. EXPRESS stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station. The racks will house a variety of scientific experiments, which can be changed out in space. Destiny is the scientific focus of the ISS, and the most advanced and most versatile scientific research facility ever launched into orbit. The space station eventually will have six laboratories. Destiny, installed on the STS-98 mission of Atlantis in February 2001, 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 for scientific racks. Two spacewalks are planned while Discovery is docked to the International Space Station to deliver and install equipment and make repairs. The first spacewalk, to last about 6½ hours on flight day seven, will see Barry and Forrester install the Early Ammonia Servicer to the space station's P6 truss and the Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE) on handrails of the ISS airlock. The Early Ammonia Servicer and MISSE will be taken into space in two Passive Experiment Carriers on the Integrated Cargo Carrier in Discovery's cargo bay. During the second spacewalk, to last about 5½ hours on Flight Day Nine, Barry and Forrester will install handrails and lay cables to provide temporary power to the S0 truss, to be launched on a future mission. Space station crew transfer is a carefully thought out process. As a member of the Expedition Three crew transfers from the shuttle to the ISS, that crewmember's 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. All three Expedition Three crewmembers complete the liner changeout with members of the Expedition Two crew on Discovery's Flight Day Four, though the formal beginning of Expedition Three occurs at final closing of the hatches between Discovery and the space station. Equipment and supply transfer operations are scheduled during flight days five through eight. The crew will leave Leonardo and deactivate the MPLM on flight day nine. Loaded with unneeded equipment and refuse from the ISS, it will be returned to Discovery's cargo bay to be taken back to Kennedy Space Center. Discovery also will carry a number of small scientific payloads. Among them is Simplesat, a satellite which uses inexpensive commercial hardware to demonstrate Global Positioning System attitude control and payload-assisted fine pointing while free flying in low Earth orbit. It will be deployed from a Hitchhiker canister on Discovery. Discovery departs the space station on the crew's Flight Day 11. STS-105 is the 11th shuttle flight to the International Space Station. It is the fifth shuttle mission of the year and the 106th shuttle flight. The 11-day flight will end with Discovery's landing on the 3-mile runway at Kennedy Space Center. Here is a day-by-day summary of the mission: Day 1 - Launch Discovery's crew will launch at the end of its day during a precisely timed, few-minutes- long launch window that begins the process of rendezvous with the International Space Station. Crewmembers begin a sleep period about seven hours after launch. Day 2 - Equipment Checkouts, Rendezvous Preparations Discovery's crew will spend its first full day in space checking out equipment that will be used for upcoming major activities -- the shuttle's robotic arm; and the controls and tools used for the final rendezvous and docking with the station. The crew also will power up and prepare the shuttle's docking system and perform several engine firings to optimize the rate at which Discovery closes in on the station. Day 3 - Rendezvous and Docking Plans call for Discovery to dock with the International Space Station on Flight Day 3. Day 4 - Berthing of the MPLM Leonardo Leonardo will be attached to the station's Unity node, powered up and activated. The three Expedition Three crewmembers will install their Individual Equipment Liner Kits in the Soyuz capsule docked to the station. Day 5 - Equipment, Supplies Transfer Both station and shuttle crewmembers will work at transferring equipment and supplies from Leonardo to the space station. Expedition Two and Expedition Three crewmembers will take some time for handover activities. Day 6 - Spacewalk Preparation Astronauts will continue transfers from Leonardo, including moving the EXPRESS racks into the Destiny laboratory. They also will check out spacesuits and other spacewalking equipment. The station and shuttle arms will be prepared for the next day's activities. Day 7 - The First Spacewalk Barry and Forrester will install the Early Ammonia Servicer to the space station's P6 truss and the Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE) on handrails of the ISS airlock during a spacewalk of about 6½ hours. Day 8 - Equipment, Supplies Transfer Again station and shuttle crewmembers will transfer equipment and supplies from Leonardo to the space station. Shuttle crewmembers also will prepare for the subsequent day's spacewalk, while station crewmembers will continue handover activities. Day 9 - The Second Spacewalk Barry and Forrester, in another spacewalk of about 5½ hours, will install handrails and lay cables they will install to provide temporary power to the S0 truss, to be launched later. Day 10 - Unbearthing of Leonardo Leonardo will be unberthed from the space station and, loaded with unneeded equipment and trash from the station, returned to Discovery's cargo bay. Station crewmembers will continue their handover. Day 11 Shuttle-Station Hatch Closing, Undocking, Flyaround The shuttle and station crews will close hatches between the spacecraft. Horowitz and Sturckow will undock Discovery from the station. With Sturckow at the controls, Discovery will do a flyaround of the complex before departing. Day 12- Pre-Landing Checkouts, Cabin Stow Activities include the standard day-before-landing flight control checks of Discovery by Horowitz and Sturckow as well as the normal steering jet test firing. The crew will spend most of the day stowing away gear on board the shuttle and preparing for the return home. Day 13 - Entry and Landing Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is the preferred landing site. |
