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| SCIENTIFIC CORNERSTONE SET FOR DELIVERY TO ISS |
| The U.S. Laboratory "Destiny" - centerpiece of scientific research aboard the International Space Station – is poised for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis no earlier than 2:11 a.m. EST on Jan. 19, 2001. It is the first of six planned research modules of the station, and also will serve as the command and control center for the entire complex. Partially outfitted with five systems racks containing equipment to provide electrical power and cooling for future racks, and computers for control of the entire ISS, Destiny’s delivery and activation heralds the transfer of ISS operations from the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow to NASA’s Mission Control in Houston. Destiny is the second U.S. module to be launched to the ISS and will be mated to the Unity module, which was launched in December 1998. The 28-foot-long, 14-foot-diameter laboratory weighs 31,000 pounds and cost approximately $1.4 billion. It is the most sophisticated and versatile space laboratory ever built and eventually will house an additional 18 racks for crew support and scientific research that can be removed and replaced periodically as experiment operations warrant. This versatility will allow researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in the unique microgravity environment of space as never before. New racks will arrive with the next shuttle mission in March that also will deliver the second group of station residents – the Expedition Two crew – and bring home the current occupants, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev. Veteran astronaut Ken Cockrell, making his fourth space flight, will command the STS-98 mission of Atlantis. Rookie Pilot Mark Polansky joins Cockrell on the forward flight deck. Seated behind them on the flight deck for launch and landing is Mission Specialist Marsha Ivins, who will serve as the flight engineer, and help activate Destiny after she uses the shuttle’s robot arm to attach the lab to the station. She is the most experienced space traveler on the crew with four previous flights, including one to the Mir space station in 1997. Atlantis will serve as the platform for three space walks to complete outside assembly and connection of electrical and plumbing lines between the laboratory, station and a relocated shuttle docking port. Mission Specialists Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam will conduct the space walks. While outside, Jones’ suit will have red striping around the pant legs and Curbeam’s will be all white. The third and final space walk will be the 60th in the shuttle program dating back to 1983 and the 100th in U.S. spaceflight history dating back to 1965. Jones is making his fourth flight, while Curbeam is embarking on his second mission. For launch, Curbeam will sit behind Polansky on the flight deck swapping places with Jones on the middeck for entry and landing. The day after launch, the shuttle crew will check out the robotic arm’s operation in preparation for the work it will do to install the laboratory and serve as a high-tech cherry picker to move the two astronauts around the outside of the station and shuttle during the space walks. The primary arm operator will be Ivins with Cockrell serving as her backup. Polansky will be the intravehicular crewmember, or choreographer for the three space walks. Atlantis will dock to the station about 43 hours after launch no earlier than the evening of Jan. 20th. Later that day, the cabin pressure will be lowered in preparation for the space walks, which will begin the next day. Within two hours of docking, hatches will swing open between Atlantis and the ISS enabling the shuttle and station crews to greet one another. It will be the second visit of a shuttle crew with the Expedition One crew, which has been aboard the station since Nov. 2. The hatches will be closed and reopened periodically throughout docked operations to accommodate the space walks and the outfitting of Destiny. The two crews will spend a week working together transferring supplies to and from the station and activating the newest pressurized module of the ISS. Destiny will bring the station to a mass of about 112 tons with dimensions of 171 feet long, 90 feet high and 240 feet wide. That surpasses Mir in terms of habitable volume. Destiny will provide many more functions of the station in addition to serving as the platform for experiment operations. It is launched with five system racks already installed. They include two avionics racks, two thermal control system racks and an atmosphere revitalization system rack. Each is capable of being tilted downward to provide access to the area behind. The two avionics racks house equipment controlling the Communications and Tracking, Environmental Control and Life Support System, Thermal Control System, Command and Data Handling, and the Electrical Power System. These racks manage the audio equipment, video switching, and the computer switching boxes, called Multiplexer/Demultiplexers, which provide computer control of lab systems. There are two thermal control system racks that circulate chilled water to cool other racks and the cabin air. One is a ‘low temperature’ system, with water chilled to about 4 degrees Celsius. The low temperature system provides cooling to selected racks. The ‘moderate temperature’ system, with water chilled to about 17 degrees Celsius, cools selected racks and the cabin air. The atmosphere revitalization (AR) rack provides for carbon dioxide removal, trace contaminant control, and monitoring of the cabin air. On orbit, the AR rack will be moved from its launch location to its operational location during lab outfitting on Flight Day 5. Additionally, the lab controls the function of the gyroscopes, called Control Moment Gyros (CMGs). These were preintegrated into the Z1 Truss launched on STS-92 in the fall of 2000 and will be activated during STS-98. The four CMGs are electrically powered and will provide attitude control of the station. At least two are required to provide attitude control without the need for supplementary control using the thrusters on Zvezda or Zarya. Atlantis is scheduled to undock from the station no earlier than Jan. 27 and land no earlier than Jan. 29 back at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. The Expedition One crew will continue the outfitting of Destiny after Atlantis departs. STS-98 marks the 23rd flight for Atlantis and the 102nd in shuttle program history. It also will be the seventh shuttle visit to the station and 12th dedicated to the assembly and operation of the complex. The other launches included two Russian Protons, two Progress supply vehicles and the Soyuz carrying the Expedition One crew. A QUICK LOOK AT THE STS-98 MISSION Flight Day One Atlantis launches and conducts the first in a series of rendezvous burns to prepare for a docking with the International Space Station. Flight Day Two Flight Day Two is a day of preparation as the astronauts check out the shuttle's robotic arm, tools that will be used in support of the next day's rendezvous and docking with the Space Station, and a checkout of the spacesuits that will be used during three scheduled space walks. Flight Day Three Atlantis will dock with the International Space Station, and after a series of leak checks, the hatches between the two spacecraft will swing open allowing the STS-98 and Expedition One crews to meet. Cabin pressure on board Atlantis will be lowered in preparation for space walks. Flight Day Four Astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam will conduct the first of three space walks to remove and temporarily stow a shuttle docking port on the Z1 Truss; install Destiny to the station’s Unity module; make umbilical connections between Destiny and the Z1 Truss; and begin laboratory activation. Flight Day Five Control Moment Gyros, that will provide attitude control for the station will be spun up and initial testing begun; outfitting of Destiny will continue as will transfer operations and set up of environmental racks and systems. Flight Day Six On the second of three space walks, the astronauts will attach a shuttle docking port to the forward end of Destiny; install a Power Data Grapple Fixture and Video Signal Converter on Destiny, for subsequent use by the ISS robotic arm scheduled for delivery in April 2001; and install micrometeoroid debris shielding on Destiny. Flight Day Seven The crew will enjoy some scheduled off-duty time as testing of the CMGs continue and the shuttle boosts the station's altitude. Flight Day Eight On the third and final scheduled space walk, the astronauts will install a spare S-band antenna assembly; connect umbilicals between the shuttle docking port and Destiny; install window shutters on Destiny; and practice an "incapacitated crew rescue" technique. Flight Day Nine The two crews will complete final transfer operations; conduct a crew news conference and educational television event; perform an additional altitude reboost for the station if required; say final farewells and close the hatches between the two space craft. Flight Day Ten Atlantis will undock from the station and perform a flyaround before departing from the vicinity of the station. The crew is scheduled for additional off-duty time. Flight Day Eleven The astronauts' attention will turn to a return trip home as they check out all of the shuttle systems used for landing and stow away equipment on board. Flight Day Twelve The crew will begin formal deorbit preparations, conduct a deorbit burn and return for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center. |
