The STS-108 mission finally got off the ground on December 5, 2001. The crew included Mission Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani. The main purpose was to deliver Expedition 4, which would be commanded by Yuri Onufrienko of Russia and also included Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz … [Read more…]
The Expedition 3 crew began their stay on the International Space Station by making preparations for the arrival of Progress-M 45 and departure of Progress-MI 6. They also hooked up EXPRESS Rack 4, which contained new biotechnology-related experiments that included the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth (DCPCG) to study the growth of biological crystals. When … [Read more…]
STS-105 launched on August 10, 2001, five minutes ahead of schedule due to approaching bad weather. This was a rarity for NASA, especially considering the delays in building and launching components of the space station that the agency had become used to. Its primary goal was to deliver the Expedition 3 crew consisting of Station … [Read more…]
STS-104 launched on July 12, 2001 with the Joint Airlock Module, nicknamed “Quest”, which was designed to accommodate American Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) rather than have to rely on the Russian version. The launch tested a new Block-II SSME with improvements meant to enhance reliability. The test was a success. In-orbit inspections of a backup … [Read more…]
Canadarm2 The Canadian-built Canadarm2 is installed and goes into action. STS-100 featured a crew representing several of the major partners of the International Space Station, including Chris Hadfield from Canada, Umberto Guidoni from the European Space Agency, Yuri Lonchankov from Russia, and Shuttle Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Jeff Ashby, and Mission Specialists Scott Parazynski and … [Read more…]
Day One of Expedition 2 started with some excitement when a fire alarm went off. This automatically shut down the ventilation system to slow the spread of smoke. It turned out to be a false alarm and Houston restarted the fans. Several computers had also gone down and it took longer to determine the cause. … [Read more…]
STS-102: A Documentary When the launch of STS-102 was delayed, Expedition 1 was forced to extend their stay into March. Discovery launched on March 8, 2001, with the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module “Leonardo”, which contained six systems racks and two storage racks for the Destiny module. Also on board was components for the Space Station Remote … [Read more…]
Destiny is one of the major laboratories on the International Space Station and mostly houses experiments operated by the United States. STS-98 launched with Destiny on board on February 7, 2001. The next day, the garbage-filled Progress-M1 4 undocked and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on February 9. … [Read more…]
STS-97 As Narrated By The Astronauts STS-97 launched on November 30, 2000 and the Endeavour arrived at the space station three days later. Cargo included a new laptop, a hard drive for a Russian laptop, headsets for a two-way teleconferencing system, tools, food and water. Also included was the second truss segment, labeled P-6, that … [Read more…]
Leadup to Expedition 1 While maintaining the SAFER units used to supply emergency oxygen during EVAs, a NASA contractor discovered a dangerous oil slick in the units. The SAFER units were modified to fix the problems in time for STS-106 but it was proof of how vulnerable the space shuttle was to seemingly minor oversights. … [Read more…]