STS-101 Day 6 Highlights
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- On Wednesday, May 24, 2000, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-101 MCC Status Report # 11
reports:
- Atlantis' astronauts continued a smooth pace of work aboard the
International Space Station today, breezing through tasks ranging from
standard home maintenance such as replacing smoke detectors to
successfully conducting the first in a series of orbital boosts for
the outpost.
- Commander Jim Halsell and pilot Scott Horowitz fired Atlantis'
steering jets 27 times during almost an hour Tuesday evening to gently
lift the 35-ton outpost about 10 miles higher. The same process will
be repeated again tonight and on Thursday to boost the station by
about 27 miles in total and leave it in an orbit with an average
height of about 233 miles when Atlantis departs on Friday.
- As has been the case through much of the mission, the crew completed
most jobs ahead of schedule. Inside the Zarya module, Astronaut Susan
Helms and Cosmonaut Yury Usachev completed the installation of a third
fresh battery for the station. A fourth battery will be installed
tonight. Meanwhile, station controllers in Moscow completed charging
the first of two batteries installed in Zarya yesterday, and it is now
operating perfectly. Controllers are charging the second new battery
installed in the station, although the charging of that battery was
interrupted briefly early this morning by an unforeseen conflict that
prevents conducting charging and battery installation work
simultaneously. The interruption halted the battery charging for about
an hour and a half, but the process is now again under way with no
problems. Controllers are confident the new battery is in good
condition and are revising plans to ensure no similar conflict occurs
as the crew is installing the final ne! w battery tonight.
- The crew also installed 10 new smoke detectors in Zarya, replacing
detectors that had reached the end of the lifetime for which they were
designed to operate. The astronauts replaced four cooling fans in
Zarya for the same reason. In addition, they completed the
installation of new cabling for the module's central computer that
will allow that computer to be turned on and off via a United
States-built backup station communications system. As the installation
work progressed, the crew continued transferring items ranging from
exercise equipment to computer printers to the station for use by
future crews. Well over 1,200 pounds of gear have been moved from
Atlantis to the station thus far.
- Tonight, Helms and Usachev will install the final new battery in the
station. Later, Halsell and Horowitz will fire Atlantis' jets to
perform the second part of the three-part station reboost. Then the
crew's attention will turn to unloading various supplies from Atlantis
and stowing them aboard the station. The crew will take a short break
from their work at 10:21 p.m. CDT for an interview with ABC radio
news; KOIN-TV of Portland, OR; and a Department of Housing and Urban
Development educational group.
- Atlantis and the International Space Station are in an orbit with a
high point of 219 miles and a low point of 212 miles, circling Earth
every 91 minutes. The next mission status report will be issued at 7
p.m. CDT.
- On Wednesday, May 24, 2000, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-101 MCC Status Report # 12
reports:
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