STS-102 Day 8 Highlights

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On Thursday, March 15, 2001, 7:00 a.m. CST, STS-102 MCC Status Report # 15 reports:

Aboard the International Space Station today, astronauts and cosmonauts assembled and partially activated a key piece of construction equipment – the control station for a 58-foot-long robot arm that will be delivered to the station next month.

Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms spent most of their workday installing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System workstation inside the Destiny Laboratory. They activated a portion of the system that will be used to route television pictures from docked space shuttles to the control station for use by arm operators. The remaining activation work will start after Discovery undocks Saturday evening.

The Canadian-built appendage will be delivered on the STS-100 mission – set to launch April 19 – and attached to the Lab Cradle Assembly that Voss and Helms bolted to the side of the Destiny Laboratory Module during their space walk Sunday. The station arm’s first job will be to install the airlock on STS-104, set for launch this June.

Load master Andy Thomas coordinated the transfer of equipment, supplies, trash and luggage between the station and shuttle with the help of Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and fellow Mission Specialist Paul Richards. All five tons of equipment and supplies delivered aboard the Leonardo Module have been transferred to the station. The crew is now concentrating on packing trash, unneeded equipment and luggage in the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module for return to Earth.

Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly answered questions posed by reporters in the area of Burlington, Iowa, Kelly’s hometown. Wetherbee, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Usachev and Thomas talked with school children in Dundee, Scotland, who are following the mission because the crew is carrying a piece of the sailing research ship RRS Discovery launched 100 years ago at Dundee.

The astronauts and cosmonauts also took some time off to rest after a busy week and to continue handing over duties aboard the scientific outpost.

The station and shuttle are orbiting in fine fashion at an altitude of 240 statute miles following a 50-minute long series of reboost maneuvers. The gentle, repeated firings of Discovery’s smallest steering jets took place a day earlier than originally planned to ensure that the complex would remain clear of a piece of equipment that floated free during the mission’s first space walk. Further tracking has shown that the 10.5-pound Portable Foot Restraint Attachment Device is about 20 miles below and in front of the shuttle-station complex. Two more reboosts for the station are planned Friday and Saturday.

The next Mission Control Center status report will be issued

Thursday evening.

On Thursday, March 15, 2001, 7:00 p.m. CST, STS-102 MCC Status Report # 16 reports:

The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard Discovery and the International Space Station will spend another day docked to the orbiting science outpost to pack for the trip home. Discovery’s STS-102 mission now will end with a landing back in Florida about 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The crew was awakened to the song “She Blinded Me With Science” performed by Thomas Dolby and played in recognition of the laboratory outfitting and initial station scientific work enabled by Discovery’s flight. As the crew awoke, Mission Control informed Commander Jim Wetherbee of the mission’s extension.

Discovery will now spend almost nine days docked to the station, allowing ground controllers and the crew more time to ensure all necessary items are stowed away correctly aboard the Leonardo cargo module. Leonardo, filled with equipment to return to Earth, now will be detached from the station and latched back in Discovery’s payload bay early Sunday morning, a day later than originally planned. Discovery will undock from the station late Sunday night, spend Monday checking landing equipment, and return to Earth about midnight Tuesday. Discovery is planned to fire its deorbit engines at 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, descending to a touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center, at 11:59 p.m.

The crews will spend today continuing to pack items aboard the Leonardo logistics module for return to Earth. In addition, all crewmembers will participate in a press conference from the Destiny laboratory at 2:39 a.m., fielding questions from reporters at NASA centers across the United States and at the Russian control center outside Moscow.

Later, Wetherbee will initiate a second hour-long gentle reboost of the station, using the shuttle’s small steering jets to raise the complex’s altitude by several miles. A third reboost session may be performed before Discovery departs the station.

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent condition as they circle the Earth once every 92 minutes. The next Mission Control Center status report will be issued Friday morning.

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