STS-105 Day 10 Highlights

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On Sunday, August 19, 2001, 5:30 a.m. CDT, STS-105 MCC Status Report # 18 reports:

The ten astronauts and cosmonauts aboard Discovery and the International Space Station have started a day that will see the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo removed from the Unity node of the station and reberthed in the shuttle's cargo bay for the trip home.

Discovery's crew, including the returning Expedition Two crewmembers, were awakened shortly after 4 a.m. Central time by the sounds of "Under the Boardwalk" by the Drifters, played for Jim Voss by his wife Suzan.

Leonardo brought almost 7,000 pounds of material to the station, including equipment, supplies and two scientific racks for the new Expedition Three crew of Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. Leonardo, which is one of three pressurized cargo carriers for station resupply activities provided by the Italian Space Agency, is completing its second visit to the station.

Mission Specialist Pat Forrester will use the shuttle's robotic arm this afternoon to unberth Leonardo from the station and move it to Discovery, beginning the one-hour operation a little before 12:30 p.m. He will be backed up by Discovery Commander Scott Horowitz, who operated the arm during two successful space walks by Forrester and Dan Barry to outfit the station with critical spare equipment and scientific gear.

Overnight, controllers reworked the crewmembers' flight plan to give them some time off this afternoon after Leonardo is returned to Discovery. The day will be highlighted by final handover discussions between the two Expedition crews before hatches are closed one last time between Discovery and the station tomorrow morning just before 7 a.m. Central time. Discovery is scheduled to undock from the ISS at 9:52 a.m. Central time Monday to set the stage for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday afternoon, completing 167 days in space for Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, Voss and Susan Helms.

Meanwhile, Russian space officials are all set to launch a new Progress resupply craft to the International Space Station on Tuesday at 4:24 a.m. Central time for a docking early Thursday. The Progress will carry supplies, food and equipment for the new Expedition Three crew. The Progress currently docked to the aft end of the Zvezda Service Module will be undocked on Wednesday and commanded to a destructive reentry in Earth's atmosphere.

Discovery and the ISS are orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 246 statute miles with all systems functioning normally.

On Sunday, August 19, 2001, 6:00 p.m. CDT, STS-105 MCC Status Report # 19 reports:

With its job completed for the mission, the Leonardo cargo module packed with more than 3,000 pounds of return hardware was safely tucked back aboard Discovery this afternoon. The operation set International Space Station scheduled for 9:52 a.m. CDT Monday.

The ten crewmembers aboard Discovery and the station are spending their final day and night together prior to the farewell ceremony and hatch closing scheduled for about 7 a.m. CDT tomorrow. That follows the wakeup call from Mission Control set for 4:40 a.m.

Leonardo brought almost 7,000 pounds of material to the station, including equipment, supplies and two scientific racks for the new Expedition Three crew of Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. Leonardo -- one of three pressurized cargo carriers provided by the Italian Space Agency -- completes its second visit to the station.

Astronaut Pat Forrester carefully removed the high-tech moving van from the station and placed it back in Discovery's payload bay at 2:15 p.m. CDT. He was backed up throughout the operation by Discovery Commander Scott Horowitz, who operated the arm during the spacewalks by Forrester and Dan Barry to outfit the station with spare equipment and scientific gear.

Once Discovery departs, Pilot Rick Sturckow will perform a strategic fly around of the station at a distance of about 400 feet before firing thrusters shortly after 11 a.m. to depart the vicinity of the complex. Wednesday afternoon, Discovery is set to return to the Kennedy Space Center with the Expedition Two crew of Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms. The three departed the Florida spaceport March 8 and will return after 167 days in space.

Meanwhile, Russian space officials are set to launch the fifth Progress resupply craft to the International Space Station Tuesday at 4:24 a.m. Central time followed by an automatic docking early Thursday. The Progress will carry supplies, food and equipment for the new Expedition Three crew. Its predecessor will be undocked Wednesday and commanded to burn up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.

Discovery and the ISS are orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 246 statute miles with all systems functioning normally.

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