Ochoa Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Female, Married, two children. Born in Los Angeles, California, USA. PhD

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 13 - 1990. Active Entered space service: 17 January 1990. Number of Flights: 4.00. Total Time: 40.82 days.

NAME: Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, but considers La Mesa, California, to be her hometown. Married to Coe Fulmer Miles of Molalla, Oregon. She is a classical flutist and private pilot, and also enjoys volleyball and bicycling. Her mother, Rosanne Ochoa, resides in La Mesa. His parents, Louis and Georgia Zak, reside in Waldport, Oregon.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Grossmont High School, La Mesa, California, in 1975; received a bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State University in 1980, a master of science degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1981 and 1985, respectively.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi honor societies.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Valedictorian of San Diego State University. Recipient of Stanford Engineering Fellowship and IBM Predoctoral Fellowship. Hispanic Magazine Science Achievement Award. Congressional Hispanic Caucus Medallion of Excellence. Women in Science & Engineering (WISE) Engineering Achievement Award. San Diego State University Alumna of the Year. Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. NASA Outstanding Leadership Award. Mortar Board National Citation. Albert Baez Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution to Humanity.

EXPERIENCE:

As a doctoral student at Stanford, and later as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center, Dr. Ochoa investigated optical systems for performing information processing. She is a co-inventor on three patents for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method, and a method for noise removal in images. As Chief if the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames, she supervised 35 engineers and scientists in the research and development of computational systems for aerospace missions. Dr. Ochoa has presented numerous papers at technical conferences and in scientific journals.

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Ochoa became an astronaut in July 1991. Her technical assignments to date include flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, crew representative for flight software and computer hardware development, and crew representative for robotics development, testing, and training. A veteran of two space flights, Dr. Ochoa has logged over 484 hours in space. Since returning from STS-66, she has been working on the International Space Station program. She is currently the Assistant for Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, directing crew involvement in the development and operation of the Station..

In April 1993, Dr. Ochoa flew as a Mission Specialist on STS-56, carrying ATLAS-2. During this 9-day mission the crew of Discovery conducted atmospheric and solar studies in order to better understand the effect of solar activity on the Earth's climate and environment. Dr. Ochoa used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and capture the Spartan satellite, which studied the solar corona.

Dr. Ochoa was the Payload Commander on the STS-66 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 mission (November 3-14, 1994). ATLAS-3 continues the series of Spacelab flights to study the energy of the Sun during an 11-year solar cycle and to learn how changes in the sun's irradiance affect the Earth's climate and environment. Dr. Ochoa used the RMS to retrieve the CRISTA-SPAS atmospheric research satellite at the end of its 8-day free flight.

• 8 April 1993 Flight: STS-56. Flight Up: STS-56. Flight Back: STS-56. Flight Time: 9.26 days.

• 3 November 1994 Flight: STS-66. Flight Up: STS-66. Flight Back: STS-66. Flight Time: 10.94 days.

• 27 May 1999 Flight: STS-96. Flight Up: STS-96. Flight Back: STS-96. Flight Time: 9.80 days.

• 8 April 2002 Flight: STS-110. Flight Up: STS-110. Flight Back: STS-110. Flight Time: 10.82 days.

17 January 1990 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 13 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989.

The STS-96 payload bay manifest:

• Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System/External Airlock
• Bay 3-4: Tunnel Adapter S/N 001
• Bay 5-7: Spacehab Tunnel
• Bay 5: Keel Yoke Device (KYD) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC)
• Bay 8-12: Spacehab Logistics Double Module
• Bay 13 Port: Adapter Beam (ABA) with IVHM
• Bay 13 Stbd: Adapter Beam (ABA) with SVF/Starshine
• Sill: RMS Arm S/N 303

On May 30 at 02:56 GMT Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry entered the payload bay of Discovery from the tunnel adapter hatch, and made a 7 hr 55 min space walk, transferring equipment to the exterior of the station.

On May 31 at 01:15 GMT the hatch to Unity was opened and the crew began several days of cargo transfers to the station. Battery units and communications equipment were replaced and sound insulation was added to Zarya. Discovery undocked from ISS at 22:39 GMT on June 3 into a 385 x 399 km x 51.6 degree orbit, leaving the station without a crew aboard. On June 5 the Starshine satellite was ejected from the payload bay. The payload bay doors were closed at around 02:15 GMT on June 6 and the deorbit burn was at 04:54 GMT. Discovery landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:02 GMT.

Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Dan Barry, Julie Payette, Valery Tokarev and Jernigan will spend much of the day checking out orbiter systems and spacewalking equipment, while continuing to slowly close in on the station through a series of calculated rendezvous maneuvers.

The crew will examine and prepare the tools required to support rendezvous and docking operations, and later will spend a number of hours checking and testing the extravehicular mobility units, or space suits, that will be used during the planned spacewalk Saturday night into Sunday morning. Both suits are checked far enough ahead of the spacewalk to ensure good working condition in plenty of time to allow for any required troubleshooting work by the specialists on the ground.

Also tonight and into tomorrow, Canadian astronaut Payette will assist Ochoa in testing the mechanical arm, checking its operation while conducting a video survey of the payload bay. This procedure will make certain the arm is functioning properly to support the spacewalk. Just before the pre-sleep period, Tokarev, a Russian cosmonaut will move some logistics transfer items stored on the shuttle's middeck, into the Spacehab module to provide more room for the spacesuit checkout activities.

Discovery currently is orbiting at an altitude of about 200 nautical miles. At about 7 o'clock this evening, Central time, the shuttle was 775 nautical miles behind the station, closing in at a rate of about 60 nautical miles every 90 minutes.

The only problem of any significance on the orbiter is the apparent failure of one of the four corner cameras in Discovery's payload bay. This poses no problem with the flight as there are various other cameras available to document activities related to docking, the spacewalk and deploy later in the flight of STARSHINE.

Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband and Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan, Ellen Ochoa, Dan Barry, Julie Payette and Valery Tokarev lifted off at 5:50 a.m. Central time following a flawless countdown. Less than nine minutes later, they reached orbit to begin their pursuit of the station.

At the time of launch, the ISS's two modules, Zarya and Unity, were traveling due east of the outer banks of the Carolinas northwest of Bermuda at an altitude of about 210 nautical miles. Discovery will catch up to the ISS late tomorrow night for the first docking of a Shuttle to the new orbital outpost. That will mark the start of six days of docked activities in which the astronauts plan to transfer almost two tons of supplies to the station and conduct a spacewalk to continue outfitting the fledgling facility.

Once on orbit, the astronauts began to activate shuttle systems and conducted early work in advance of their rendezvous with the ISS, which will begin early Friday evening. Having launched late in their workday, the astronauts are scheduled to begin an eight hour sleep period at 10:50 a.m. Central time. They will be awakened this evening about 6:50 p.m. Central time for the start of their second day in space - a day which will be highlighted by ongoing preparations for both the docking of Discovery to the station Friday night and the scheduled spacewalk by Jernigan and Barry late Saturday night.

Discovery is orbiting at altitude of about 170 nautical miles, with all of its systems functioning in good shape.

In preparation for Saturday's spacewalk, astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry, assisted by Payette and Pilot Rick Husband, successfully tested three spacesuits aboard Discovery. All of the equipment was found to be in excellent condition and ready for the spacewalk, during which Jernigan and Barry will install both U.S. and Russian-built cranes to the station for use by future astronaut construction crews.

Ochoa and Payette also tested the Shuttle's 50-foot robot arm and used it to conduct a television survey of Discovery's payload bay. Jernigan and Ochoa extended the outer ring of Discovery's Orbiter Docking System in a successful test of the mechanism which will make the first contact with and capture a similar mechanism in the Pressurized Mating Adapter affixed to the ISS's Unity.

Before beginning their presleep period, the astronauts lowered Discovery's cabin pressure as a precursor to Jernigan and Barry breathing pure oxygen tomorrow night in advance of their spacewalk. This protocol helps to purge nitrogen from their bloodstreams, preventing any adverse effects from the vacuum of space during their excursion into Discovery's payload bay.

The crew will begin an abbreviated 7 ½ hour sleep period at 8:50 a.m. Central time today and will be awakened at 4:20 p.m. to begin preparations for rendezvous and docking.

Discovery is orbiting at an altitude of 230 statute miles, with all of its systems operating normally.

Rominger will then begin to descend toward the station and, at about 10:37 p.m. Central, hold position at a point about 170 feet away. Rominger will stationkeep at that distance for about 15 minutes to allow the station to move within range of Russian ground communications stations before continuing the approach. At 11:13 p.m., Rominger will again briefly hold position at a point about 30 feet from the station to ensure the Shuttle and station docking mechanisms are precisely aligned. Docking is expected about 11 minutes later with the Shuttle contacting the station at a slow rate of about a tenth of a foot per second.

During the rendezvous, Pilot Rick Husband will assist Rominger in controlling Discovery's approach. Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan and Ellen Ochoa also will assist with the rendezvous and docking, with Jernigan operating the Shuttle's docking mechanism and Ochoa assisting with the rendezvous navigation.

After docking, Ochoa and Jernigan will perform a hatch leak check. Later, Mission Specialists Dan Barry, Jernigan and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will prepare the middeck for Saturday's spacewalk. Discovery's crew will not open the hatch to the Unity module and enter the station until Sunday, a day after the spacewalk is completed.

Space station flight controllers planned to command the station into the orientation for docking - Unity toward space and the Zarya module toward Earth - at about 7 p.m. Central to prepare for Discovery's arrival.

Commander Kent Rominger completed a textbook rendezvous and docking with the station that Mission Control said would set the standard for future ISS assembly flights. Contact between Discovery and the station occurred right on time at 11:24 p.m. Central time Friday.

Once the two spacecraft were solidly mated together at 11:39 p.m., the astronauts performed leak and pressurization checks, then opened the hatch to Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, attached to the Unity module. Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa and Valery Tokarev temporarily stowed docking targets and lights and checked hatch seals in the narrow passageway.

Rominger and Pilot Rick Husband removed and stowed four electronics boxes used to supply power to the docking ports around the Unity module, clearing the sides of the passageway into Unity for easy transfer of some 3,600 pounds of equipment and supplies. The briefcase-sized boxes will be kept in storage until the end of the next station assembly flight on STS-101 in December, when they will be reinstalled to prepare for the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory module, Destiny, next spring.

Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry spent the rest of the morning checking the tools they will use on their space walk, which is scheduled to begin shortly after 10 p.m. Central time. They also checked out their emergency rescue backpacks and reviewed their space walk procedures one last time.

The astronauts will be awakened at 4:50 p.m. today to begin final preparations for the 6 ½ hour excursion into Discovery's cargo bay. With Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa operating the shuttle's robot arm to maneuver Jernigan up toward the space station modules, and Julie Payette acting as the spacewalk choreographer from Discovery's aft flight deck, Barry and Jernigan will move the two cranes from a payload bay cargo support structure to locations on the outside of the station. One crane is U.S.-built and the other is Russian-built to help move large modular components from one module to another during ISS assembly. Next, they will move two portable foot restraints from the cargo carrier to the mating adapter to which the Zarya and Unity modules are attached. Then, they'll move three bags containing handrails and tools for future space walkers to the outside of Unity. If time permits, the space walkers also will install a thermal cover on a Unity trunnion pin, inspect some peeling paint on Zarya, and survey one of two Early Communications System antennas on the starboard side of Unity.

The space walkers are scheduled to reenter the hatch about 4 a.m. Central time Sunday.

Meanwhile, all systems aboard the Discovery / ISS space complex continue to work well as the two craft orbit 240 statute miles above the Earth's surface.

During the planned six and a half hour space walk, Jernigan and Barry are scheduled to install some 700 pounds of tools and equipment on the International Space Station's exterior for use on future assembly flights.

The space walk will include the transfer of two cranes from the shuttle's payload bay to locations on the outside of the station. The cranes will help subsequent space station crews move large modular components from one module to another. With Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa operating the shuttle's robot arm to maneuver Jernigan up toward the space station, Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will choreograph the activities from the Discovery's flight deck.

The astronauts will move the first crane, the American built Orbital Transfer Device from the cargo pallet to one of the pressurized mating adapters located on either side of the Unity module. Jernigan and Barry then will move components of a second crane, the Russian-built Strela - Arrow in English - to the other PMA closest to the shuttle.

Their last scheduled task is to open a storage box on the cargo carrier and move three equipment and tool bags to locations on the outside of the ISS. Time permitting, they will install a thermal cover on Unity's payload bay attach pin, inspect some painted surfaces on Zarya's exterior and examine a communications antenna on Unity's starboard side.

The space walkers are scheduled to climb back aboard Discovery at about 4 a.m. Central time Sunday. Meanwhile, all systems aboard the Discovery and ISS space complex continue to work well as the two craft orbit 240 statute miles above the Earth's surface.

The crew is scheduled to climb inside the Unity and Zarya modules mid evening to begin transferring nearly 3,000 pounds of equipment to be used by future crews on the ISS. In and around transferring operations, some maintenance tasks will be conducted - one inside Zarya and one inside Unity.

After wakeup to the notes of the US Coast Guard Band playing "Morning Colors," the crew reviewed procedures for the entry activities with both Mission Control Centers in Houston and Moscow.

Canadian astronaut Julie Payette and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev will travel to the Zarya module and begin maintenance activities on the storage batteries located under the floor board. The Zarya has six such batteries, which have been experiencing a slight loss in charging capacity during recharge. Each battery has three "charge controllers" for a total of 18 that will be changed during this procedure. Later, Mission Specialist Dan Barry and Tokarev will install some acoustic insulation around some fans inside Zarya to reduce noise levels in the module.

Meanwhile, in the Unity module, Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan and Pilot Rick Husband will install shelving in 2 soft stowage racks. The racks themselves were launched with Unity in December 1998 for use in supporting logistics transfer activities. Later, Husband and Barry will conduct troubleshooting and maintenance activities on the Early Communications System.

In the afternoon, the third major task of the flight begins - transfer of logistics items. Ochoa will coordinate this activity and will direct and document all transfers leaving the shuttle. On the ISS side, Payette will receive the items and, along with Tokarev, will document and stow items aboard the ISS. Discovery's astronauts are scheduled to transfer almost 2,900 pounds of supplies and equipment during the next three days.

Today's space walk - the 45th in space shuttle history and the fourth of the International Space Station era - began at 9:56 p.m. Central time Saturday night, and concluded at 5:51 a.m. Sunday, lasting 7 hours, 55 minutes. The longest spacewalk was conducted by STS-49 Astronauts Rick Heib, Pierre Thuot and Tom Akers, which lasted 8 hours, 29 minutes on May 13 and 14, 1992.

During today's spacewalk, Jernigan and Barry transferred and installed two cranes from the shuttle's payload bay to locations on the outside of the station. They also installed two new portable foot restraints that will fit both American and Russian space boots, and attached three bags filled with tools and handrails that will be used during future assembly operations. Once those primary tasks were accomplished, Jernigan and Barry installed an insulating cover on a trunnion pin on the Unity module, documented painted surfaces on both the Unity and Zarya modules, and inspected one of two early communications system antennas on the Unity.

Throughout the space walk, Jernigan and Barry were assisted by their crew mates as Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa operated the Shuttle's robot arm to maneuver Jernigan around Discovery's cargo bay, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette acted as "choreographer" of the spacewalk from Discovery's flight deck.

The excursion raised the total number of International Space Station era space walks to four, with the total time spent on construction activities now standing at 29 hours, 17 minutes. STS-88 Astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman spent 21 hours, 22 minutes outside Endeavour during their three space walks.

The crew is scheduled to begin its sleep shift at 8:50 a.m. today and will receive a wake-up call from Mission Control at 4:50 p.m. The crew is scheduled to open a series of hatches connecting Discovery with the International Space Station and enter the new facility about 7:35 p.m. Central time to begin the transfer of equipment and logistical supplies from the Shuttle to the station. They'll also conduct repairs on battery charging systems in Zarya and a balky communications system in Unity.

Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan and Russian Space Agency cosmonaut Valery Tokarev opened the hatch into the Unity module at 8:14 p.m. CDT Sunday, then continued through Pressurized Mating Adapter 1 into the Zarya module at 9:07 p.m. Commander Kent Rominger and the rest of the crew - Pilot Rick Husband and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Dan Barry and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette - soon followed.

After inspecting their expanded living quarters, the crew began transferring supplies, equipment and water that will be left aboard, an effort that was coordinated by Ochoa. The bulk of the supplies and equipment were shipped up in a double Spacehab module carried in Discovery's cargo bay.

Payette and Tokarev replaced 12 of 18 battery recharge controllers in the Russian-built Zarya module. Zarya has six batteries, which have been experiencing a slight loss in capacity during recharge. Each battery has three "charge controllers," known by the Russian acronym MIRTS. The astronauts replaced controllers for four of the batteries, and are scheduled to replace the recharge controllers for the other two later today. The work was carefully coordinated with flight controllers in the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow, who issued commands to turn the battery systems on and off via ground-based communication stations. Barry and Tokarev also installed a series of "mufflers" over fans inside Zarya to reduce noise levels in that module.

Barry and Husband replaced a power distribution unit and transceiver for the Early Communications System in the Unity module, restoring that system to its full capability. This supplemental communications system enables flight controllers to send commands to the station from the Mission Control complex in Houston.

Near the end of their workday, Rominger, Jernigan and Barry discussed the progress of their mission, including Jernigan and Barry's space walk and last night's entry into the International Space Station, with NBC's "Today," show, CBS "This Morning" and CNN.

The crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 8:20 a.m. CDT, and will awaken at 4:20 p.m. to continue their work in the ISS.

Today, most of the crew will be involved in logistics transfer activities within the Discovery/ISS orbiting complex. Husband and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry have a significant portion of their day dedicated to moving transfer bags of different sizes and shapes from the Spacehab module in Discovery's cargo bay to resting places inside the International Space Station. Some 2,900 pounds of logistics items and water will be transferred before the crew bids goodbye to its orbiting work site on Thursday.

Discovery's crew will also complete maintenance activities in support of the station. Early in the workday, Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will change out the last battery recharge controller modules attached to two of Zarya's storage batteries. These recharging units, also known as microelectronic charge/discharge current integrator units, determine the battery charge level. Since mid-April, flight controllers had been monitoring a slight decrease in this level, and the on-orbit maintenance work is expected to allow the batteries to charge fully once again.

Later, Barry and Tokarev will put the remaining sound mufflers inside the Zarya module. Ambient noise from air circulating fans and equipment could be somewhat distracting to crew members spending time on orbit, so mufflers are being installed to dampen the noise. After the install, Barry will measure sound levels at different positions inside the module.

At 12:20 a.m. Tuesday, Commander Kent Rominger and Tokarev will conduct a news conference with Russian media located at the Mission Control Center in Moscow.

The day will end with a logistics transfer briefing conducted by Payette. The crew is scheduled to turn in at about 8 a.m. CDT Tuesday.

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent health orbiting 240 miles above the Earth.

Logistics transfer activities will dominate the on-orbit day as all crew members will moves supplies from the Spacehab module to designated locations in the International Space Station. By the end of docked operations, Discovery's crew will have transferred almost 3,000 pounds of items, including clothing, sleeping bags, water, medical support equipment, maintenance spares and computer support and maintenance equipment into the orbiting complex to support future resident crews. This transfer effort is being managed by Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa is managing this effort while Payette stands ready inside the station to receive the goods. At the start of today's work, the transfer was about 70 percent complete.

Payette and Commander Kent Rominger exchanged greetings and discussed the mission with Canada's Prime Minister Jean Cretien and Science Minister John Manley and also answered questions from students across Canada.

Later, at 11:00 p.m. CDT on NASA TV, the entire crew will answer questions from both U.S. and Canadian reporters.

Finally, at 4:20 a.m. Wednesday, Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband and Ochoa will be interviewed by Good Morning America, KFDA-TV in Amarillo, Texas and KUSA-TV in Denver, Colorado. Rominger is a native of Del Norte, Colorado and Husband is a native of Amarillo, Texas.

Near the end of the day, Ochoa again will conduct a transfer status briefing with the ground to confirm the day's completed transfer tasks. The astronauts will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday and wake up to begin Flight Day Eight at 3:50 p.m.

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent health orbiting 240 miles above the Earth.

Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa, the "load master" of this resupply mission, radioed to Mission Control that many of the larger items to be transferred to the new station, such as laptop computers and clothing, had made their way from Discovery to the ISS. At the time the astronauts prepared to go to sleep, well over 50 per cent of all planned transfers were complete.

Early in the crew's workday, Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette changed out the final six battery recharge controller units for two of Zarya's power-producing batteries. The new recharging units are expected to allow the batteries to charge and discharge properly once again. They had experienced difficulty soon after Zarya's launch last November. Twelve of the units were replaced late Sunday.

Dan Barry and Tokarev continued the installation of mufflers inside Zarya to help dampen sound levels in the Russian module. Commander Kent Rominger sent down a video inspection of the mufflers installed on portions of the air circulating duct work, explaining that the mufflers are causing some of the flexible ductwork to collapse. Flight controllers believe that humidity levels inside Zarya are at an acceptable level even though they are a bit higher than predicted because of some restriction to air flow in the module. Additional muffler and humidity reduction work likely will be conducted by the astronauts late tonight.

Rominger and Tokarev took time out to answer questions regarding the progress of the flight from Russian reporters located at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

The astronauts will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 7:50 a.m. Central time, with a wake-up call scheduled for 3:50 p.m. to begin their seventh day of work in space.

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent health orbiting 240 miles above the Earth.

The crew was awakened at 3:50 this afternoon by the Russian song "Vasha Blagarodye" followed by "The Charleston." The tunes were played for cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa.

The early part of the evening includes the completion of transfer activities. By day's end, the crew will have transferred a total of 115 items totaling 3,718 pounds of equipment both inside and outside the space station. Those numbers include seven containers of water totaling about 84 gallons for use by future station crews.

Ochoa and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will use the shuttle's robot arm one last time this evening to conduct a survey of the port side antenna for the Early Communications System on Unity. This survey will complete robotic arm tasks scheduled earlier in the flight.

Once that is completed, the crew will begin closing the hatches that were opened after Discovery docked with the station earlier this week. The crew will climb out of Zarya at about 12:30 a.m. central time Thursday and will move out of the Unity module at about 2:50 a.m., closing the final hatch at about 3:30 a.m.

Commander Kent Rominger and Pilot Rick Husband will begin boosting the station's altitude at about 4:30 tomorrow morning using the Reaction Control System thrusters on the orbiter. The 40-minute activity will raise the complex's altitude by about 6 miles (statute). Undocking from the International Space Station is not scheduled until late Thursday afternoon at about 5:40 p.m.

Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa, who has been coordinating the transfer activities, reported early this morning that the transfer of clothing, water, sleeping bags, spare parts, medical equipment, supplies and hardware for the so-called Expedition One crew is essentially complete. Mission Specialist Julie Payette coordinated stowage of the items in the Unity and Zarya modules. Earlier in the flight, space walkers Dan Barry and Tammy Jernigan installed another 700 pounds of equipment on the exterior of the station to be used during future assembly missions. A handful of items will be carried from Discovery to the station late tonight to wrap up the primary objective of the flight.

One of the few items still to be transferred is a seventh bag of water. A total of almost 75 gallons of water will be left aboard the station for the first resident crew, which is comprised of Expedition Commander Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Kirkalev.

With the transfer work all but complete, the astronauts conducted some additional work, installing parts of a wireless strain gauge system that will help engineers track the effects of adding modules to the station throughout its assembly, cleaning filters and checking smoke detectors.

The crew took time from their activities overnight to conduct a variety of news conferences with media representatives, and Payette accepted a congratulatory call from Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and schoolchildren in Ottawa.

The astronauts began an eight-hour sleep period at 7:50 a.m. Central time and will be awakened at 3:50 p.m. to begin their final day of work aboard the international station.

The primary activity for the astronauts will be to move the few remaining items from Discovery to the ISS, then close a series of hatches within the station's modules leading back to the shuttle. Shortly after 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Discovery's thrusters will be commanded to fire in a series of 17 bursts to raise the Space Station's altitude by about five to six miles. That reboost maneuver will enable the station to be in the correct altitude for the arrival of the Russian Zvezda service module late this year. It will be the next component to be linked to the growing station complex and the first living quarters for the first permanent occupants of the orbital facility.

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent health orbiting 240 miles above the Earth.

Discovery undocked from ISS at 5:39 p.m. central time yesterday, having delivered more than two tons of water, supplies and equipment to the space station.

As Discovery departed from the station, Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry packed away the space suit gear they used during their spacewalk early in the mission, while Commander Kent Rominger and Pilot Rick Husband practiced landings on a laptop computer program. Mission Specialists Julie Payette and Valery Tokarev helped to stow gear and repressurized the shuttle's cabin to its standard 14.7 pounds per square inch.

Once they are awakened at 3:50 this afternoon, the astronauts will focus on preparing for a Sunday landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Rominger, Husband and Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa will conduct a test to verify the performance of Discovery's steering jets. They also will activate one of three hydraulic power units to move the various aerosurfaces that will be used to control Discovery during its reentry and landing. The crew also will prepare to deploy a small, student-built payload called STARSHINE. The Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Equipment satellite will be ejected from a canister in Discovery's payload bay at 2:10 a.m. Saturday by Payette. STARSHINE is a 19-inch hollow sphere covered by about 800 aluminum mirrors polished to a high shine by students around the world. International student observers will visually track the reflective spacecraft during the early morning and twilight hours for several months, measuring the atmosphere's density based on the rate at which STARSHINE's orbit decays.

Discovery has two Sunday landing opportunities on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15. The first would begin with a deorbit burn at 11:54 p.m. CDT Saturday, and end with a landing at 1:03 a.m. Sunday. The second calls for a deorbit burn at 1:30 a.m. CDT Sunday, with landing at 2:38 a.m. The weather forecast calls for generally acceptable conditions.

Weather permitting, Discovery's computers will ignite the twin breaking rockets on the tail just before midnight to slow the vehicle toward a descent through the atmosphere high above the Pacific Ocean. The ground track shows the orbiter navigating its way to its seaside home at the Kennedy Space Center from the south after crossing Costa Rica, Cuba, the Florida Everglades, and East of Lake Okechobee.

The forecast for landing still shows a chance of rain within 30 miles of the runway and a possibility of crosswind violations on the 3-mile-long concrete Shuttle Landing Facility. The runway of choice for tonight's landing is Runway 15. The final turn to align the shuttle with the runway would be out over the water with landing from the northwest to the southeast. If landing is delayed one orbit, touchdown one orbit later at 2:38 a.m. CDT.

Following crew wakeup at 4 p.m. today, the astronauts began the final preparations for landing, including closing the hatches to the Spacehab module, which has served as the cargo transfer compartment throughout the flight. The wakeup music was "The Longest Day," to commemorate what spacecraft communicator in Mission Control Mario Runco called a "landing of a different kind." His reference was to the 55th anniversary of the Allied troop landing on the beaches of Normandy during World War II that occurred on June 6, 1944.

If all goes as planned, Discovery's cargo bay doors will swing shut at 9:18 p.m., after which the astronauts will climb into their launch and entry suits and strap into their seats. Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband and Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa will be joined on the flight deck for entry by Mission Specialist Julie Payette. Tammy Jernigan, Dan Barry and Valery Tokarev will be seated down on the middeck for entry.

If landing occurs on the first opportunity, Discovery will have covered 3.8 million miles during the mission. STS-96 will be the 11th shuttle mission to end in darkness. Five previous flights have ended at Edwards AFB in California and five at KSC.

Discovery swooped out of darkness as Commander Kent Rominger set the shuttle and his crewmates down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida to successfully complete the first shuttle mission of the year.

Rominger and Pilot Rick Husband fired Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines just before midnight Saturday over Thailand to enable the spaceship to drop out of orbit for its high speed return to Earth.

Traveling in an almost due northerly ground track, Discovery crossed over Costa Rica, the southern Caribbean, northwest Cuba, and the Florida Everglades before honing in on the Kennedy Space Center for the 18th consecutive landing at the Florida spaceport.

Rominger and Husband were joined on the flight deck for entry and landing by Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa and Mission Specialist Julie Payette, while Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan, Dan Barry and Valery Tokarev were seated down in the middeck.

After landing, Discovery's astronauts were scheduled to undergo routine medical exams and be reunited with their families before spending the rest of the day relaxing in Florida.

The crew is expected to return to Houston early Monday afternoon, with their crew arrival at Ellington Field planned for about 1:30 p.m. The STS-96 crew's return to Ellington is open to the public.

• Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System - 1800 kg + 3 EMU spacesuits - 360 kg
• Bay 4-13: S0 Truss - 12623 kg. The S0 truss, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was 13.4 m long and 4.6 m in diameter. The main truss had a hexagonal cross section. One face carried fluid, power and data cables, while another face carried the rails for the Mobile Transporter. The S0 contained avionics, GPS antennae, and a radiation dose monitor. The S0 would be attached to the LCA (Lab Cradle Assembly) which was attached to the top of the Destiny lab module in 2001. Attached to S0 were:
  • 4 x MTS (Module to Truss Structure) struts. These were used to connect it to the Destiny module
  • Airlock Spur. This was a 4.2 m beam that hinged out to connect to the Quest module and had handrails for spacewalkers
  • Mobile Transporter (MT). This was made by TRW Astro Aerospace in Carpinteria and was an 885 kg, 2.7 m long truck which moved on the S0 rails to transfer heavy cargo along the truss.
• Sill: RMS arm - 410 kg
• Total: 15193 kg

Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa and spacewalkers Steve Smith, Rex Walheim, Jerry Ross and Lee Morin rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center at 3:44 p.m. Central time as the ISS orbited over the Atlantic Ocean due east of the northeastern United States at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

Launch occurred with only 12 seconds left in the 5-minute launch window due to a brief delay caused by a momentary ground launch system software glitch at the Launch Control Center at the Florida spaceport which paused the countdown at the T-minus 5-minute mark. Once the problem was solved, the countdown resumed.

Atlantis' launch marked a milestone as Ross became the first human to fly in space seven times, breaking a record of six flights previously held by Ross and fellow American astronauts John Young, Story Musgrave, Franklin Chang-Diaz and Curt Brown. No Russian cosmonaut has flown in space more than five times.

Now in their fifth month in orbit, Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch were able to watch Atlantis' launch through a video uplink from flight controllers in Houston. Atlantis' arrival will mark the first visitors for the Expedition Four crewmembers since their launch back in December.

Less than nine minutes later, Atlantis and its crewmembers settled into orbit as work began to prepare the shuttle for its planned 11-day mission and for a series of rendezvous maneuvers to reach the station on Wednesday morning. Atlantis will actually have to lap the ISS as a result of those maneuvers before its scheduled docking with the outpost Wednesday.

After Atlantis' payload bay doors are opened and approval is given for the start of orbital operations, the seven crewmembers will unstow computers and other gear required for the mission.

If all goes as planned, Atlantis will link up to the station Wednesday just after 11 a.m. Central time, setting the stage for the installation of the S0 (S-Zero) Truss on Thursday morning on the Destiny Laboratory and the first of four spacewalks to mate and activate the new component to Destiny. The S-Zero Truss will serve as a platform upon which other trusses will be attached and additional solar arrays will be mounted in future assembly flights to form a structure longer than the length of a football field. The new truss will also serve as a primary electrical switching station to route power from the stations' arrays to various modules and components.

The shuttle crew will begin its first sleep period at 8:44 p.m. Central time and will be awakened at 4:44 Tuesday morning to begin its first full day in orbit, designed to test the ship's robot arm, spacesuits and rendezvous equipment which will be used over the next few days.

With docking scheduled at 11:06 a.m. Central time (1606 GMT) tomorrow, Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith verified all of Atlantis' equipment, setting the stage for the orbiter's linkup to a docking port at the forward end of the station's Destiny Laboratory.

Docking is planned over south central China, southwest of Shanghai. The crew will be up early Wednesday to complete preparations and to execute a number of engine firings to draw Atlantis close to the ISS for its eventual docking.

Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch tidied up their orbital home and completed routine maintenance on the eve of the arrival of their first visitors since they were launched to the ISS back in December. After docking and hatch opening tomorrow, the two crews will run through a dress rehearsal of procedures which will be used on Thursday to maneuver the large S0 (S-Zero) Truss structure from Atlantis' cargo bay for mating to a capture device at the top of Destiny.

Four spacewalks will be conducted by two teams of spacewalkers to electrically and structurally connect the new truss to the ISS. The 13 and a half-ton S-Zero is the mainframe for a series of trusses to follow which will expand the station to a length of a football field.

Late today, Bloomfield and Frick executed a rendezvous maneuver by firing Atlantis' reaction control system jets to refine the shuttle's path to the space station. Several larger engine firings will be conducted Wednesday morning to slow Atlantis' approach to the station, setting up its final path for linkup to the ISS.

With all of its systems functioning in excellent shape, Atlantis orbits the Earth at an altitude of around 220 statute miles. The crew began an eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 Central time this evening and will be awakened at 3:44 Wednesday morning.

The crew will spend today testing and preparing shuttle equipment that will be used to rendezvous and dock with the complex and to install the first and central station truss segment delivered by Atlantis. The crew will power up and test the shuttle's robotic arm, check spacesuits, set up television cameras for the rendezvous activities and prepare the shuttle docking mechanism for contact with the station at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday. Atlantis' mission is to install the 44-foot-long S-Zero (S0) truss on the station, a central girder segment that is one of the most complex pieces of the International Space Station ever launched. The segment is filled with electrical, computer and cooling connections as well as navigation and robotics equipment, including a space railway.

Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, and mission specialists Ellen Ochoa, Steve Smith, Rex Walheim, Jerry Ross and Lee Morin were awakened at 4:44 a.m. to the song "The Best Years of Our Lives" performed by the Baha Men.

Ochoa and Ross, who has now flown in space more times - seven - than any other astronaut, will take a break from the their work onboard Atlantis about 10:44 a.m. CDT for interviews by two Indianapolis, IN, television stations and the Associated Press. Ross is an Indiana native. Late this afternoon, Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines will be fired to adjust the rate at which the shuttle is closing in on the station and maintain its course toward a Wednesday morning docking.

Commander Mike Bloomfield guided Atlantis to a linkup with the forward docking port of the station's Destiny Laboratory at 11:05 a.m. Central time as the two vehicles sailed at an altitude of 240 statute miles. The docking culminated a textbook rendezvous executed by Bloomfield and Pilot Steve Frick. As Atlantis docked, Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch, a Navy Captain, rang the ISS ship's bell to greet the arriving shuttle crew.

About two hours later, at 1:07 p.m. Central time as the two craft flew over New Zealand, hatches swung open between Atlantis and the station, and the ten crew members greeted one another inside Destiny, marking the arrival of the first visitors for Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko, Flight Engineer Carl Walz and Bursch since they entered the ISS in December for the start of their six-month mission.

After a safety briefing for the shuttle astronauts by Onufrienko, the two crews began to transfer gear for the first spacewalk tomorrow by Steve Smith and Rex Walheim as well as experiments to be housed in Destiny.

Ellen Ochoa joined Bursch to brush up on procedures for the use of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm tomorrow which will be employed to grapple and unberth the 13 1/2 ton S0 (S-Zero) Truss from Atlantis' cargo bay for mating to a capture device at the top of Destiny. Smith, Walheim, Jerry Ross and Lee Morin will conduct four spacewalks to electrically and structurally mate the S-Zero to Destiny over the next week. Ochoa maneuvered the arm and verified it is in good working order to support the S-Zero operations on Thursday.

Smith and Walheim set up all the equipment in the Quest Airlock on the ISS from which they will mount the first of the four spacewalks to deploy two of the four mounting struts to Destiny and to bring power to the new truss from the U.S. Laboratory. Ochoa is scheduled to grapple the S-Zero around 5 a.m. Central time with the first spacewalk set to get underway around 10 a.m.

Atlantis and the ISS are in excellent shape, orbiting the Earth every ninety minutes in an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator.

The two crews began an eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 Central time this evening and will be awakened at 3:44 Thursday morning for the fourth day of the mission.

On Friday, April 12, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will deliver an address on future agency policy entitled, "Pioneering the Future", originating from Syracuse University. The address will be seen on NASA Television beginning at 1 p.m. Central time.

On board the station, the Expedition 4 crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, also awoke at 3:44 a.m. to an alarm-clock-like tone. They have synchronized their sleep schedule to match that of the Atlantis crew to prepare for docked operations.

About two hours after Atlantis docks to the station, the hatches between the two spacecraft will open and Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will greet their first visitors since beginning their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory last December. After a welcome and safety briefing, all 10 astronauts and cosmonauts will begin transferring equipment and supplies between the two vehicles.

Both crews will jointly review plans for installation of the S-Zero (S0) Truss, including procedures for Thursday's scheduled spacewalk, the first of four during this mission. Ochoa and Bursh will maneuver the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, through a rehearsal of the motions it will use Thursday to pluck the 44-foot, 27,000 pound truss segment from the shuttle's cargo bay and install it atop the station's U.S. laboratory Destiny.

Major systems aboard Atlantis and the space station continue to function well.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick and mission specialists Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 3:44 a.m. by the University of California-Berkeley fight song performed by the school band and "All Right Now," performed by the Stanford University band. Ochoa requested the songs be played for crewmates Walheim and Smith who attended the rival schools.

On board the station, the Expedition 4 crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, also awoke at 3:44 a.m. to an alarm-clock-like tone. Both crews are ready to support the addition of the new segment to the station.

Ochoa, assisted by Bursch, will command the space station robotic arm, Canadarm2, to grapple S0 about 5 a.m. Canadarm2 will lift the truss segment out and away from Atlantis' cargo bay and temporarily install it on the U.S. laboratory Destiny. The Lab Cradle Assembly will provide a semi-rigid structural hold until the truss segment is permanently attached during four spacewalks this week.

The first spacewalk is set to begin about 10 a.m. today as Smith, wearing the suit with solid red stripes, and Walheim, in a solid white suit, float out of the station's Quest airlock. After initial setup procedures, their tasks during the 6½ hour venture include attaching two of four S0 mounting struts to Destiny, as well as an avionics tray that contains power, data and fluid cables and an umbilical system connected to the Mobile Transporter. If time permits, Smith will remove a launch support beam and also go inside the truss to install two circuit breakers.

Ochoa and Bursch will move Walheim on Canadarm2 to worksites throughout the spacewalk. Bloomfield and Frick will use the shuttle's robotic arm cameras to take video of the spacewalkers while Ross guides them through the outlined procedures.

During the S-Zero installation, Atlantis Commander Mike Bloomfield and Pilot Steve Frick operated the shuttle's robotic arm to provide additional camera views to Ochoa and Bursch, who were working in the Destiny Lab at one of the robotic workstations. The truss will serve as the backbone for future station expansion to the length of a football field. S-Zero contains navigational devices, computers, cooling and power systems necessary to attach additional laboratories to the complex.

Within minutes after the new truss was temporarily latched to the Destiny Lab, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Steve Smith left the station's Quest Airlock at 9:36 a.m. Central time to begin the first of four spacewalks of the mission to electrically and structurally mate S-Zero to the station.

Smith and Walheim first unfurled and firmly attached two of four mounting struts on the truss to Destiny before deploying trays of avionics equipment and cables on the truss which include power, data and fluid lines connecting Destiny to the S-Zero. They also attached an umbilical system from the truss to the Mobile Transporter housed on the forward face of the huge girder. The umbilical will enable the Transporter, which is the first railcar in space, to move up and down the length of the station to position the ISS robotic arm for future assembly work. Two other struts on the truss will be mated to Destiny Saturday during the second spacewalk, permanently bolting the truss to the Laboratory.

Working deliberately to connect all of the critical power connections, Walheim spent the day working at the end of the station's Canadarm2, the first time the large arm has been used as a form of cherry picker to maneuver astronauts during assembly work at the ISS. Smith operated as a so-called "free-floater", tethered to the station and to various work sites around the truss itself. Atlantis astronaut Jerry Ross and ISS Flight Engineer Carl Walz took turns choreographing the spacewalk from the aft flight deck of the shuttle.

With all but two tasks successfully completed, Smith and Walheim returned to Quest late this afternoon and ended their spacewalk at 5:24 p.m. Central time, completing a 7 hour, 48 minute excursion. It was the 35th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and the 10th staged from the station itself. As Smith and Walheim wrapped up their work, flight controllers reported that the activation of the S-Zero Truss had begun and that all of the initial systems appear to be in excellent shape.

Time ran out before Smith and Walheim could install two circuit breakers on the truss, but that task will be picked up on a subsequent spacewalk.

After a long and tedious day, the shuttle and station crew members were scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m. Central time and will be awakened just before 4 a.m. Friday.

Atlantis Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - and the Expedition Four crew - Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - spent their day transferring equipment and science experiments between the shuttle and the station. They also transferred oxygen from the shuttle to one of four high-pressure gas tanks on the Quest Airlock. The tanks are used to repressurize the airlock at the end of each spacewalk staged from the module.

Station flight controllers reported that four new computers on the S-Zero truss were tested successfully, as were new devices to determine the station's orientation relative to the Earth, Global Positioning System navigational antennas and the Thermal Control System for the 13 ½ ton girder, which will be the backbone for other trusses and solar array towers to be mounted on the station in the next year.

The two crews transferred a number of experiments from Atlantis to the station's Destiny Laboratory and reviewed plans for the second and third spacewalks of the mission Saturday and Sunday to continue the outfitting of the new truss.

Saturday's spacewalk by Ross and Morin is scheduled to begin around 9:30 a.m. Central time. The two spacewalkers will complete the bolting of two aft struts on the truss to Destiny, forming a secure structural mate between S-Zero and the Laboratory. Ross and Morin will also attach a second umbilical system to the truss' Mobile Transporter, a form of rail car that will eventually move the station's robotic arm some 350 feet up and down the entire length of the completed truss.

The two crews enjoyed some off duty time this afternoon and are scheduled to begin their sleep period at 7:44 p.m. Both crews will be awakened Saturday at 3:44 a.m.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, and mission specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 3:44 a.m. Central time by the song "Testify to Love," by Wynonna Judd played for Bloomfield from his family. On board the station, the Expedition 4 crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, awoke about 30 minutes later.

Morin and Ross will move an experimental plant growth chamber to a rack inside the station's Destiny lab. This experiment will replace a protein crystal growth experiment that will return to Earth on board Atlantis. Walheim and Ochoa will install a freezer in the lab for future crystal samples.

Oxygen and nitrogen will be transferred from Atlantis to the station to refill the airlock high-pressure tanks with the gasses breathed by spacewalkers. The crew will also prepare for and review the procedures for the next two spacewalks, on Saturday and Sunday, to continue hookup of the S0 Truss.

Systems on the S0 Truss are functioning well after its installation Thursday. Friday, ground controllers will activate the Global Positioning System and the Rate Gyro Assembly located on S0 that will begin providing navigation and attitude data for the station.

Crewmembers will take a break to talk with reporters from MSNBC, CBS Radio Network and WWJ-TV in Detroit at 11:28 a.m. At 1 p.m. NASA television will switch to live coverage of NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's address on "Pioneering the Future." The address will be replayed on NASA TV at 3 p.m.

After two hours of time off during the afternoon, both crews are scheduled to begin their sleep period at 7:44 p.m.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, and mission specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Steve Smith, Morin and Ross - was awakened at 3:44 a.m. by the song "Voodoo Chile," by Jimi Hendrix. It was played for Morin, who will be making his first spacewalk, at the request of his wife. On board the station, the Expedition 4 crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, also were awakened at 3:44 a.m.

During their 6½-hour spacewalk Ross, wearing a spacesuit with broken red stripes, and Morin, wearing a spacesuit with diagonal broken stripes, will complete the structural attachment of S0's remaining two struts to the station's Destiny laboratory. With all four of the struts attached to Destiny, S0 will be able to support its design loads, including the solar arrays that will be on the ends of the truss at assembly complete.

After attaching the struts, Ross and Morin will remove the large metal rods used to support S0 during launch and store them on the truss. The pair will also attach a second cable system to the Mobile Transporter, which will eventually enable the space station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to ride a railway along the truss structure.

For today's spacewalk Morin will be working from a platform at the end of the Canadarm2, operated by Ochoa. Using the shuttle robotic arm cameras, Bloomfield and Frick will take photographs and video of the spacewalkers. Walheim will coordinate the spacewalk from inside.

Both crews are scheduled to begin their eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m.

Dubbed the "Silver Team" by their colleagues because of their age, 54-year old Jerry Ross and 49-year old Lee Morin of Atlantis' crew had little trouble extending and bolting the final two struts of the new S-Zero (S0) truss to the Destiny Laboratory, insuring that the centerpiece for the future expansion of the station would be permanently secured to accept additional trusses and solar array towers over the next year. The station will ultimately span some 350 feet from end to end, the length of a football field.

The first two struts of the truss were mated to Destiny on Thursday by the other Atlantis spacewalking team, Steve Smith and Rex Walheim, who will venture back outside Sunday to continue the outfitting of the truss and to reroute electrical power to the station's 58-foot long robotic arm.

Morin worked at the end of the ISS' Canadarm 2 throughout the day during his first spacewalk, while Ross, America's most experienced spacewalker and the most flown space traveler in history, remained tethered to the station to provide "free-floating" support during the eighth spacewalk of his career.

Smith, Walheim and Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch helped choreograph the spacewalk from Atlantis' aft flight deck, while shuttle crew member Ellen Ochoa and station Flight Engineer Carl Walz took turns maneuvering Morin as they operated Canadarm2 from a robotic work station inside Destiny.

Shuttle and station Commanders Mike Bloomfield and Yury Onufrienko and shuttle Pilot Steve Frick provided photographic and television support for the spacewalk, the 36th devoted to ISS assembly over the past 3 ½ years.

After the truss struts were bolted in space, Ross and Morin removed a series of panels and clamps that provided structural support for the truss during its launch in Atlantis' cargo bay.

The spacewalkers then began work to install a backup device containing an umbilical reel for the Mobile Transporter railcar on the truss that will provide redundancy to a similar device mounted on the truss Thursday. The two sets of umbilicals for the Mobile Transporter, which is designed to move the robotic arm up and down the length of the completed station truss, provide power, data and video capability for the system, which will be tested for the first time in orbit Monday.

Ross tried to remove a restraining bolt on the mechanism which, if required, can cut the umbilical cable should it snag during its operation, but the bolt proved to be a bit balky and did not back out of its socket as planned. Flight controllers decided not to spend additional time troubleshooting the stubborn bolt today after engineers determined that the cable cutter cannot inadvertently fire in its current configuration. The backup umbilical system is operating normally and the stubborn bolt will be dealt with on one of the mission's two remaining spacewalks. The primary umbilical system installed Thursday is also operating normally.

The spacewalk, which was conducted out of the station's Quest Airlock, began at 9:09 a.m. Central time and concluded at 4:39 p.m. as Ross and Morin repressurized the outer compartment of the two-chamber module.

Late today, Frick fired Atlantis' steering jets in a one-hour procedure to slowly reboost the space station by about 2 statute miles. It was the first of three scheduled reboost maneuvers to eventually raise the orbit of the ISS by about 6 statute miles before Atlantis departs the station on Wednesday.

The ten shuttle and station crew members are scheduled to begin their eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m. and will awaken Sunday just before 4 a.m. to begin preparations for the third spacewalk of the flight.

The stage is now set for the inaugural run Monday of the so-called Mobile Transporter, a flatcar designed to transport the space station's robotic arm up and down an integrated truss system that will span the length of a football field.

Within minutes after starting their spacewalk at 8:48 a.m. Central time, Steve Smith and Rex Walheim released a claw-like device on the top of the Destiny Laboratory to which the new 13 ½ ton S-Zero (S0) truss was initially attached on Thursday. With the truss' four large struts now securely bolted to Destiny, the claw was no longer needed.

Smith and Walheim then reconfigured a number of connectors providing electricity to the 58-foot-long Canadarm2 robotic arm on the station so it can be powered from the S-Zero truss rather than Destiny. The arm has two sets, or "strings" of avionics equipment for its operation. As Smith and Walheim worked deliberately, one set of avionics was rewired and tested, followed by a separate set of redundant avionics.

Smith spent most of the day riding at the end of the shuttle's robotic arm, which was operated by Pilot Steve Frick during the rewiring of its companion station arm. Walheim was the so-called "free-floating" astronaut, tethered to the station to assist Smith. It was the seventh spacewalk of Smith's career. He is the second most experienced U.S. spacewalker behind crewmate Jerry Ross, who helped choreograph today's excursion from inside Atlantis with the help of Lee Morin. It was Walheim's second spacewalk.

With Canadarm2 successfully rewired and both of its electrical, data and video circuit sets checked out, Smith and Walheim pressed ahead to release clamps which secured the Mobile Transporter to the S-Zero truss during its launch last week. The railcar, which weighs about 1900 pounds, will be commanded Monday by ground controllers to move about 32 feet up and down the truss at a glacial speed of a little less than one inch per second in the first test of its computers, drive motors, suspension unit, video and data umbilicals and the first section of rails on the S-Zero.

The railcar, and an associated Mobile Base System device to be installed on the transporter in early June on the next shuttle assembly flight to the ISS, will ultimately enable the robotic arm to travel to various worksites on the expanding trusses of the station for future construction. The Mobile Base System will be the platform upon which the Canadarm2 will attach itself to be driven up and down the length of the ISS.

The only task not completed today was the attachment of a 14-foot ladder called the Airlock Spur from the S-Zero truss to the Quest Airlock designed to simplify the path for future spacewalkers moving back and forth from the truss to the airlock itself.

As the spacewalk neared its completion, final diagnostic tests of the newly wired station arm were taking longer than planned, and because the Canadarm2 is required for the airlock ladder to be pivoted away from the truss to Quest, flight controllers decided to defer its installation until the final spacewalk on Tuesday.

Smith and Walheim finally returned to Quest and completed their spacewalk at 3:15 p.m. Central time with the repressurization of the airlock.

Atlantis astronaut Ellen Ochoa and ISS Expedition Four crew member Dan Bursch backed up Frick in the operation of the shuttle's robot arm during today's spacewalk, the 37th devoted to space station assembly. Commander Mike Bloomfield documented the spacewalk from Atlantis' aft flight deck while Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Carl Walz continued to transfer supplies from the shuttle to the station for future use.

Late today, Frick conducted an hour-long reboost of the ISS, using Atlantis' steering jets to move the station higher by about two statute miles. It was the second of three planned maneuvers to raise the station's altitude and the second in as many days.

The ten crew members are scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m. Central time tonight and will be awakened just before 4 a.m. to prepare for the testing of the new Mobile Transporter.

They are scheduled to step out of the station's Quest airlock at 9:34 a.m. Their first task is to release a claw atop the lab that temporarily secured the truss to it during the initial installation. Walheim, wearing a solid white spacesuit, will release the latch as Smith, wearing a spacesuit with red stripes, begins making connections to route power, data, and video through the truss for later operation of the space station robotic arm, Canadarm2. During the 6½-hour spacewalk, Smith will be working from a platform on the station arm, operated by Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa and Flight Engineer Dan Bursch.

Walheim will install circuit breakers in the truss, a task left over from the first spacewalk, which lasted 7½ hours. Together they will then turn their attention to the Mobile Transporter, spending about 45 minutes releasing its many launch restraints and removing a small thermal cover from a radiator on the railcar. Then they return to work on the electrical connections for about another hour and a half.

After transferring tools and testing sensors on the side of S0, the last task will be to install the Airlock Spur. The 14-foot beam, fitted with handrails, will stretch from Quest to the forward side of S0, helping future spacewalkers work more efficiently.

Inside the shuttle/station complex, Mission Specialists Lee Morin and Jerry Ross will coach the spacewalkers through the outlined tasks. Shuttle Commander Mike Bloomfield and Pilot Steve Frick will provide photographic and video support during the spacewalk, using Atlantis' robotic arm.

Atlantis' crew was awakened about 3:52 a.m. by the song "All Star," performed by Smash Mouth from the Shrek movie soundtrack. The song was played for Walheim by his family.

Onboard the space station, Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko, Flight Engineer Carl Walz and Bursch were awakened at 3:44 a.m. Both crews are scheduled to begin their sleep period at 7:44 p.m.

Expedition Four Flight Engineer Carl Walz sent commands from a laptop computer to the Mobile Transporter to move off of its launch position on the forward face of the new S-Zero (S0) truss, and at 7:22 a.m., the flatcar began its slow trek to an initial worksite 17 feet down a rail which spans the entire 44 feet of the girder.

It took only a half hour to traverse the distance, but sensitive software in the transporter prevented an automatic latching of the railcar to the worksite. Ground controllers accomplished the latching through a methodical series of commands.

Engineers believe that the subtle effects of weightlessness are causing the railcar to "lift" off its tracks by a microscopic distance, thus interfering with magnetic sensors that tell the transporter its position relative to each worksite. The effect is that the sensors are losing contact with magnetic positioning strips on the truss rail, preventing an automatic latching of the transporter. Manual commanding of the latching is working however, and the system is said to be in excellent working order.

The Mobile Transporter software controls about 20 motors, directing it to travel from one point to another, latch itself down to the truss, and plug itself into a power source. The transporter must latch with about three tons of force to insure a stable platform for the eventual mounting of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. On the next shuttle assembly flight to the ISS in June, a platform called the Mobile Base System will be mounted to the transporter upon which Canadarm 2 will eventually be attached so it can travel the length of a football field to support future assembly of station components.

Late today, the transporter traveled to a second worksite where manual latching commands were again required, then inched back to the first worksite, where the railcar was parked at 5:40 p.m. Central time and manually latched in place for a final time to await the arrival of the Mobile Base System component on the STS-111 mission. In all, the transporter traveled 72 feet from worksite to worksite at a glacial pace of about one inch per second.

Engineers believe a minor software modification may restore the transporter's ability to automatically latch itself to any worksite. All other transporter systems functioned perfectly throughout its initial test.

Atlantis Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith, and Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Walz and Dan Bursch spent the day monitoring the transporter tests and continued the transfer of equipment and supplies from Atlantis to the station.

In addition, about 100 pounds of oxygen and 30 pounds of nitrogen have been transferred from Atlantis to the tanks on the Quest Airlock to support future spacewalk activity.

The fourth and final spacewalk of the flight will be conducted on Tuesday by Ross and Morin beginning around 9:30 a.m. Central time. At the start of the planned 6 ½ hour excursion, Ross and Morin will pivot a 14-foot ladder away from the S-Zero truss for attachment to Quest to act as a pathway for future spacewalkers. They will also install external lights on the Unity module, test microswitches on the sides of the S-Zero truss which will be used to confirm the attachment of future truss segments, troubleshoot a balky bolt on a cable cutting system on the Mobile Transporter and tie down a portion of insulation on one of four navigational antennas on the S-Zero.

The ten Shuttle and Station crew members are scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m. Central time and will be awakened shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday to prepare for the final spacewalk of the mission.

Ground controllers in mission control will command the Mobile Transporter to move up and down the truss three times, testing its computers, drive motors, suspension unit, video and data umbilicals, and the railway itself. The railcar will travel a total of about 71 feet at speeds of 1, 0.4 and 0.1 of an inch per second, stopping at future worksites to test its ability to latch and unlatch itself to the railway.

This is the first time that a software-controlled movable robot has been used on an orbiting vehicle. The Mobile Transporter software controls about 20 motors, directing it to travel from one point to another, latch itself down to the truss, and plug itself into a power source. The Mobile Transporter ultimately will move the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, along the orbiting laboratory's 356-foot Integrated Truss.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 3:48 a.m. to "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf, dedicated to Smith. The station crew - Commander Yury Onufrienko, Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - was awakened at 4:14 a.m.

The crews will continue to transfer equipment between the two spacecraft and will review procedures for the fourth and final spacewalk of the mission, scheduled for Tuesday.

The 10 crewmembers will participate in a news conference with media representatives at NASA centers in Florida and Houston and at Mission Control- Moscow. The event will be carried live on NASA television beginning at 11:47 a.m. CDT. Afterwards, the crews will have a few hours off. Both crews are scheduled to begin their eight-hour sleep period at 7:44 p.m.

Ross and Morin began the fourth and final spacewalk of the STS-110 mission and the 38th devoted to space station construction at 9:29 a.m. Central time, first pivoting a 14-foot beam called the Airlock Spur from the S-Zero truss to the Quest Airlock to provide a quick pathway for future spacewalkers working on truss assembly.

Ross then conducted tests of switches on both sides of the 44-foot long truss to insure they will work properly later this year in confirming the attachment of additional truss segments to the S-Zero. The main truss of the ISS will eventually stretch more than 350 feet, longer than a football field.

The two spacewalking grandfathers pressed ahead to install floodlights on the station's Unity connecting module and the Destiny Laboratory which will provide illumination for future spacewalkers as they move around the expanding outpost.

Ross and Morin then affixed a work platform on the station for future construction work, installed electrical converters and circuit breakers, dressed up a piece of insulation around one of the four navigational antennas on the truss and attached shock absorbers to the new Mobile Transporter railcar. The shock absorbers will prevent vibrations to the station's robotic arm from the future use of carts on the truss which will be used to move spacewalkers from one end of the station to another.

The only tasks not accomplished were the removal of a balky bolt from a backup cable cutting device on one of two umbilical systems for the Mobile Transporter, which was successfully tested on Monday and the installation of a gas analyzer on the truss which proved to be faulty.

The bolt will have no impact on the operation of the flatcar, upon which a Mobile Base System platform will be mounted in June as the ultimate base for the transport of the station's robotic arm up and down the length of the ISS. The gas analyzer was considered the lowest priority of the flight.

With all of their major work completed, Ross and Morin returned to the Quest Airlock and concluded the spacewalk at 4:06 p.m. Central time.

Atlantis Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa and Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch operated the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to move Ross around the ISS during the spacewalk while Morin operated as the "free-floating" spacewalker, tethered to the station to assist Ross in the final tasks of the mission. For Ross, America's most experienced spacewalker, it was his ninth excursion to conduct work in the void of space during his career, totaling 58 hours and 18 minutes of spacewalking time. Only Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev has performed more spacewalks in human spaceflight history. Today's spacewalk was the second for Morin. Rex Walheim and Expedition Four crew members Carl Walz helped choreograph the spacewalk from Atlantis' aft flight deck.

While the spacewalkers went about their work, Shuttle and Station Commanders Mike Bloomfield and Yury Onufrienko, Pilot Steve Frick, and Steve Smith continued their transfer of equipment to and from both Atlantis and the ISS and provided photographic and television support to Ross and Morin.

With all of the objectives having been successfully accomplished for the mating and outfitting of the S-Zero truss to the ISS, the stage is set for Wednesday's final farewells between the two crews and undocking of Atlantis from the station at 1:31 p.m. Central time as the two craft sail some 244 statute miles above the north Atlantic due west of Ireland. Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center early Friday afternoon.

The shuttle crewmembers will begin an eight-hour sleep period tonight at 7:14 p.m. Central time followed thirty minutes later by the station crew. Atlantis' crew will be awakened at 3:14 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for undocking. The station crew will be awakened an hour later.

Work during the 6½-hour spacewalk includes installation a 14-foot beam extending from Quest to the newly installed S-Zero (S0) Truss to help spacewalkers maneuver around the station more efficiently. They will install halogen work lights on the Unity module and the U.S. laboratory, Destiny -- the 40-watt lamps are five times more powerful than standard 40-watt lamps and will shine a 9- by 7-foot elliptical beam of light 20 feet away. The spacewalkers will setup and partially assemble a work platform.

Ross, working from the station's robotic arm, also will install shock absorbers to either side of the Mobile Transporter to provide a barrier and attach point between the railcar and future hand-propelled carts that will be used by spacewalkers.

Morin will deploy an instrument to measure and characterize the radiation environment outside the station. He also will troubleshoot a balky bolt on a redundant cable cutting system on the Mobile Transporter. A successful test run of that railcar concluded late Monday when ground controllers commanded it to latch onto the railway and plug into a power source. The railcar is ready to receive the Mobile Base System during the next shuttle mission, STS-111, giving the station's Canadarm2 points of attachment on the rail-car base capable of moving along the station's Integrated Truss.

Additional tasks include installing handrails on S0, relocating tools for STS-111 spacewalks, adjusting a thermal blanket partly obstructing a GPS antenna on S0, performing photo and video documentation of station components and checking out a gauge that is designed to detect minute amounts of gas in the environment of space.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Steve Smith, Morin, and Ross- was awakened at 3:44 a.m. to "I Am an American," performed by the Purdue University Marching band. It was dedicated to Purdue graduate Ross. The station crew - Commander Yury Onufrienko, Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - was also awakened at 3:44 a.m.

Farewells and closing of the hatches between the spacecraft is set to begin about 10:30 a.m. About 1:30 p.m., Atlantis astronaut Jerry Ross will send commands to release the docking mechanism. The initial separation will be provided by springs that will gently push the shuttle away from the station. When Atlantis is about two feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, Pilot Steve Frick will fire Atlantis' steering jets to begin slowly moving away.

About 45 minutes after undocking, when Atlantis is 450 feet away, Frick will fly the shuttle around the station 1¼ times. The flyaround is set to begin at 2:16 p.m. and will last about an hour. Atlantis will move directly over the station, then behind it, underneath it, and back in front, where the flyaround began. The last quarter-circle brings the shuttle directly above the station. Finally, Frick will fire Atlantis' jets to move away from the station about 3:15 p.m. Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 a.m. CDT Friday.

Atlantis leaves behind the newly installed S-Zero (S0) Truss, the first part of the main truss that will support cooling and power systems essential for the addition of future international laboratories to the station. All of the S0 systems have been operating well since its attachment to the station's U.S. laboratory Destiny on Thursday.

The shuttle also delivered additional supplies and science experiments for the station crew to work with during its final weeks on the station. The Expedition Four crew - Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - is scheduled to return to Earth aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in June.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Frick, Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Steve Smith, Lee Morin, and Ross- was awakened at 3:44 a.m. to "Noah," performed by Frick when he was a teen-ager. The station crew was awakened at 4:14 a.m.

After more than a week of joint operations between the shuttle and station crews, Pilot Steve Frick backed Atlantis away to a distance of about 400 feet in front of the outpost, where he began a 1 1/4 lap flyaround of the ISS, newly equipped with the 27,000 pound S-Zero truss, the first segment of a truss structure which will ultimately expand the station to the length of a football field. Aboard the station, Flight Engineer Dan Bursch rang a ship's bell in the Unity module to mark Atlantis' departure in what has become a tradition.

Finally, at 3:15 p.m., as Atlantis flew directly above the station, Frick fired the shuttle's jets one more time in a separation maneuver to depart the station for good.

Left behind on the ISS are Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Bursch, now in their 133rd day in space and their 131st day on board the outpost.

Also left behind on the station were more than a ton of supplies, almost 200 pounds of oxygen and nitrogen for the station's Quest Airlock, 1,463 pounds of water and the new truss, which will serve as a backbone for future station construction and a power switching station for new solar arrays to be delivered to the ISS next year. Atlantis's week-long visit to the ISS was the 13th shuttle mission devoted to station assembly and resupply.

Earlier today, Commander Mike Bloomfield, Frick and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Steve Smith, Lee Morin and Jerry Ross completed final transfers of logistical supplies to the station and bid farewell to their station counterparts in the Destiny Laboratory. Hatches between the station and the shuttle swung shut at 11:04 a.m. Central time and leak checks were performed to insure that all was in order for the undocking.

As Atlantis' crew turns its attention to preparations for landing at the Kennedy Space Center Friday afternoon, the Expedition Four crew will prepare to button up the ISS temporarily and enter its Soyuz return craft early Saturday for a brief flyover from one docking port to another.

With Onufrienko at the controls, the Soyuz will undock from the station's Zarya nadir docking port at around 4 a.m. Central time Saturday, back out to a distance of about 250 feet and redock to the Pirs Docking Compartment 35 minutes later. That will clear the Zarya docking port for the arrival of a new Soyuz return vehicle and a three-man taxi crew on April 27 for a week-long visit.

Both Atlantis and the International Space Station are in excellent shape following their joint mission. Atlantis' astronauts are scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at 6:44 p.m. Central time and will be awakened just before 3 a.m. Thursday for what is expected to be their final full day in orbit.

Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick and Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa activated one of three hydraulic power units on Atlantis and tested all of the shuttle's aerosurfaces to ensure that Atlantis will have full controllability during its high-speed return to Earth Friday. Bloomfield and Frick then test-fired Atlantis' steering jets, which were declared ready to support entry and landing.

Bloomfield, Frick and Ochoa joined crewmates Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith to stow all of the equipment they have used over the past 10 days and parked the shuttle's KU-band dish antenna in preparation for the closing of Atlantis' cargo bay doors early Friday morning.

Atlantis has two landing opportunities at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday. The first begins with the firing of Atlantis' braking rockets at 10:20 a.m. Central time, enabling the shuttle to drop out of orbit for its hour-long descent back to Earth and a touchdown on the 3-mile long Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC at 11:26 a.m. Central time. In the unlikely event weather prevents a landing on the first opportunity, a second opportunity is available for a Florida landing, beginning with the deorbit burn of the orbital maneuvering system engines on Atlantis at 11:59 a.m. Central time, resulting in a landing at KSC at 1:03 p.m. Central time.

The weather forecast calls for very favorable conditions for landing at the Florida spaceport Friday, with only scattered clouds and light winds expected. As a result, the backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not called up for support Friday. Atlantis has enough consumables to stay in orbit, if necessary, until Monday.

Meanwhile, on board the ISS, Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch spent a relatively quiet day in the wake of a week of joint operations with Atlantis' crew to install and activate the S-Zero (S0) truss and the Mobile Transporter railcar on the complex. Both of the new components continue to be checked out and are said to be in excellent shape.

Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch will spend part of the day Friday deactivating some of the ISS systems as they prepare to board their Soyuz return vehicle early Saturday for a brief flyover from its current docking location at the nadir port of the Zarya module to the Pirs Docking compartment. The relocation of the Soyuz, which is expected to take about 35 minutes, will begin with undocking Saturday at 4:02 a.m. Central time (902 GMT). Coverage of the operation on NASA Television begins at 3 a.m. Central time (800 GMT).

The movement of the Soyuz 3 vehicle from Zarya to Pirs opens the Zarya port for the arrival of a new Soyuz 4 craft on April 27 by a three-man "taxi" crew comprised of Commander Yuri Gidzenko, formerly of the Expedition One crew, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African spaceflight participant Mark Shuttleworth. They will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 25 and will spend about a week in joint operations with the Expedition Four crew before departing from Pirs in the Soyuz 3 craft on the night of May 4.

The crew of Atlantis was scheduled to begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 6:14 p.m. today, and will be awakened just after 2 a.m. Friday to prepare for entry and landing. All shuttle and ISS systems are operating normally.

If Atlantis lands on Friday, the STS-110 astronauts will return home to Ellington Field in Houston near the Johnson Space Center at around 1 p.m. Central time Saturday.

The crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 2:44 a.m. to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," performed by Bloomfield's daughter.

Bloomfield, Frick and Ochoa will test fire the reaction control system jets and flight control surfaces that will be used to guide Atlantis through the atmosphere on Friday morning. Atlantis is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:26 a.m. CDT Friday where preliminary weather forecasts for landing are favorable.

Crewmembers will take a break from their on orbit work today to talk with media representatives from CNN, WDIV-TV in Detroit and the Fox News Network this morning in an interview beginning at 9:14

Atlantis' orbital maneuvering jets will be fired twice today. Once will be for scientists to look at the exhaust's effects on radar echoes and effects of orbital kinetic energy on the ionosphere. The other firing will reduce the cross range for Friday's backup landing opportunity in Florida. Walheim, Morin, Ross and Smith will continue to pack away equipment and supplies onboard the shuttle and prepare the cabin for landing.

On board the International Space Station the Expedition 4 crew - Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz - was awakened at 3 a.m. They are preparing for their next visitors, a Soyuz taxi crew slated to arrive April 27. Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch, will board the current Soyuz spacecraft and move it from its location on the Zarya docking port to the Pirs docking compartment on Saturday to make room for the replacement Soyuz.

The crew of Atlantis will begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 6:14 p.m. today, waking just after 2 a.m. Friday to prepare for reentry and landing of Atlantis concluding a successful mission to the station.

Atlantis has two landing opportunities at KSC today. The first begins with the firing of Atlantis' braking rockets at 10:20 a.m. and a landing at 11:26 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 11:59 a.m. and a landing at KSC at 1:03 p.m. CDT. Forecasts call for favorable weather for landing in Florida Friday, with only scattered clouds expected. The backup-landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not called up today. Atlantis has enough consumables to stay in orbit until Monday.

The crew of Atlantis - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick, and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa, Rex Walheim, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 2:21 a.m. by the song "Message in a Bottle," performed by The Police.

Meanwhile, aboard the ISS, Expedition 4 Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch monitored station systems this morning during another reboost of the orbiting laboratory. The Progress cargo ship's jets were fired to raise the station's altitude a little more than half a mile. During the STS-110 mission, Atlantis did three station reboosts, totaling about six miles.

The station crew also will deactivate some ISS systems today to prepare to board the Soyuz return vehicle early Saturday for its 35-minute move from the nadir port of the Zarya module to the Pirs Docking compartment. The relocation of the Soyuz will begin with undocking Saturday at 4:02 a.m. Coverage on NASA Television begins at 3 a.m.

The move frees the Zarya port for the arrival of a new Soyuz 4 craft on April 27 with a three-man "taxi" crew comprised of Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African spaceflight participant Mark Shuttleworth. They will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 25 and will spend about a week aboard the station before departing in the Soyuz 3 craft May 4.

Commander Mike Bloomfield eased Atlantis to a textbook landing on runway 3-3 at the Florida spaceport at 11:27 a.m. Central time under clear skies and light winds. Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith completed an 11-day flight in which four spacewalks were conducted to deliver and activate the new S-Zero (S0) girder to the ISS, which will serve as the centerpiece for a truss that will eventually span the length of a football field. Solar arrays will be mounted on the truss as well as new station modules. The S-Zero component will also serve as a switching station for electricity from the station's solar arrays to ISS elements. In addition, the truss is a base for the first rail system in space through the use of its Mobile Transporter and the upcoming Mobile Base System to be delivered to the ISS in June on which the station's robotic arm will be affixed to move up and down the length of the outpost.

The shuttle crewmembers were scheduled to depart Atlantis about an hour after landing to be driven back to the crew quarters at KSC for medical tests and reunions with their families.

The STS-110 astronauts will return home to Hangar 990 at Ellington Field in Houston near the Johnson Space Center at around 1 p.m. Central time Saturday for a welcome home ceremony. The public is invited to attend.

Meanwhile, aboard the ISS, Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch spent the day configuring station systems for the temporary closure of the complex early Saturday in advance of a short departure in their Soyuz return vehicle and a relocation of the craft to another docking port.

Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch will board their Soyuz return vehicle early Saturday for a brief flyover from its current docking location at the nadir port of the Zarya module to the Pirs Docking compartment. The relocation of the Soyuz, which is expected to take about 35 minutes, will begin with undocking Saturday at 4:02 a.m. Central time (902 GMT). Coverage of the operation on NASA Television begins at 3 a.m. Central time (800 GMT).

The movement of the Soyuz 3 vehicle from Zarya to Pirs opens the Zarya port for the arrival of a new Soyuz 4 craft on April 27 by a three-man "taxi" crew comprised of Commander Yuri Gidzenko, who served on the first resident crew of the ISS, Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African spaceflight participant Mark Shuttleworth. They will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 25 and will spend about a week in joint operations with the Expedition Four crew before departing from Pirs in the Soyuz 3 craft on the night of May 4.

Major systems aboard the ISS continue to function well as the station orbits at an average altitude of about 247 statute miles.