Wetherbee Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Flushing, New York, USA. US Navy US Navy

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 10 - 1984. Inactive Entered space service: 23 May 1984. Left space service: 3 January 2005. Number of Flights: 6.00. Total Time: 66.43 days.

NAME: James D. Wetherbee (Commander, USN)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born November 27, 1952, in Flushing, New York. Considers Huntington Station, New York, his hometown. Married to the former Robin DeVore Platt of Jacksonville, Florida. They have two children. He enjoys tennis, skiing, softball, running, and music. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dana A. Wetherbee, reside in Huntington Station, New York. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Platt, Jr., reside in Jacksonville, Florida.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Holy Family Diocesan High School, South Huntington, New York, in 1970; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1974.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Distinguished Flying Cross; Navy Achievement Medal; two Meritorious Unit Commendations.

EXPERIENCE:

Wetherbee received his commission in the United States Navy in 1975 and was designated a naval aviator in December 1976. After training in the A-7E, he was assigned to Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72) from August 1977 to November 1980 aboard the USS John F. Kennedy and logged 125 night carrier landings. After attending the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1981 he was assigned to the Systems Engineering Test Directorate. He was a project officer and test pilot for the weapons delivery system and avionics integration for the F/A-18 aircraft. Subsequently assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 132 (VFA-132), Wetherbee flew operationally in the F/A-18 from January 1984 until his selection for the astronaut candidate program. He has logged over 4,200 hours flying time and 345 carrier landings in 20 different types of aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in May 1984, Wetherbee became an astronaut in June 1985. A veteran of three space flights, Wetherbee has logged over 696 hours in space. He was the pilot on STS-32 in 1990, and was the mission commander on STS-52 in 1992 and STS-63 in 1995. From February to December 1996, Wetherbee served as Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center. Wetherbee will command an international crew on STS-86, NASA's seventh Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Launch is scheduled for September 1997.

STS-32 Columbia (January 9-20, 1990) saw the successful deployment of the Syncom IV-F5 satellite, and retrieval of the 21,400-pound Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) using the remote manipulator system (RMS). The crew also operated a variety of middeck experiments and conducted numerous medical test objectives, including in-flight aerobic exercise and muscle performance to evaluate human adaptation to extended duration missions. Mission duration was 261 hours, 01 minute, 38 seconds.

STS-52 Columbia (October 22 to November 1, 1992) successfully deployed the Laser Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS), a joint Italian-American project. The crew also operated the first U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP) with French and American experiments, and successfully completed the initial flight tests of the Canadian-built Space Vision System (SVS). Mission duration was 236 hours, 56 minutes, 13 seconds.

STS-63 Discovery (February 2-11, 1995), was the first flight of the new joint Russian-American Space Program. Mission highlights included the rendezvous with the Russian Space Station, Mir, operation of Spacehab, and the deployment and retrieval of Spartan 204. The mission was accomplished in 129 orbits, travelling over 2.9 million miles in 198 hours, 29 minutes.

• 9 January 1990 Flight: STS-32. Flight Up: STS-32. Flight Back: STS-32. Flight Time: 10.88 days.

• 22 October 1992 Flight: STS-52. Flight Up: STS-52. Flight Back: STS-52. Flight Time: 9.87 days.

• 3 February 1995 Flight: STS-63. Flight Up: STS-63. Flight Back: STS-63. Flight Time: 8.27 days.

• 26 September 1997 Flight: STS-86. Flight Up: STS-86. Flight Back: STS-86. Flight Time: 10.81 days.

• 8 March 2001 Flight: STS-102. Flight Up: STS-102. Flight Back: STS-102. Flight Time: 12.83 days.

• 24 November 2002 Flight: STS-113. Flight Up: STS-113. Flight Back: STS-113. Flight Time: 13.78 days.

23 May 1984 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 10 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..

Atlantis undocked from Mir at 17:28 GMT on October 3 and conducted a flyaround focused on the damaged Spektr Module to determine the location of the puncture in its hull. The Mir crew pumped air into the Spektr Module using a pressure regulator valve, and the Shuttle crew observed evidence that, as expected, the leak seemed to be located at the base of the damaged solar panel. Final separation of Atlantis from Mir took place around 20:28 GMT. After two landing attempts were waved off on October 5 due to heavy cloud cover, the crew fired the engines to deorbit at 20:47 GMT on October 6 and landed at Kennedy Space Center at 21:55.

Discovery was launched on mission STS-102 (Space Station flight 5A.1) into an initial 60 x 222 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The mission was delivery of supplies and equipment, and changeout of the Expedition One and Expedition Two station crews. STS-102 carried the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), built by Alenia Spazio (Torino), to the International Space Station. The 6.4 m x 4.6 m cylindrical MPLM was a descendant of the Spacelab long modules. Also carried was a Spacehab/Energia unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier with LCA/MTSAS-A, RU, and PFCS. A sidewall adapter beam with two GAS canisters (G-783 and WSVFM) was also on board. WSVFM measured vibration during launch. Another adapter beam, probably at the rear of the payload bay, carried SEM-9. SEM-9 and G-783 contained high school microgravity experiments.

Leonardo carried 16 'racks' of equipment, including the Human Research Facility Rack (Rack 13) which allowed the astronauts to do extensive medical experiments, the CHeCS Rack (28), the DDCU-1 and DDCU-2 racks (7 and 9), the Avionics-3 (Rack 6), and the MSS Avionics/Lab (Rack 11) and Avionics/Cupola (Rack 12) racks for a total of 7 equipment racks to be installed on Destiny. Three Resupply Stowage Racks (50, 51, 52) and four Resupply Stowage Platforms (180, 181, 182 and 188) remained installed on Leonardo, with their equipment bags being individually transferred to the Station. System Racks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were already on Destiny together with stowage racks 110 through 117. Each rack had a mass of 150-300 kg.

The orbiter fired its OMS engines at 1221 GMT to raise the orbit to 185 x 219 km. Discovery docked with the PMA-2 port on the Station at 0639 GMT on March 10. The LCA (Lab Cradle Assembly) was attached to Destiny's +Z side during an EVA. It was to be used on the next mission to temporarily place a Spacelab pallet on Destiny during installation of the Station's robot arm. Later, it would be the site for the main Station truss, beginning with segment S0.

The PMA-3, on Unity at the -Z nadir position, had to be moved to the port position to make room for Leonardo. An external stowage platform was attached to Destiny and the External Stowage Platform and the PFCS Pump Flow Control System were added to the port aft trunnion on Destiny. A rigid umbilical (RU) was connected to the PDGF grapple fixture on Destiny to support the Station's future robot arm. Leonardo was docked to Unity at -Z for a while so that its cargo could be transferred to the station easily; it was then be returned to the payload bay and brought back to earth.

At 0232 GMT on March 19 command of ISS was transferred to Expedition 2 and the hatches were closed. Discovery undocked at 0432 GMT and flew once around the station before departing at 0548 GMT. ISS mass after undocking was 115527 kg. The OMS engines fired for the deorbit burn at 0625 GMT on March 21, and Discovery touched down on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0731 GMT.

In preparation for that rendezvous and docking, Discovery's crew was awakened at 6:42 p.m. Thursday to begin its first full day on orbit. The wakeup song from Mission Control was "Living The Life" by the Rockit Scientists, a group of training division instructors with whom shuttle Commander Jim Wetherbee plays drums from time to time.

After wakeup, the crew of four shuttle and three station expedition crewmembers got busy checking out systems and equipment to assist with mission objectives, including the robotic arm, the two spacesuits that will be worn for the first Extravehicular Activity (EVA), and the rendezvous tools to assist with the final hours of Discovery's approach and docking to the station.

The STS-102 crew is made up of Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly, Flight Engineer Paul Richards and Mission Specialist Andy Thomas. The Expedition Two crew consists of Russian Commander Yury Usachev, and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms.

Usachev, Voss and Helms, will replace Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, who shortly will wrap up a 4-½ month stay aboard the station and return home aboard Discovery.

With a docking test behind it, the Expedition One crew turns its attention to final stowage in preparation for Discovery's arrival.

After Friday's late night docking, the astronauts will perform two space walks outside the ISS to continue the process of outfitting the Destiny research laboratory. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian Space Agency, will be attached to the ISS late Sunday. It is filled with nearly five tons of equipment, including systems and science racks that will be transferred to Destiny.

The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko, who will swap places as Station and Shuttle crewmembers early Saturday within hours after docking.

As of 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Discovery trailed the station by about 7,000 miles, closing that distance at a rate of 700 miles each orbit of the Earth, or every 90 minutes. Simultaneously, the ISS is in good shape and ready to support the shuttle's arrival Friday.

Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Paul Richards, Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-B at 5:42 a.m. Central time, lighting up the crystal clear central Florida skies as they began their pursuit of the international complex. Usachev, Voss and Helms, who make up the second Expeditionary crew to the ISS, will replace Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, who were in their 128th day in space and their 126th day aboard the Station as Discovery began its pursuit.

At the time of launch, the three Expedition One crewmembers aboard the ISS were passing over the south Pacific, about 1000 statute miles south of Perth, Australia. Shortly after Discovery reached orbit, a videotape of the Shuttle launch was uplinked to the Station crew on a laptop computer onboard.

Less than nine minutes after liftoff, Discovery's astronauts settled into orbit and went to work to prepare the Shuttle's systems for their planned 12-day mission. The first major task on the flight plan was to open Discovery's cargo bay doors prior to receiving a "go" for orbital operations from Ascent Flight Director Wayne Hale. The astronauts are expected to set up computers and flight deck gear before beginning an eight-hour sleep period at 10:42 a.m. Central time. The Shuttle crew will be awakened at 6:42 p.m. Thursday to begin its first full day in space.

With this morning's successful launch behind them, Discovery's astronauts will turn their attention to their chase of the International Space Station, performing several firings of the ship's jet thrusters over the next 40 hours to set up a docking with the outpost on Friday night just before midnight Central time. Over the ensuing week, the crew will perform two space walks outside the ISS as they help to outfit the recently installed Destiny research laboratory. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian Space Agency, will be attached to the ISS early next week, loaded with almost five tons of equipment, and systems and science racks for transfer to Destiny.

The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko swapping roles as Station and Shuttle crewmembers early Saturday within hours after docking.

Discovery is circling the Earth in excellent shape as it flies in an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator. The International Space Station continues to sail around the Earth with no significant systems issues being tracked by ISS flight controllers.

The shuttle crew was awakened with the Russian song "Vashe Blagorodiye," a song from a movie entitled "White Sun of the Desert" that is traditionally watched by cosmonauts the night before a launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The song was played for Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, who is spending his last day aboard Discovery before beginning a handover of station command with Expedition One crewmember Yuri Gidzenko.

All activities are on track for a docking of Discovery to the station at 11:34 p.m. The final phase of Discovery's rendezvous with the station was to begin with a Terminal Initiation (TI) engine firing by the shuttle at 9:13 p.m. with Discovery about 50,000 feet behind the station. The TI burn puts the shuttle on course to intercept the station during the next orbit of Earth. At about 10:30 p.m., as Discovery reaches a point about a half-mile below the complex, Commander Jim Wetherbee will take over manual control of the approach. Wetherbee will fly Discovery to a position about 300 feet in front of the station, then move in toward a docking port attached to the end of the station's Destiny Laboratory.

During the docking, Pilot Jim Kelly will help control Discovery's approach as astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Richards manage the shuttle's docking mechanism and rendezvous tools. Using a view from a camera mounted in the center of Discovery's docking mechanism, Wetherbee will center the docking ports of the two spacecraft precisely, double-checking the alignment 30 feet out. The final approach will be at a relative velocity of one-tenth of a foot per second.

When Discovery makes contact with the station's docking port on Destiny, latches will automatically connect the two spacecraft as they fly high off the east coast of Brazil. Once relative motion between the spacecraft stops, Thomas will retract the docking ring on Discovery's mechanism, closing latches to firmly secure the shuttle to the station. The hatches between the shuttle and station are to be opened about two hours later at 1:42 a.m. Saturday.

The crew will begin transferring crews, equipment and supplies immediately. The first crew exchange is planned to allow Usachev to be aboard the station jointly with Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd for as long as possible to facilitate the change of leadership. The hatches will be closed again at 4:37 a.m. Saturday so the shuttle crew can prepare for the first of two planned spacewalks, a sojourn by astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms set to begin Saturday evening.

The stage is set for the eighth shuttle docking to the ISS with both spacecraft in good shape.

Overnight, the STS-102 astronauts Jim Wetherbee, Jim Kelly, Paul Richards and Andy Thomas, and Expedition 2 crew members Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms installed and checked out a targeting camera, extended the orbiter docking system's spring-loaded docking ring and unpacked rendezvous tools such as laptop computers and hand-held range-finders. They are scheduled to begin an abbreviated seven-hour sleep period at 9:42 a.m. today. When the crew wakes up at 4:42 p.m. to begin their final rendezvous activities, Discovery will be about 40 miles behind and slightly below the ISS.

About 9:15 p.m., at a distance of about nine miles behind the station, Wetherbee will fire Discovery's engines in a Terminal Initiation (Ti) burn, allowing the shuttle to close in, using its rendezvous radar system to track distance and approach speed. Once Discovery is about half a mile below the station, Wetherbee will take over manual control. Wetherbee will fly Discovery slowly to a point about 600 feet directly below the station, then move up and in front of the orbiting outpost. Closing in and stopping a little more than 300 feet directly in front of the station, Kelly will help control Discovery's approach as Thomas and Richards manage the shuttle's docking mechanism and rendezvous tools. Using a view from a camera mounted in the center of Discovery's docking mechanism, Wetherbee will center the docking ports of the two spacecraft precisely, double-checking the alignment 30 feet out. The final approach will be at a relative velocity of one-tenth of a foot per second.

When Discovery makes contact with Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 on the end of the Destiny module, latches will automatically attach the two spacecraft together. Once relative motion between the spacecraft stops, Thomas will retract the docking ring on Discovery's mechanism, closing latches to firmly secure the shuttle to the station

Early this morning, Wetherbee and Usachev received a congratulatory call from Sergio De Julio, president of the Italian Space Agency responsible for developing the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Leonardo, that holds nearly five tons of equipment to be transferred to the station. Leonardo will be temporarily attached to the station during the first of two scheduled space walks on Saturday, to allow the transfer of the equipment and supplies housed inside.

Meanwhile, on board the ISS, Expedition 1 Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev made last-minute preparations for the arrival of their temporary guests and long-term replacements. The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko, who will swap places as Station and Shuttle crew members early Saturday within hours after docking.

"You have a great looking ship there, Captain Shepherd," Wetherbee radioed to the station.

The linkup, which occurred as the two spacecraft were flying above the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of New Zealand, was delayed by about an hour when one of the station's P-6 solar arrays failed to register as being properly feathered to avoid damage from the shuttle steering jet plumes. Wetherbee hovered 400 feet away from the Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 port as he awaited the array latch verification and proper lighting conditions for his final approach.

Station flight controllers and crew members also teamed up to overcome a shuttle communications problem that occurred just after docking. Downlinked signals could not be relayed from the White Sands Ground Station in New Mexico to Houston for about 34 minutes, but messages were passed on to the shuttle crew via the space station control room and a radio link between the station and shuttle.

After hooks and latches created a secure bond, the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 2:51 a.m. CST, beginning eight days of docked operations. The eighth shuttle mission to the station will feature the first crew exchange aboard the multinational orbiting outpost and the delivery of the first research experiment package for the Destiny laboratory module.

Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev was the first to join Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev aboard the station. He was followed closely by Wetherbee, Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, and visiting shuttle astronauts Jim Kelly, Andy Thomas and Paul Richards. All 10 crew members spent several minutes greeting each other in the spacious Destiny module.

The arrival of Discovery signaled the beginning of the end of the Expedition One crew's four and a half month stay onboard the International Space Station. The first crew members to trade places Saturday morning were Usachev and Gidzenko. Voss and Krikalev will switch out on Sunday. Shepherd won't trade his personalized Soyuz seat liner for Helms' until Tuesday evening, allowing almost a week for the the two commanders to exchange notes. Shepherd remains in control of expedition operations until the hatches close for the final time next Saturday.

The hatches between the two spacecraft were to be closed temporarily about 5:45 a.m. CST Saturday so that preparations for STS-102's first space walk by Helms and Voss can begin on time at 10:47 p.m. CST Saturday. That space walk will involve preparations for berthing of the Leonardo "moving van," or Multipurpose Logisitics Module to the Destiny module.

The orbiting complex is operating in fine shape at an altitude of 235 statute miles.

The pair, destined to become members of the Expedition Two crew aboard the station later in the mission, began the 17th station assembly space walk at 11:12 p.m. CST Saturday. Inside Discovery, Paul Richards choreographed their activities and served as liaison with Mission Control.

The space walkers were delayed early in their excursion when a portable foot restraint attachment device became untethered, and Voss had to retrieve a spare from its storage location on the outside of the station's Unity module.

Helms and Voss successfully prepared Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 for repositioning from Unity's Earth-facing berth to its port-side berth to make room for Leonardo, the Italian Space Agency-built Multipurpose Logistics Module. They disconnected eight cables and removed an Early Communications System antenna from the left-side Common Berthing Mechanism so that shuttle robotic arm operator Andy Thomas could put the mating adapter in its place, freeing up the Earth-facing berthing port for Leonardo.

The space walkers also removed a Lab Cradle Assembly from the cargo bay and installed it on the side of the Destiny laboratory module, where it will form the base for station robotic arm to be launched on STS-100 in mid-April. Because of the early delay, they were instructed to defer power and data cable connections for the cradle until Monday's scheduled space walk by Richards and Thomas. Voss and Helms also installed a cable tray to Destiny for later use by the station's robot arm.

The pair reentered Discovery's airlock early Sunday and waited for Thomas to maneuver the docking port to its new location, but remained at the ready to assist if needed. After Commander Jim Wetherbee drove the Common Berthing Mechanism latches home and secured the docking port at 7:43 a.m., the airlock was repressurized, ending the space walk at 8:08 a.m. Sunday after 8 hours 56 minutes, making it the longest space walk in Shuttle history. The space walk brings the total exterior construction time on the station to 117 hours 39 minutes over the course of 17 space walks, and the total EVA time in Shuttle program history to 386 hours, 15 minutes over 61 separate space walks.

Meanwhile aboard the station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev began a handover of duties from Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, with Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev also still on board. The hatches between Discovery and the International Space Station are to be reopened shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday, as the crew begins the fifth day of the mission.

Both crews are scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at 9:42 a.m. central time, awakening at 5:42 p.m. Discovery and the station are in excellent condition in an orbit of about 235 statute miles.

Operating Discovery's robotic arm, Thomas grappled the "crate" full of equipment racks and supplies at 9:37 p.m. Sunday, lifting it out of the shuttle's cargo bay at 10:10 p.m. Over the course of the next two hours, he slowly and deliberately moved the 11-ton module into place. At 12:02 a.m. today, STS-102 Commander Jim Wetherbee commanded the latches on the station's Earth-facing Common Berthing Mechanism to establish a tight seal with the Leonardo module.

The berthing of Leonardo to Unity took slightly longer than planned while Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd rerouted video from the Centerline Berthing Camera System to the television monitors on the shuttle's aft flight deck so that Thomas could use the view looking directly out the berthing port at its corresponding opening on Leonardo. There also was a delay in activating the cargo carrier while Shepherd connected a Unity-to-Destiny power cable that provides electricity to systems inside Leonardo. Shepherd briefly entered the Leonardo module at 5:51 a.m. to retrieve the cable. He took it to the vestibule between the U.S. laboratory and Unity and made the required connections. Leonardo carries more than five tons of equipment and experiments that will be unloaded during the next few days before it is again detached from the station and stowed aboard Discovery to return to Earth.

The shuttle and station crews rejoined each other at 9:15 p.m. Sunday when the hatches separating them during the previous day's record-setting 8-hour, 56-minute space walk were reopened. With the hatches open, Jim Voss - the station's newest resident after a 10:45 p.m. swap-out with Sergei Krikalev - joined Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd and Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev on board the station. Only one more crew swap remains to complete the station's change of watch. Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd will trade places with Expedition Two Flight Engineer Susan Helms on Tuesday. The hatches were closed once again at 5:39 a.m. today after 8 hours, 24 minutes. So far, the hatches between the shuttle and station have been open for a total of 10 hours, 27 minutes.

Meanwhile mission specialists Paul Richards and Thomas, with help from Helms, checked out the space suits they will wear for a planned 6-hour, 30-minute space walk scheduled to begin at 10:47 p.m. Monday. Richards and Thomas will finish up a task that was deferred from the first space walk, connecting cables on the Lab Cradle Assembly that will be the mounting location for the station's robotic arm when it arrives next month. Next, they'll install an External Stowage Platform on the hull of Destiny and hook up cables that will provide heater power to spare equipment that will be stored there. They'll place the first of such spares, a Pump and Flow Control Subassembly that regulates ammonia coolant flow, on the platform. The pair also will inspect the Floating Potential Probe that is designed to measure the electrical charge on the outside of the station but has not been providing data since being temporarily shut down for repositioning of the station's Soyuz escape vehicle in February.

Discovery and the International Space Station remain in excellent condition at an altitude of about 235 statute miles.

With help from shuttle robotic arm operator Jim Kelly and space walk choreographer Susan Helms, Richards and Thomas installed a stowage platform for spare station parts and attached a spare ammonia coolant pump to the platform. They also finished connecting several cables put in place by Astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms during their nearly nine-hour-long space walk Sunday. The cables, on the exterior of the Destiny laboratory module, will provide power and control of the station's Canadian-built robotic arm. Known as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, the arm will be delivered and installed by the STS-100 crew in April.

Commander Jim Wetherbee deactivated and then reactivated Leonardo's DC-to-DC power converters and checked out the Lab Cradle Assembly, installed during the first space walk, which eventually will be used to connect the station's large truss structure to Destiny's hull.

Richards and Thomas also scaled the station to the top of its 240-foot-wide solar arrays and were successful in engaging a fourth latch for the port-side array's structural brace. Several other get-ahead tasks also were accomplished during the space walk, including a check of a Unity module heater connection and inspection of an exterior experiment called the Floating Potential Probe that has been operating intermittently. The space walkers reported they did not see any status lights on the probe; investigators on the ground will use that information to continue troubleshooting.

"Well, Andy, we were on top of the world there for a while," Richards said as the pair began returning to the airlock. "Yes, we were," Thomas replied.

The second and final planned space walk of the mission began at 11:23 p.m. Monday, and concluded at 5:44 a.m. Tuesday. The 6-hour, 21-minute space walk brings the total exterior construction time on the station to 124 hours over the course of 18 space walks, and the total EVA time in shuttle program history to 392 hours, 36 minutes over 62 separate space walks.

As Richards and Thomas worked outside the station, returning Expedition One Cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev - now members of the Discovery crew - exercised inside the shuttle to help prepare their bodies for the return to Earth after four and a half months in orbit.

Inside the station, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, and Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineer Jim Voss continued to unload the Leonardo logistics module. Among the five tons of gear being transferred is the first station research rack, the Human Research Facility, which will be installed inside Destiny this evening.

Discovery's crew will go to bed at 9:42 a.m. CST, and will get an extra half-hour of sleep before being awakened at 6:12 p.m. All station and shuttle systems are working well.

Discovery's crew was awakened this evening for the seventh day of the mission with the song "Free Fallin" by Tom Petty, a favorite of astronaut Susan Helms who today will take up official residence on the station as a member of the outpost's second crew. She will trade places with first expedition Commander Bill Shepherd, who is completing four and a half months aboard the complex. Though the crew transfer is complete tonight, the official end of the Expedition One increment occurs on Saturday when Discovery departs the ISS.

Usachev, Helms and Jim Voss are beginning a four-month stay in space. Shepherd, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev and Pilot Yuri Gidzenko have brought the station to life as members of the inaugural crew, launched Oct. 31, 2000, aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan. Both the first and second station crews will have several hours set aside today to compare notes and hand over duties.

The crews are ahead of schedule in unloading the Leonardo logistics module, with all seven systems racks - equipment that includes electronics, communications gear, experiments and medical facilities - already moved to the station's Destiny Laboratory. Included among those racks is the first major piece of station science equipment, called the Human Research Facility, which will study the effects of weightlessness on the human body. They will continue unloading supplies from the Italian Space Agency-developed cargo carrier today.

Helms, a Portland, Oregon, native, Usachev, Voss and Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee will take a brief break from their work just after midnight for an interview with three Portland-area television stations.

Discovery and the International Space Station remain in excellent condition, orbiting Earth once every 92 minutes.

The crews will spend today packing trash and unneeded equipment as well as luggage for the returning station crew in the Leonardo logistics module. They also will have some time off to rest after a busy week spent in space so far. The station crews also will continue comparing notes and handing over duties aboard the scientific outpost. During the handover activities, Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms will begin a thorough checkout of the robotic workstation inside the Destiny Laboratory. It will be used to operate the station's Canadian-built remote manipulator system upon its arrival on the next shuttle mission next month.

The crews were awakened today with the song "Should I Stay, or Should I Go?" performed by The Clash, played for returning International Space Station Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd from his wife, Beth.

Early this morning, near the end of the crew's seventh day in orbit, Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee performed a reboost of the station and shuttle a day earlier than originally planned to ensure that the complex would remain clear of a piece of spacewalking equipment that floated free during the mission's first spacewalk. The approximately 50-minute long reboost, performed by gentle, repeated firings of Discovery's smallest steering jets, raised the station's and shuttle's orbit by almost two and half statute miles, keeping the complex well away from the lost foot restraint. Two more reboosts for the station are planned to take place later in the flight as originally scheduled for the mission.

Several crewmembers will take breaks from their work tonight to speak with media and students. At 2:17 a.m. Thursday, Wetherbee and Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly will field questions from three media from the Burlington, Iowa, area, Kelly's hometown. At 3:40 a.m., the crew is expected to send a message honoring the 75th anniversary of rocketry. Two hours later at 5:40 a.m., Wetherbee, Shepherd, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, and Discovery astronaut Andy Thomas will field questions from school children in Dundee, Scotland.

Discovery and the International Space Station remain in excellent condition in an orbit with a high point of 243 statute miles and a low point of 230 statute miles.

Helms was the third and final Expedition Two crew member to make the move, following Commander Yury Usachev and fellow Flight Engineer Jim Voss. Helms traded places with Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, who now joins Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev as a member of the STS-102 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Though the crew transfer is complete, the official end of the Expedition One increment will occur Saturday when Discovery undocks at 9:54 p.m. CST.

Just after completing the transfer, Helms, who calls Portland, Oregon, home, floated into an interview with three Portland-area television stations wearing her Sokol space suit, which she would use in the unlikely event the crew needed to return home in the Soyuz capsule. The Expedition Two crew is scheduled to return home aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in July following the second station crew exchange.

The hatches between Discovery and the station remain open and cargo transfer activities continue ahead of schedule. More than 70 percent of the equipment and supplies already has been moved from the Italian-built Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module into the station. All seven systems racks - equipment that includes electronics, communications gear, experiments and medical facilities - already are in the Destiny laboratory. Included among those racks is the first major piece of station science equipment, called the Human Research Facility, which will study the effects of weightlessness on the human body. The remaining cargo to be transferred consists of supplies in soft-sided transfer bags.

Commander Jim Wetherbee also conducted two tests using the shuttle's steering jets, looking at the potential for using the shuttle's primary reaction control system thrusters to control station attitude and at the optimum method for reboosting the station using those jets. Wetherbee also set up the shuttle's autopilot to reboost the station overnight, eventually raising the station's altitude by about 8.5 statute miles.

Both crews begin their sleep periods at 9:42 a.m. today. They will be awakened at 5:42 p.m. Wednesday.

On Saturday, after two more days of cargo transfers and the return of the Leonardo module to the shuttle's cargo bay, the crews are scheduled to exchange farewells and close the hatches at 7:12 p.m. CST.

Discovery and the International Space Station remain in excellent condition, orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 235 statute miles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discovery and the International Space Station are in excellent condition as they circle the Earth once every 92 minutes.

Lead Flight Director John Shannon said shuttle and station managers decided to extend the mission to allow ground controllers more time to analyze the placement and weight distribution of items the crew is sending home aboard the Leonardo Module. He said the decision also reflects added flexibility in station-era timelines, and the availability of sufficient stores of fuel and life-supporting consumables on board. Shannon said the crews, which had been working hard to complete the cargo transfers according to the original schedule, appeared more relaxed after receiving the news about the extension.

The Italian-built Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module now will be unberthed from the station and nestled back in Discovery's payload bay at 1:17 a.m. CST Sunday. Discovery will undock from the station about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and spend Monday stowing equipment and preparing for a return trip to Earth. With a return to the Kennedy Space Center at 11:55 p.m. CST Tuesday (12:55 a.m. EST Wednesday), Discovery will have spent almost 13 days in orbit, nine of them docked to the station.

Commander Jim Wetherbee joined the rest of his Discovery crew, the returning Expedition One crew and the Expedition Two crew in the station's Destiny Module as they answered questions from reporters during the traditional in-flight news conference. The briefing included queries from reporters in Texas, Florida, Alabama and Moscow and covered subjects ranging from whether the Expedition One crew is looking forward to its return to Earth to whether its astronauts and cosmonauts would relish another long-duration stay at the outpost.

"We basically put the space station in commission," said Bill Shepherd, who moved to the Discovery crew Wednesday. "We have taken something that was an uninhabited outpost, and we now have a fully functional station where the next crew can do research. I think that's the substance of our mission." Although Shepherd said he would be happy to return home to his family, he wasn't as sure about returning to Earth gravity. "To be honest," he said, "I'm not that anxious to see what it's going to be like."

Following a second hour-long reboost of the station, the complex is now orbiting at an altitude of about 237 statute miles.

The crew was awakened to the Irish song "The Rising of the Moon" performed by The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem, selected for Discovery's Pilot Jim Kelly by his family in honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.

Two more full days of joint work remain before Discovery is scheduled to undock from the complex Sunday night. Tonight, in addition to packing work, Commander Jim Wetherbee will perform a third and final reboost of the station's altitude, gently firing the shuttle's small steering jets to raise the spacecraft by a little over two statute miles. Altogether, Discovery will leave the station a little more than seven miles higher than when it arrived.

Wetherbee, Kelly, Paul Richards and Andy Thomas will take a break from other activities to field questions from NBC News' Weekend Today Show and ABC News at 5:20 a.m. Saturday. An hour later, at 6:22 a.m., Cosmonauts Yury Usachev, commander of the second International Space Station crew, Yuri Gidzenko, pilot of the first station crew, and Sergei Krikalev, flight engineer for the first station crew, will field questions from media gathered at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

The shuttle and station remain in excellent condition orbiting Earth every 92 minutes.

Mission Specialist Andy Thomas coordinated the loading of about a ton of materials and equipment into the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module with help from Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Paul Richards. The astronauts are to exit the module at 8:42 p.m. CST, deactivate it at 9:02 p.m. and uncouple it from the station at 11:52 p.m. Using the shuttle's robotic arm, they are to latch it in the payload bay at 12:57 a.m. Sunday.

Commander Jim Wetherbee set in motion the third and final reboost of the station's altitude by executing a programmed series of gentle steering jet firings. The third reboost raised the shuttle altitude two statute miles, making the total reboost imparted during the STS-102 mission a little more than seven statute miles.

Departing Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev concentrated on sharing their handover notes with Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss.

Kelly, Richards and Thomas took time to answer questions from NBC News' Weekend Today Show and ABC News. About an hour later, Usachev, Gidzenko and Krikalev talked with reporters gathered in the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station at 10:32 p.m. Sunday. When Discovery undocks from the station, it will mark the end of the Expedition One crew's 136-day stay onboard the outpost, beginning with their Nov. 2 arrival onboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

The shuttle and station remain in excellent health orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 235 statute miles.

Almost five tons of equipment and experiments were unloaded from Leonardo during the six days it was attached to the station, and almost a ton of trash, unneeded equipment and items that accompany the returning station crew was loaded aboard. The module is planned to be detached from the station just before midnight Sunday and loaded in Discovery's cargo bay about an hour later.

Flight controllers cleared about three hours of time for Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly aboard Discovery this evening in the event some troubleshooting steps were required with the onboard shuttle flight control computers. Two of the four primary computers were turned on quickly yesterday at the request of Mission Control as part of a general power up to increase the heat being generated by shuttle electronics. The shuttle's cooling system had gotten too cold, causing ice to form in a water line, and controllers needed several more electronics powered on to warm up the cooling system. These electronics normally are off when the shuttle is docked to the station. The procedure worked, and the cooling system quickly returned to normal.

However, while the crew slept Saturday, flight controllers spent the day evaluating whether the quick power up could cause a software glitch onboard. At no time, however, did the onboard computers experience a problem. Still, an extensive analysis was conducted to double-check the system and a decision was made to transition the software loads within the flight computers as a confidence test to ensure they are fully operational.

Meanwhile, all other timelined activities for both the shuttle and station crews continues as the final day of joint operations draws near. Both spacecraft are in excellent shape orbiting 235 statute miles above the Earth, traveling around the globe every 92 minutes.

After crewmate Paul Richards released the 16 bolts and associated latches holding the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to its Common Berthing Mechanism port, Thomas received a "go" to begin moving the module with the shuttle's 50-foot-long robotic arm about 4:40 a.m. CST. About 90 minutes later, at 6:08 a.m., the Italian-built module was securely latched back in its its cargo bay cradle, ready for return to Earth.

Leonardo's unberthing occurred about four hours later than originally scheduled, due in part to a leaky vacuum access hose used to depressurize the small vestibule between Unity and Leonardo. The hatches between the two modules were closed and the vestibule was depressurized, but after a 15 minute leak check period, ground controllers noted pressure in the vestibule was not at expected levels. Expedition Two flight engineer Jim Voss reported he had found - and tightened - a loose fitting on one of those hoses. The crew was then asked to repeat the depressurization procedure, a process that takes approximately 45 minutes, to verify good seals between the modules. With that action complete, Thomas was given a go to proceed with the unberthing of Leonardo.

Also overnight, Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly verified the performance of Discovery's general purpose computers. Ground analysis indicated that Saturday morning's quick power-up of two of those computers would not affect their performance, but flight controllers elected to perform the on-orbit procedure to validate the software load.

Discovery's crew is scheduled to begin its eight-hour sleep period at 8:42 a.m., waking at 4:42 p.m. The Expedition Two crew will go to sleep one hour later, at 9:42 a.m. and will awaken at 5:42 p.m. The hatches between Discovery and the ISS will be closed for the final time on this mission at 7:37 p.m. today following a final farewell between the STS-102 crew and the two Expedition crews. Discovery is set to undock from the ISS at 10:32 p.m. today, concluding a 136-day stay on board the station for its first resident crew - Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev.

The hatches between the shuttle and station were to be closed for a final time at about 7:30 tonight, leaving Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and his Flight Engineers, astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms, aboard the complex. The second crew is beginning a four-month stay aboard the station that will see the complex continue to grow in research capability and self-sufficiency as a robotic arm, more experiments and a new airlock are attached on future missions.

The first station expedition crew - led by Commander Bill Shepherd with Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev - is returning home after having brought the complex to life during its stay. The Expedition One crew docked to an uninhabited station that was about half the size and had only a fraction of the capability of the orbiting science complex and permanent home they are departing. The crews bid one another farewell about an hour before the hatch closing.

"We are on a true space 'ship' now, making her way above any Earthly boundary," Shepherd said as he handed command to Usachev.

"This ship was not built in a safe harbor but on the high seas," Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee added.

During the almost nine days Discovery has been docked at the station, the crews unloaded almost five tons of experiments and equipment and repacked almost a ton of returning items. Discovery's mission also has set the stage for the continued expansion of the station when a Canadian robotic arm is launched aboard the shuttle Endeavour next month. Pilot Jim Kelly will be at the shuttle's helm as Discovery undocks from the station tonight, planned to occur at 10:32 p.m. Kelly will guide Discovery in an hour-long station flyaround where he will circle the station one and a quarter times, 450 feet away, while the crew records television and photos of the exterior.

The hatches between the shuttle and station were closed for a final time at 8:32 p.m., about an hour after departing Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd passed responsibility for the station to Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev. As the hatches closed, Usachev, and flight engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms marked the start of their four-month stay on orbit. The previous Expedition crew - Shepherd and Cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev - are now headed home on board Discovery.

After the undocking -- which occurred as the two vehicles flew over Guyana, South America, and its capital of Georgetown -- Pilot Jim Kelly flew Discovery one-and-a-quarter turns around the space station before initiating a final steering jet separation burn at 11:48 p.m. CST. During the flyaround at a distance of 450 feet the crew recorded television and still images of the station's exterior.

The two vehicles were docked for a total of 8 days, 21 hours, 54 minutes, which brings the total time shuttles have been docked to the station to 55 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes. The hatches were open for a total of 142 hours, 22 minutes during three periods punctuated by space walk-necessitated closures.

Over the course of joint operations between the station and shuttle crews, Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee, Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards worked with the station crew unloading almost five tons of experiments and equipment from the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, and packing almost one ton of items for return to Earth. Discovery's space walkers - Voss and Helms, and Thomas and Richards -- also set the stage for continued expansion of the station by installing a platform that will be used to mount a Canadian-built robotic arm to the station next month.

After undocking, Discovery's crew spent the rest of the day exercising, talking with their families and enjoying some scheduled off-duty time. The shuttle crew will go to sleep at 8:12 a.m. and awaken at 4:12 p.m., while the station crew will begin its sleep shift at 3:30 p.m., awakening at midnight.

There are two landing opportunities available this evening for Discovery's return to the Kennedy Space Center. The first landing opportunity begins with a firing of the Shuttle's orbital maneuvering system engines at 10:50 p.m. for an 11:56 p.m. landing. A second opportunity, one orbit later, begins with a deorbit burn at 12:26 a.m. Wednesday, resulting in a landing at 1:31 a.m. Weather at the Kennedy Space Center is not expected to be favorable today, however, with the possibility of high winds, rain and clouds in the vicinity of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in Calif. was called up for landing support this morning and weather conditions are expected to be acceptable there for landing. Flight controllers will continue to monitor the weather at both landing sites and Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale is expected to make a decision regarding landing opportunities shortly after 10:30 p.m. today.

Discovery's astronauts are scheduled to begin their deorbit preparations at 6:53 p.m. today - configuring the shuttle's computers for reentry, deactivating the galley and installing seats on the flight deck and middeck. The payload bay doors are scheduled to be closed at 8:10 p.m.

If given a go to land, Wetherbee and the shuttle crew - Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards will perform a series of procedures that will lead to the firing of the Shuttle's large orbital maneuvering engines later this evening, beginning the crew's hour-long reentry to Earth. Discovery is also bringing home the first occupants of the International Space Station, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd and Russian crewmates Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. After 141 days in space, the Expedition One crew will re-enter Earth's atmosphere reclining on seats designed to help ease the stress of gravity and landing on their bodies.

On board the International Space Station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss spent a relatively quiet day in space as they enjoyed another day of light activities.

Discovery continues to orbit the Earth in excellent shape at an altitude of 237 statute miles as its astronauts gear up for landing.

Landing is scheduled for 11:56 p.m. CST Tuesday (12:56 a.m. EST Wednesday), but Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale and his team are carefully watching weather conditions at the primary landing site. With low clouds, possible rain and gusty crosswinds expected at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Hale decided to activate support at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Wednesday when conditions are expected to be at their best this week.

The first landing opportunity begins with a deorbit burn on Orbit 200 at 10:50 p.m. CST Tuesday and ends with landing at 11:56 p.m. in Florida. The second opportunity on Orbit 201 starts with an engine firing at 12:26 a.m. CST Wednesday and ends with landing in Florida at 1:31 a.m. The third chance calls for an Orbit 202 deorbit burn at 1:57 a.m. CST Wednesday and landing at Edwards at 3:02 a.m. The final prospect of the crew day begins with an engine firing at 3:33 a.m. CST Wednesday and ends with a California landing at 4:38 a.m.

Wetherbee and the shuttle crew - Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards - spent the day packing for the trip home and completing checks of the steering jets and flight controls the shuttle will use. They also fired Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines to adjust the shuttle's orbit and optimize landing opportunities, testing the braking rockets they use to begin re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

ISS Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd and crewmates Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev took time out from their packing to answer questions posed by three television news reporters. Tonight, the returning Expedition One crew members will set up the reclining seats to help ease the stress of landing on their bodies, which have not experienced gravity for four and a half months.

Meanwhile, the Expedition Two crew aboard the station - Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss - began settling into their new home and shift schedule. Awakening at midnight Tuesday, they began their daily exercise regimen and set up the station toilet for use by its first female crew member.

The crew aboard Discovery is scheduled to begin its sleep shift at 7:42 a.m. CST and wake up to begin final landing preparations at 3:42 p.m. Bedtime for the station crew is 3:30 p.m. CST.

STS-102 Commander Jim Wetherbee fired Space Shuttle Discovery's engines at 12:26 a.m. CST to begin the shuttle's descent. With assistance from Pilot Jim Kelly, he made a smooth landing on Runway 15, the 17th night landing in the shuttle program and the 12th night landing at Kennedy. The shuttle had traveled a total of 5,357,762 statute miles.

Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, riding home in reclining seats to lessen the stress, felt the tug of gravity for the first time in 141 days following their Oct. 31, 2000, launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. The Expedition One crew will be reunited with their families in Florida this morning, and then begin a medical and rehabilitation period of about 45 days.

Wetherbee, Kelly and Mission Specialists Paul Richards and Andy Thomas had spent a total of 12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes on orbit. They had conducted a successful rendezvous and docking with the space station complex, supported two space walks to facilitate the first use of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and installed a station robot arm anchor point. They also witnessed the first station crew changeout, unloaded 5 tons of equipment and experiments, and packed up a ton of unneeded station equipment and trash for return to Earth on Discovery.

All seven spacefarers are expected to return home to Houston on Thursday afternoon.

Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale made the a decision to land in Florida just before midnight after cloudy skies and gusty winds had cleared due to a low-pressure system that raced through the Shuttle Landing Facility area faster than expected Tuesday night.

On board the International Space Station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss were expected to hear word of their compatriots' landing later this morning. The trio spent a relatively quiet day in space getting acclimated to their news surroundings and preparing themselves for what will soon be a busy schedule of activiities continuing the outfitting of the space station and beginning scientific research in its Destiny laboratory.

Russian "taxi crew" Commander Sergei Zalyotin, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne from Belgium and Russian Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov docked their new Soyuz TMA-1 capsule to the Russian Pirs Docking Compartment of the ISS at 11:01 p.m. Central time last night (501 GMT Nov. 1) as the two craft flew 230 statute miles over central Russia, linking up to the ISS along side an older Soyuz TM-34 return vehicle which has been at the station since April. Zalyotin, DeWinne and Lonchakov will depart the ISS in the older Soyuz on Nov. 9.

A fresh Soyuz is delivered to the ISS every six months to provide an assured return capability for station residents in the unlikely event a problem would force them to come home prematurely. The new Soyuz is designed to accommodate larger or smaller crewmembers, and is equipped with upgraded computers, a new cockpit control panel and improved avionics.

The Expedition 5 crewmembers - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - monitored the arrival of their new visitors from the Zvezda Service Module to which the Pirs docking port is attached.

After conducting leak checks between the Soyuz and the ISS, hatches swung open between the two spacecraft at 12:26 a.m. Central time (626 GMT), enabling the six crewmembers to greet one another and receive congratulatory calls from Russian and European dignitaries gathered at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

The visiting "taxi" crew will spend eight days on the ISS. During that time, DeWinne will conduct a host of scientific experiments, some of them in the Microgravity Glovebox housed in the station's Destiny Laboratory.

The arrival of the "taxi" crew sets the stage for the launch of the shuttle Endeavour Nov. 11 to bring a new crew of residents to the ISS to replace Korzun, Whitson and Treschev, who have been in space since June. Endeavour's crew, led by Commander Jim Wetherbee, will also deliver the Port One (P1) truss segment to the ISS, the fourth of 11 such trusses which form the backbone for the ISS for the addition of new modules and power-producing solar arrays.

-MOREDetails about the final days of the work on orbit by the Expedition Five crew and the progress of the Soyuz "taxi" flight to the station will be offered in an ISS Mission Status Briefing to be held at the Johnson Space Center, TX on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m. CST.

The week started out with Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev making sure station systems are ready to support installation of the next piece of the orbiting outpost's truss structure. They performed a final checkout of the Mobile Transporter, Canadarm2, the Quest airlock, and the spacewalk tools and equipment that already are on board. After those activities were complete, they began pre-packing items that will come home with them aboard Endeavour, which is set to launch with a replacement crew between 11 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. Monday CST.

Once the Port One (P1)1 truss is installed, the Expedition 5 crew will hand over control of the station to Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox and Flight Engineers Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit and return home with Endeavour's crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

The visiting taxi crew - Commander Sergei Zalyotin, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne from Belgium and Russian Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov - will undock from the station at 2:41 p.m. CST on Saturday. Zalyotin will fire the Soyuz deorbit engines at 5:10 p.m., bringing his crew in for a landing on the Kazakh steppes at 6:04 p.m.

The taxi crew, which rode into orbit aboard an upgraded Soyuz TMA capsule with more legroom and more modern cockpit controls, displays and computers, will ride home in the older Soyuz TM-34 return vehicle that has been at the station since April. A fresh Soyuz is delivered to the ISS every six months to provide an assured return capability for station residents in the unlikely event they would need to come home early.

During their eight-day stay on the station, the taxi crew conducted a host of medical, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments. With DeWinne leading the investigations, the crew looked at human physiology in microgravity and how crystals grow and alloys form inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox in the Destiny Laboratory module.

Flight controllers in Houston are troubleshooting with the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly in the Destiny lab. CDRA is a system of absorption beds, tubing and valves that remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after it is expelled during breathing and vents it overboard. Two of six valves appear to be malfunctioning, causing the system to shut down several hours after it is started. The system supplements the station's Russian Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal system when more than three crewmembers are on board.

Troubleshooters have confirmed that a recent lab systems software update is not the cause of the problems, and they are refining their activation procedures to try to support the upcoming shuttle and Expedition 6 crews with CDRA using additional ground commanding. Lithium hydroxide canisters, which absorb carbon dioxide through a chemical process, may also be used to supplement the primary system; one canister was used during some of the CDRA troubleshooting activities.

The Elektron unit that generates oxygen by separating the oxygen and hydrogen atoms from water molecules also is not working properly. Korzun and Treschev conducted troubleshooting activities this week and are scheduled to replace the unit's liquid electrolysis module on Sunday. Additional oxygen is available in the Progress vehicle docked to the aft end of Zvezda. Oxygen and nitrogen also are available in tanks attached to the Quest airlock. Oxygen also is available from Russian oxygen generating "candles."

Saturday's departure of the taxi crew will set the stage for the launch of the shuttle Endeavour. The crew arrived at the Kennedy Space Center last night, and the launch countdown began today. Endeavour will take the 1 truss structure and additional resupply items, as well as two replacement valves for the station's CDRA system to the ISS. The three-pound aluminum replacement valves are about 5 by 9 by 6 inches, and look like valves in a home air conditioning system.

Russian "taxi crew" Commander Sergei Zalyotin, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne from Belgium and Russian Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov undocked the Soyuz TM-34 capsule from the Zarya Control Module's nadir docking port at 2:44 p.m. Central time (2044 GMT) and backed away from the ISS to a safe distance through a series of thruster firings. The Soyuz TM-34 vehicle arrived at the ISS in April. Left behind docked to the Russian Pirs Docking Compartment of the ISS is the new Soyuz TMA-1 return craft which carried Zalyotin, DeWinne and Lonchakov from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan during their launch on Oct. 30. They arrived at the ISS on Nov. 1.

A fresh Soyuz is delivered to the ISS every six months to provide an assured return capability for station residents in the unlikely event a problem would force them to come home prematurely. The new Soyuz is designed to accommodate larger or smaller crewmembers, and is equipped with upgraded computers, a new cockpit control panel and improved avionics.

The Expedition 5 crewmembers - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - bid the "taxi" crew farewell earlier today before closing hatches between the station and the Soyuz return vehicle.

Later today, Zalyotin will perform a deorbit maneuver using the Soyuz thrusters to begin the descent back home for a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 6:04 p.m. Central time (0004 GMT Nov. 10, 5:04 a.m. Kazakhstan time Nov. 10).

The departure of the "taxi" crew sets the stage for the launch of the shuttle Endeavour on the STS-113 mission early Monday to bring a new crew of residents to the ISS to replace Korzun, Whitson and Treschev, who have been in space since June. Endeavour's crew, led by Commander Jim Wetherbee, will also deliver the Port One (P1) truss segment to the ISS, the fourth of 11 such trusses that will form the backbone for the ISS for the addition of new modules and power-producing solar arrays.

On board the International Space Station, the current residents - Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - were told of Endeavour's on-time liftoff by spacecraft communicator Stan Love in the space station control center.

"Thanks so much for the play-by-play Stan. That was great," Whitson said in response to the news that the Expedition Six crew - Commander Ken Bowersox and Flight Engineers Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit - were en route.

Once on orbit, Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, along with Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit will begin setting up equipment on board and preparing to open the shuttle's payload bay doors to begin orbital operations.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock to the station about 3:30 p.m. central time Monday, setting the stage for Tuesday's installation of the Port One (P1) truss to the International Space Station. As was the case during Atlantis' flight last month to deliver the Starboard One truss segment, three spacewalks will be conducted by Lopez-Alegria and Herrington to help activate the new truss' systems. P1 is the third truss segment to be launched this year. It is one of 11 truss segments that will form the structural backbone for the station and provide the cooling and support for new solar arrays to be delivered to the station next year.

Endeavour's crew will go to sleep just before 1 a.m. Sunday and will be awakened just before 9 a.m. to begin its first full day in orbit. The crew will begin check-outs of the Shuttle's robot arm, the spacesuits to be worn by Lopez-Alegria and Herrington during their spacewalks and the tools and mechanisms involved in Monday's rendezvous with the ISS.

In preparation for Monday's docking, Endeavour's crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and the Expedition Six crew Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and flight engineer Nikolai Budarin - verified operation of the equipment used to support a smooth rendezvous and soft docking. A camera was installed to give Wetherbee a view of the station's docking port through the shuttle's docking system, a shock-absorbing ring that will make the first contact was extended and a variety of handheld cameras and distance-measuring devices were checked out. In addition, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington inspected and checked out the spacesuits being delivered to the station for use on three spacewalks to install and outfit the P1 truss segment.

Checkout of the shuttle's Remote Manipulator System went smoothly today, but the robotic arm camera survey of Endeavour's payload bay ran a little longer than expected. The robotic arm's wrist roll joint was commanded in extra maneuvers to help work in lubrication that was applied during the arm's preflight servicing. The robotic arm is ready to support operations to remove Endeavour's primary cargo, the P1 or port truss, from the payload bay on Tuesday.

Also today, Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit spoke with reporters from USA Today and AP Radio News. The trio will become the sixth resident crew to live and work in space aboard the International Space Station, replacing the current Expedition Five residents.

Onboard the station, the Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev, continued preparations for the arrival of Endeavour, and their replacement crew.

Endeavour's crew is scheduled to go to sleep about 11:20 p.m. Central time and awaken about 7:20 a.m. Monday.

Onboard the station, the Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev, awakened at 7:45 a.m. to continue preparations for the arrival of Endeavour, and their replacement crew.

In preparation for Monday's docking, Endeavour's crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and the Expedition Six crew Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS science officer Don Pettit and flight engineer Nikolai Budarin - will verify operation of the equipment used during docking. The centerline camera will be installed in the docking system, the orbiter docking system ring will be extended and a variety of handheld cameras and distance-measuring devices will be checked out. In addition, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will inspect and checkout the spacesuits they will wear during three scheduled spacewalks to install and outfit the P1 truss segment.

Monday's docking to the International Space Station is scheduled to occur about 3:26 p.m. central time and sets the stage for those three spacewalks to be conducted over a period of five days. The P1 truss is the third such segment to be launched this year, one of 11 truss segments that will form the structural backbone of the station. The trusses will also provide cooling and support for new solar arrays, which will be delivered to the station next year.

At 6:55 p.m., Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit will talk with reporters from USA Today and AP Radio News. The trio will become the sixth resident crew to live and work in space aboard the International Space Station, replacing the current Expedition Five residents who are beginning their 173rd day in space today.

Onboard the space station, the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - awakened at 7:50 a.m. to continue preparations for the arrival of their latest guests, including their replacement crew.

After hatch opening and a safety briefing conducted by Korzun, the two crews will begin transferring supplies and equipment that will be needed during the three upcoming spacewalks, as well as the Expedition Six seat liners and reentry suits for the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz serves as a lifeboat for the station, enabling a crew to come home quickly in the event of an emergency. Each crewmember has their own custom-fitted seat liner to cushion the effects of a Soyuz landing. The official exchange of resident crews aboard the station will be complete once the Expedition Six crew has transferred its seatliners to the Soyuz spacecraft and the Expedition Five crew transfers its seatliners over to Endeavour for the return trip home.

Over the next seven days, the astronauts and cosmonauts will work together to attach another truss to the space station, the Port 1 (P1) truss, and complete the changeover between the Expedition Five and Six crews. The first of three spacewalks to install and outfit the truss is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, to be conducted by Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

Endeavour's crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Lopez-Alegria and Herrington, and the Expedition Six crew Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin - will begin rendezvous operations around 10:35 a.m. The final approach phase of the docking is scheduled to begin about 1 p.m. with hatch opening between the two spacecraft scheduled to occur at 4:45 p.m.

The rendezvous and docking of Endeavour with shuttle Commander Jim Wetherbee at the controls went smoothly. Docking occurred about 248 statute miles above the South Pacific off the southeastern coast of Australia.

After successful leak checks, the last hatch between the two spacecraft was opened at 5:31 p.m. The Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - welcomed the new arrivals to the orbiting laboratory to begin a week of docked operations. After greetings, the first item on the agenda was a safety briefing by Korzun.

Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin later installed their custom seatliners in the Soyuz spacecraft that could serve as a return vehicle in the unlikely event it became necessary to leave the station unexpectedly. Their call saying they had completed the installation and pressure checks of the Russian SOKOL re-entry suits made them station crewmembers. It also officially ended the Expedition 5 increment, after 171 days, 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Expedition 5 was launched last June 5 and has been on the station since June 7. The trio will return to Earth with the Endeavour crew, Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

During the week together at the station, Expedition 5 crewmembers will conduct extensive briefings for their successors, familiarizing them with their new home and the location and function of its equipment and experiments. They also will brief the Expedition 6 crew on the inventory and location of supplies aboard the station.

On Tuesday the shuttle and station crews will lift the new P1 truss segment from Endeavour's cargo bay with the shuttle's robotic arm, operated by Wetherbee. He will hand the P1 off to the Canadarm2, the station's arm, which Bowersox and Whitson will use to position it for installation.

Once remotely operated bolts have secured P1 to the S0 truss center, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will begin the first of three spacewalks to make electrical, fluid and data connections between it and the rest of the station and to outfit the new truss segment.

Subsequent spacewalks will be made Thursday and Saturday. Each of the three spacewalks will be about 61/2 hours long.

Beginning around 9:20 a.m., Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee will use the shuttle's robotic arm to lift the P1 truss from the cargo bay, then hand it off to the station's robotic arm. Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox and Expedition Five NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson will fly the station's robotic arm. Bowersox and Whitson will position the P1 for installation around 1 p.m.

About 2:20 p.m., after remotely-operated bolts have secured the P1 truss to the station's central Starboard Zero (S0) truss segment. Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington will exit the station's Quest airlock to begin the first of the mission's three spacewalks. Lopez-Alegria will start by making connections between the P1 and the S0 while Herrington releases launch restraints on the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid cart. Lopez-Alegria also will install Spool Positioning Devices onto the station. Both spacewalkers will then remove a drag link on the P1 that served as a launch restraint.

The final major task of the 61/2-hour spacewalk is the installation by both spacewalkers of a Wireless video system External Transceiver Assembly (WETA) onto the Unity module. The WETA will be used to support helmet camera communications from future spacewalkers.

Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart will coordinate the spacewalk from the flight deck of the shuttle. During the spacewalk, the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - will continue handover discussions with the Expedition Six crew - Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin.

P1 was removed from Endeavour's payload bay at 9:22 a.m. CST by the shuttle's robotic arm, operated by Commander Jim Wetherbee. He handed it off to the station's Canadarm2, operated by Expedition 6 commander Ken Bowersox and Expedition 5 NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and released the shuttle arm's grip on P1 a little before 11 a.m. Whitson and Bowersox maneuvered the 14-ton, 45-foot truss segment to its installation position.

P1 is the third segment of the Integrated Truss Structure to be installed this year. A fourth segment, the P6 truss, supports the 240-foot-long solar arrays atop the station. It was installed there in December 2000 and will be moved later to the left end of the station's backbone. At completion, the integrated truss will consist of 11 segments stretching the length of a football field.

The spacewalk began at 1:49 p.m., about 30 minutes earlier than planned, after the four bolts securing the P1 to the S0 truss centerpiece had been driven home by remote commands. The spacewalk ended a little before 8:35 p.m. for a total time of 6 hours and 45 minutes.

Herrington and Lopez-Alegria hooked up electrical connections between P1 and the station, installed spool positioning devices designed to ensure that quick disconnect devices in fluid lines will function properly, and released launch locks securing the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart, a kind of hand car for the truss railway. The two spacewalkers also removed two drag links, large metal rods that had supported P1 during launch, and stowed them in the P1 framework. Finally, after Herrington had topped off his oxygen supply in the airlock, they installed Node Wireless video system External Transceiver Assembly (WETA) antennas allowing reception from spacewalkers' helmet cameras without a shuttle present.

Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart, with help from Bowersox and Expedition 6 Science Officer Don Pettit, served as intravehicular officer during the spacewalk, coaching Lopez-Alegria and Herrington through their tasks and keeping them on the timeline.

The spacewalk was the 22nd station-based spacewalk, and brought the total time for space station spacewalks to 292 hours, 10 minutes. There have been 25 shuttle-based assembly spacewalks.

Lopez-Alegria, wearing the spacesuit with red stripes, and Herrington, in the all-white spacesuit, will conduct two more spacewalks, each scheduled for 61/2 hours, on Thursday and Saturday. Both will focus on making additional connections between the new truss segment and the station, and outfitting the P1.

Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev conducted handover discussions with their Expedition 6 successors, Bowersox, Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, during parts of the Tuesday spacewalk.

The transfer of items between the two spacecraft is going smoothly, as are the handover briefings for Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit. Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev are familiarizing the new arrivals with station systems and procedure, and discussing the location of equipment and supplies on the ISS.

This afternoon, Whitson and Bowersox replaced two valves and cleared debris from vent lines of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in the station's U.S. Destiny laboratory. The job was completed about 8 p.m. CST. Later Mission Control radioed them that the valve replacement had been successful, but that there was a leak in one of the CDRA vacuum lines. Whitson and Bowersox began efforts to find and fix that leak late today. CDRA had not been working well for the past several weeks. A Russian system cleanses the station atmosphere of the carbon dioxide exhaled by the normal three-person crew, but CDRA is needed to handle the load of larger crews.

NBC's Jay Leno wished Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee a happy 50th birthday. The good wishes were videotaped during Leno's show and transmitted to Endeavour via Houston's Mission Control Center.

This afternoon Wetherbee, Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington talked with reporters from KFOR-TV of Oklahoma City, Okla., the Chickasaw Times newspaper; and the Cadena Ser radio network of Spain. The radio network spoke with Lopez-Alegria in Spanish.

Endeavour performed the first of three scheduled reboosts of the station a little after 11 a.m., increasing the altitude of the orbiting laboratory by about 2.8 statute miles. That left the average altitude of the station and Endeavour at almost 244 statute miles. Subsequent reboosts are scheduled for Friday and Sunday.

Thursday's second of three STS-113 spacewalks will see Lopez-Alegria and Herrington make more electrical, data and fluid line connections for the new Port One (P1) truss segment, install a second wireless video antenna system and move a Crew Equipment Translation Aid railway handcar from the P1 to the S1 truss. P1 was installed just before the Tuesday spacewalk. Thursday's and Saturday's spacewalks each will last about 61/2 hours.

Thanksgiving travel is being taken to new heights by Endeavour and ISS crewmembers. They will log about 1.68 million miles during the four-day weekend, with no weather or traffic delays, no airport security problems and certainly no crowds. Their vehicles' mileage over just those four days is excellent -- almost unlimited. Lopez-Alegria and Herrington are scheduled to travel about 227,500 Thanksgiving weekend miles outside the ISS-Endeavour complex during their two spacewalks.

In the afternoon, Endeavour's crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington - will take time to prepare for the second spacewalk of the mission, scheduled for Thanksgiving Day. The second spacewalk will focus on making additional connections between the new Port 1 (P1) truss segment and the station and outfitting the P1 for future use.

The Expedition Five and Six crews also will continue handover discussions and training as Expedition Six - Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin - begins their stay. Expedition Five - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev -- is completing six months in orbit as they prepare to return home.

Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will take a break from their moving duties at about 2:30 p.m. CST for interviews with KFOR-TV of Oklahoma City, OK; the Chickasaw Times newspaper; and the Cedena Ser radio network.

This morning, Mission Control radioed up birthday greetings to Wetherbee, who is celebrating his 50th birthday in orbit today.

The crew of Endeavour was awakened at 7:20 a.m. and the Expedition Six crew was awakened at 7:50 a.m. The shuttle and station remain in excellent condition.

The Thanksgiving Day spacewalk started at 12:36 p.m. CST, almost 45 minutes ahead of schedule, and ended officially at 6:46 p.m.

Lopez-Alegria and Herrington were helped by intravehicular officer Paul Lockhart, Endeavour's pilot, who coached them through their activities from the shuttle's aft flight deck. Expedition 5 NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson, with help from her Expedition 6 successor Don Pettit, operated the station's Canadarm 2. Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee did photo and TV documentation.

The first task for Lopez-Alegria, wearing the spacesuit with red stripes, and Herrington, in the all-white spacesuit, was connection of two fluid jumpers between P1 and the Starboard Zero (S0) truss centerpiece. The jumpers link plumbing for ammonia in the station's cooling system. Next the spacewalkers removed the starboard keel pin, a launch support, and using the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid - one of two handcar-like devices on the truss railway - moved it to the proper location and stowed it in the P1 truss structure.

Lopez-Alegria and Herrington installed a second Wireless video system External Transceiver Assembly (WETA), this one on the P1 truss. They had installed the first WETA on the station's Unity Node during their Tuesday spacewalk. After removal and stowage of the port keel pin, they did the first of the additional jobs, releasing launch locks on the P1's radiator beams. Then they turned their attention to relocation of the CETA cart.

Herrington, in a foot restraint on Canadarm2, lifted the cart from its tracks and held it while Whitson swung him and his cargo around the front of the station, past Endeavour's cargo bay and to the Starboard One (S1), where he attached the cart to tracks and secured it to its sister CETA, launched with the S1 truss on Atlantis' STS-112 flight in October. The relocation was done to clear the P1 tracks for the Canadarm2 to move along them on its Mobile Transporter and Mobile Base System.

The CETA move accomplished, the two spacewalkers moved on to the second additional task, reconnection of one of the cables on the WETA installed Tuesday. Both extra jobs took about 20 minutes.

The oxygen prebreathe protocol before today's spacewak to purge nitrogen from spacewalkers' bloodstreams, was done on the shuttle's cycle ergometer. Whitson and Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox checked out the station's cycle ergometer with a newly uplinked procedure to use it in manual mode.

Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev continued their handover briefings for Bowersox, cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin and Pettit. Transfer of equipment and supplies between the station and shuttle also continued.

The Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) is functioning well. Whitson and Bowersox replaced two valves and cleaned airlines on the device on Wednesday, and later that evening they repaired a leak in a CDRA vacuum line.

Endeavour Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington will exit the station's Quest airlock for a second time during this mission to begin a 61/2-hour spacewalk. Scheduled to begin about 1:20 p.m. central time, the work outside the station today will see Lopez-Alegria and Herrington connect fluid lines from the new Port One (P1) truss segment to the Starboard Zero (S0) truss; install a second wireless video antenna system to the P1; relocate stanchions that were used to hold the P1 in place during launch; and move a Crew Equipment Translation Aid railway handcar from the P1 to the Starboard One (S1) truss.

Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart will coordinate the spacewalk from the orbiter's flight deck and Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee will provide photo and TV support. From the ISS, Expedition Five NASA Science Officer Peggy Whitson will provide robotic arm support using the station's Canadarm2, and will be assisted by Expedition Six NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit.

Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev will also continue their handover and training briefings for Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and Pettit.

Whitson and Bowersox will take some time today to test the station's bicycle ergometer, which experienced some trouble over the weekend. In addition to being used for exercise, it is used as part of a pre-spacewalk protocol to purge nitrogen from crewmembers' bodies. Testing of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly in the station's Destiny laboratory continued overnight and showed that maintenance work performed by the crew on Wednesday had resolved a faulty valve problem with the system.

Handover briefings of the Expedition 6 crew, Commander Ken Bowersox, cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit, by their Expedition 5 predecessors, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, continued. The briefings focus on procedures aboard the ISS, science and the location of equipment and supplies.

This afternoon Korzun ceremonially handed over the reigns of the station to Bowersox. Expedition 6 has been the official station crew since Monday when they installed their custom seat liners in the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station. Later in the afternoon the 10 astronauts and cosmonauts held their crew news conference, fielding questions from reporters at Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center.

Endeavour commander Jim Wetherbee initiated a series of shuttle thruster firings which boosted the altitude of the International Space Station by about eight-tenths of a mile this morning. The reboost left the station at an average altitude of more than 244 statute miles. It was the second of three reboosts during Endeavour's mission to the station. The first, on Wednesday, increased the station's altitude by about 2.8 miles. A third reboost is scheduled for Sunday.

Whitson and Pettit did troubleshooting on the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on board the station. They checked electrical circuits upstream and downstream of the MSG's power distribution and conversion box - the device that provides electrical power to the facility - in hopes of identifying what caused the component to fail Nov. 20.

Endeavour astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington reviewed procedures for their third and final spacewalk of the STS-113 mission on Saturday. Participating were pilot and spacewalk intravehicular officer Paul Lockhart, Bowersox and Canadarm2 operators Whitson and Pettit. Much of the spacewalk will be devoted to installation of 33 spool positioning devices, to ensure that quick disconnect devices in station ammonia coolant lines will release as designed. Other tasks include connecting Ammonia Tank Assembly umbilicals and reconfiguring a circuit breaker on the Main Bus Switching Unit. If time allows, they also will reconfigure the Squib Firing Unit, designed to release Port One truss radiator panels for deployment.

Among the items to be transferred today are various science experiments, two returning home aboard Endeavour and one moving to the station. This morning, Mission Specialist Mike Lopez-Alegria and Expedition Five NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson will transfer the Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES) - Unit 7 to Endeavour, while Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox will transfer PCG-STES Unit 10 from the shuttle to the station. This afternoon, Lopez-Alegria and Expedition Six NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit will transfer the Plant Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (PGBA) to Endeavour. Plants grown while on orbit will be studied by researchers on the ground.

Whitson and Pettit will also spend some time today troubleshooting the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on board the station. The MSG recently developed a problem with its power distribution and conversion box - the device that provides electrical power to the facility.

To date, NASA has conducted more than 90,000 hours of scientific research aboard the station and the Expedition Six crew is scheduled to conduct 18 new or continuing experiments.

About 11 a.m., Commander Jim Wetherbee will fire Endeavour's small thruster jets to gently raise the altitude of the station by slightly less than one mile. Late today, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialist John Herrington, Lopez-Alegria, Whitson, Bowersox and Pettit will take time to review plans for Saturday's third and final scheduled spacewalk of the mission.

A formal Change of Command ceremony between the Expedition Five and Six crews is scheduled for 2:20 p.m., but may occur earlier. The full crews also will gather for a joint crew news conference beginning at 3:49 p.m. central time.

Pilot Paul Lockhart will coordinate the spacewalk from the aft flight deck of Endeavour. The station's robotic arm, the Canadarm2, will be operated at varying times by Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox and Expedition Six NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit. Commander Jim Wetherbee will provide TV and photo support.

The spacewalkers will begin by installing 33 spool positioning devices on various locations around the outside of the station. The clamp-like devices ensure that the quick disconnect fittings in the station's ammonia coolant lines release as designed.

Other spacewalk tasks include connecting the Ammonia Tank Assembly umbilicals and reconfiguring a circuit breaker on the Main Bus Switching Unit. If time allows, the two also will reconfigure the Squib Firing Unit, a pyrotechnic device designed to release the Port One truss radiator panels when they are deployed next year.

Before the spacewalk begins, Whitson and Bowersox will command the Canadarm2 to walk off its current location on the Destiny Laboratory to its mobile base on the P1 truss. Whitson will operate the robotic arm with Pettit assisting during some of the spacewalk activities. When Herrington is finished, Whitson and Bowersox will command the Canadarm2 to return to a Power and Data Grapple Fixture on the Destiny Laboratory.

During the spacewalk, Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev will continue handover activities with Bowersox and Expedition Six Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin. Korzun and Treschev also will complete their final sessions in the Lower Body Negative Pressure suit, a Russian device to help the cosmonauts prepare for their return to Earth's gravity.

This morning Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee initiated a series of firings of Endeavour's thrusters to raise the station's altitude by about 2.8 statute miles. This was the third reboost of the flight and left the ISS almost 61/2 miles higher than it was when the shuttle docked on Nov. 25. The station's average altitude is now about 247 miles.

Shuttle crewmembers, Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and Expedition 5's NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson, her Expedition 6 successor Don Pettit and Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, spoke with representatives of Indian Country Today and Native America Calling radio network.

Transfer activities wound down, with the crew wrapping up movement of supplies, equipment and experiments between the two spacecraft. Endeavour brought more than 2,500 pounds of material to the station in the shuttle's crew compartment.

During the afternoon, Pettit and Whitson did additional troubleshooting on the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in the station's U.S. laboratory Destiny. The glovebox allows experiments with fluids, flame, particles or fumes to be performed in an enclosed environment. The MSG's power distribution and conversion box failed Nov. 20. The box will be returned to Earth aboard Endeavour, leaving the MSG inactive.

Handover talks continued between the Expedition 5 crew, Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, and Expedition 6 crewmembers Bowersox, Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin and Pettit.

Hatches between the two spacecraft are to be closed about 11:15 a.m. CST Monday, with Endeavour undocking from the station about 2:05 p.m. near the west coast of Australia after a pass over the Indian Ocean. Landing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center.

Since Endeavour arrived at the station on November 25, the 10 astronauts and cosmonauts have successfully worked together to install the 14-ton P1 truss segment, outfit and activate it during three spacewalks, transfer equipment, experiments and supplies between the two spacecraft, and exchange resident crews aboard the station.

Today, spacewalkers Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, along with Pilot Paul Lockhart will clean up and stow away their spacesuits, following the conclusion of Saturday's final spacewalk of the mission. Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee will gently pulse the orbiter's thrusters this morning to raise the station's altitude by approximately 2.8 miles. The jet firings will last approximately 45 minutes, and combined with two previous reboost maneuvers earlier in the mission, should increase the station's total altitude by about 6 1/4 miles.

The crew will also take some time today to verify operation of the tools that will be used during Monday's undocking of Endeavour from the International Space Station and to complete the final transfer of equipment. Approximately 95 percent of transfer activities are complete.

About 2 p.m. central time, Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington, Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit, will talk with media representatives from CNN Espanol, Indian Country Today and the Native America Calling radio network.

Final handover briefings between the Expedition Five and Expedition Six crews will continue throughout the day, as the 10 astronauts and cosmonauts prepare to bid each other farewell tomorrow. Hatches between the two spacecraft are slated to be closed about 11:15 a.m. central time Monday, with Endeavour undocking from the station about 2:05 p.m.

Endeavour will leave behind the Expedition Six Crew - Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin - who are scheduled to live and work aboard the station for the next four months.

Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev are scheduled to begin those farewells at 11:15 a.m.

Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the space station at 2:05 p.m., after bringing the station a new resident crew, installing the Port One truss and transferring more than 2,500 pounds of supplies, equipment and experiments. As Endeavour gently undocks and backs slowly away from the station, the two vehicles should be flying high over Western Australia.

Shortly after undocking, the Endeavour crew will release two miniature satellites as part of an experiment referred to as MEPSI. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the two small satellites, which are tethered together, will be released from Endeavour's payload bay to fly free for three days as a technology demonstration of the launcher assembly and use of micro-and nano-technolgoies in space systems.

As the Expedition Six crew settles into its first day alone aboard the station, Endeavour's crew will begin stowing away equipment and hardware in anticipation of Wednesday's scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Weather permitting, Endeavour is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday at 2:48 p.m. central.

After final farewells among the STS-113 and Expedition 5 and 6 crews, the hatches between the spacecraft were closed at 11:57 a.m. CST. Following a series of pressure and leak checks, Endeavour gently undocked from the station at 2:05 p.m. as the two spacecraft flew over northwestern Australia. Total docked time for the mission was six days, 22 hours and six minutes.

As Endeavour departed the station, Bowersox rang the ship's bell on board and wished the crew a safe landing. Endeavour Commander Jim Wetherbee wished the Expedition 6 crew "fair winds." After a one-quarter-lap fly-around of the station, Pilot Paul Lockhart fired a final separation burn of Endeavour's engines at 3:01 p.m. and began its final departure from the station.

All major mission objectives were accomplished during Endeavour's stay at the ISS. The 14-ton Port One truss segment, one of 11 such structures that will form the station's backbone, was delivered and installed over the course of three spacewalks by Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and the station crews were exchanged. With its latest addition, the station's mass stands at 197 tons, or about 400,000 pounds. Returning home after spending 178 days on the station is the Expedition 5 crew -- Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev.

At 4:05 p.m., Endeavour's crew released two miniature satellites as part of an experiment referred to as MEPSI. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the two small satellites, which are tethered together, were released from Endeavour's payload bay to fly free for three days as a technology demonstration of the launcher assembly and use of micro- and nano-technologies in space systems.

The focus of activities aboard Endeavour on Tuesday will include a checkout of the systems that will be used during Wednesday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour is scheduled to land at 2:48 p.m., bringing Korzun, Whitson and Treschev home after 182 days in space. Weather for landing is forecasted to be questionable.