Shuttle Orbiter Credit - © Mark Wade Media Gallery

The space shuttle Atlantis was the fourth orbiter to become operational at Kennedy Space Center, and the last of the original production run. It was named after the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966. Empty Weight was 68,600 kg at rollout and 77,550 kg with main engines installed.

Atlantis benefited from lessons learned in the construction and testing of Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger. At roll-out, its weight was 3162 kg less than Columbia. The experience gained during the orbiter assembly process enabled Atlantis to be completed with a 49.5 percent reduction in man hours (compared to Columbia). Much of this decrease was attributed to the greater use of thermal protection blankets on the upper orbiter body instead of tiles. During the construction of Discovery and Atlantis, NASA opted to have the various contractors manufacture a set of 'structural spares' to facilitate the repair of an orbiter if one was damaged during an accident. This contract was valued at $389 million and consisted of a spare aft-fuselage, mid-fuselage, forward fuselage halves, vertical tail and rudder, wings, elevons and a body flap. These spares were later assembled into the orbiter Endeavour.

Construction Milestones

• 01/29/79 Contract Award
• 03/03/80 Start structural assembly of Crew Module
• 11/23/81 Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage
• 06/13/83 Wings arrive at Palmdale from Grumman
• 12/02/83 Start of Final Assembly
• 04/10/84 Completed Final Assembly
• 03/06/85 Rollout from Palmdale
• 04/03/85 Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards
• 04/09/85 Delivery to Kennedy Space Center
• 09/05/85 Flight Readiness Firing
• 10/03/85 First Flight (51-J)

Beginning in October 1992, Atlantis was shipped to California to undergo OMDP-1 upgrades and modifications. These included a drag chute, new plumbing lines that configured the orbiter for extended duration, more than 800 new heat protection tiles and blankets, new insulation for the main landing gear doors, and structural modifications to the Atlantis airframe. Altogether, 165 modifications were made to Atlantis over the 20 months it spent in Palmdale, California.

Between November 1997 and September 1998, Atlantis underwent OMDP-2 in Palmdale to prepare it for operational ISS missions. Changes included installation of the final configuration ISS airlock and docking system and installation of the first 'glass cockpit' electronic displays for the crew. The latter replaced the 1970's vintage conventional gauges and instruments. Modifications were made in preparation for replacement of TACAN navigation with GPS. To reduce weight for ISS missions, most AFRSI insulation blankets on the upper surfaces of the orbiter were replaced with FRSI, lightweight crew seats were installed, the Extended Duration Mission provisions installed during OMDP-1 were removed, and numerous other smaller-scale changes aimed at reducing weight.

Crew Size: 7. Design Life: 9 days. Orbital Storage: 30 days. Typical orbit: 341 km circular orbit, 42.9 deg inclination. Length: 37.24 m (122.17 ft). Maximum Diameter: 23.79 m (78.05 ft). Span: 23.79 m (78.05 ft). Habitable Volume: 71.50 m3. Mass: 115,900 kg (255,500 lb). Structure Mass: 29,280 kg (64,550 lb). Heat Shield Mass: 12,100 kg (26,600 lb). Reaction Control System: 2,800 kg (6,100 lb). Recovery Equipment: 4,200 kg (9,200 lb). Navigation Equipment: 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). Electrical Equipment: 7,000 kg (15,400 lb). Communications Systems: 700 kg (1,540 lb). Crew Seats and Provisions: 750 kg (1,650 lb). Miscellaneous Contingency: 2,400 kg (5,200 lb). Environmental Control System: 2,500 kg (5,500 lb). Payload: 24,990 kg (55,090 lb). RCS Coarse No x Thrust: 38 x 387 N. RCS Fine No x Thrust: 6 x 107 N. RCS Propellants: N2O4/MMH. RCS Isp: 289 sec. RCS Impulse: 9,355 kgf-sec. Main Engine: OME. Main Engine: 14,912 kg (32,875 lb). Main Engine Thrust: 53.367 kN (11,997 lbf). Main Engine Propellants: N2O4/MMH. Main Engine Propellants: 12,412 kg (27,363 lb). Main Engine Isp: 316 sec. Spacecraft delta v: 700 m/s (2,290 ft/sec). Electrical System: Fuel Cells. Electric System: 14.00 average kW. Electric System: 3,100.00 kWh. Associated Launch Vehicle: Shuttle.

• 1985 December 1 - EVA STS-61-B-2 - Program: STS. Crew: Ross, Spring. Flight: STS-61-B.

  Completed EASE/ACCESS (Assembly of Structures / Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures) structural assembly experiments.

• 1985 November 27 - STS-61-B - Program: STS. Crew: Cleave, Neri Vela, O'Connor, Ross, Shaw, Spring, Walker. Flight: STS-61-B. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 21,791 kg (48,040 lb). Perigee: 361 km (224 mi). Apogee: 370 km (220 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Duration: 6.88 days.

  Manned seven crew. Deployed Morelos 2, Aussat 2, Satcom K2, OEX. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-2 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Deploy Morelos (Mexico communications satellite)-B with PAM-D. Deploy AUSSAT (Australian communications satellite)-2 with PAM-D. EASE/ACCESS (Assembly of Structures— Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures) by extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, Continuous Flow Electrophore-sis System (CFES), Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS), IMAX camera, one getaway special (GAS), Linhof camera and Hasseblad camera.

• 1985 November 29 - EVA STS-61-B-1 - Program: STS. Crew: Ross, Spring. Flight: STS-61-B.

  Began EASE/ACCESS (Assembly of Structures / Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures) structural assembly experiments.

• 1985 October 3 - STS-51-J - Program: STS. Crew: Bobko, Grabe, Hilmers, Pailes, Stewart. Flight: STS-51-J. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 476 km (295 mi). Apogee: 486 km (301 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 94.20 min. Duration: 4.07 days.

  Manned five crew. Atlantis (first flight); deployed USA 11, USA 12. Reusable space transportation system.

  Orbits of Earth: 63. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Touchdown miss distance: 754.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,455.00 m. Payloads: Classified DoD Mission - Record altitude (as of 5/93).

• 1986 August 1 - STS-61-J (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: Young, Bolden, McCandless, Hawley, Sullivan. Flight: STS-61-J.

  Planned shuttle mission for deployment of Hubble space telescope. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1986 May 20 - STS-61-G (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: Walker Dave, Grabe, Thagard, van Hoften. Flight: STS-61-G.

  Planned shuttle mission for deployment of Galileo spacecraft. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1986 November 1 - STS-61-L (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: Konrad. Flight: STS-61-L.

  Planned shuttle mission for deployment of commercial communications satellites. Would have launched the first American journalist in space from Launch Complex 39B. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1987 January 1 - STS-71-C (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: Longhurst. Flight: STS-71-C.

  Planned shuttle mission for deployment of commercial communications satellites. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1987 March 1 - STS-71-F (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: MacLean. Flight: STS-71-F.

  Planned shuttle mission. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1988 December 2 - STS-27 - Program: STS. Crew: Gardner Guy, Gibson, Mullane, Ross, Shepherd. Flight: STS-27. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 437 km (271 mi). Apogee: 447 km (277 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 93.40 min. Duration: 4.38 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Orbits of Earth: 68. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 359 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 447.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,171.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission.

• 1988 July 1 - STS-81-M (cancelled) - Program: STS. Crew: Hughes-Fulford. Flight: STS-81-M.

  Planned SLS-2 shuttle mission. Cancelled after Challenger disaster.

• 1989 May 4 - STS-30 - Program: STS. Crew: Cleave, Grabe, Lee, Thagard, Walker Dave. Flight: STS-30. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 20,833 kg (45,928 lb). Perigee: 361 km (224 mi). Apogee: 366 km (227 mi). Inclination: 28.90 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Duration: 4.04 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed Magellan Venus probe. Payloads: Deploy IUS with Magellan spacecraft. Fluids Experiment Apparatus (FEA). Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

• 1989 October 18 - STS-34 - Program: STS. Crew: Baker, Chang-Diaz, Lucid, McCulley, Williams Donald. Flight: STS-34. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 22,064 kg (48,642 lb). Perigee: 298 km (185 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 34.30 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Duration: 4.99 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed Galileo .Payloads: Deploy IUS with Galileo spacecraft. Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV), Polymer Morphology (PM) experiments, IMAX camera project, Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment, Growth Hormone Concentration and Distribution (GHCD) in Plants experiment, Sensor Technology Experiment (STEX), SSIP Student Experiment (SE) 82-15, Ice Crystals Experiment. First flight at this inclination.

• 1990 February 28 - STS-36 - Program: STS. Crew: Casper, Creighton, Hilmers, Mullane, Thuot. Flight: STS-36. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 198 km (123 mi). Apogee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 62.00 deg. Period: 88.50 min. Duration: 4.43 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 494.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,407.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission - Record altitude (through 5/93).

• 1990 November 15 - STS-38 - Program: STS. Crew: Covey, Culbertson, Gemar, Meade, Springer. Flight: STS-38. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 78 km (48 mi). Apogee: 226 km (140 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 87.50 min. Duration: 4.91 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Orbits of Earth: 79. Payloads: DoD Mission.

• 1991 April 5 - STS-37 - Program: STS. Crew: Apt, Cameron, Godwin, Nagel, Ross. Flight: STS-37. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 16,611 kg (36,620 lb). Perigee: 450 km (270 mi). Apogee: 462 km (287 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.70 min. Duration: 5.98 days.

  Manned five crew. Unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Payloads: Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO), Crew/ Equipment Translation Aids (part of Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-Block Il, Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test.

• 1991 April 7 - EVA STS-37-1 - Program: STS. Crew: Ross, Apt. Flight: STS-37.

  Manually deployed Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna.

• 1991 April 8 - EVA STS-37-2 - Program: STS. Crew: Ross, Apt. Flight: STS-37.

  Tested CETA (Crew / Equipment Translation Aids - rail with cart for moving astronauts around exterior of International Space Station).

• 1991 August 2 - STS-43 - Program: STS. Crew: Adamson, Baker Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Flight: STS-43. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 21,265 kg (46,881 lb). Perigee: 301 km (187 mi). Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Duration: 8.89 days.

  Manned five crew. Deployed TDRS 5 satellite. Payloads: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-E/lnertial Upper Stage (lUS), Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument 03, Optical Communications Through the Shuttle Window (OCTW), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Auroral Photography Experiment (APE)-B, Bioserve-lnstrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA)-02, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP)-03, Protein Crystal Growth Ill Block Il, Space Acceleration Measure-ment System (SAMS), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE)-02, Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE).

• 1991 November 24 - STS-44 - Program: STS. Crew: Gregory, Hennen, Henricks, Musgrave, Runco, Voss. Flight: STS-44. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 20,242 kg (44,625 lb). Perigee: 363 km (225 mi). Apogee: 371 km (230 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Duration: 6.95 days.

  Manned six crew. Deployed Defense Support Program satellite. Payloads: Defense Support Program satellite/ Inertial Upper Stage, Interim Operational Contamination Monitor, Terra Scout, Military Man in Space, Shuttle Activation Monitor, Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor, Radiation Monitoring Equipment Ill, Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument, Visual Function Tester 1.

• 1992 July 31 - STS-46 - Program: STS. Crew: Allen Andy, Chang-Diaz, Hoffman, Ivins, Malerba, Nicollier, Shriver. Flight: STS-46. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 12,965 kg (28,582 lb). Perigee: 425 km (264 mi). Apogee: 437 km (271 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.20 min. Duration: 7.97 days.

  Manned seven crew. Deployed Eureca-1; failed to deploy Italian tether probe TSS-1. Payloads: Tethered Satellite System (TSS)-1; European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA)-1L; Evaluation of Oxygen Integration with Materials (EOlM)-lll/ Thermal Energy Management Processes (TEMP)-2A; Consortium for Materials Development In Space Complex Autonomous Payloads (CONCAP)-ll and Ill; IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC); Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE); Pituitary Growth Hormone Cell Function (PHCF); Ultravio-let Plume Instrument (UVPl).

• 1992 March 24 - STS-45 - Program: STS. Crew: Bolden, Duffy, Foale, Frimout, Leestma, Lichtenberg, Sullivan. Flight: STS-45. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 8,020 kg (17,680 lb). Perigee: 282 km (175 mi). Apogee: 294 km (182 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.30 min. Duration: 8.92 days.

  Manned seven crew. Carried ATLAS-1 experimental package. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS)-1, Shuttle Solar Backscat-ter Ultraviolet (SSBUV)-4, Getaway Special Experiment G-229, Space Tissue Loss (STL)-1, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Visual Function Tester (VFT)-lI, Cloud Logic To Opti-mize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS)-1A, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Process-ing (IPMP), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-Il, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPl).

• 1992 October 1 - Atlantis OMDP-1 - Program: STS. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle.

  Shuttle Atlantis undergoes its OMDP-1 Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at the Palmdale, returning to service in May 1994. These are undertaken every 10 to 12 shuttle missions. Modifications made include: nose wheel steering changes, EDO cargo pallet provisions, and Mir ODS docking system fitting. Provisions for the Long Duration Orbiter 28-day pallet are installed, and 331 Master Change Requests are implemented.

• 1994 November 3 - STS-66 - Program: STS. Crew: Brown, Clervoy, McMonagle, Ochoa, Parazynski, Tanner. Flight: STS-66. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 10,544 kg (23,245 lb). Perigee: 263 km (163 mi). Apogee: 263 km (163 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Duration: 10.94 days.

  Carried Atlas-3 laboratory; deployed and retrieved CRISTA-SPAS. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) 3, Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmo-sphere (CRISTA)-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) 1, Experiment of the Sun for Complement-ing the ATLAS Payload for Education (ESCAPE) II, Inter-Mars Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (ITEPC), Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) A, Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIH-R), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG-TES and PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss (STL/NIH-C-A), Shuttle Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), Heat Pipe Performance (HPP).

• 1995 June 27 - STS-71 - Program: Mir. Crew: Baker, Budarin, Dunbar, Gibson, Harbaugh, Precourt, Solovyov. Flight: STS-71, Mir EO-19, Mir EO-18. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 12,191 kg (26,876 lb). Perigee: 342 km (212 mi). Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.90 min. Duration: 9.81 days.

  Mir Expedition EO-19. Transferred Budarin, Solovyov to Mir, returned Soyuz TM-21 crew to Earth. After undocking from Mir on July 4, Atlantis spent several days on orbit, carrying out medical research work with the Spacelab-Mir module in the cargo bay. Payloads: Shuttle/Mir Mission 1, Spacelab-Mir, IMAX camera, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX).

• 1995 November 12 - STS-74 - Program: Mir. Crew: Cameron, Hadfield, Halsell, McArthur, Ross. Flight: STS-74, Mir EO-20. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 6,134 kg (13,523 lb). Perigee: 257 km (159 mi). Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Duration: 8.19 days.

  Rendezvoused and docked with Mir space station on November 15. Delivered the Russian-built 316GK Shuttle-Mir docking module to Mir.Payloads: Shuttle-Mir Mission 2; docking module with two attached solar arrays; IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC); Glow Experiment (GLO-4)/ Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE) Payload (GPP); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II.

• 1996 March 22 - STS-76 - Program: Mir. Crew: Chilton, Clifford, Godwin, Lucid, Searfoss, Sega. Flight: STS-76, Mir NASA-1, Mir EO-21. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 6,753 kg (14,887 lb). Perigee: 394 km (244 mi). Apogee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 88.80 min. Duration: 9.22 days.

  Shuttle-Mir Mission 3. Docked with the Mir space station 24 March 1996; Shannon Lucid was left on Mir for an extended stay. First American EVA on Mir. Payloads: SPACEHAB/Mir 03; KidSat; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Configuration M; RME 1304—Mir/ Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP); orbiter docking system RME 1315; Trapped Ions in Space Experiment (TRIS); Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Test (EDFT) 04.

• 1996 September 16 - STS-79 - Program: Mir. Crew: Blaha, Readdy, Wilcutt, Akers, Apt, Walz. Flight: STS-79, Mir NASA-2, Mir NASA-1, Mir EO-22. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 368 km (228 mi). Apogee: 386 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.10 min. Duration: 10.14 days.

  On September 19 Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir space station. Aboard Atlantis in the payload bay were the Orbiter Docking System, the modified Long Tunnel, and the Spacehab Double Module, containing supplies for the Mir. Astronaut John Blaha relieved Shannon Lucid as NASA resident on the complex. Atlantis undocked from the Mir complex on September 23 at 23:33 GMT. Valeriy Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and John Blaha remain on Mir. On September 26 Atlantis closed its payload bay doors, and at 11:06 GMT fired its OMS engines for a three minute long deorbit burn. After entry interface at 11:42 GMT the spaceship flew across Canada and the US for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15 at 12:13 GMT.

• 1997 January 12 - STS-81 - Program: Mir. Crew: Baker Mike, Jett, Wisoff, Grunsfeld, Ivins, Linenger. Flight: Mir NASA-2, Mir EO-22, STS-81, Mir NASA-3. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 343 km (213 mi). Apogee: 380 km (230 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Duration: 10.20 days.

  After a night launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the Shuttle docked with Mir at 03:55 GMT on January 14. STS-81 transferred 2,715 kg of equipment to and from the Mir, the largest transfer of items to that date. During the docked phase, 640 kg of water, 515 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,000 kg of Russian logistics, and 120 kg of miscellaneous material were transferred to Mir. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 570 kg of U.S. science material, 405 kg of Russian logistics and 98 kg of miscellaneous material. At 02:16 GMT January 19, Atlantis separated from Mir after picking up John Blaha, who had arrived aboard STS-79 on September 19, 1996, and dropping off Jerry Linenger, who was to stay aboard Mir for over four months. The Shuttle backed off along the -RBAR (i.e. toward the Earth) to a distance of 140 m before beginning a flyaround at 02:31 GMT. Most of the flyaround was at a distance from Mir of 170 m. The first 'orbit' around Mir was complete at 03:15, and the second was completed at 04:02 GMT. Then the Orbiter fired its jets to drift away from the orbit of Mir. NASA's first Shuttle mission of 1997 came to a close with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 14:22 GMT on January 22 (after the first opportunity was waved off due to cloud cover at the Cape).

• 1997 May 15 - STS-84 - Program: Mir. Crew: Precourt, Collins Eileen, Clervoy, Lu, Noriega, Kondakova, Foale. Flight: STS-84, Mir NASA-4, Mir NASA-3, Mir EO-23. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 377 km (234 mi). Apogee: 393 km (244 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.30 min. Duration: 9.22 days.

  Atlantis blasted off on a night launch to Mir, docking with the station on May 17 at 02:33 GMT. Jerry Linenger, who had begun his stay on Mir in mid-January aboard STS-81, would return aboard STS-84. Michael Foale would be left at the station for his stint as the American crew member of Mir. The crew transfered to Mir 466 kg of water, 383 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,251 kg of Russian equipment and supplies, and 178 kg of miscellaneous material. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 406 kg of U.S. science material, 531 kg of Russian logistics material, 14 kg of ESA material and 171 kg of miscellaneous material. Atlantis undocked from Mir at 01:04 GMT on May 22. After passing up its first landing opportunity due to clouds over the landing site, the Shuttle fired its OMS engines on the deorbit burn at 12:33 GMT on May 24. Atlantis landed at 13:27 GMT at Kennedy Space Center's runway 33.

• 1997 November 1 - Atlantis OMDP-2 - Program: STS. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle.

  Atlantis is overhauled at Palmdale, returning to service in mid-1998. This was the last OMDP accomplished at Palmdale; future work would be done at the Kennedy Space Center.

• 1997 September 26 - STS-86 - Program: Mir. Crew: Wetherbee, Bloomfield, Titov Vladimir, Parazynski, Chretien, Lawrence, Wolf. Flight: STS-86, Mir NASA-5, Mir NASA-4, Mir EO-24. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 354 km (219 mi). Apogee: 381 km (236 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Duration: 10.81 days.

  Atlantis was launched on a mission to the Russian Mir space station. The TI rendevous terminal initiation burn was carried out at 17:32 GMT on September 27, and Atlantis docked with the SO (Docking Module) on the Mir complex at 19:58 GMT. The crew exchange was completed on September 28, with David Wolf replacing Michael Foale on the Mir crew. On October 1 cosmonaut Titov and astronaut Parazynski conducted a spacewalk from the Shuttle payload bay while Atlantis was docked to Mir. They retrieved four MEEP (Mir Environmental Effects Payload ) exposure packages from Mir's SO module and installed the Spektr solar array cap. The MEEP experiments had been attached to the Docking Module by astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford during Shuttle mission STS-76 in March 1996. In addition to retrieving the MEEP, Parazynski and Titov were to continue an evaluation of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a small jet-backpack designed for use as a type of life jacket during station assembly.

  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.

• 2000 May 19 - STS-101 - Program: ISS. Crew: Halsell, Horowitz, Weber, Williams Jeffrey, Voss, Helms, Usachyov. Flight: STS-101. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 332 km (206 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Duration: 9.84 days.

  ISS Logistics flight. Launch delayed three times by weather. Objective of mission STS-101 was repair, resupply and construction tasks aboard the international space station. This was the first launch with new electronic cockpit displays and other upgrades. The solid boosters separated at 10:13 GMT and the main engines cutoff at 10:19 GMT. The external tank, ET-102 then separated, with both orbiter and ET-102 in a 52 x 320 km initial orbit. At 10:54 GMT the OMS engines fired to raise perigee to 159 x 329 km x at 51.6 deg. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station's PMA-2 docking adapter on the Unity node at 04:31 GMT on May 21. At that time the ISS was in a 332 x 341 km orbit.

  On May 22 mission specialists Jeff Williams and James carried out external maintenance work on the ISS.

  On May 23 at 00:03 GMT the Atlantis crew opened the first hatch to PMA-2 and entered the Station. The crew replaced a set of batteries in Zarya, installed fans and ducting to improve airflow, and delivered supplies and equipment. Three hour-long orbit raising burns on May 24 and 25 by the RCS engines on Atlantis raised the station to a 372 x 380 km x 51.6 deg orbit.

  The STS-101 crew left the station on May 26, closing the PMA-2 hatch at 08:08 GMT and undocking at 23:03 GMT. Atlantis performed a 180 degree flyaround of the station and departed the vicinity around 23:44 GMT.

  Atlantis closed its payload bay doors around 02:30 GMT on May 29 and fired the OMS engines for deorbit at 05:12 GMT. The vehicle landed on RW15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:20 GMT. Atlantis was to be turned around for the next ISS shuttle flight, STS-106.

  Left in orbit was the renovated International Space Station, equipped with an upgraded electrical system, new fans, filters, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and communications gear.

• 2000 September 8 - STS-106 - Program: ISS. Crew: Wilcutt, Altman, Burbank, Lu, Mastracchio, Malenchenko, Morukov. Flight: STS-106. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 374 km (232 mi). Apogee: 386 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Duration: 11.80 days.

  Atlantis was launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B. Solid rocket boosters RSRM-75 and external tank ET-103 were used to loft the orbiter into space. The inital orbit of 72 x 328 km x 51.6 deg was circularised by the Shuttle's OMS engines at apogee.

  Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 adapter on the International Space Station at 05:51 GMT on September 10. The orbiter's small RCS engines were used to gently reboost the station's orbit several times.

  Astronauts Lu and Malenchenko made a spacewalk on September 11 beginning at 04:47 GMT. They rode the RMS arm up to Zvezda and began installing cables, reaching a distance of 30 meters from the airlock when installing Zvezda's magnetometer. Total EVA duration was 6 hours 21 minutes.

  During their 12-day flight, the astronauts spent a week docked to the International Space Station during which they worked as movers, cleaners, plumbers, electricians and cable installers. In all, they spent 7 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes docked to the International Space Station, outfitting the new Zvezda module for the arrival of the Expedition One crew later this fall.

  The Shuttle undocked from ISS at 03:44 GMT on September 18 and made two circuits of the station each lasting half an orbit, before separating finally at 05:34 GMT. The payload bay doors were closed at 04:14 GMT on September 20 and at 06:50 GMT the OMS engines ignited for a three minute burn lowering the orbit from 374 x 386 km x 51.6 deg to 22 x 380 km x 51.6 deg. After entry interface at 07:25 GMT, the orbiter glided to a landing on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center with main gear touchdown at 07:56:48 GMT for a mission duration of 283 hr 11min.

• 2001 February 7 - STS-98 - Program: ISS. Crew: Cockrell, Polansky, Curbeam, Ivins, Jones. Flight: STS-98. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 90,225 kg (198,912 lb). Perigee: 183 km (113 mi). Apogee: 337 km (209 mi). Inclination: 51.30 deg. Period: 89.71 min. Duration: 12.89 days.

  ISS Assembly flight. Launch delayed from January 18 and February 6. International Space Station assembly mission; delivered the Destiny and PMA-2 modules. Destiny was an American ISS module, an 8.4 meter long and 4.2 meter wide cylindrical structure with a mass of 15 tonnes. It was to function as a science and technology module and the primary control module for the ISS. The shuttle orbiter was placed in an initial 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At 2357 GMT the OMS engines fired for the OMS-2 burn which raised Atlantis' orbit to 204 x 322 km x 51.6 deg. Atlantis docked with the Station at 1651 GMT on February 9 at the PMA-3 port on Unity's nadir. At 1500 GMT on Feb 10 Marsha Ivins used the RMS arm to unberth the PMA-2 docking port from Unity. Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam then conducted three spacewalks on Februay 10 to 14 to attach the Destiny and PMA-2 modules to the station. The crew also delivered over a tonne of food, fuel and equipment to the ISS. Atlantis undocked from Alpha at 1406 GMT on February 16. Atlantis landed at Edwards AFB on February 20; plans to land on February 18 and 19 were called off due to persistent wind problems at Kennedy Space Center. The deorbit burn was at 1927 GMT and lowered the orbit from 370 x 386 km to about 50 x 380 km. The nominal entry interface at 122 km came at 2002 GMT and touchdown on runway 22 was at 20:33 GMT. On March 1 Atlantis was flown on the back of NASA's SCA 911 carrier aircraft to Altus AFB, Oklahoma, en route to Kennedy.

• 2001 July 12 - STS-104 - Program: ISS. Crew: Lindsey, Hobaugh, Kavandi, Gernhardt, Reilly. Flight: STS-104. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 117,127 kg (258,220 lb). Perigee: 372 km (231 mi). Apogee: 390 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Duration: 12.77 days.

  STS-104 was an American ISS Assembly shuttle flight with a crew of five American astronauts and a major space station module, the Quest Airlock. Orbiter OV-104 Atlantis main engine cutoff and external tank separation was at 0913 GMT. Atlantis was then in an orbit of 59 x 235 km x 51.6 deg. The OMS-2 burn at 0942 GMT increased velocity by 29 m/s and raised the orbit to 157 x 235 km x 51.6 deg and another burn at 1240 GMT raised it further to 232 x 305 km. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 0308 GMT on July 14. The main payload on STS-104 was the Quest Joint Airlock, built by Boeing/Huntsville. It consisted of an Equipment Lock for storage and the Crew Lock, based on the Shuttle airlock. The 13,872 kg payload consisted of:

  • Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System/External Airlock - 2160 kg including 3 EMU spacesuits
  • Bay 4-5: Spacelab Pallet (Fwd) with O2-1/O2-2 oxygen tanks - 2500 kg
  • Bay 6-7: Spacelab Pallet (Aft) with N2-1/N2-2 nitrogen tanks - 2500 kg
  • Bay 8-12: Station Joint Airlock Adapter beam (6064 kg) with IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (238 kg)
  • Sill: RMS arm - 410 kg
  The Equipment Lock was berthed to the Unity module at one of the large-diameter CBM hatches. STS-104 then installed the Airlock onto the Unity module. In a series of spacewalks the astronauts moved the oxygen and nitrogen tanks onto the airlock exterior.

  The six tonne Airlock consisted of two cylinders of four meters diameter and a total length six meters. The Airlock could be pressurized by the externally-mounted high pressure oxygen-nitrogen tanks, and was to be the sole unit through which all future EVAs were to take place. (Until that point, all EVA entries/exits had been through a Russian module in ISS, with non-Russians having to wear Russian space suits). Another payload was the "EarthKAM" of middle/high school interest. It was to allow pupils to command picture-taking of chosen spots on Earth; they were expected to target 2,000 spots. The shuttle also carried out pulsed exhaust tests during maneuvers to enable better understanding of the formation of HF echoes from the shuttle exhaust. The echoes were obtained by ground based radars in an experiment called SIMPLEX (Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local EXhaust). The STS-104 crew returned to Atlantis on July 22, and undocked at 0455 GMT. After flying around the station they departed the vicinity at 0615 GMT. Atlantis landed at 0338:55 GMT on July 25, touching down at Kennedy Space Center runway 15.

• 2002 April 8 - STS-110 - Program: ISS. Crew: Bloomfield, Frick, Walheim, Ochoa, Morin, Ross, Smith Steven. Flight: STS-110. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 100,000 kg (220,000 lb). Perigee: 309 km (192 mi). Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.70 min. Duration: 10.82 days.

  Launch delayed from March 22, April 4. Space Shuttle Atlantis entered an orbit of approximately 59 x 229 km x 51.6 deg at 2052 UTC, and separated from the External Tank, ET-114. ET-114 reached apogee around 2122 UTC and reentered over the Pacific about 2150 UTC at the end of its first orbit. Atlantis fired its OMS engines at apogee to raise its perigee to 155 km. Further orbit changes will lead to a rendezvous with the Space Station on Station mission 8A. STS-110 carried the S0 truss segment to the Station. The truss was the first segment of the main backbone of the Station which was to grow to carry the large solar panel wings and radiators. Cargo manifest:

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

• 2002 October 7 - STS-112 - Program: ISS. Crew: Ashby, Melroy, Wolf, Sellers, Magnus, Yurchikhin. Flight: STS-112. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 116,640 kg (257,140 lb). Perigee: 273 km (169 mi). Apogee: 405 km (251 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.30 min. Duration: 10.83 days.

  ISS Assembly flight delayed from March 22, April 4, August 22, September 28, October 2 due to payload delays and then SSME problems. American shuttle spacecraft STS-112 carried a crew of five Americans and one Russian to the International Space Station (ISS). During the 11-day mission, the crew extended the truss system of the exterior rail line with a 14-m, 13-ton girder. The crew also tested a manual cart on the rails. The cart, named CETA (Crew and Equipment Transportation Aid), was designed to increase mobility of crew and equipment during the later installation phases. STS-112 landed back in Cape Canaveral at 15:43 UT on 2002 October 18 carrying the same crew of six.

• 2003 July 24 - STS-116 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Crew: Wilcutt, Oefelein, Curbeam, Fuglesang, Foale, McArthur, Tokarev. Flight: STS-116A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. STS-116 was to have flown ISS Assembly mission ISS-12A.1. It would have delivered the third left-side truss segment (ITS P5), logistics and supplies aboard a Spacehab single cargo module and carried out a crew rotation.

• 2003 March 1 - STS-114 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Crew: Collins Eileen, Kelly, Noguchi, Robinson, Malenchenko, Kaleri, Lu. Flight: STS-114A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. STS-114 was to have been the seventeenth station flight (ULF1). It would have carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and carried out a crew rotation.

• 2004 January 15 - STS-119 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Crew: Lindsey, Kelly Mark, Gernhardt, Noriega, Padalka, Fincke, Kononenko O D. Flight: STS-119A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. STS-119 was to have flown ISS Assembly mission ISS-15A and have carried out a crew rotation.

• 2004 October 1 - STS-123 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Flight: STS-123A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. No crew had been named at the time of the loss of Columbia. STS-123 was to have flown ISS resupply mission ISS-UF4. It would have delivered the contents of an Express Pallet, plus the SPDM and AMS to the station.

• 2006 April 1 - STS-131 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Flight: STS-131A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. No crew had been named at the time of the loss of Columbia. STS-131 was to have flown ISS assembly mission ISS-14A. 4 SPP Arrays and the MMOD would have been delivered to the station.

• 2006 October 1 - STS-134 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Flight: STS-134A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. No crew had been named at the time of the loss of Columbia. STS-134 was to have flown ISS assembly mission ISS-16A. The Habitation module would have been delivered to the station.

• 2006 September 9 - STS-115 - Program: ISS. Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Stefanyshyn-Piper, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 122,400 kg (269,800 lb). Perigee: 335 km (208 mi). Apogee: 350 km (210 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Duration: 11.80 days.

  Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at the PMA-2 port at 10:48 GMT on 11 September. At the Shuttle RMS robot arm connected to the enormous P3/P4 truss in the payload pay and handed it off to the Station's robot arm between 14:52 and 15:03 GMT the same day. The station arm then connected to the P3/P4 truss to the station's P1 truss at 07:27 on 12 September. Three EVA's were made by the shuttle crew over the next three days to complete installation of the truss and deply its solar panels. The Shuttle undocked from the station at 12:50 GMT on 20 September. There was a one-day delay in landing due to weather at the Cape and some concern about several small objects seen floating near the spacecraft. These were believed to be plastic shims that had worked loose from between the tiles and were not a concern. Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center at 10:21 GMT on 21 September.

• 2007 July 1 - STS-137 (cancelled) - Program: ISS. Flight: STS-137A.

  Flight delayed after the Columbia disaster. No crew had been named at the time of the loss of Columbia. STS-137 was to have flown ISS assembly mission ISS-19A. An MPLM and other station hardware would be delivered.

• 2007 June 8 - STS-117 - Program: ISS. Crew: Sturckow, Archambault, Forrester, Swanson, Olivas, Reilly, Anderson Clayton. Flight: ISS EO-15, ISS EO-14-1, STS-117, ISS EO-15-1. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Mass: 122,685 kg (270,474 lb). Perigee: 330 km (200 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.20 min. Duration: 13.84 days.

  The shuttle delivered the S3 and S4 truss segments to the starboard side of the International Space Station. The crew made three spacewalks to install these truss segments, conduct other station reconfiguration and installation work, deploy the solar arrays and prepare them for operation. A fourth spacewalk was added to repair loose re-entry insulation on the shuttle and get-ahead installation work on the outside of the station. The shuttle delivered NASA long-term ISS crew member Clayton Anderson to the station; and returned Suni Williams to earth. At the conclusion of this mission the station finally achieved its full-power, dual-boom configuration first conceived for Space Station Freedom in the 1980's.

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