Korzun

Treshchev

Whitson

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ISS EO-5

5 June 2002 21:22 GMT. Landing Date: 2002-12-07 19:36:00 PM. Flight Time: 184.93 days. Alternate Name: STS-111 (Korzun, Treshchev, Whitson). Flight Up: STS-111. Flight Back: STS-113. Call Sign: Endeavour. Crew: Korzun, Treshchev, Whitson. Backup Crew: Kaleri, Kondratiyev Dmitry, Stefanyshyn-Piper. Program: ISS. Three-person crew to operate the station and provide support during station replenishment and assembly missions Progress M1-8, Progress M-46, Progress M1-9, Soyuz TMA-1, Soyuz TM-34 and Space Shuttle in Flights 9A and 11A.

The flight program consisted of the following main activities:

• Launch of the ISS EO-5 crew on the Space Shuttle in Flight UF2;
• Operational support for docking/undocking of spacecraft Progress M1-8, Progress M-46, Progress M1-9, Soyuz TMA-1, Soyuz TM-34 and Space Shuttle in Flights 9A and 11A;
• Unloading of Progress, Soyuz spacecrafts and Space Shuttle;
• Redocking of vehicle Soyuz TM-34 from Pirs DC1 to FGB Zarya;
• Extravehicular activities - two EVAs on the ISS RS from Docking Compartment DC1 Pirs;
• ISS maintenance and repairs;
• Performance of the science and application research program and experiments (Relaksatsia, Uragan, Molniya-SM, Sprut-MBI, Parodont, Farma, Cardio-ODNT, Profilaktika, Pulse, Biorisk, Rastenia-2, Prognos, Brados, Diatomeya, Meteoroid, Tenzor, Vektor-T, Izgib, Privyazka, Iskazheniye, Identifikatsia, Plasma crystal-3, Skorpion, Kromka, Platan), as well as contracted commercial activities (GTS, MPAC&SEED, HDTV, Vzglyad);
• Conduct of the activities under the Visiting Crew Program EP-4;
• Crew handover to Expedition ISS EO-6 and return of the ISS EO-5 crew to Earth on the Space Shuttle in Flight UF2.

ISS EO-5 Credit- NASA

• 2002 Jun 5 - STS-111  Crew: Cockrell, Lockhart, Chang-Diaz, Perrin, Korzun, Whitson, Treshchev. Spacecraft: Endeavour . Payload: Endeavour F18 / Leonardo. Mass: 105,000 kg (231,000 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 13.86 days. Perigee: 349 km (216 mi). Apogee: 387 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.90 min.

  Launch delayed from May 2, 6, 30, 31 and June 4. STS-111 reached a 58 x 224 km x 51.6 deg orbit at 2131 UTC and separated from the External Tank. It coasted to apogee at 2201 UTC and carried out the OMS-2 burn to raise the orbit to 158 x 235 km. The mission of STS-111 (UF-2 ISS utilization flight) was to swap the Expedition 4 and 5 crews and deliver the MBS Mobile Base System and some interior experiment racks. Endeavour docked with the Station at 1625 UTC on June 7. The Leonardo MPLM module was attached to the Station on June 8. Cargo manifest:

  • Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System - 1800 kg + 2 EMU spacesuits - 240 kg
  • Bay 4: Mobile Base System (MBS) - 1600 kg. The Mobile Base System was made by MD Robotics of Brampton, Ontario. It was to be attached to the Mobile Transporter and used to mount the SSRMS Canadarm-2 arm and heavy payloads.
  • Bay 6P: Adapter Beam / Wrist Roll Joint - 150 kg. The WRJ (Wrist Roll Joint) would be swapped with the broken one on the SSRMS arm.
  • Bay 7-12: MPLM FM1 "Leonardo" - 10557 kg. The Leonardo module carried 8 Resupply Stowage Racks and 4 Resupply Stowage Plaftorms, with equipment to be transferred to the station. It also carried two science racks: the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) and Express-3, which would be installed on Destiny. Leonardo, built by Alenia Spazio in Torino, also flew on STS-102 and STS-105.
  • Bay 13P: ICAPC Beam / PGDF - 75 kg. The PGDF (Power-Data Grapple Fixture) would be installed on the P6 truss.
  • Bay 13S: Adapter Beam / SMDP - 200 kg. The Service Module Debris Panels (SMDP) package contained 6 panels which would be stowed on PMA-1 until a later spacewalk attached them to the Zvezda module to protect it from space debris hits.
  • Total: 14622 kg

• 2002 Jun 5 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #01 

  ISS EO-5 Credit- www.spacefacts.de

  With improved weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center, Endeavour lifted off at 4:23 p.m. CDT today, beginning a complex mission to continue the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station and bring a new trio of residents to the orbital outpost.

  Aboard Endeavour are Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Díaz and Philippe Perrin of the French Space Agency, CNES, along with Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev. As Endeavour launched from Florida, the space station orbited 240 statute miles over the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia.

  Aboard the ISS, Expedition 4 Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch are wrapping up their 182nd day in space, their 180th day on the station. Walz and Bursch will break the U.S. record for the longest single space flight - 188 days - set by astronaut Shannon Lucid in 1996. Another record was equaled today as Chang-Díaz became only the second human to fly in space seven times, tying a mark set in April by Jerry Ross on the STS-110 mission.

  Less than nine minutes after launch, Endeavour and its crewmembers settled into orbit and work began to prepare the shuttle for its planned 12-day mission.

  Endeavour is scheduled to dock to the station Friday afternoon, setting the stage for the handover between the Expedition 4 and Expedition 5 station crews. Three spacewalks are scheduled during the mission by Chang-Díaz and Perrin. The first two will help install and activate the Mobile Base System, a platform that will be mated to the Mobile Transporter on the S-Zero (S0) Truss. The new platform will allow the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to "walk off" the Destiny Laboratory onto the Mobile Base System so it can be transported up and down the length of the ISS for future assembly tasks. On the third spacewalk, Chang-Díaz and Perrin will replace a faulty wrist roll joint on the station's robotic arm that has experienced an electrical problem in one of its two data and power channels.

  The shuttle crew will go to sleep at 10:23 p.m., and will be awakened at 6:23 a.m. Thursday to begin its first full day in orbit.

• 2002 Jun 6 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #02 

  As Endeavour closes in for its linkup to the International Space Station tomorrow, the Expedition Four crew aboard the complex will spend the day preparing for the arrival of its replacements.

  Aboard Endeavour, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz and Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, were awakened at 6:23 a.m. Central time by the song "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," by Will Smith. The song was played for Korzun, who will soon take command of the space station.

  The Expedition Four crewmembers - Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - are in their 183rd day in space, their 181st day aboard the ISS. They will return to Earth aboard Endeavour after six months in orbit on June 17.

  In preparation for docking Friday, Perrin and Chang-Díaz will set up a centerline camera to help Cockrell with views of the station's docking mechanism during Endeavour's final approach tomorrow and will test the orbiter docking system ring. Cockrell and Lockhart will fire the shuttle's jets to raise the altitude of Endeavour and draw it closer to the station. The maneuvers will bring the shuttle about 46 statute miles behind the station by Friday morning.

  Cockrell and Perrin will also activate the shuttle's robotic arm and use its cameras to survey the contents of the payload bay, including the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics cargo module, the Mobile Base System and the replacement wrist roll joint for the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, as well as debris shields for the Zvezda Service Module. Chang-Díaz and Perrin will install these components during three spacewalks scheduled for the mission. Today, they will prepare their spacesuits for use out of the Quest Airlock on the station next week.

  Later this morning, Cockrell and Chang-Díaz will participate in a live conversation with Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco and reporters from two Hispanic television networks. Costa Rican-born Chang-Díaz tied the human spaceflight record yesterday when he launched on his seventh mission. Astronaut Jerry Ross set the record in April during the STS-110 mission.

• 2002 Jun 6 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #03 

  Gaining on the International Space Station by 580 statute miles with each 90-minute orbit, Endeavour's crew spent today completing preparations for Friday's scheduled docking with the complex.

  With docking scheduled at 11:17 a.m. CDT tomorrow, STS-111 Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz today verified all of Endeavour's equipment is ready. Perrin and Chang-Díaz set up a centerline camera Cockrell will use during Friday's final approach to align Endeavour with the station's docking port. They also successfully tested the shuttle docking system and extended it to a position ready for contact with the station.

  Cockrell and Perrin activated the shuttle robotic arm and used its cameras to survey the contents of the payload bay. Perrin and Chang-Díaz, who will conduct the three spacewalks scheduled for the mission, successfully checked out the spacesuits they will use during their scheduled spacewalks. During the first two spacewalks, the duo will help install a new aluminum platform, the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System or MBS, atop the station's railcar, the Mobile Transporter. Once installed, the MBS will allow the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to travel along the station railway, moving up and down an eventual 300-foot truss for maintenance and assembly work.

  Cockrell and Lockhart fired Endeavour's jets three times today to adjust the speed at which the shuttle is closing in on the station. A final Terminal Phase Initiation burn will be conducted Friday morning to begin the final phase of the rendezvous.

  The Expedition Four crewmembers - Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - tidied up their orbital home and completed routine maintenance on the eve of the arrival of the STS-111 crew.

  Cockrell and Chang-Díaz took time out today to participate in a live conversation with Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco, U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica John Danilovich and reporters from Univision and Telemundo. Costa Rican-born Chang-Díaz tied the human spaceflight record yesterday when he launched on his seventh mission.

• 2002 Jun 7 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #04 

  Heading for a docking to the International Space Station later today, Endeavour's astronauts continue to close in on the orbital outpost as a new trio of residents prepares to take over command of the complex.

  Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz, and Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, were awakened just after 4:30 Central time this morning by "American Woman," by Lenny Kravitz, a song selected for Whitson.

  At the time of the crew's wakeup call, Endeavour had closed to within 900 statute miles of the ISS, aiming for a linkup to the docking port at the forward end of the Destiny Laboratory at 11:17 a.m. Central time as the two vehicles fly off the northeast coast of Australia, south of New Guinea. On board the station, the Expedition Four crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, are spending the morning preparing for the arrival of Endeavour's astronauts and their Expedition Five replacements. Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch are in their 184th day in space, their 182nd day aboard the ISS.

  A little less than two hours after Endeavour docks to the station, the hatches between the two spacecraft will open and Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will greet their counterparts and conduct a safety briefing. Then, the ten astronauts and cosmonauts will begin transferring equipment, supplies and experiments between the two vehicles. The two Expedition crews will exchange their custom-made Soyuz return craft seat liners for the rescue vehicle currently docked to the station. Once the new Expedition Five crew conducts checks of their Russian entry suits, they will officially take over command of station operations, and Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch will become shuttle crewmembers.

  All systems aboard Endeavour and the ISS continue to function in excellent shape.

• 2002 Jun 7 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #05 

  Endeavour gently docked with the International Space Station this morning 240 miles over the South Pacific, setting the stage for eight days of docked operations highlighted by three scheduled spacewalks and the exchange of resident crews aboard the outpost. Commander Ken Cockrell guided Endeavour to a linkup with the forward docking port of the station's Destiny Laboratory at 11:25 a.m. Central time. The docking culminated a textbook rendezvous executed by Cockrell and Pilot Paul Lockhart. After waiting for about one hour to allow post-contact oscillations to subside, the two vehicles were joined firmly together at 12:27 p.m.

  At 2:08 p.m. central time, hatches between Endeavour and the station swung open, and the station's Expedition Four crewmembers-Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz-greeted their visitors-Cockrell, Lockhart, Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Díaz and Philippe Perrin and oncoming Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev.

  The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts immediately set to work transferring priority equipment, supplies and experiments between the two vehicles. Items moving to the station included two Extravehicular Activity spacesuits and EVA tools to be used during the mission's three scheduled spacewalks. The Expedition Five crewmembers' custom-made Soyuz return craft seat liners and their Russian entry suits were transferred from Endeavour to the station at 5:55 p.m. central time, marking the official start of the Expedition Five Increment. With that transfer complete, Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz formally concluded their 182-day stay as space station residents. Korzun, Whitson and Treschev now begin their tenure as the fifth resident crew to live and work on board the International Space Station.

  Communications checks between the station's Quest Airlock and the EVA suits Perrin and Chang-Díaz will use also were completed today. The spacewalks will see installation of a new platform, the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System, on the station's railcar, the Mobile Transporter, and replacement of the wrist roll joint on the station's arm.

  Late in the day, the Flash Evaporator System Primary B controller failed for an as-yet unknown reason. The system has three redundant controllers, Primary A, Primary B and Secondary, and the failure of one controller will have no effect on mission operations.

  The Flash Evaporator System sprays excess supply water into the inside of a trash-can shaped vessel that is wrapped by Freon coils. The heat being carried in these coils causes the water to flash into vapor and be vented overboard, disposing of excess heat and excess supply water.

• 2002 Jun 8 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #06 

  The newly arrived crewmembers of Expedition Five aboard the International Space Station - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - will continue settling into their new home today as they work with Endeavour's astronauts to move the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the shuttle's cargo bay to the Unity module of the complex in advance of the start of the transfer of almost 3 tons of equipment and supplies.

  Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz, and the newest shuttle crewmembers - former Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, were awakened at 4:23 Central time this morning by "I Have a Dream," by ABBA, a song selected for Treschev.

  Using the shuttle's robotic arm, Cockrell and Perrin will reach into Endeavour's payload bay and latch onto Leonardo at mid-morning. The pressurized cargo module will be attached to the nadir berthing port on Unity. After Walz and Whitson perform pressure checks, the hatch to the cargo carrier will be opened. Leonardo contains equipment, supplies and experiments necessary for the fifth resident crew's 4 ½-month stay in orbit.

  The six Expedition crewmembers will continue their handover conferences and the 10 cosmonauts and astronauts will review procedures for the first spacewalk of the flight tomorrow. Perrin and Chang-Díaz will step out of the Quest Airlock Sunday to begin installing the Mobile Base System, a new platform which will enable the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to ride a railway the length of the station for future assembly tasks. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday to complete the Mobile Base system installation and to replace an ailing wrist roll joint on the station's robotic arm.

  The Expedition Five crew officially assumed command of station operations last night just before 6 p.m. Central time, marking the end of the Expedition Four increment at 182 days. Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch are now considered part of Endeavour's crew, aiming for a homecoming on June 17.

  Systems on Endeavour and the ISS are functioning normally as the two vehicles orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 8 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #07 

  (CORRECTS DURATION OF EXPEDITION FOUR TO 181 DAYS)

  The newly arrived crewmembers of Expedition Five aboard the International Space Station - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - will continue settling into their new home today as they work with Endeavour's astronauts to move the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the shuttle's cargo bay to the Unity module of the complex in advance of the start of the transfer of almost 3 tons of equipment and supplies.

  Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz, and the newest shuttle crewmembers - former Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, were awakened at 4:23 Central time this morning by "I Have a Dream," by ABBA, a song selected for Treschev.

  Using the shuttle's robotic arm, Cockrell and Perrin will reach into Endeavour's payload bay and latch onto Leonardo at mid-morning. The pressurized cargo module will be attached to the nadir berthing port on Unity. After Walz and Whitson perform pressure checks, the hatch to the cargo carrier will be opened. Leonardo contains equipment, supplies and experiments necessary for the fifth resident crew's 4 ½-month stay in orbit.

  The six Expedition crewmembers will continue their handover conferences and the 10 cosmonauts and astronauts will review procedures for the first spacewalk of the flight tomorrow. Perrin and Chang-Díaz will step out of the Quest Airlock Sunday to begin installing the Mobile Base System, a new platform which will enable the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to ride a railway the length of the station for future assembly tasks. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday to complete the Mobile Base system installation and to replace an ailing wrist roll joint on the station's robotic arm.

  The Expedition Five crew officially assumed command of station operations yesterday at 5:55 p.m. Central time, marking the end of the Expedition Four increment at 181 days. Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch are now considered part of Endeavour's crew, aiming for a homecoming on June 17.

  Systems on Endeavour and the ISS are functioning normally as the two vehicles orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 8 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #08 

  The 10-member multinational crew aboard the International Space Station and shuttle complex worked today to move the Leonardo transfer van from the shuttle's payload bay to the station, begin equipment and supply transfers to the station and prepare for Sunday's space walk.

  The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) was unberthed from the payload bay early this morning by Commander Ken Cockrell operating the shuttle's robotic arm to move the module to the station's Unity module. Leonardo's installation proceeded perfectly with completion at 9:28 a.m. Central time. About 4:30 p.m. Central time, the MPLM's hatch was opened. Dan Bursch of Expedition Four called down at 4:52 pm that all crew members had entered the logistics module and were working to get the transfers rolling. The crew got a good start on the movement of more than 5,600 pounds of cargo to the station.

  Early today, one of four control moment gyroscopes used in the station's attitude control system experienced a mechanical failure. Flight controllers turned it off and began using the remaining three gyros to maintain the station's attitude. It is believed that one of its spin bearings failed, causing it to seize. Flight Engineer Carl Walz reported that the crew could feel and hear "growling" vibrations as it failed. While the failure is a serious complication for the long-term space station operations, there are multiple backup systems for control of the station's attitude so it poses no threat to the safety of the shuttle or expedition crews. The situation is expected to require only minor changes to the STS-111 flight activities.

  Franklin Chang-Díaz, and Perrin, with help from Paul Lockhart, readied their extravehicular mobility unit space suits and tools, and reviewed procedures for Sunday's spacewalk. The two first-time spacewalkers will install a Power and Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) to the station's P6 solar array truss and temporarily store some Russian meteoroid/debris shields. They'll also remove thermal blankets from the Mobile Base System (MBS) in Endeavour's cargo bay, and support its unberthing. The MBS will be parked on the shuttle's arm near its installation point so that hardware temperatures can equalize before it is attached to the existing Mobile Transporter platform. At the end of the day, flight controllers will activate the MBS from the ground in preparation for the next day's operations. Chang-Díaz also will inspect and photograph the exterior condition of station's failed control moment gryoscope at the end of his spacewalk.

  The combined STS-111 crew of Cockrell, Lockhart, Chang-Díaz, Perrin, Yury Onufrienko, Dan Bursch and Carl Walz will wake up at 4:23 am CDT Sunday, while new station Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev will arise at 4:53 am.

• 2002 Jun 9 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #09 

  Endeavour Astronauts Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz are set to step out into the vacuum of space this morning for the first of three spacewalks to help install a platform for the transport of the International Space Station's robotic arm and to replace a faulty joint in the arm itself.

  With the help of Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart, who will help coordinate the spacewalk from inside Endeavour, Chang-Díaz and Perrin will leave the Quest Airlock this morning for a planned six-hour spacewalk to first install a Power and Data Grapple Fixture to the station's P6 truss for its future relocation. The two first-time space walkers will then temporarily park micrometeoroid debris shields on the Russian segment of the station. Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson and ISS Commander Valery Korzun will install the shields on the Zvezda Service Module during a spacewalk set for late July.

  The final task of the spacewalk will involve the removal of thermal blankets from the Mobile Base System. That component will be mated tomorrow to the Mobile Transporter on the S0 (S-Zero) Truss of the ISS to enable the Canadarm2 robotic arm to "walk off" the Destiny Laboratory onto the station's railcar system for transport up and down the length of the complex. Chang-Díaz will be identifiable by solid red stripes on the legs of his spacesuit. Perrin will wear the pure white suit with no stripes.

  Commander Ken Cockrell will use the shuttle robotic arm's cameras to monitor the activities outside. Whitson and Endeavour Astronaut Carl Walz will transport Chang-Díaz on the end of Canadarm2 during the spacewalk.

  During the spacewalk, Chang-Díaz will conduct a visual and photographic inspection of one of the station's four control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) on the station's Z1 Truss. The gyroscope experienced a mechanical failure of its spin bearing yesterday and will no longer be able to be used to assist in station attitude control.

  Three other CMGs are operating normally to provide full attitude control for the ISS. If necessary, station control can be maintained with only two functioning CMGs, with other backup attitude control systems also available. The CMG failure will have no impact on ISS operations. A substitute CMG is available on the ground and program managers are evaluating future replacement options. To accommodate the use of three CMGs and varying thermal conditions, the orientation of the shuttle and station will be altered slightly for today's spacewalk.

  Once the protective blankets are removed from the Mobile Base System, Whitson and Walz will latch onto the platform in Endeavour's cargo bay with Canadarm2, remove it from its carrier, and maneuver it to a position just above the Mobile Transporter, which was installed on the S-Zero Truss in April. Canadarm2 will be left in a parked position overnight to thermally condition the Mobile Base System before it is mated to the Transporter railcar Monday.

  At the start of their fifth day in space, Endeavour's crew was awakened at 4:23 a.m. Central time to the sound of "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, a tune selected for Cockrell.

• 2002 Jun 9 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #10 

  Endeavour Astronauts Franklin Chang-Díaz and Philippe Perrin completed all scheduled International Space Station assembly tasks today during a 7-hour, 14-minute spacewalk, the first ever for the duo.

  Chang-Díaz and Perrin ventured outside the station's Quest airlock at 10:27 a.m. Central time. With the help of Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart, who guided the spacewalk from inside the shuttle, Chang-Díaz and Perrin first installed a Power and Data Grapple Fixture to the station's P6 truss. The fixture will be used to relocate the P6 truss structure to its final location on the station.

  Attached to a foot restraint at the end of the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, operated by Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson and ISS Commander Valery Korzun, Chang-Díaz gathered six micrometeoroid debris shields from the shuttle cargo bay and, with help from Perrin, temporarily stored them on Pressurized Mating Adapter-1 which links Unity to Zarya. Whitson and Korzun will install the shields on the Zvezda Service Module during a spacewalk set for late July.

  Chang-Díaz then conducted a visual and photographic inspection of one of the station's four control moment gyroscopes on the station's Z1 truss, a task that was added to today's spacewalk after the gyroscope experienced a mechanical failure yesterday. The photos may help ground controllers better understand why the gyroscope failed.

  Removal of thermal blankets from the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System or MBS was the final task of the spacewalk. At 5:21 p.m. Endeavour Commander Ken Cockrell commanded the release of latches that had secured the MBS to its carrier in the payload bay. Whitson and Carl Walz then latched onto the MBS with Canadarm2, removed it from its carrier, and maneuvered it to a position about three feet above the station's railcar, the Mobile Transporter. Canadarm2 will be left in a parked position overnight to thermally condition the MBS before it is mated to the railcar Monday.

  Later, the Canadarm2 robotic arm will be commanded to "walk off" its position attached to the Destiny Laboratory onto a Power and Data Grapple Fixture atop the MBS. The arm will then be able to move up and down along the station truss for use in future assembly operations.

  Following an inventory of the tools they used during the spacewalk, Perrin and Chang-Díaz re-entered Quest. Airlock repressurization began at 5:41 p.m. Central time, signaling the end of the spacewalk.

• 2002 Jun 10 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #11 

  A critical device for International Space Station assembly will receive an additional component today. An operations platform, to be installed on a railcar on the station's S0 (S-Zero) Truss, will allow the space station's robotic arm to travel the length of the station for future construction tasks.

  The Mobile Base System (MBS), parked overnight on the station's robotic arm about three feet from installation, has had a chance to receive the proper thermal conditioning to match the temperatures on the Mobile Transporter, the actual railcar on the truss itself. Operated by Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson and Endeavour Astronaut Carl Walz, the space station robotic arm will mate the MBS platform to the railcar and flight controllers on the ground will command latches to close to secure the platform in place. Eventually, the station arm will "walk off" its current base location on the Destiny Laboratory to the MBS and ride the railway to move up and down the entire length of the station.

  The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts on the Shuttle/Station complex will also continue their transfer of equipment and supplies to the station from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module.

  Endeavour's crew - Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz, and former station residents Yury Onufrienko, Walz and Dan Bursch - were awakened at 4:23 a.m. Central time to "I Only Have Eyes for You" by the Flamingoes, from the American Graffiti soundtrack which was selected for Lockhart.

  Although Expedition Five crewmembers Whitson, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev have been in charge of ISS operations since Friday afternoon, an official change of command ceremony between Expedition crews will occur early this afternoon.

  The crews will also participate late today in a review of procedures for tomorrow's second spacewalk by Chang-Díaz and Perrin to hook up cables between the Mobile Base System and the Mobile Transporter and to bolt the two components together. Systems on both Endeavour and the ISS continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 10 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #12 

  The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station today continued the expansion of the orbiting laboratory by installing the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System (MBS).

  The MBS was attached to the Mobile Transporter on the Destiny Lab at 8:03 a.m. Central by Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson and Endeavour Astronaut Carl Walz. The two used the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to maneuver the MBS into position. Controllers on the ground then commanded latches on the transporter to close, securing the MBS in place. Eventually, Canadarm2 will "walk off" its current base location on the Destiny Lab onto the MBS. The MBS is an important part of the station's future Mobile Servicing System, which will allow the station's arm to travel the length of the station to perform future construction tasks.

  The astronauts and cosmonauts on the Shuttle/Station complex, including STS-111 Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz, as well Expedition Four crew Yury Onufrienko, Dan Bursch and Walz, and Expedition Five crewmembers Whitson, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev, continued their transfer of equipment and supplies to the station from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. As they began their Monday morning in space, the crewmembers already had transferred 73 percent of the equipment and supplies.

  Though the Expedition Five crew has been in charge of station operations since Friday afternoon, an official change of command ceremony between the two Expedition crews took place this afternoon. The crew also reviewed procedures for tomorrow's second spacewalk of the mission by Chang-Díaz and Perrin in which the two astronauts will hook up cables between the Mobile Base System and the Mobile Transporter and firmly bolt the two components together.

  At 4:53 p.m. today, Endeavour completed a one-hour reboost maneuver to increase the station's altitude by a little over a mile. This is the first of three such maneuvers that eventually will raise the station's altitude by six miles. Systems on both Endeavour and the station continue to function normally as they orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 11 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #13 

  Endeavour spacewalkers Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz will venture outside the shuttle today to complete the installation of the second component of Canada's Remote Servicing System to the International Space Station.

  The first contribution to the station by Canada was the space station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, which was delivered to the ISS last year. Today, in a planned 6 1/2 hour spacewalk, Chang-Díaz and Perrin will connect power and data cables to the newly installed Mobile Base System and permanently bolt it to the Mobile Transporter railcar which was affixed to the S0 (S-Zero) Truss on the ISS in April. The new platform will enable Canadarm2 to "walk off" the Destiny Laboratory and mate itself to any one of four grapple fixtures so it can be driven up and down the length of the station's trusses for future construction tasks.

  Canadarm2 has provided power to the Mobile Base System since its unberthing from Endeavour's payload bay Sunday near the end of the first spacewalk. The platform was attached to the Mobile Transporter on Monday. Chang-Díaz and Perrin will connect primary and backup cables for video and data and primary cables for power between the MBS and the Mobile Transporter. Once the cable connections are completed, ground controllers will send commands for the MT to remotely plug in its umbilical attachments to receptacles on the truss railway. Flight controllers will then begin a checkout of the MBS systems to ensure all connections are established.

  With that completed, Chang-Díaz and Perrin will deploy an auxiliary grapple fixture on the MBS called the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation, or POA. The fixture will be used to transport additional cargo elements on the MBS as it is moved along the truss railway.

  After the ground-controlled checkout complete, the two spacewalkers will connect redundant power cables to the MT.

  The final task for the spacewalkers will be to relocate a television camera on the MBS and add an extra extension cable for the platform.

  Handover conferences between the two Expedition crews and the transfer of equipment and supplies to the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module will also continue today. The crew has emptied Leonardo's cargo into the station and is now refilling the module with unneeded supplies to be returned to Earth.

  Endeavour's crew - Chang-Díaz, Perrin, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - was awakened at 4:23 a.m. Central this morning to the sound of "Mi PC" by Juan Luis Guerra, selected for Chang-Díaz by his family.

  All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 11 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #14 

  In a 5-hour spacewalk today, Endeavour astronauts Franklin Chang-Díaz and Philippe Perrin completed installation of the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System, or MBS, on the International Space Station's railcar, the Mobile Transporter. With those tasks completed, they established a moveable base for future use by the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2.

  Chang-Díaz and Perrin ventured outside the station's Quest airlock at 10:20 a.m. Central time. With the help of Pilot Paul Lockhart, who guided the spacewalk from inside the shuttle, Chang-Díaz and Perrin first connected primary and backup cables for video and data, and primary power cables between the Mobile Transporter railcar and the MBS. Once the connections were made, ground controllers sent commands for the MT to remotely plug in its umbilical attachments to receptacles on the S0 (S-Zero) truss railway.

  With that complete, Chang-Díaz and Perrin then deployed an auxiliary grapple fixture on the MBS called the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation, or POA, and placed it in its final configuration. Identical to the end effectors on Canadarm2, the fixture can grapple payloads and hold them as they are moved along the station's truss atop the MBS.

  Continuing to run ahead of schedule, the two spacewalkers then secured four bolts between the MBS and the railcar, completing installation of the new MBS platform. Later this month or next, Canadarm2 will "walk off" the Destiny Laboratory and mate its free hand to any one of four power and data fixtures on the new platform so it can be driven up and down the length of the station's truss for use in future station assembly and maintenance operations.

  The spacewalkers then relocated a television camera to its final position on top of a mast atop the MBS. The camera will provide views of station assembly and maintenance operations to ground controllers. Final tasks included adding an extra extension cable for the platform, a wire tie to one of the cables installed earlier during the spacewalk and to photograph connectors near the lower portion of the MBS that tie into the MT.

  Following an inventory of the tools they used during the spacewalk, Perrin and Chang-Díaz re-entered Quest. Airlock repressurization began at 3:20 p.m. Central time, signaling the end of the spacewalk. It was the 40th spacewalk in support of ISS assembly and maintenance and the second of the mission, bringing the total spacewalking time for STS-111 to 12 hours and 14 minutes.

  After flight controllers verified that all connections on the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System were working properly, the capture latch on Canadarm2 was released. The arm, which had been supplying power to the MBS, was then repositioned for Thursday's third and final spacewalk of the mission, which will see replacement of its wrist roll joint.

  Handover conferences between the two Expedition crews and the transfer of equipment and supplies to the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module also continued today. Working ahead of schedule, the crew continued to refill the module with unneeded supplies to be returned to Earth.

  At 9:19 Central time tonight, Endeavour crewmembers and former Expedition Four Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch will set a new U.S. space endurance record, exceeding Shannon Lucid's record of 188 consecutive days spent in space. Walz will set another record in the process, exceeding Lucid's U.S. record for cumulative days spent in space as he reaches 223 days accrued over the course of five flights. Expedition 4 Commander Yury Onufrienko has spent a total 381 days in space, but remains far behind the world record for time in space of 747 days, held by Sergei Avdeyev.

• 2002 Jun 12 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #15 

  Endeavour's astronauts - Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Franklin Chang-Díaz, Philippe Perrin, Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - were awakened about 4:30 Central time this morning to the sound of "Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds," by Peter Greenaway, selected for Perrin by his family. The wakeup call began the eighth day of Endeavour's supply, assembly and maintenance mission to the International Space Station.

  At 1:55 a.m. Central time, Walz set a new U.S. record for most aggregate days spent in orbit, exceeding Shannon Lucid's record as he reached the 223 day mark accrued over five flights. Last night, Walz and Bursch also surpassed Lucid's U.S. single spaceflight endurance record of 188 days at 9:19 p.m. Central time.

  Today, along with Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, the 10 astronauts and cosmonauts will continue to transfer unneeded station equipment and supplies to the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to be returned to earth. Handover conferences will also continue between the two Expedition crews.

  The crewmembers will also review the plans for the third and final spacewalk of the mission on Thursday. Chang-Díaz and Perrin will replace a faulty wrist roll joint on the space station's robotic arm, the Canadarm2.

  Reporters in the U.S., France and Canada will also have a chance to question the two crews on the progress of the flight during a Joint Crew News Conference this afternoon.

  The second of three reboosts of the station's altitude will be performed later today, using the shuttle jets to counter the natural effects of atmospheric drag on the station's orbit.

  All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 12 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #16 

  The crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station spent today stowing unneeded supplies and hardware in the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the shuttle middeck for return to Earth.

  Working side by side, the Endeavour crew - Ken Cockrell, Paul Lockhart, Franklin Chang-Díaz, Philippe Perrin, Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - and the Expedition Five crew of Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev have transferred approximately 4,500 of the expected 4,665 pounds of material that will return to Earth inside the MPLM. All of the items slated to be moved from Endeavour's middeck to the station have been transferred and the astronauts are now restowing return items.

  Also today, Endeavour's small steering jets were fired in a series of pulses to gently raise the station's orbit by another mile. This was the second of three scheduled reboost maneuvers designed to raise the station's altitude by a total of six miles.

  The crewmembers also reviewed the plans for the third and final scheduled spacewalk of the mission. Thursday morning, at 9:43 a.m. Central, Chang-Díaz and Perrin will float out of the Quest airlock and begin work to replace a faulty wrist-roll joint on the space station's robotic arm, Canadarm2. The spacewalk is slated to last about seven hours.

  This afternoon, the crews took a break from the stowage activities to discuss the progress of their mission with reporters in the U.S., France and Canada during a joint crew news conference.

  Endeavour's payload bay cameras captured views of wildfires burning in Colorado about 4:40 p.m Central today. Smoke rising from the wildfires was clearly visible as the shuttle/station complex orbited 240 miles over the surface of the Earth.

  The two crews are scheduled to go to sleep just before 8 p.m. today and will awaken just before 4 a.m. Thursday. All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 13 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #17 

  Endeavour spacewalkers Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Díaz will perform surgery on the International Space Station's robotic arm today, attempting to restore full functionality to the space crane through the replacement of ailing wrist joint.

  Canadarm2 experienced an electrical problem in March in one of two redundant power and data channels which command the operation of the seven-jointed apparatus. It was determined that a short created inadvertent commanding in the arm's primary channel which resulted in the unexpected activation of the arm's brakes. The backup commanding channel has functioned perfectly. Even though the arm has continued to operate flawlessly through a software modification, the replacement of the problematic wrist joint was added to the STS-111 mission.

  Inside the shuttle, Pilot Paul Lockhart will choreograph the planned seven-hour spacewalk while Commander Ken Cockrell will use the shuttle's robotic arm to provide television views of the spacewalk activity. Inside the station, Endeavour Astronaut Dan Bursch and Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun will conduct a checkout of the health of the arm once the new joint is installed. Expedition Five Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev will continue cargo transfer activities throughout the day.

  Each joint of Canadarm2 is attached to the next joint by six bolts and an additional bolt that disconnects power, data and video connections. The first task for the spacewalkers is to remove the latching end effector (LEE), essentially the hand of Canadarm2, leaving the faulty wrist roll joint exposed. Next they will disconnect the wrist roll joint and Perrin will carry the failed unit to Endeavour's payload bay to temporarily store it next to the new joint. Chang-Díaz will assist in removing the new joint from its launch carrier and Perrin will bring it up to Canadarm2. The spacewalkers will align the new component with the wrist yaw joint at the end of the arm, tighten the six bolts and turn the final bolt to connect power, data and video lines. They will reinstall the LEE and power will be turned back onto Canadarm2.

  Endeavour's astronauts - Cockrell, Lockhart, Chang-Díaz, Perrin, Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz - were awakened just before 4 a.m. Central time this morning to the song, "On the Road Again," by Willie Nelson, selected for Walz by his family. Walz is returning to Earth after a six-month stay in orbit.

  All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 13 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #18 

  In a 7-hour, 17-minute spacewalk today, Endeavour astronauts Franklin Chang-Díaz and Philippe Perrin successfully replaced a wrist roll joint on the International Space Station's robotic arm, restoring the arm to full functionality.

  With Endeavour Pilot Paul Lockhart choreographing the spacewalk from inside Endeavour, Chang-Díaz and Perrin stepped outside the station's Quest airlock at 10:16 a.m. Central time. Commander Ken Cockrell used the shuttle's robotic arm to provide television views of the spacewalk activity.

  Chang-Díaz and Perrin first removed the arm's latching end effector, essentially the hand of Canadarm2, and attached it to a handrail on the station's Destiny Laboratory. Next they released six bolts connecting the wrist roll joint to the adjoining yaw joint and an additional bolt connecting power, data and video umbilicals. Perrin carried the failed unit to Endeavour's payload bay where it was temporarily stored near the new joint.

  Perrin released six fasteners to remove the new joint from its launch carrier in the shuttle cargo bay and brought it up to Canadarm2 where Chang-Díaz was positioned. After aligning the new component with the wrist yaw joint at the end of the arm, the duo tightened the six bolts to secure the new joint to the arm and turned the final bolt to connect the power, data and video lines. After they reinstalled the latching end effector, power was turned back on to Canadarm2. The failed joint was then placed in a flight support structure in the cargo bay for return to Earth.

  Working at the robotics workstation inside the Destiny Laboratory, Endeavour Astronaut Dan Bursch and Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun conducted a checkout of the health of the arm once the new joint was installed. At 3:43 p.m. Central time, the arm returned to full operational status.

  Following an inventory of the tools they used during the spacewalk, Perrin and Chang-Díaz re-entered Quest. Airlock repressurization began at 5:33 p.m. Central time, signaling the end of the spacewalk. It was the 41st spacewalk in support of ISS assembly and maintenance and the third of the mission, bringing the total spacewalking time for STS-111 to 19 hours and 31 minutes.

• 2002 Jun 14 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #19 

  Endeavour's astronauts - Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Franklin Chang-Díaz, Philippe Perrin, Dan Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz - were awakened just before 4:30 Central time this morning to the National Anthem, in honor of Flag Day today.

  Working with the International Space Station's Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, Endeavour's astronauts will deactivate the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and will remove it from its location on the Unity node of the International Space Station. Using the shuttle's robotic arm, Cockrell will place the module back into Endeavour's cargo bay for its return to Earth.

  About 5,600 pounds of equipment and supplies are being left behind on the ISS, including a new phone booth-sized rack to house delicate microgravity experiments and a glovebox to provide the Expedition Five crew future hands-on interaction with contained experiments. The cargo module is returning with 4,665 pounds of discarded equipment and supplies to Earth.

  Last night, an initial attempt to provide power from the newly installed Mobile Base System platform to the space station robotic arm, Canadarm2, was not successful. Engineers believe that a minor software glitch is preventing commanding from the platform to reach the newly refurbished robotic arm so that the new platform, rather than the Destiny Laboratory, can provide power for the arm. This is not believed to be a serious problem, and should be corrected well before the arm "walks off" its base location on the Destiny to use the Mobile Base System as its formal platform for a ride down the length of the station's truss structure. Canadarm2 received a new wrist roll joint yesterday during the final spacewalk of the flight by Chang-Díaz and Perrin, and the arm itself has full functionality and redundancy.

  Endeavour's steering jets are being used to raise the station's altitude a third and final time today prior to tomorrow's scheduled undocking. The three maneuvers are expected to raise the altitude of the ISS by around six statute miles.

  Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the ISS Saturday morning at 9:32 a.m. Central time while the two spacecraft fly over western Kazakhstan, not far from Russia's primary launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Once Endeavour departs, ISS residents Korzun, Whitson and Treschev will begin their 4 ½ month mission in earnest, unpacking gear and settling in to their new home in orbit.

  All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the space station Saturday morning.

• 2002 Jun 14 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #20 

  Endeavour's astronauts - Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Franklin Chang-Díaz, Philippe Perrin, Dan Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz - were awakened just before 4:30 Central time this morning to the National Anthem, in honor of Flag Day today.

  Endeavour astronaut Philippe Perrin completed the last major task of the STS-111 mission today when he successfully returned the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the shuttle's payload bay at 3:11 p.m. Central.

  Leonardo brought a total of 8,062 pounds of supplies and equipment to the space station, including a new science rack to house microgravity experiments and a glovebox that will allow station crews to conduct experiments that require isolation. More than 1,000 pounds of equipment was also brought to the station on Endeavour's middeck.

  In addition to carrying home the results of several science experiments, Leonardo is returning to Earth with 4,667 pounds of equipment and supplies that are no longer needed aboard the station. More than 1,000 pounds of equipment also will be returned to Earth in Endeavour's middeck.

  Endeavour's steering jets were used today to raise the station's altitude by an additional four miles, the third and final reboost of the mission. Together, the three reboosts raised the altitude of the station by approximately six miles.

  Early Saturday morning, about 6:30 central time, following final goodbyes, the hatches between the two spacecraft will swing shut. About three hours later, the crew of Endeavour - Ken Cockrell, Paul Lockhart, Franklin Chang-Díaz, Perrin, Dan Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz - will depart the space station, leaving the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - to begin their 4½ -month mission of continued station growth and scientific research.

  All systems on both Endeavour and the International Space Station continue to function normally as the two craft orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 15 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #21 

  With all the major objectives of the STS-111 mission accomplished, Endeavour's astronauts will bid farewell to the new Expedition Five crew and undock from the International Space Station today, leaving ISS Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev to begin their 4 1/2 month stay on board the complex.

  After final farewells and the closing of the hatches between the two vehicles, Endeavour will undock from the ISS at 9:32 a.m. Central time as the two craft fly over western Kazakhstan, not far from Russia's primary launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

  The initial separation will be provided by springs that will gently push the shuttle away from the station. When Endeavour is about two feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, Pilot Paul Lockhart will fire Endeavour's steering jets to begin slowly moving away.

  About 45 minutes after undocking, when Endeavour is 450 feet in front of the ISS, Lockhart will begin a one-hour flyaround of the station. After 1 1/4 laps of the complex, Lockhart will fire Endeavour's jets to move away from the station about 11:16 a.m. Once Endeavour departs the outpost for the final time, the new ISS crew will begin to unpack gear and prepare for its long duration stay on orbit.

  Endeavour's astronauts - Lockhart, Chang-Diaz, Commander Ken Cockrell, Philippe Perrin, Dan Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz - were awakened just before 3:30 Central time this morning to the song, "Hello to All the Children of the World", prepared for Bursch by his son's classmates.

  Endeavour is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center just before noon Central time Monday, bringing Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz home after 194 days in space, which for Walz and Bursch will set a new U.S. single spaceflight endurance mark. Landing Monday will result in one more day in space for Onufrienko than he logged in 1996 as Commander of the former Russian Mir Space Station.

  Endeavour and the ISS to continue to function normally as they orbit at an altitude of around 240 statute miles.

• 2002 Jun 15 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #22 

  The Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - are alone aboard the International Space Station today following this morning's departure of Endeavour.

  After final farewells among the STS-111 and Expedition Four and Five crews, the hatches between the spacecraft were closed at 7:23 a.m. Central today. Following a series of pressure and leak checks, Endeavour gently undocked from the Station at 9:32 a.m. as the two spacecraft flew over western Kazakhstan.

  As Endeavour departed the station, Whitson rang the ship's bell on board, announcing "Expedition Four departing, Endeavour departing." Dan Bursch, who along with Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz, spent 181 days aboard the station, responded with "smooth sailing, Peggy." After a 1 ¼ lap flyaround of the station, Pilot Paul Lockhart fired a final separation burn of Endeavour's engines at 11:15 a.m. and began its final departure from the station. The two spacecraft are now about 315 miles apart, with the gap widening by 40 miles every orbit.

  Both crews will enjoy some well-deserved time off today to relax following a busy week of joint operations. Endeavour's crew will go to sleep at 7:23 p.m. today, waking at 3:23 a.m. Sunday. The Expedition Five crew began an extended sleep period about 3 p.m., shifting over to its standard daily wakeup time of 1 a.m. on Sunday.

  The focus of activities aboard Endeavour on Sunday will include a checkout of the systems that will be used during Monday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center just before noon Central time Monday, bringing Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz home after 194 days in space.

  Aboard the station, Korzun, Whitson and Treschev will begin unpacking some of the supplies and equipment transferred from Endeavour and set up house for their planned 4 ½ month stay on the station. They are scheduled for about four hours of off-duty time Sunday.

• 2002 Jun 16 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #23 

  Now separated from the International Space Station by about 1,600 statute miles and moving away by about 155 miles with each orbit of the Earth, Endeavour crewmembers turn their attention today to preparing for a return trip home.

  Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin, and returning Expedition 4 crewmembers Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch were awakened at 3:23 a.m. to "Where My Heart Will Take Me," the theme song from Star Trek: Enterprise, performed by Russell Watson.

  Today, Cockrell, Lockhart and Chang-Diaz will test the reaction control system jets and flight control surfaces that will be used to guide Endeavour through the atmosphere Monday morning. Onufrienko, Walz, Bursch and Perrin will install their seats for re-entry on Endeavour's middeck. Perrin will help the Expedition 4 crewmembers into their seats Monday. Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday at 11:59 a.m. CDT.

  Onufrienko, Walz and Bursch are coming back to Earth after 181 days aboard the International Space Station. If Endeavour lands on time, Walz and Bursch will set a new record of U.S. spaceflight endurance with 194 days in orbit. Astronaut Shannon Lucid held the previous record of 188 days, set on her mission to Mir in 1996.

  The Expedition 4 crew will talk with media representatives from the Fox News Network and TV stations in Ohio and New York in a news conference beginning at 12:38 p.m.

  Cockrell and Lockhart will fire Endeavour's orbital maneuvering system engines for 10 seconds today to allow sensors to observe the plume created by the burn to help improve models on the ground.

  On board the space station, the Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - was awakened at 1 a.m. The crew is unpacking and settling into its new home, preparing for a 41/2-month stay in orbit.

  The crew of Endeavour will begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 7:23 p.m. today. They are to be awakened just before 3:30 a.m. Monday to prepare for re-entry and landing of Endeavour, concluding a successful mission to the station.

• 2002 Jun 16 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #24 

  Activities aboard Endeavour today focused on preparations for Monday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a voyage of 4.9 million miles.

  Today, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Flight Engineer Franklin Chang-Diaz activated one of three hydraulic power units on Endeavour, tested all of its aerosurfaces, and then test-fired Endeavour's steering jets. The remaining crew members - Philippe Perrin of CNES, and former Expedition Four crewmembers Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch - continued packing up gear and hardware in anticipation of tomorrow's landing.

  Endeavour has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. The first begins with a deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 10:51 a.m., followed by a landing at 11:59 a.m. Central time (12:59 p.m. Eastern.) In the event weather prevents a landing on that first opportunity, there is a second opportunity, beginning with a deorbit burn at 12:30 p.m. and resulting in a 1:36 p.m. Central (2:36 p.m. Eastern) landing in Florida. Preliminary weather forecasts call for the possibility of clouds and rain showers within the vicinity of the three-mile long landing strip on Monday. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not called up for support Monday. Endeavour has sufficient consumables to remain in orbit, if necessary, until Thursday.

  Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz took a few minutes this afternoon to talk with Fox News, WOIO-TV of Cleveland - Walz' hometown, and WICZ-TV of Vestal, NY - Bursch's hometown. The crew extended their best wishes on this Father's Day and discussed their 193-day stay in space. With an on-time landing Monday, Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will have spent 194 days in space.

  Meanwhile, aboard the space station, the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - spent today settling into their new home, unpacking some of the equipment and hardware carried to the station by Endeavour. They also enjoyed a few hours of off-duty time today.

  Endeavour's crew will begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 7:23 p.m. today, waking just before 3:30 a.m. Monday to prepare for a homecoming to the Kennedy Space Center.

• 2002 Jun 17 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #25 

  After traveling nearly 5 million miles on a successful mission to the International Space Station, Endeavour is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida today.

  Endeavour completed all major objectives of its STS-111 flight. Expedition 5 crewmembers were taken to the station while Expedition 4 crewmembers are coming home. Tons of equipment and supplies were transferred between the two spacecraft and three spacewalks replaced the wrist roll joint of the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, and gave the arm a mobile base for future station assembly and maintenance work.

  Endeavour has two landing opportunities at KSC today. The first begins with the firing of Endeavour's braking rockets at 10:51 a.m. and a landing at 11:59 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 12:30 p.m. and a landing at KSC at 1:36 p.m. CDT. Preliminary weather forecasts call for the possibility of clouds and rain showers in the area of the three-mile-long landing strip on Monday. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not activated today. Endeavour has enough consumables to stay in orbit until Thursday.

  Endeavour Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Expedition 4 crewmembers Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch were awakened at 3:23 a.m. by the "The Eyes of Texas," performed by the University of Texas Marching Band. Cockrell and Lockhart hold degrees from that university.

  Meanwhile, aboard the ISS, the Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - is still settling into its new home, unpacking the supplies and equipment delivered by Endeavour to the station.

• 2002 Jun 17 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #26 

  Rain and thundershowers in the area of the Kennedy Space Center landing site in Florida caused flight controllers to wave off both of today's opportunities to bring Endeavour home

  Endeavour crewmembers, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Expedition 4's Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, were given the word to back out of deorbit preparations about 10:30 a.m. today.

  Endeavour has two landing opportunities at KSC Tuesday. The first begins with the firing of Endeavour's braking rockets at 9:47 a.m. and a landing at 10:55 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 11:24 a.m. and a landing at KSC at 12:31 p.m. CDT. Preliminary weather forecasts call for the possibility of clouds and rain showers in the area of the three-mile landing strip on Tuesday.

  The Edwards Air Force Base landing site will be activated Tuesday, though KSC remains the preferred landing location. Forecasts for both KSC and Edwards called for questionable weather that could prevent a Tuesday landing. Endeavour has enough consumables on board to remain in orbit until Thursday.

  The first of two Tuesday opportunities to land at Edwards would see a deorbit burn at 12:54 p.m. and a landing at 2 p.m. CDT. For the second opportunity, the deorbit burn would begin at 2:32 p.m. with a landing at 3:36 p.m. CDT.

  Endeavour completed all major objectives of its STS-111 flight. It rotated station crews, brought more than 9,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station, and in three successful spacewalks gave the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, a mobile base for future station assembly and maintenance work, and replaced its wrist-roll joint.

  Crewmembers aboard Endeavour were scheduled to begin a sleep period at 6:23 p.m. and be awakened at 2:23 a.m. Tuesday.

  Meanwhile, the ISS Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - is still unpacking the supplies and equipment delivered by Endeavour to the station.

• 2002 Jun 18 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #27 

  Endeavour crewmembers were awakened about 2:30 a.m. for a second day of landing opportunities. The song played for the crew was "Sojourner" by Matt Gast, the flight's lead timeliner or scheduler of crew activities.

  Rain and thundershowers in the area of the Kennedy Space Center landing site in Florida caused flight controllers to wave off both of Monday's opportunities to bring Endeavour home.

  Endeavour crewmembers, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Expedition 4's Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, have two landing opportunities at KSC today. The first begins with the firing of Endeavour's braking rockets at 9:47 a.m. and a landing at 10:55 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 11:24 a.m. and a landing at KSC at 12:31 p.m. CDT.

  The Edwards Air Force Base landing site in California will be activated today, though KSC remains the preferred landing location. The first of two opportunities to land at Edwards would see a deorbit burn at 12:54 p.m. and a landing at 2:02 p.m. CDT. For the second opportunity, the deorbit burn would begin at 2:32 p.m. with a landing at 3:38 p.m. CDT.

  Preliminary forecasts for both KSC and Edwards call for a chance of showers and thunderstorms in Florida and gusty winds in California that could prevent a Tuesday landing. Endeavour has enough consumables on board to remain in orbit until Thursday.

  Endeavour's crew completed all major objectives of its STS-111 flight. It rotated station crews, brought more than 9,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station, and in three successful spacewalks gave the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, a mobile base for future station assembly and maintenance work, and replaced its wrist-roll joint.

  Meanwhile, the ISS Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - is still unpacking the supplies and equipment delivered by Endeavour to the station and familiarizing themselves with their new home.

• 2002 Jun 18 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #28 

  For a second consecutive day, rain, thundershowers and clouds in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida caused flight controllers to wave off the day's opportunities to bring Endeavour and its crew home.

  Houston's Mission Control Center told Endeavour crewmembers, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Expedition 4's Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, of the second of two wave offs about 9:35 a.m.

  Similar inclement weather on Monday resulted in a wave-off of those landing opportunities. Wednesday offers two landing opportunities at KSC and three at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Forecasters are predicting improving weather at both sites. Endeavour has enough consumables on board to remain in orbit until Thursday, if necessary.

  The first of the KSC landing attempts would begin with a deorbit burn at 8:44 a.m. and a landing at 9:53 a.m. CDT (10:53 a.m. eastern.) A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 10:19 a.m. and a landing at KSC at 11:27 a.m. CDT (12:27 p.m. eastern.)

  The first of the three subsequent opportunities at Edwards would begin with a deorbit burn at 11:50 a.m. and a landing at 12:58 p.m. CDT. The deorbit burn for the second attempt would be at 1:27 p.m. and a landing at 2:33 p.m. CDT. The third opportunity would see a deorbit burn at 3:06 p.m. and a landing at 4:11 p.m. CDT.

  Crewmembers aboard Endeavour are scheduled to begin a sleep period at 5:23 p.m. and be awakened at 1:23 a.m. Wednesday.

  All continues to go smoothly aboard the International Space Station in the early days of Expedition 5's residency. Commander Valery Korzun, and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, are still unpacking the supplies and equipment delivered by Endeavour.

• 2002 Jun 19 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #29 

  Endeavour's crewmembers, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Expedition 4's Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, were awakened at 1:23 a.m. CDT by the song "I Got You Babe," by Sonny and Cher, from the "Groundhog Day" movie soundtrack.

  For a second day, rain, thundershowers and clouds around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida caused flight controllers to wave off Tuesday's opportunities to bring Endeavour and its crew home.

  Similar weather Monday resulted in a wave-off of those landing opportunities. Wednesday offers two landing opportunities at KSC and three at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Forecasters are predicting improving weather at both sites. Endeavour has enough consumables on board to remain in orbit until Thursday.

  The first of the KSC landing attempts would begin with a deorbit burn at 8:44 a.m. and a landing at 9:53 a.m. CDT (10:53 a.m. EDT.) A second opportunity for a Florida landing would see the deorbit burn at 10:19 a.m. and a landing at 11:27 a.m. CDT (12:27 p.m. EDT.)

  The first of the three subsequent opportunities at Edwards would begin with a deorbit burn at 11:50 a.m. and a landing at 12:58 p.m. CDT (10:58 a.m. PDT). The deorbit burn for the second attempt would be at 1:27 p.m. and a landing at 2:33 p.m. CDT (12:33 p.m. PDT). The third opportunity would see a deorbit burn at 3:06 p.m. and a landing at 4:11 p.m. CDT (2:11 p.m. PDT).

  All continues to go smoothly aboard the International Space Station in the early days of Expedition 5's residency. Commander Valery Korzun, and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev are activating equipment, initiating scientific experiments and getting used to the space station environment and routines.

• 2002 Jun 19 - STS-111 Mission Status Report #30 

  Endeavour glided to a perfect landing under blue California skies at Edwards Air Force Base today, completing a successful 5.78-million-mile mission to the International Space Station.

  Endeavour touched down on Edwards' concrete runway at 12:58 p.m. CDT (10:58 a.m. PDT), concluding a record 196-day stay in space for Expedition 4 crewmembers Yury Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Dan Bursch. The STS-111 flight of Endeavour delivered the Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev - to the International Space Station. In addition, the shuttle carried more than 9,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station and the crew conducted three spacewalks to expand the station's capabilities.

  Endeavour traveled 5,781,115 statute miles since its June 5 launch from KSC's Pad 39A. Today's landing followed weather-related wave-offs on Monday, Tuesday and today because of rain showers, thunderstorms and cloud cover in the area of the Kennedy Space Center, the primary shuttle landing site.

  The STS-111 and Expedition 4 astronauts will return to a welcoming ceremony at Ellington Field's Hangar 990 in Houston near the Johnson Space Center around 3 p.m. Central time Friday, June 21. The public is invited.

  Meanwhile aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 5 crew continues to settle into its new home with Whitson beginning investigations with a cell culture experiment today.

• 2002 Jun 21 - ISS Status Report: ISS 02-26 

  The Expedition 5 crew of the International Space Station began its third week in space initiating new scientific investigations and preparing for next week's arrival of a cargo ship of new supplies.

  Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, astronaut Peggy Whitson and cosmonaut Sergei Treschev began their 4½-month tour of duty on June 5 when they launched on board space shuttle Endeavour, They arrived on the ISS June 7. Since the shuttle undocked from ISS on Saturday, the new crewmembers have spent time familiarizing themselves with the station and its systems while unpacking the gear that arrived on board with them.

  This week the crewmembers started loading unneeded equipment and other trash into the Progress 7 supply ship docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module. That cargo ship is slated to undock from ISS at 3:23 a.m. CDT Tuesday and will be destroyed during entry into Earth's atmosphere. A new unpiloted capsule, Progress 8, loaded with food, fuel, clothing and other supplies for the station crewmembers, is targeted to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan at 12:36 a.m. CDT Wednesday, and will dock automatically to ISS early June 29. Korzun and Treschev are scheduled to spend time this weekend refreshing their knowledge of the station's backup approach and docking system in preparation for Progress operations next week.

  This week Whitson completed operations with the StelSys experiment in the Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC), which supports investigations in cell biology and tissue engineering in a weightless environment. The BSTC houses stationary bioreactors that maintain samples at a specified temperature in a controlled environment. The StelSys Liver Cell Research experiment, a Space Product Development investigation done under a licensing agreement with StelSys, Inc. of Baltimore, Md., seeks to compare the function of liver cells in microgravity with that of duplicate cells on Earth as a means of learning more about how to maintain the health of humans living and working in space. Whitson's tasks included analyzing the growth media in those bioreactors, replacing the media, preserving and photographing sample cultures, and purging the growth chamber with carbon dioxide to prepare it for its next use. The StelSys samples are stowed in a refrigerator/freezer in the Lab for return to Earth on the next space shuttle assembly mission, STS-112/9A, targeted for launch in August.

  Each day station crewmembers are assigned time for physical exercise, using the station's treadmill, bicycle ergometer, or resistive exercise devices, to strengthen the muscles and cardiovascular systems which don't get the workout in weightlessness that they do on Earth. Along with their routine exercise this week, Korzun and Treschev completed two sessions of a Russian-Japanese experiment in which they shot close-up high-definition video of themselves while running on the treadmill. Researchers study the crewmembers' facial features as part of the medical evaluation of a crewmember on orbit.

  The ISS Expedition 4 crewmembers --Commander Yury Onufrienko and astronauts Carl Walz and Dan Bursch--completed a 196-day mission when they and their STS-111 crewmates touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 10:58 a.m. PDT Wednesday. Walz and Bursch are now the co-holders of the record for the longest single spaceflight in U.S spaceflight history, 196 days,and Walz' total of 231 days on orbit during his five missions makes him the American astronaut with the most cumulative time in space.

• 2002 Jun 25 - International Space Station Status Report #27  

  An unpiloted Russian Progress resupply craft undocked from the International Space Station this morning in preparation for the arrival of a new cargo carrier on Saturday.

  Russian flight controllers commanded the undocking at 3:23 a.m. CDT. Three minutes later, at 3:26 a.m., springs pushed the Progress 7 away from the aft port of the station's Zvezda Service Module. Expedition 5 crewmembers, Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev monitored the undocking.

  Progress engines did the first of two separation burns on command from Mission Control Moscow when it was about 50 yards from the station, at 3:29 a.m. The second was done at 3:35 a.m., with Progress 7 about 275 yards from the station.

  Later this morning, at about 6:35 a.m., Russian flight controllers will command Progress 7 to fire its engines in a deorbit burn, which will send it to destruction with its cargo of trash and unneeded supplies and equipment. The spacecraft will feel the first effects of the atmosphere a little after 7:10 a.m. as it begins its fiery descent into the atmosphere.

  The undocking clears the way for the arrival of a new Progress. Preparations are being completed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch early Wednesday of Progress 8, which will bring several tons of fuel, equipment and supplies to the space station. It is scheduled to dock with the ISS early Saturday.

• 2002 Jun 25 - Progress M1-8 departs ISS. 

  Progress M1-8 undocked from the Zvezda module at 0826 UTC on June 25. The deorbit burn was at 1135 UTC, lowering its orbit from 379 x 398 km x 51.6 deg to 50 x 398 km. The spacecraft reentered over the Pacific at 1213 UTC with debris impact near 46 S 144 W.

• 2002 Jun 26 - International Space Station Status Report #02-28 

  A Russian Progress resupply craft was successfully launched today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to bring fuel, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

  The Progress 8 spacecraft lifted off on a Soyuz rocket at 12:37 a.m. CDT. About nine minutes later its solar rays and navigational antennas deployed in response to preprogrammed commands, and the umpiloted cargo carrier was safely in orbit.

  Progress 8 is scheduled to dock with the space station early Saturday, where Expedition 5 crewmembers, Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, will begin unloading its cargo. The Progress can carry about 7,000 pounds into orbit, including fuel for the Zvezda Service Module's attitude control thrusters.

  A series of rendezvous burns by the Progress 8 engines over the next three days will result in its docking to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at about 1:25 a.m. CDT Saturday over Central Asia. That port was vacated Tuesday when the Progress 7 was undocked with its load of trash and deorbited to a fiery destruction in the Earth's atmosphere.

• 2002 Jun 26 - Progress M-46  Spacecraft: Progress M. Payload: Progress M s/n 246. Mass: 7,250 kg (15,980 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. Duration: 110.00 days. Perigee: 387 km (240 mi). Apogee: 397 km (246 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.40 min.

  Launch delayed from May 21, then moved forward from July 14. Progress M-46 was launched on ISS mission 8P and docked with the Zvezda module at 0623 UTC on June 29 after carrying out tests of the Kurs rendezvous system on June 28. Seperated from ISS and commanded to destructive re-entry on 14 October 2002.

• 2002 Jun 29 - International Space Station Status Report #02-29 

  A Russian Progress resupply craft docked to the International Space Station early today, three days after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Aboard the unpiloted Progress 8 are food, fuel and supplies for the space station and its Expedition 5 crew.

  The Progress docked to the aft port of the station's Zvezda Service Module at 1:23 a.m. CDT as the two spacecraft orbited about 240 statute miles above Central Asia. Shortly after first contact, hooks and latches engaged between the Progress and Zvezda to lock the two together.

  Expedition 5 crewmembers, Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, will do leak checks between the Progress and Zvezda before opening hatches at about 4:30 a.m. to gain access to the newly arrived vehicle. The crew will unload its cargo during the coming days.

  Progress 8 replaces the Progress 7 cargo carrier at the space station. Progress 7 was undocked early Tuesday and deorbited later that morning. It burned in the Earth's atmosphere with its load of trash from the ISS.

  This week, the crew continued to settle into its new home and conduct scientific experiments. Whitson and Treschev worked to activate the Zeolite Crystal Growth Furnace, and Korzun and Whitson performed their first of several monthly sessions with the Pulmonary Function experiment to test their lung capabilities while living in a microgravity environment. Whitson took the first samples from the Advanced Astroculture soybean plant growth experiment.

• 2002 Jul 5 - International Space Station Status Report #02-30 

  Crewmembers aboard the International Space Station today continued to unload the Progress 8 unpiloted Russian cargo carrier docked to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda Service Module. Meanwhile, activities in the U.S. laboratory Destiny focused on initial setup of the SUBSA (Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules) experiment in the lab’s new Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

  Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev had a relatively light week of work; with Sunday and Monday largely rest days after last Saturday’s docking of the Progress 8. July 4 was essentially a holiday in space for the crewmembers, thought they did some work off a generic task list.

  Whitson spent much of this morning installing the SUBSA experiment in the glovebox, which has not yet been commissioned for operations. The SUBSA installation will be completed once the MSG is activated.

  Earlier this week, crewmembers began unloading the Progress and cataloguing its contents into the computerized, barcode Inventory Management System of the space station. Whitson brought the Medium-rate Communications Outage Recorder (MCOR) in Destiny back to life on Wednesday, after a three-week outage. She checked its fans and replaced a computer docking station. The MCOR records payload data during periods when the station is out of communication with the ground and transmits the data once communications are restored. The outage had no impact on science operations.

  Next Wednesday, Korzun and Whitson will be at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm in Destiny, commanding the Canadian-built arm to “walk off” its grapple fixture on the laboratory so that its available latching end effector can grapple a power and data fixture on the recently installed Mobile Base System, the platform mounted on the station’s rail car on the S0 (S-Zero) truss. One end of the arm is already affixed to the Mobile Base System, but the “walk off” of the other end of the arm to the mobile platform will mark another first for station robotic operations. The rail car will eventually move down the truss to be placed in position for the installation of the S1 Truss on the starboard side of the ISS, planned for later this year.

  U.S. and Russian timeliners have converged on Aug. 16 and 23 as the two dates for spacewalks planned by Korzun and Whitson, then Korzun and Treschev, to mount experiments on the outside of the station and to install micrometeoroid debris shields on Zvezda. Those are the only two spacewalks planned for the Expedition 5 crew.

• 2002 Jul 10 - Shuttle fleet grounded. 

  The Shuttle fleet was grounded for several weeks when cracks were found in the flowliners of the liquid hydrogen lines within the shuttles. These lines supplied cold liquid hydrogen from the external tank to the shuttle engines. After several weeks of study NASA concluded that they could be fixed by welding, but the problem delayed the next ISS assembly mission and pushed the STS-107 Columbia science mission into 2003.

• 2002 Jul 12 - International Space Station Status Report #02-31 

  The Expedition 5 crew had a busy and successful week aboard the International Space Station, completing the activation and checkout of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), beginning the first experiment in that glovebox, and operating the Canadarm2 from the Mobile Base System (MBS) for the first time.

  On Wednesday, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson commanded the Canadian-built robotic arm to "walk off" its grapple fixture on the Destiny laboratory and grapple a power and data fixture on the Mobile Base System on the S0 truss. The walk-off was the first time the Canadarm2 has been detached from Destiny since it was installed in April 2001. Korzun and Whitson also completed a dry run of the S1 truss installation. The S1 will be brought to the station during STS-112. On Friday, the duo maneuvered the Canadarm2 onto several other MBS grapple fixtures to give engineers on the ground the data they need to prepare for the installation of both the S1 and P1 trusses.

  During the week, Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev also continued to unload the Progress 8 resupply craft and enter supplies it brought to the station into the Inventory Management System. Korzun and Treschev also spent time doing periodic maintenance activities and installing cargo enclosures in Zarya.

  When not working with the Canadarm2, Whitson activated and checked out systems in the MSG and completed the first runs of the Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules experiment in that new facility. Processing in the Zeolite Crystal Growth furnace concluded Friday after 15 days of operations and a new science payload, the Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System experiment, will begin next week.

  The crew congratulated the designer of the station's Zvezda service module today, the second anniversary of its launch.

• 2002 Jul 19 - International Space Station Status Report #02-32 

  Expedition 5 crewmembers, Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, wrapped up a busy week of successful science and maintenance work, a week that saw completion of one major repair task on the environmental control system of the International Space Station.

  Korzun and Whitson worked together for four hours on Monday and another four hours on Tuesday to replace the Desiccant/Sorbent Bed Assembly of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in the U.S. laboratory Destiny. There are two such beds in CDRA. The one replaced had not functioned properly since its launch in Destiny on Discovery's STS-98 mission in February 2001 because a valve between the desiccant and sorbent sides had stuck in the open position. The second bed continued to function, and a carbon dioxide scrubber in the Russian segment also was available.

  Whitson and Korzun overcame or worked around a series of minor difficulties during the removal and replacement. Engineers and flight controllers on the ground are reactivating the Atmosphere Revitalization Rack where the CDRA is situated. The CDRA will be turned on next Tuesday and operated for several days to verify the success of the replacement.

  Crewmembers performed an emergency medical operations drill on Wednesday, designed to keep them sharp in emergency medical procedures and to ensure that equipment is optimally stowed and available.

  Whitson also worked with a balky spacesuit battery recharger. Her inputs were valuable to engineers on the ground and flight controllers who devised procedures that should fix the problem, the failure of a battery in the device to discharge before receiving a new charge. She also regenerated one of the spacesuit Metox carbon dioxide removal canisters.

  Scientific experiments performed by the crew included work with the Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing experiment, enclosing a drug or drugs in microballoons. Crewmembers also tended the Advanced Astroculture experiment, which grows soybeans in space with an eye to improving their oil, protein or carbohydrate content. The Microgravity Science Glovebox was used in the Solidification Using a Baffle In Sealed Ampoules experiment, designed to understand the motion in melted fluids to improve semiconductors.

  All three crewmembers participated on Tuesday in an Educational Outreach project called Toys in Space. They operated toys, among them a boomerang, a jump rope and marbles, to demonstrate scientific principles. The demonstrations were in conjunction with questions from children at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

  Russian officials have decided to perform a reboost of the International Space Station on Aug. 1, to put it at an optimal altitude for arrival of the next Progress unpiloted Russian supply spacecraft, and the next Soyuz crew return vehicle this fall.

• 2002 Jul 26 - International Space Station Status Report #02-33 

  Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev passed 50 days in space aboard the International Space Station this week, conducting scientific research, maintenance work, educational demonstrations and hometown news interviews.

  Microgravity research included a session with the semiconductor crystal-growing experiment known as Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules, or SUBSA. Whitson set up and activated the experiment in the Microgravity Science Glovebox inside the Destiny laboratory. In the experiment, semiconductor samples are heated to their melting point and allowed to cool and solidify. Whitson downlinked television pictures of the experiment, which thanks to a transparent furnace design allowed scientists to see the solidification of indium antimonide crystals in space for the first time. The objective is to develop techniques for making larger, purer semiconductors for a variety of computer and electronics applications on Earth.

  Whitson also took electronic images of soybean plants growing in the Advanced Astroculture experiment package, which scientists on the ground used to confirm that the plants have begun to flower. Scientists hope to develop soybeans with improved oil, protein, or carbohydrate content as a result of this research, which will feature the first seed-to-seed grown of soybeans on orbit.

  All three crewmembers worked with biological experiments associated with their upcoming spacewalks on Aug. 16 and 23. They took turns blowing into a tube attached to sensitive instruments on the Pulmonary Function in Flight, or PuFF, experiment, which looks at the effects of spacewalks and long-duration spaceflight on human lung function. They also took background radiation readings that will help to calibrate readings from sensors that will be placed in pockets on the liquid cooling underwear they'll use during the spacewalks.

  Korzun and Whitson will make the first foray out of the Russian Pirs docking compartment and airlock to install panels designed to protect the Zvezda living quarters from space debris, as well as a new set of Russian materials samples to be exposed to the rarified atmosphere of atomic oxygen at the station's altitude of 242 statute miles. Korzun and Treschev will make the second excursion, installing similar samples in a Japanese experiment and two additional amateur radio antennas.

  The workweek began with removal and replacement of remote power converter modules in the Quest airlock. The modules had been exhibiting signs of malfunction, and although recoverable, these signs led engineers on the ground to recommend their replacement. Korzun and Whitson completed the swap, and flight controllers in Houston confirmed that the new units appear to be working properly. The older units will be returned to Earth for detailed inspection and analysis.

  Mission Control also followed up on repair work on the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly by Korzun and Whitson. The pair had replaced one of two absorbent beds for the system last week. On Tuesday, flight controllers attempted to activate the replacement bed, which contains Zeolite crystals to absorb the excess carbon dioxide breathed out by the crew. But the replacement bed showed signs of leakage similar to that seen from the original bed, but at a lower rate. Life support systems engineers on the ground suspect there may be another leak elsewhere in the CDRA that was not corrected by the bed replacement, but are still studying the data and considering further options. They verified that the system can still function properly with just one bed in operation. In the meantime, scrubbers in the station's Russian segment continue to provide all of the carbon dioxide removal required by the Expedition 5 crew and visiting taxi crews.

  On Thursday, the crew reported hearing "clattering" noises as they ran or walked in place on the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System. As a result, exercise on that equipment was suspended. Instead, the station inhabitants will use a variety of other stationary bicycles and resistive exercise devices to maintain their cardiovascular health and muscle tone. Treadmill experts on the ground are working to replicate the problem on a duplicate TVIS so that they can design an effective repair.

  A full-up fire drill and checkout of emergency equipment such as fire extinguishers and portable breathing apparatus made sure that Korzun, Whitson and Treschev are ready to respond in the unlikely event of a fire inside the station.

  The crew wrapped up its work week filming demonstrations for Toys in Space, an educational outreach project intended to inspire students to study science, engineering and mathematics so that they can become the next generation of space explorers. They operated toys, such as yo-yos, gyroscopes, soccer balls and a miniature hockey game, documenting the way the toys react in microgravity.

  Russian officials conducted routine Progress thruster manifold tests in preparation for a reboost of the International Space Station about 11 a.m. CDT Aug. 1. The reboost will put the station at the best altitude to welcome the next unpiloted Russian Progress supply spacecraft and Soyuz crew return vehicle in September and October.

• 2002 Aug 2 - International Space Station Status Report #02-34 

  Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev completed their eighth week aboard the International Space Station, conducting scientific research, maintenance work and daily exercise routines.

  Scientific research in the Destiny lab this week focused on the Advanced Astroculture (ADVASC) and Solidification Using Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA) experiments. The ADVASC plant growth chamber houses the first soybean plant growth experiment ever conducted in space. Photographs taken by Whitson show that the plants have developed flowers and seedpods. Tuesday Whitson performed the third nutrient exchange and gas sample procedure for the experiment. This microgravity research may result in soybeans with improved oil, protein, or carbohydrate content, as well as the secondary metabolites, such as phytoestrogen, of commercial value.

  The SUBSA experiment, isolated inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), is testing what causes motion in the melted fluids used to create semiconductors and a way to reduce the magnitude of that motion, potentially leading to a reduction in defects in semiconductors in space and on Earth. Wednesday ground controllers at the Payload Operations Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., sent a software patch to the MSG system to increase the allowed temperature of a furnace inside the box. The SUBSA samples are heated to their 1,490 degrees Fahrenheit (810 degrees Celsius) melting point. After a successful test run of the empty MSG, Whitson loaded the third set of samples into the experiment Thursday.

  The crewmembers began a modified exercise routine this week after engineers decided they should not use the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System until it can be fixed. Investigations by the crew found a problem with one of the many rollers that the treadmill's belt runs along. A ball bearing for the rod supporting the roller has seized and the rod has rubbed against the frame of the treadmill. Engineers are working to develop a procedure and hardware to fix the treadmill that could be sent to the station on the next Progress resupply vehicle in September. The crew can use other various machines onboard including a cycle ergometer and a resistive exercise devise.

  Korzun and Treschev worked on a procedure to bring the oxygen-generating Elektron system back to its full capabilities. The Elektron separates water into its oxygen and hydrogen components, venting the oxygen into the cabin for the crew to breathe and sending the hydrogen overboard. The original liquid unit in the system experienced a problem in April and the crew replaced it with a backup unit that has had to run in a manual mode requiring the crew to activate its valves. This week, the crew returned the original liquid unit into the Elektron, but that did not bring the system back online. The crew replaced the original with the backup unit again, restoring manual mode operations.

  Operations to test the Mobile Servicing System were partially completed Thursday. Korzun and Whitson maneuvered the space station robotic arm, Canadarm2, into a position enabling cameras to look back on its Mobile Base System and the attached Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation (POA) grapple fixture. The POA was commanded to go through the motions of grasping a payload while cameras on the end of the robotic arm watched. During a test, the computer software thought the POA motors were running too quickly and put the robotic system in a safe mode. Flight controllers turned the POA on and off and restored Canadarm2's motion. A test run with the motors operating more slowly was successful and the arm was left in place until it will be moved next week into a position to use its cameras to view the first Expedition 5 spacewalk. The remaining checkout procedures will be rescheduled.

  Korzun and Whitson will step outside of the Russian Pirs docking compartment and airlock Aug. 16 to install panels designed to protect the Zvezda service module from space debris, as well as a new set of Russian materials samples to be exposed to the harsh conditions of space. Live coverage of the spacewalk will begin on NASA Television at 2 a.m. CDT. Korzun and Treschev will make another spacewalk starting late Aug. 22, installing similar materials samples in a Japanese experiment and two additional amateur radio antennas.

  The Progress spacecraft's engines boosted the station by about 5 statute miles to an average altitude of 246 statute miles Thursday. This sets the stage for the arrival of a new Progress and a Soyuz taxi crew, both scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this fall.

• 2002 Aug 9 - International Space Station Status Report #02-35 

  Commander Valery Korzun, Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev completed their ninth week aboard the International Space Station making preparations for the first spacewalk of their five-month mission.

  This week the crewmembers spent time each day reviewing plans for the spacewalk and checking out the tools and equipment they will use. Next Friday at 2:40 a.m. CDT, Korzun and Whitson will open the hatch on the Russian Pirs docking compartment to begin a 5-hour, 55-minute excursion. They will install protective panels on the Zvezda service module and a new set of samples in a Russian experiment verifying the effectiveness of devices designed to protect the station's exterior from contamination by thruster firings. Live coverage of the spacewalk begins on NASA Television at 2 a.m.

  On Thursday Whitson maneuvered the station's Canadarm2 into position for its cameras to capture images of the EVA, the third spacewalk of Korzun's career and the first for Whitson.

  Korzun and Treschev will make the second spacewalk of this mission (the first for Treschev) starting late Aug. 22 CDT. They will retrieve samples in a Japanese materials exposure experiment, install two additional amateur radio antennas and inspect a condensate collector. All activities will be on the Zvezda service module.

  In conjunction with the spacewalk, Korzun and Whitson today tested their lung function for a Human Life Sciences experiment called PuFF (Pulmonary Function in Flight). Station crewmembers use equipment at the Human Research Facility rack in the Destiny module to gauge their lung function before and after a spacewalk so scientists can judge if there are long-term effects from the time spent in the lower-than-normal air pressure environment of a spacesuit.

  Wednesday Whitson reactivated the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in the Destiny laboratory for a fourth run of the experiment SUBSA (Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules). The experiment, conducted inside a transparent furnace in the MSG, tests what causes motion in melted fluids used to create semiconductors. If that motion can be reduced, the experiment could help lead to reducing defects in semiconductors made in space and on Earth. The crewmembers' routine exercise sessions were scheduled on the bicycle ergometer and a resistive exercise device for most of this week while engineers developed a repair plan for the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System in the Zvezda module. Last week the crew found that a ball bearing for a rod supporting one of the rollers under the tread on that apparatus had seized, and the rod was rubbing against the frame of the treadmill. That rod has now been secured, and the crew is cleared to use the treadmill in a non-motorized, reduced speed mode. Plans are being developed to send repair parts to the station on the next Progress resupply vehicle, targeted for launch Sept. 20.

  Tuesday morning all the crewmembers gathered in the Destiny laboratory to answer questions from students at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, at the completion of a conference on "Women in Science." The session focused on life in a weightless environment.

  This week, Russian officials said the next Soyuz crew return vehicle will be launched to the space station Oct. 28. The three-member taxi crew will spend eight days on the ISS. That crew will return to Earth Nov. 7 on the Soyuz now at the station.

• 2002 Aug 16 - EVA ISS EO-5-1  Crew: Korzun, Whitson. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.20 days.

  The astronauts used Russian spacesuits Orlan-M No. 14 and 23 and exited from the Pirs airlock of the ISS. The first attempt was called off after 23 minutes of depressurised airlock time because of a misconfigured oxygen valve in a spacesuit. The EVA officially shortly after 0906 when the hatch was opened. The astronauts attached six debris protection shields to the outside of the Zvezda module. Due to the late start some planned tasks were deferred.

• 2002 Aug 16 - International Space Station Status Report #02-36 

  Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson stepped outside the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station today and installed debris shields on the Russian Zvezda Service Module in a 4 hour, 25 minute spacewalk.

  It was the first of two spacewalks for the Expedition Five crew, the third of Korzun's career and the first for Whitson. Today's excursion was the 42nd spacewalk in support of ISS assembly and maintenance and the 17th staged from the station itself. 25 spacewalks at the ISS have originated from visiting space shuttles. While Korzun and Whitson worked outside, Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev tended to station systems and choreographed the spacewalk from inside Zvezda.

  After a 1 hour, 43 minute delay to the start of the spacewalk because of a misconfigured valve regulating the operation of the primary oxygen bottles in their Orlan spacesuits, Korzun and Whitson opened the hatch to Pirs at 4:23 a.m. Central time (923 GMT) as the ISS flew over the southern Atlantic Ocean east of the southern coast of South America at an altitude of 230 statute miles. Their first task was to set up tools and unfurl a telescoping crane called the Strela boom from the side of the docking module that is attached to the nadir port of Zvezda.

  They pressed ahead to move six micrometeoroid debris shields from a temporary stowage location on the connecting module adapter between the U.S. and Russian segments of the ISS that were delivered in June during the STS-111 mission of the shuttle Endeavour.

  One by one, the shields were affixed around Zvezda, designed to provide debris protection for the lifetime of the module. 17 additional shields will be flown to the ISS on future missions to complete the job.

  Because of the late start to the spacewalk, Russian flight controllers decided to defer the refurbishment of an experiment on Zvezda called Kromka, designed to collect samples of residue emitted from the module's jet thrusters. That lower priority task and the swabbing of thruster residue from Zvezda's hull for analysis will be conducted on a future spacewalk. It was not immediately known whether Korzun and Treschev would perform those tasks next Friday during the second spacewalk of the Expedition.

  After retrieving their tools and stowing the Strela crane, Korzun and Whitson returned to Pirs and closed the hatch at 8:48 a.m. Central time (1348 GMT) to wrap up their excursion.

  Korzun will venture outside Pirs one week from today with Treschev to install equipment on the exterior of the Russian module which will facilitate the placement of future payloads and the routing of spacewalkers' tethers and to replace Japanese experiments outside Zvezda which measure the effect of atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit on sample materials. Korzun and Treschev will also install two additional amateur radio antennas outside Zvezda to improve contacts with ham radio operators on Earth.

• 2002 Aug 23 - International Space Station Status Report #02-37 

  The Expedition Five crew spent a large portion of its week preparing for the next scheduled spacewalk. Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev plan to leave the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station around 12:00 a.m. Central time (0500 GMT) Monday, Aug. 26, to begin a six-hour spacewalk. While Korzun and Treschev work outside, Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson will tend to space station systems and assist the spacewalkers as necessary. She will also maneuver the Canadarm2 to provide camera views of the cosmonauts for the two mission control centers.

  Whitson completed the first spacewalk of her career last Friday with Korzun, spending four hours and 25 minutes outside the orbiting laboratory. Monday's spacewalk will be Korzun's fourth and Treschev's first.

  Korzun and Treschev have a variety of tasks to complete Monday morning, including attaching hardware to the exterior of the Zarya module that will be used for tethers and other equipment during future spacewalks; replacing Japanese materials experiment panels on Zvezda, which measure the effects of atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit and collect small pieces of space debris; attaching new plates for the Russian Kromka experiment, which are used to collect and study the residue emitted by Zvezda's jet thrusters; and installing two additional amateur radio antennas on Zvezda to improve contacts with ham radio operators on Earth. The two spacewalkers will also photograph each of these activities for engineers on the ground.

  In preparation for Monday's spacewalk, Korzun and Treschev took part in an experiment called PuFF that is being used to look for any changes in crewmembers' lungs that may occur during a long-duration spaceflight. The two cosmonauts tested their lungs Friday using equipment in the Human Research Facility Rack and will test them again after the spacewalk.

• 2002 Aug 26 - EVA ISS EO-5-2  Crew: Korzun, Treshchev. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.24 days.

  The astronauts used Russian spacesuits Orlan-M No. 14 and 12. The Pirs airlock hatch was opened at 0527. The pair installed a storage locker on Zarya, changed out some sample trays for exposure experiments, and mounted two amateur radio antennae on the station.

• 2002 Aug 26 - International Space Station Status Report #02-38 

  Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev stepped outside the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station today to swap out Japanese space exposure experiments and a Russian experiment measuring jet thruster residue on the exterior of the Zvezda Service Module in a 5 hour, 21 minute spacewalk.

  It was the second of two spacewalks for the Expedition Five crew, the fourth of Korzun's career and the first for Treschev. Today's excursion was the 43rd spacewalk in support of ISS assembly and maintenance and the 18th staged from the station itself. 25 spacewalks at the ISS have originated from visiting space shuttles. While Korzun and Treschev worked outside, Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson tended to station systems and choreographed the spacewalk from inside Zvezda.

  Whitson and Korzun conducted a 4 hour, 25 minute spacewalk on August 16 to install six micrometeoroid debris shields on Zvezda.

  After a slight delay to track down a small pressure leak across the hatch between Zvezda and the Zarya module, Korzun and Treschev opened the hatch to Pirs at 12:27 a.m. Central time (527 GMT) as the ISS flew over Russia at an altitude of 235 statute miles. They went to work right away, installing a frame on the Zarya as a "parking place" for modular equipment to be temporarily stowed during future ISS assembly spacewalks and hardware on Zarya which will better route tethers for spacewalkers working around the Russian segment of the station.

  The two Russian spacewalkers then exchanged trays of experiments in suitcase-like devices on Zvezda for NASDA, the Japanese Space Agency, which measure the effect of the space environment on engineering materials.

  With that work accomplished, Korzun and Treschev completed a task left over from the previous spacewalk ten days ago. They replaced an experiment on the outside of Zvezda called Kromka, which measures the amount of residue emitted from the module's jet thruster firings. Deflectors previously installed on Zvezda have significantly reduced the buildup of residue on the hull of the module.

  The final job for Korzun and Treschev was the installation of two additional ham radio antennas on Zvezda to enhance amateur radio operations in the future. ISS residents frequently conduct conversations with "hams" back on Earth.

  After retrieving their tools, Korzun and Treschev returned to Pirs and closed the hatch at 5:48 a.m. Central time (1048 GMT) to wrap up their excursion.

  The next series of spacewalks to be conducted at the ISS is planned for October when two shuttle astronauts, Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers, conduct three excursions from the Quest Airlock on the STS-112 mission aboard Atlantis to help install and activate the S1 (Starboard One) truss segment, further expanding the station's backbone.

• 2002 Aug 30 - International Space Station Status Report #02-39 

  Work on the International Space Station this week started out with a spacewalk, moved back inside with extensive laboratory research work, and wound up with a series of maintenance tasks before the Expedition 5 crew began a long holiday weekend.

  Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev completed a 5-hour, 21-minute spacewalk Monday morning, swapping out Japanese space exposure experiments and a Russian experiment measuring jet thruster residue on the shell of the Zvezda Service Module. Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson kept everything running smoothly and helped coordinate her crewmates' activities from inside. She also helped take post-spacewalk readings on how her crewmates' lungs were functioning after working in the lowered pressure of their spacesuits, part of an ongoing study.

  Then research took center stage again as Whitson cleaned up the Microgravity Science Glovebox and prepared it to resume experiments studying semiconductor formation in space. After a recent fifth experiment run, a quartz sample tube broke inside the glovebox enclosure. Whitson used a vacuum tube and fan system to remove and secure any particles left inside the box.

  Whitson also downlinked a video tour of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where station research is coordinated by the Payload Operations Control Center. Whitson highlighted some of the two dozen experiments that she and her crewmates have been conducting during their first three months in orbit. Thirteen of the 24 phone booth-sized racks inside Destiny are dedicated to science investigations including a wide variety of experiments in human life sciences, physical sciences, commercial space product development and Earth observation, as well as education and technology demonstrations.

  Friday, Whitson worked in the Quest airlock module, servicing the American spacesuits and recharging their batteries to prepare for upcoming tests next week. She also partially removed the Express 2 experiment rack in Destiny to gain access and replace a balky smoke detector before the crew began a three-day break over the Labor Day holiday.

• 2002 Sep 6 - International Space Station Status Report #02-40 

  Canadarm2 got another workout Thursday as the Expedition 5 crew aboard the International Space Station set to work in earnest to prepare for the arrival of the station's next major component on the STS-112 shuttle mission.

  Beginning work on Tuesday, following the Labor Day holiday, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev charged and discharged batteries used in the U.S. extravehicular mobility unit spacesuits in preparation for three spacewalks that will originate from the station's Quest airlock module. Whitson also did some troubleshooting on the battery charging assembly associated with that task.

  The entire crew participated in emergency training sessions, practicing their assignments and responsibilities in the event of either an emergency depressurization of a station module, or a medical emergency affecting a crewmember. The training sessions are scheduled periodically to make sure the crew is always prepared to react quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency.

  Whitson resumed research in the Destiny Laboratory and its new Microgravity Science Glovebox, conducting two runs with an experiment studying semiconductor formation in space. That experiment, Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules, uses a special furnace to control the initial melting, fluid motion and bubbles as the crystals form in an effort to make larger, purer semiconductor crystals. Two more samples will be processed before Whitson reconfigures the glovebox for the next, the Pore Formation and Mobility Invesigation, which focuses on the bubbles that often become trapped in a metal or crystal sample and diminish the material's strength and usefulness.

  Thursday was robotics day on the station, with Whitson and Korzun taking turns at Canadarm2's controls both to increase their proficiency and to continue to check out the Mobile Base System on the station's truss structure. The pair "flew" the arm into position so that the Latching End Effector (LEE) of the arm could look directly into the LEE of the Payload and Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation (POA), and vice versa. This allowed television cameras to downlink views of the snare and latching mechanisms for flight controllers and engineers to inspect.

  Next, they moved the arm in a survey of the Mobile Base System and its four Power and Data Grapple Fixtures (PDGFs). Once the survey was complete, they grappled and ungrappled the fourth and final PDGF to be checked out. All of the major objectives of the arm operations and grapple fixture checkout were successful.

  Maintenance was the major activity Friday, and the crew powered down about half of Destiny's systems in order to replace a Remote Power Control Module (RPCM) which switches power to various systems on the station. The systems power down and replacement of the module went well, and flight controllers were restoring power to the systems that had been shut down as the crew began preparing for bed Friday afternoon.

• 2002 Sep 13 - International Space Station Status Report #02-41 

  The fifth resident crew on the International Space Station completed 100 days in space at 4:23 p.m. CDT today as it wrapped up a week that saw the first-ever on orbit operational use of ultrasound for medical diagnosis. The busy week also included completion of the first materials science experiment in the station's new Microgravity Sciences Glovebox, a reboost of the station's orbital altitude, and a day of robotic arm activity.

  This morning Expedition Five Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson set up and activated the ultrasound equipment at the Human Research Facility rack in the Destiny laboratory, then with guidance from flight surgeons in Houston, used it on herself to capture live video images for more than four hours. The ability to capture and downlink ultrasound imagery from orbit expands the kinds of medical research that can be conducted in space by scientists on Earth, and could offer physicians the chance to diagnose ailments in space station crewmembers earlier than they could otherwise. This possibly could improve the chances of effectively treating the problem without requiring an emergency deorbit of the crew and abandonment of the station.

  Whitson completed another research milestone on Wednesday when she removed the last sample of the experiment known as SUBSA (Solidification Using Baffle in Sealed Ampoules), the first science project conducted inside the Destiny lab's new Microgravity Sciences Glovebox. Investigators observed via videotape as semiconductor materials were melted inside a transparent furnace. They are investigating methods for reducing the magnitude of motions in those melting materials as a means of reducing defects in the manufacture of semiconductors. The next MSG experiment, which begins operation next week, is PFMI (Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation), in which scientists will observe the formation and movement of bubbles trapped in melting metal and crystal samples, which might diminish material strength and effectiveness.

  Thursday, Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Whitson used the station's Canadarm2 to visually examine the Common Berthing Mechanism on the nadir (Earth pointing) side of the Unity module. The examination was prompted by the discovery of some foreign object debris on the CBM of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module that was docked to Unity during the most recent shuttle mission in June. During a three-hour procedure, the station crewmembers gathered close-up views of Unity's berthing port with its protective petals closed and open. Specialists in Houston are reviewing the images along with crewmember descriptions to determine if any action is required.

  Wednesday night Russian flight controllers commanded a firing of thrusters on the Progress cargo craft docked to the aft end of Zvezda, raising the station's average altitude by 1.5 nautical miles to 243 statute miles (391 kilometers). The reboost sets the stage for the arrivals of a new Progress resupply ship, targeted to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sept. 24, and a new Soyuz rescue craft, planned to launch on Oct. 28 carrying a "taxi" crew consisting of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Zalyotin and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium.

  Along with getting time for rest and family conferences last weekend, the station crewmembers fashioned a temporary grounding strap for the Active Rack Isolation System in the Destiny laboratory's Express Rack No. 2 using standard grounding straps found in the lab's zero-g stowage racks. This temporary repair, permitting ARIS activation for operations recalibration, became necessary when the original strap became frayed. New hardware to finalize this repair is being scheduled for delivery to the station on the next shuttle flight.

  The shuttle that next will visit the International Space Station moved to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday for final preparation for the next assembly mission (9A). STS-112 is targeted for an Oct. 2 launch on a flight to install the next component of the station's Integrated Truss Structure, the S1 Truss, during three planned spacewalks. The move to the launch pad was completed following replacement of bearings in the Jacking, Equalization and Leveling cylinders of shuttle Crawler Transporter No. 2.

  Next week Korzun and Whitson are expected to return to maintenance of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly in the Destiny laboratory, which is still scrubbing the station's environment of carbon dioxide despite indications of interior leaks. Troubleshooting by flight controllers in Houston led to the conclusion that the desiccant valves in the Desiccant/Sorbent Bed Assemblies are seated properly, and that a leak is likely in one of the hydroflow lines; a visual inspection of that area by Whitson confirmed the analysis. Time should be scheduled for Korzun and Whitson next week to open the system rack housing CDRA, as they did when they replaced one of the sorbent bed assemblies in July, to make repairs.

• 2002 Sep 20 - International Space Station Status Report #02-42 

  Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA International Space Station Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev wrapped up a busy workweek on Friday, their 107th day in space. The week began with a Monday repair by Whitson, with help from Korzun, of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in the U.S. laboratory Destiny. The device, which scrubs carbon dioxide from the space station's atmosphere, had not functioned at full capacity since its launch aboard Destiny in February 2001.

  The problem was an elusive leak. Initial reports indicated the repair was a success. On Thursday flight controllers at Mission Control Center activated the device for a 24-hour run. Friday morning they said telemetry indicated it is capable of functioning on both its sorbent beds for the first time since it arrived on the station.

  Whitson was named NASA ISS science officer Monday during a space-to-ground conversation with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, speaking with her from the International Space Station Flight Control Room in the Mission Control Center. O'Keefe said it was time to increase the station's main mission, scientific research.

  Through the week, Korzun and Treschev spent time each day loading the Progress 8 unpiloted supply spacecraft. It will undock from the station on Tuesday with its cargo of trash and unneeded equipment and supplies. After about two weeks during which Russian flight controllers will use its cameras capture and downlink images of smog and smoke over northeastern Russia, it will be deorbited to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. NASA TV coverage of the 8:58 a.m. CDT undocking will begin at 8:30 a.m. Coverage of the docking of Progress 9, scheduled to reach the aft docking port of the Zvezda Service Module at 12:07 p.m. on Sept. 29, will begin on NASA TV at 11:30 a.m. that day. Progress 9 is to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sept. 25.

  On Tuesday Whitson activated the lab's Microgravity Science Glovebox in preparation for a new series of experiments. Those experiments called Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI) melt a transparent substance to study how bubbles form and move in molten materials. She activated the first in that series of experiments on Thursday.

  Also on the crew's schedule was packing of items to be returned to Earth on the shuttle Atlantis. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than Oct. 2 on STS-112, bringing the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss to the station. Atlantis crewmembers will do three spacewalks during the shuttle's visit, focusing on connecting fluid, power and data lines between the S1 and the rest of the station. The spacewalks will be performed from the station's Joint Airlock, and E5 crewmembers devoted some of their attention this week to spacewalk preparations.

  Flight controllers did a major exercise with the station's Canadarm2 on Wednesday. The arm is functioning well after replacement of its wrist-roll joint by spacewalkers during the STS-111 flight in June. This exercise involved simulating a failure - essentially turning off power to an arm joint -- then devising a way to work around the problem. The exercise was completed satisfactorily.

  Late in the week, the crew completed repressurization of the station's atmosphere with oxygen from Progress 8.

  Friday activities included additional work toward arrival of Atlantis, packing transfer items and talking by radio with Atlantis crewmembers about the spacewalks. Friday science focused on the Advanced Astroculture experiment, which looks at soybean growth in space and wrapping up the first of the PFMI experiments.

  As science activity, station maintenance and crew medical and health activities, including about two hours of exercise for each member daily, continued through the week, Korzun, Whitson and Treschev did manage to take time out on Tuesday to talk with students at Ashland, Wis., area schools. Crewmembers showed a video of exercise devices aboard the station and answered questions from the students.

• 2002 Sep 25 - International Space Station Status Report #02-43 

  A fresh resupply vehicle - Progress 9 - is on its way to the International Space Station following launch at 12:58 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Following a four-day rendezvous, the 15,000-pound spacecraft will automatically dock to the Zvezda Service Module's aft docking port at 1:07 p.m. EDT Sunday. NASA TV will cover the docking beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

  Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev have spent the early part of the week preparing for the departure of the Progress 8 vehicle and the arrival of the next, and worked with science experiments in the U.S. Laboratory Destiny.

  Also, the crew continues preparations for the arrival of Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-112 crew scheduled for launch between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2 by pre-packing items to be brought home upon Atlantis' departure.

  After the Progress 8 spacecraft - loaded with trash and unneeded equipment - was undocked Tuesday, it was parked a safe distance from the station where it will remain for about two weeks while Russian flight controllers use its cameras to document smog and smoke over northeastern Russia.

  The STS-112 mission will deliver the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss to the station, with final connections being conducted during three spacewalks by shuttle crewmembers. The Expedition Five crew devoted some of its attention this week to preparing the station's Airlock Quest for those spacewalks.

  Also, in preparation for the arrival of the station's newest component, Whitson will practice with the Canadarm2 Thursday, moving the robotic arm through the same tasks it will see during the installation of the S1 Truss.

  As science activity, station maintenance and crew medical and health activities continued, Korzun, Whitson and Treschev took part in two educational events with school children in Iowa and in Japan.

• 2002 Sep 25 - Progress M1-9  Spacecraft: Progress M1. Payload: Progress M1 s/n 258. Mass: 7,250 kg (15,980 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. Duration: 129.00 days. Perigee: 282 km (175 mi). Apogee: 324 km (201 mi). Inclination: 51.63 deg. Period: 90.60 min.

  Launch delayed from July 22, September 10 and 20. Progress-M1 9, known to NASA as Progress 9P, was a Russian automatic cargo transportation craft that was to deliver food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). It docked with the Zvezda module of the ISS on September 29 at 1700 UTC. Prior to the docking, the port was vacated by the earlier Progress-M 46. Undocked from the station on 1 February 2003 and commanded to destructive re-entry in the atmosphere.

• 2002 Sep 29 - International Space Station Status Report #02-44 

  An unmanned Russian resupply craft successfully docked to the International Space Station Sunday, bringing almost a ton of food, fuel and supplies to the residents on board, and for the next trio of space travelers, which will arrive on the ISS in November.

  The Progress 9 vehicle linked up to the aft docking port of the Zvezda Service Module of the ISS at 12:01 p.m. Central time (1701 GMT) as the two spacecraft flew over Central Asia after a four-day flight following its launch Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The automated docking went off without a hitch as Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev viewed the arrival of the new capsule from inside Zvezda. A few minutes later, hooks and latches closed between the two vehicles to form an airtight seal.

  Korzun was prepared to take over manual control of the Progress for the docking in the event its automated rendezvous system did not work, but the linkup was executed flawlessly.

  The crew was scheduled to open hatches between Zvezda and Progress this afternoon and will begin unloading supplies from the craft on Monday.

  Some of the supplies include clothing and personal items for the Expedition Six crew - Commander Ken Bowersox and Flight Engineers Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit - who will be launched aboard Endeavour on the STS-113 mission in November to replace Korzun, Whitson and Treschev following the completion of their 5 1/2 month mission.

  The older Progress 8 vehicle, which arrived at the ISS in June and which was undocked on Tuesday, remains in orbit a safe distance away from the station, spending another 10 days aloft to enable Russian flight controllers to document smog and smoke over northeastern Russia through its cameras.

  The Progress docking clears the way for the launch of Atlantis on the STS-112 mission Wednesday to deliver the 14-ton Starboard 1 (S1) Truss to the station. A Wednesday launch would result in Atlantis' docking to the ISS Friday. Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Fyodor Yurchikhin are in the final stages of their prelaunch preparations.

• 2002 Oct 2 - International Space Station Status Report #02-45 

  U.S. flight control of the International Space Station was shifted early today from Houston's Mission Control Center to Houston Support Group personnel in Mission Control Moscow as Hurricane Lili threatened the Johnson Space Center.

  Preparations included powering down Mission Control Houston as Lili approached the Gulf Coast. The storm was expected to take a more northerly heading beginning late today or early Thursday, leading to a landfall on the Louisiana coast. Forecasters say it will be at least midnight before the storm's course becomes more clear, so preparations continue at Johnson Space Center.

  The hurricane preparation in Houston also led to a delay in the launch of Atlantis to the on STS-112 flight to the space station. Atlantis, bringing the Starboard 1 Truss segment to the station, is now scheduled to launch no earlier than Monday. The Houston Support Group is an organization that includes flight controllers and others based at Mission Control Moscow in the Russian capital's suburb of Korolev. They will continue reduced flight control operations communicating with the orbiting laboratory using Russian ground stations augmented by U.S. ground stations. The group in Russia remains in close contact with the flight control team in Houston, which is using other Johnson Space Center facilities.

  Aboard the orbiting laboratory, Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA International Space Station Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, were told of the shift Tuesday afternoon CDT, near the end of their working day. They were told a little after 9 a.m. today of the delay in Atlantis' launch.

  The station's 240-foot solar wing assembly is no longer tracking the sun, because of reduced monitoring capabilities on the ground. As a result of decreased power production, some non-essential equipment aboard the station was turned off to reduce power consumption. Otherwise, the crew is working through an essentially normal day on the orbiting laboratory.

• 2002 Oct 4 - International Space Station Status Report #02-46 

  With Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC) back in operation, the deliberate power up of the International Space Station is proceeding as planned. The huge U.S. solar wings are again tracking the sun after being put in a fixed position when the Mission Control Center here was powered down in the face of a threat from Hurricane Lili.

  Houston flight control of the station was resumed about 6 p.m. Thursday. That was a little over 12 hours after reactivation of MCC Houston, begun when it became apparent that Lili would not hit the area.

  Members of the Houston Support Group in Mission Control Moscow had taken over control of the station's U.S. segment early Wednesday, when Lili was churning in the Gulf of Mexico and its landfall uncertain. The group followed a contingency plan setting up a Backup Control Center (BCC) in MCC Moscow. They communicated with the station using Russian and U.S. ground stations, and remained in close telephone contact with flight control teams gathered in a conference room at Johnson Space Center.

  While the BCC was in operation, high-rate data downlink from the station was not available. Since they were unable to monitor the movement of the solar arrays, flight controllers put them in a fixed position. As a result, power to some station payloads and systems was reduced. The repowering process is being carried out largely by flight controllers.

  Russian and Houston-based station officials praised the smoothness of the handovers to the BCC and back to Mission Control Houston, as well as the performance of the BCC itself. The Houston Support Group, U.S. flight controllers and others based in Mission Control Moscow, and Mission Control Houston practiced for just such a contingency less than three weeks ago.

  As Lili approached on Wednesday, power at MCC Houston was turned off in a carefully planned sequence, and its electronic equipment covered with waterproof plastic sheets. Today, operations are essentially back to normal.

  The hurricane precautions in Houston led to a delay in the launch of Atlantis on the STS-112 flight to the space station. Atlantis, bringing the Starboard 1 Truss segment to the station, is now scheduled to launch on Monday. Preparations for the launch are going smoothly.

  The situation also caused the Russians to cancel a scheduled Wednesday test of thrusters on Progress 9, the unpiloted cargo vehicle that docked to the rear of the station's Zvezda Service Module on Sunday. They also canceled a station reboost by the Progress, which had been scheduled for today.

  The Expedition 5 crew, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA International Space Station Science Officer Peggy Whitson, and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, had a relatively quiet Friday to wind up their hurricane-impacted workweek about 240 statute miles above the Earth's surface. Science activities and station maintenance continued. The crew also devoted some time to unloading the Progress 9 unpiloted supply spacecraft docked at the back of the station's Zvezda Service Module.

• 2002 Oct 7 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #01 

  With hardware and the weather finally in order, Atlantis lifted off at 2:46 p.m. Central time today from Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center to deliver the 28,000 pound Starboard 1 (S1) truss segment to the International Space Station.

  Aboard Atlantis are Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. A small television camera on the shuttle's external fuel tank captured a unique view of the Earth as Atlantis headed into orbit.

  Less than nine minutes after launch, Atlantis and its crewmembers settled into orbit and work began to prepare for a planned 11-day mission.

  As Atlantis headed toward space, on board the ISS, Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev were completing their 124th day in orbit and their 122nd day aboard the station. At the time of Atlantis' launch, the space station orbited 240 statute miles above the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador.

  Atlantis' crew is setting up equipment on board and preparing to open the shuttle's payload bay doors to begin orbital operations prior to heading to bed just before 9 p.m.

  Atlantis is scheduled to dock to the station at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, setting the stage for the installation of the S1 truss on the starboard side of the S0 truss, which arrived at the ISS in April. Three spacewalks are scheduled during the mission by Wolf and Sellers to help activate the new truss' systems. The S1 truss is the fourth of 11 truss segments which 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.

  The shuttle crew will be awakened at 4:46 a.m. Tuesday to begin its first full day in orbit and to prepare for Wednesday's docking.

• 2002 Oct 8 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #02 

  As Atlantis continues its pursuit of the International Space Station with docking planned at 10:24 a.m. Wednesday, crewmembers began a day of preparation for the linkup with the orbiting laboratory.

  Aboard Atlantis, Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin were awakened at 4:46 a.m. to the song "Venus and Mars" by Paul McCartney and Wings. It was for Wolf, requested by his wife, Tammy.

  The Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev – in their 18th week in space – were awakened at 3 a.m. Atlantis' crew will be their first visitors since June. They are shifting their sleep schedules to prepare for the week of docked operations with Atlantis.

  Today, Atlantis' crew focuses on preparations for rendezvous and docking by checking out the necessary tools. The crew also will prepare the spacesuits to be used during the three planned spacewalks by Wolf and Sellers scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and Monday. The shuttle's robotic arm also will be checked out and used to survey the payload bay, including the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss.

  This afternoon the centerline camera will be mounted in the Orbiter Docking System hatch to assist Ashby as he guides the orbiter in for docking. The crew then will extend the docking ring, which makes first contact with the station.

  The station crew is continuing with science operations and standard exercise activities. Whitson is working with radiation monitors for Wolf and Sellers, who will conduct the spacewalks to hook up the S1 after it is lifted from Atlantis' cargo bay and installed on the station Thursday. She will activate the monitor's badge readers and do pre-spacewalk background readings.

  Atlantis' crew is scheduled to begin an eight-hour sleep period at about 6:30 p.m. today.

• 2002 Oct 8 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #03 

  After Monday's exciting launch, the STS-112 crew today settled into preparations for Wednesday's rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station, and the first of three spacewalks Thursday.

  After arising at 4:46 a.m. CDT, the crew began its first full day on orbit with Pilot Pam Melroy assisting Mission Specialists Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers in a checkout of spacewalk suits and equipment. Commander Jeff Ashby worked with the prime robotic arm operator, Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus, to verify the arm's readiness. Ashby and Magnus powered up the arm for a video survey of Atlantis' payload bay.

  In preparation for Wednesday's rendezvous and docking with the station at 10:24 a.m., the crew set up the orbiter docking system's centerline camera, extended the orbiter's spring-loaded ring that will make first contact, and checked out rendezvous tools.

  The crew successfully completed three Orbital Maneuvering System burns to boost the orbiter into the station's orbit and refine its approach path to the station.

  Science already is getting underway on Atlantis with Wolf leading check-out activities for the SHIMMER experiment sponsored by the Naval Research Lab. The Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals experiment uses an ultraviolet sensing camera to observe the Earth's atmosphere at 40-90 kilometers looking for possible ozone loss. The experiment proved a bit balky, but with help from Mission Control the crew worked out steps to ready the gear for observations during the mission.

  Meanwhile, the space station residents readied their home for the first visitors in the123 days since their arrival at the vehicle. Peggy Whitson and crewmates Valery Korzun and Sergei Treschev have been prepacking materials to return on Atlantis and to make room for about 7,500 pounds of gear arriving at the station.

  Whitson has been sending letters describing her life on the International Space Station back to Earth over the last few months. Her most recent letter describes her anticipation and preparations for the shuttle visitors.

  Both crews will head for sleep two hours earlier than Monday at 6:46 pm to get plenty of rest before Wednesday's busy day. Rendezvous operations begin at 5:06 a.m., with station docking scheduled for 10:24 a.m. Hatch opening between Atlantis and the station is expected at 12:36 p.m.

• 2002 Oct 9 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #04 

  A rendezvous in space awaits Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station this morning with docking expected at 10:24 a.m. Central time. The shuttle's six crewmembers are the first visitors for the station's Expedition Five crew since it arrived aboard the station in early June. The week of joint operations begins when the hatches are opened about 12:30 p.m. Television of the approach, docking and hatch opening is expected on NASA TV.

  Shortly after the musical wakeup call to the crew at 2:46 this morning – Tina Turner's "The Best" for Commander Jeff Ashby from his wife, Paige – the shuttle crew focused its attention on the rendezvous and docking procedures that will culminate with the orbiter docking to a port on the U.S. Destiny Lab of the station.

  The Terminal Initiation burn preceding the final approach is planned for 8:04 a.m. and occurs with the two spacecraft 50,000 feet apart. That is followed by a series of four small correction burns, which set the stage for Ashby's taking manual control of Atlantis' thruster jets as he looks out the overhead and rear windows of the flight deck. He will fly Atlantis to a point 600 feet below the station, then begin a quarter circle alignment of the orbiter's docking system and Destiny, which will place the shuttle about 300 feet in front of the station.

  Assisting with the rendezvous using lasers and computers are the remaining shuttle crewmembers, including Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

  Awaiting the arrival of Atlantis are the three station crewmembers – Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev – in their 126th day in space.

  Thursday will see the installation of the station's newest component – the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss – and shortly thereafter, the first of three planned spacewalks will begin by Wolf and Sellers to connect power, data and fluid lines between S1 and the station.

  Crew sleep is set to begin about 6:30 this evening.

• 2002 Oct 9 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #05 

  The crew of the International Space Station welcomed the first visitors to its home in space today when the hatch between the space station and the space shuttle Atlantis was opened at 11:51 a.m. CDT. Hugs and smiles, backslapping and laughter marked the elated celebration as the shuttle crew entered the International Space Station and greeted the expedition crew. Earlier, guided by Commander Jeff Ashby, Atlantis made a picture-perfect rendezvous and docked with the station at 10:17 a.m. at the end of a chase that began with its launch at 2:46 p.m. on Monday. With the crewmembers merged into a single team, they went to work on preparations for the mission's busiest day tomorrow.

  All efforts pointed toward the deployment and installation of the Starboard One (S1) Truss. Pilot Pam Melroy, Space Station Commander Valery Korzun, and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Piers Sellers, and Fyodor Yurchikhin configured the spacesuits for Thursday's spacewalk. Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson reviewed robotic arm operations for moving the new truss segment into place. Sergei Treschev, ISS Flight Engineer, participated in the safety briefing for the station visitors.

  Thursday, Magnus and Whitson will use the Canadarm2 from inside Destiny to grapple the huge S1 Truss, take it out of Atlantis' payload bay and move it into position at the starboard end of the S0 Truss. After the segments are soft-mated, capture bolts will make the mating solid. With the truss firmly attached to the station, the spacewalkers will exit the station.

  Tomorrow's EVA begins three days of spacewalks – Thursday, Saturday and Monday - at the station-shuttle complex. Shuttle and Mir veteran Wolf and space rookie Sellers will perform the EVAs, which are primarily focused on the installation and hookup of the S1 segment. In Thursday's six-hour spacewalk, Wolf and Sellers will connect power, data and fluid umbilicals between the segments; install a camera and antenna assembly; and release a number of launch restraints. Wolf will ride on the end of the robotic arm for most of the excursion, while Sellers will be a "free floater" moving around the truss structure.

  Tonight the crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 6:46 p.m. with the wake-up call to sound at 3:16 a.m. Thursday.

• 2002 Oct 10 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #06 

  The International Space Station is a construction site in orbit once again as Space Shuttle Atlantis and Expedition Five crewmembers today prepare to install the next segment of the station's backbone – the Starboard One (S1) Truss.

  Expedition Five's Peggy Whitson and Atlantis' Sandy Magnus will use the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to install the 45-foot long, 15-ton structure beginning about 5:30 this morning. Simultaneously, Astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers will prepare for the first of three spacewalks to attach plumbing, data and electrical lines to bring S1 to life. They plan to exit the Quest Airlock at about 9:40 a.m. and can easily be identified while outside. Wolf will wear a suit with solid red stripes, while Sellers will wear an all white spacesuit.

  Throughout the spacewalk, Pilot Pam Melroy will be inside offering guidance and advice to the spacewalkers and keeping them on schedule. Shuttle Commander Jeff Ashby will operate the shuttle robotic arm providing camera views for documentation.

  Following grapple of the S1, Magnus and Whitson will move it into position at the starboard end of the first truss segment where it will be secured in place by four remotely operated bolts. That first segment was delivered on a shuttle flight earlier this year.

  In addition to hooking up power, data and fluid lines, Wolf and Sellers will release locks on a beam allowing S1's radiators to be oriented for optimal cooling. They also will deploy an antenna and release restraints on a handcar, which can be used to move spacewalkers and equipment along the truss. The next spacewalk, or Extravehicular Activity (EVA) is planned for Saturday to continue hooking S1 connections to the station.

  S1 is the third of what will be 11 segments of the Integrated Truss delivered to the station. The truss eventually will stretch 356 feet from end to end and will support four huge solar wing assemblies, one pair of which is already atop the station's P6 Truss. The truss also will support cooling radiators and the first railroad in space, capable of carrying the robotic arm to assembly and maintenance sites around the station.

  The workday began at 3 a.m. with a musical wakeup call to Atlantis' crew from Mission Control, Houston. The "medley of childhood songs" was played for Magnus from her family. The Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun, Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, woke aboard the station at the same time.

  The crew is scheduled to go to bed about 8 o'clock this evening.

• 2002 Oct 10 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #07 

  Astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers completed all planned International Space Station assembly tasks today during a 7-hour, 1-minute spacewalk, an excursion focused on attaching the next segment of the station's backbone – the Starboard One (S1) Truss – to the Starboard Zero (S0) Truss.

  Expedition Five's Peggy Whitson and Atlantis' Sandy Magnus used the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple the 45-foot-long, 14-ton S1 structure, remove it from Atlantis' cargo bay and move it to the starboard end of S0. Motorized bolts locked the two truss segments together at 8:36 a.m. CDT.

  Wolf and Sellers ventured outside the station's Quest airlock at 10:21 a.m. Their first task was to connect power, data and fluid lines between the S0 and the S1 trusses. As Wolf worked to accomplish this task, Sellers, on his first spacewalk, released the locks on three folded-up radiators mounted to the S1, allowing S1's radiators to be oriented for optimal cooling

  Wolf and Sellers then worked together to install a new S-band antenna assembly. Wolf, attached to the end of the station robotic arm, moved the antenna into position. He then tightened stanchion bolts to lock the antenna into place near the end of the S1 Truss where it connects to the S0 as Sellers held it in place. The new component will increase the S-band data and voice communications capability from the space station to ground controllers.

  The duo then went to work releasing restraints that had held the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart to the S1 for launch and configure its brakes. The CETA cart, a handcar that rides along rails on the station's truss, can be used to move spacewalkers and equipment.

  Installation of the S1's outboard nadir external camera was the final major task of the spacewalk. The camera, launched on Atlantis' middeck, is the first of two that will be installed on S1. They will be used as situational awareness tools for spacewalkers and robotic arm operators.

  Throughout the spacewalk, Pilot Pam Melroy was inside, offering guidance and advice to the spacewalkers and keeping them on schedule. She had help with arm operations and spacewalk guidance from controllers in the International Space Station Flight Control Room because the spacewalk originated out of the station's Quest airlock. Shuttle Commander Jeff Ashby operated the shuttle robotic arm, providing camera views for documentation.

  Following an inventory of the tools they used during the spacewalk and cleanup activities, Wolf and Sellers re-entered Quest. Airlock repressurization began at 5:22 p.m., signaling the end of the spacewalk.

• 2002 Oct 11 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #08 

  With a major milestone of the STS-112 mission behind them, Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station crewmembers will have a quieter day today. Following some time off to relax, the joint crews later will begin transferring equipment and supplies to the orbiting laboratory.

  On Thursday, crewmembers attached the 14-ton, 45-foot Starboard One (S1) truss to the station, using the station's Canadarm2 operated by Atlantis' Sandy Magnus and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson. That was followed by the first of three planned spacewalks by Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers to complete a series of tasks, including connecting power lines to the station.

  The spacewalk lasted 7 hours, 1 minute and brings the total time for ISS assembly via Extravehicular Activity (EVA) to 272 hours, 45 minutes.

  In addition to the time off and transfer operations, Wolf and Sellers will prepare the tools and other equipment for use during tomorrow's second spacewalk. Just before their evening meal, crewmembers will gather to review Quest Airlock procedures for the spacewalk, which is expected to begin about 9:40 a.m. Saturday.

  The crew will take part in two interviews today. First, the three Russian crewmembers – Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Expedition Five Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and STS-112 Mission Specialist Fyodor Yurchikhin – will discuss the mission with Russian press beginning at 10:46 a.m. Later in the day at 1:56 p.m., Wolf, Sellers, Magnus and possibly other crewmembers will be interviewed by CBS Radio, Fox News and the Cable News Network (CNN). Both interviews can be seen on NASA Television.

  Today's wakeup call to Pilot Pam Melroy and the rest of Atlantis' crew came at 3:46 a.m. "Oh Thou Tupelo," performed by the Wellesley College Choir, was for Melroy, a 1983 graduate. The station crew woke up about 4:15 a.m. today.

  The Atlantis and ISS complex is orbiting the Earth every 92 minutes at an altitude of 244 statute miles.

• 2002 Oct 11 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #09 

  After a very busy day Thursday, the combined shuttle and space station crew took several hours of off-duty time today, and then began transfer operations between the vehicles and preparations for the second of the mission's three spacewalks scheduled to begin at 9:41 a.m. Saturday.

  The crew moved a number of scientific experiments back and forth between the vehicles to return completed experiments to Earth and deploy new experiments at the station. Transfer items included a set of liver cell tissue samples from an experiment studying the function of human liver cells in microgravity, moved from the station onto the shuttle for return to Earth. Payload experiments such as Marshall Space Flight Center's protein crystal growth thermal enclosures for growing high-quality protein crystals in micro-gravity experiments were moved to and from the station. Seven water containers were transferred to the station.

  Commander Jeff Ashby initiated a nitrogen transfer process that moved about 15 pounds of the gas from the shuttle to the station by the end of Friday. About another 35 pounds will be transferred through Flight Day 8.

  STS-112 spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers, assisted by Pilot Pam Melroy, readied the EVA equipment for Saturday's excursion outside the station-shuttle complex. They recharged water on the extravehicular mobility unit, configured their tools and prepared the airlock.

  Since it wasn't an EVA day, there was time for the crew to relate their experiences to several media organizations during live interviews. STS-112 Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus, Wolf and Sellers discussed Thursday's EVA and first-time experiences in space with CBS Radio Network and Cable News Network (CNN). Russian Commander Valery Korzun, Expedition Five Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and STS-112 Mission Specialist Fyodor Yurchikhin participated in several interviews with the Russian press.

  This evening, shortly before sleep, the crew reviewed procedures for tomorrow's spacewalk. Saturday the spacewalkers reverse positions for most of the EVA, with Sellers riding the arm and Wolf free-floating while tethered to the station. They'll attach umbilicals, install a second camera - this time on the U.S. laboratory Destiny, install spool positioning devices to quick disconnect fittings on ammonia lines and release radiator beam launch locks.

  Completing the day, the crew had a joint meal in the Service Module. Wake up time Saturday is 4:16 a.m.

• 2002 Oct 12 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #10 

  Focus of attention aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station once again is outside the complex as Astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers conduct the second of three planned spacewalks to bring the station's newest component – the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss – to life.

  The Extravehicular Activity, or EVA, is set to begin about 9:40 this morning and is planned to last about 6 1/2 hours. It includes installation of devices to prevent pressure buildup in line fittings; connecting cooling system lines; removing launch restraints from a radiator which will be deployed Sunday, and installing a second camera.

  The Spool Positioning Devices (SPDs) are designed to prevent pressure buildup in Quick Disconnect fittings, which could make it impossible to disconnect fittings, if necessary. Sellers and Wolf will install 24 of the devices – most of which are on ammonia lines – during the spacewalk.

  Sellers, in the all-white spacesuit, will ride the station's robotic arm to the S1 Truss worksite to hook up nitrogen lines used to pressurize the ammonia system, while Wolf, wearing the suit with red stripes, releases launch restraints on the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid – a handcar on the truss rails. Peggy Whitson, NASA ISS science officer, and Atlantis' Sandy Magnus will operate the robot arm. As with the first spacewalk Thursday, Pilot Pam Melroy will choreograph the EVA from Atlantis' flight deck.

  Prior to the spacewalk, Commander Jeff Ashby and Melroy will gently raise the altitude of the station by firing small thrusters on Atlantis. This reboost maneuver will increase the altitude of the complex from 238 statute miles (383 kilometers) to 242 sm (389 km).

  Atlantis' crew was awakened at 2:46 a.m. today by the song "Push It," performed by the group Garbage. It was for Sellers, requested by his family. The station crew woke up about 30 minutes later.

  Atlantis and station crewmembers are scheduled to go to bed about 7:30 tonight.

• 2002 Oct 12 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #11 

  Astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers moved smoothly and ahead of schedule through their second spacewalk of the week today, continuing to bring the International Space Station's newest component to life and installing devices to prevent future difficulties with station cooling connections.

  The spacewalk began at 9:31 a.m. CDT and ended about a half-hour early at about 3:35 p.m. CDT for an official duration of six hours, four minutes. About six and a half hours had originally been allotted for the spacewalk, the second of three ventures outside the station planned for Wolf and Sellers during STS-112 to set up the new station S1 (S-One) truss segment delivered by Atlantis.

  The duo prepared a new handcar system for future use on the station's truss-mounted railway. Called the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid, the car will allow astronauts to propel themselves, maintenance and construction equipment hand-over-hand along what eventually will be a 100-yard railway atop the station's truss. The spacewalkers also installed 22 Spool Positioning Devices (SPDs) on station ammonia cooling line connections, devices that will prevent a possible condition that could lock up those connections, preventing them from being opened if needed.

  Two more such devices were to be installed during the spacewalk, bringing the total to 24, but they were not attached. Due to a different configuration than anticipated on the two line connections in question, the additional two SPDs would not have fit properly. However, space station engineers and managers have determined those two connections are in a satisfactory condition and will not require any further work.

  Other work included the installation of an additional exterior station television camera outside of the Destiny Laboratory; hooking up an ammonia supply for lines to a radiator on the new truss segment that will be deployed Monday afternoon; and checking equipment that will be used to add the next starboard truss segment to the station in the fall of 2003.

  During today's spacewalk, STS-112 Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus and ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson operated the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm, using it to position the spacewalkers at various times. Prior to today's outing by Wolf and Sellers, Atlantis Commander Jeff Ashby and Pilot Pam Melroy fired the shuttle's small steering jets periodically over the course of an hour to boost the altitude of the shuttle and station by about 4 statute miles. The shuttle will perform another boost of altitude for the complex tomorrow, raising it an additional 2 miles.

  The station and shuttle crews will begin a sleep period at 7:46 p.m. CDT and awaken at 3:46 a.m. CDT Sunday.

• 2002 Oct 13 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #12 

  The joint crews of Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station will transfer supplies and equipment between the two spacecraft today and also prepare for the final spacewalk of the mission.

  The nine astronauts and cosmonauts also will conduct a press briefing from the U.S. Laboratory Destiny at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The news conference will air live on NASA Television.

  Later today, one of the radiators on the newly installed S1 Truss will be remotely deployed to verify the connections established on the first spacewalk last Thursday. Its extended length will be 75 feet with each of the eight panels being 11 feet wide. The cooling system will not formally be activated until next year.

  One major task inside the station today is the replacement of the exercise treadmill's vibration dampening system. The treadmill is located in the Russian Zvezda module – the station's living quarters – and is designed to significantly reduce or eliminate vibration during workouts that otherwise could negatively affect sensitive experiments being conducted on board. The unit is one of the major exercise devices aboard the station, and important in maintaining fitness during long-duration spaceflight.

  Transfer work continues through much of the day while oxygen is transferred from Atlantis to high-pressure storage tanks on the outside of the Quest Airlock.

  In preparation for Monday's spacewalk, the suits will be recharged with water, and tools will be configured. Prior to going to bed, all nine crewmembers will review spacewalk and airlock procedures.

  The day began with a wakeup call at 4:07 a.m. for Mission Specialist Fyodor Yurchikhin. The "Aviation March," composed by Isaac Dunaevsky, is the hymn of the Moscow Aviation Institute, Yurchikhin's alma mater.

• 2002 Oct 13 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #13 

  Astronauts and cosmonauts on board Atlantis and the International Space Station spent today transferring supplies and hardware, and preparing for Monday's third and final spacewalk of the mission.

  The Expedition 5 station crew spent a big part of its day taking apart the station's exercise treadmill, installing replacement parts and putting the system back together. Engineers on the ground quickly pulled together a backup plan for the task when the on-orbit maintenance team reported a broken cable on the gyroscope that is part of the vibration dampening system for the treadmill. Using some Teflon and Kapton tape to protect metal parts that might rub together until a new cable can be delivered to the station, the crewmembers were able to put the system back together so that it could be restored to fully operational status. After a final test Monday, exercise on the treadmill will resume.

  One planned activity was deferred until tomorrow. The radiator assembly on the newly installed S1 Truss was rotated into position today, but the first radiator deployment won't occur until 2:52 a.m. central time Monday. The radiator was slated to be deployed Sunday afternoon, but protective circuits designed to measure current during preliminary steps needed to be adjusted. The tolerance levels set during ground testing needed to be expanded to a greater tolerance level in space. With that complete, ground controllers elected to defer actual deployment until early Monday morning, when they will be able to watch the deployment live.

  Final preparations for Monday's spacewalk, slated to begin at 9:41 a.m., included a review of procedures, and recharging of the suits to be worn by Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers. During the planned 6 1/2-hour-long spacewalk, Wolf and Sellers will remove and replace an interface cable to the station's mobile transporter unit, or railcar. With that complete, they will install a series of fluid jumpers that will allow ammonia coolant to flow between the S0 and S1 trusses. That activity is expected to last about 1 1/2 hours. They also will install the last of the spool position devices on quick disconnect fittings in the ammonia lines.

  All nine crew members took time out today to talk with media gathered at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts and cosmonauts fielded questions about life on board the station and the upcoming return of the Expedition 5 crew in November.

  Atlantis' crew will awaken at 2:46 a.m. Monday, with the station crew arising about 30 minutes later.

• 2002 Oct 14 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #14 

  Another spacewalk is the order of business aboard Atlantis and the International Space Station today to complete the installation and checkout of the newly installed truss segment.

  Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers once again will conduct the spacewalk out of the Quest Airlock beginning about 9:40 this morning. It is the 46th spacewalk devoted to the assembly and maintenance of the station. Today they will focus on the removal and stowage of launch support brackets no longer required; installation of additional clamps on fittings to prevent pressure buildup in fluid lines; install an attach bracket for a future station truss element; and remove a balky bolt preventing activation of a cable cutter on the Mobile Transporter.

  Ahead of the spacewalk, Atlantis' thrusters will again be used to gently raise the station's altitude another couple of miles. The reboost lasts about 35 minutes and sets the stage for the arrival of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft set to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 28. The Soyuz serves as the emergency rescue vehicle of the station and must be replaced about every six months.

  Shortly after crew wakeup today, one of the three cooling radiators on the newly installed S1 Truss was deployed serving as a mechanical test for the deployment system. The deployment to its full length of 75 feet began at 3:01 a.m. and was completed nine minutes later. The task was delayed from Sunday for an electrical adjustment. The radiator is not needed operationally until next year.

  Peggy Whitson, NASA ISS science officer, and Atlantis' Sandy Magnus will operate the station's robot arm throughout the spacewalk, while Pilot Pam Melroy will again choreograph the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) from Atlantis' flight deck. Wolf will wear the spacesuit with red stripes and Sellers' suit will be all white.

  Today's wakeup music for Dave Wolf from his wife Tammy was "You Gave Me The Answer," by Paul McCartney and Wings and came at 2:46 a.m. The station crewmembers awakened about 30 minutes later.

• 2002 Oct 14 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #15 

  The third and final spacewalk of the mission concluded at 3:47 p.m. today, 6 hours and 36 minutes after Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers floated out of the Quest airlock of the International Space Station and into the vacuum of space.

  The spacewalk began at 9:11 a.m., and was the 46th devoted to assembly and maintenance of the station. Making quick work of their first task, to remove a bolt preventing activation of a cable cutter on the mobile transporter, Wolf and Sellers moved on to connect ammonia lines and remove structural support clamps that held the truss in place during launch. With Sellers and Wolf working well ahead of schedule, an additional "get ahead" task – installing Spool Positioning Devices on a pump motor assembly – was added to the spacewalk. The pump motor assembly helps to circulate ammonia through the station's cooling system. Throughout today's spacewalk the station's robotic arm, which was used as a work platform by Sellers and Wolf, was operated by NASA's ISS science officer Peggy Whitson and Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus.

  Earlier in the day at 6:20 a.m. Commander Jeff Ashby and Pilot Pam Melroy pulsed Atlantis' thrusters for 35 minutes gently raising the altitude of the station by 2.3 miles. The combined results of two reboost maneuvers by Atlantis increased the station's altitude by a total of six miles, setting the stage for the arrival of a replacement Soyuz spacecraft, set for launch on October 28.

  Atlantis' crew is scheduled to awaken at 3:46 a.m. Tuesday with the station crew awakening about one-half hour later. Tuesday will see some scheduled off-duty time for the two crews, allowing them some final hours together before Wednesday's scheduled undocking and departure of Atlantis from the station.

• 2002 Oct 15 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #16 

  Now that the outside work has been completed with the third spacewalk Monday, crewmembers aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station today turn their attention to the remaining inside work to be done prior to the shuttle's departure Wednesday from the ever growing orbital outpost.

  The six shuttle crewmembers leave the complex tomorrow a bit heavier and more capable than it was prior to their arrival a week ago. The space station now has a mass in space of about 366,277 pounds (166,118 kilograms) and is 171 feet long, 240 feet wide and 90 feet high. The S1 (Starboard One) Truss added 15 tons (13,600 kilograms) to the station's mass.

  After undocking tomorrow, scheduled for 8:13 a.m., the shuttle will perform at least a half lap fly around of the station for photo documentation before it fires thrusters to separate and bid the station farewell after a week's worth of joint operations.

  Once back on their own, the Expedition Five voyagers - 131 days into their mission, 129 as station crewmembers - turn their attention to completing the unpacking of a Russian Progress supply vehicle, which arrived at the station in late September, and packing up belongings for their own return home scheduled for late November aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, which is bringing another station truss segment and the Expedition Six crew.

  Between now and then, however, Expedition Five will receive more guests from Earth when a new Russian Soyuz spacecraft and crew arrive late this month following launch Oct. 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz serves as an emergency return vehicle and must be swapped about every six months.

  The shuttle and station crews have a few hours of free time today - a welcome opportunity to visit with each other before tomorrow's undocking and departure of Atlantis. Work continues this afternoon with the transfer of the final powered payload to be moved from the shuttle to the ISS. In addition to the S1 Truss, Atlantis brought up about a ton of supplies for the station. Also, the rendezvous tools will be checked out in preparation for undocking.

  "Only an Ocean Away," performed by Sarah Brightman for Sandy Magnus, awakened Atlantis' crewmembers at 3:48 a.m. It was requested by her jogging friends.

• 2002 Oct 15 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #17 

  Space shuttle and International Space Station crew members enjoyed a final evening meal together Tuesday after a day of activities aimed at relaxing after a challenging week of joint operations and making final preparations for Atlantis' undocking and departure tomorrow.

  Atlantis Commander Jeff Ashby and Expedition Five Science Officer Peggy Whitson put on their air-conditioning maintenance caps, removing and replacing a humidity separator in the station's Quest airlock. That device, which removes excess moisture from the airlock's atmosphere, had been exhibiting some leakage attributed to a clogged filter. The repair work went as planned, and the old unit is destined to come home in the same space on Atlantis that carried up the fresh unit.

  Loadmaster Sandy Magnus coordinated the final transfer of equipment and supplies from Atlantis to the station, as well as the packing of items that are being returned to Earth on the shuttle. A total of about 1,800 pounds of supplies were delivered to the station, and an equal amount will be brought back.

  The joint crew will be awakened at 2:46 a.m. CDT Wednesday and begin final departure preparations. The two crews will conduct a final farewell ceremony at 5:59 a.m., then gather on the opposite sides of their hatches and close the doors.

  Undocking is scheduled for 8:13 a.m. After Pilot Pam Melroy gently eases Atlantis out to a distance of 450 feet, she will fire its reaction control system thrusters and begin a slow fly-around of the station so that her crewmates may take still and video pictures of the station with its newest addition, the Starboard 1 truss structure. Melroy expects to fly at least halfway around the station before separating, but if propellant supplies allow she may be able to make one complete revolution.

  Once back on their own, the Expedition Five voyagers – 131 days into their mission, 129 as station crewmembers – return their attention to unpacking a Russian Progress supply vehicle that arrived in late September, and packing up belongings for their own return home scheduled for late November aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Endeavour rolled out to its Kennedy Space Center launch pad over the weekend, and the next station addition, a Port 1 truss segment, was loaded in the cargo bay today.

  Between now and then, Expedition Five will receive more guests from Earth when a new Russian Soyuz emergency return vehicle and crew arrive following launch Oct. 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

• 2002 Oct 16 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #18 

  With their week's worth of work completed, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station bid farewell to one another and closed the hatches in preparation for the shuttle's undocking scheduled for 8:13 this morning.

  Following undocking, Atlantis will back away from the ISS to a distance of about 450 feet before completing at least a half lap fly around of the complex with its new truss segment installed before departing the station's vicinity at 10 a.m. and prepare to come home to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:45 Friday morning. Expedition Five's ride home is next month aboard Endeavour following its mission to deliver a mirror image truss segment to the S1.

  Atlantis departs after delivering about 1,800 pounds of supplies and experiments to the station and returning about the same weight of cargo to Earth. It also leaves behind the S1 (Starboard One) Truss segment weighing almost 15 tons and spanning 45 feet. It continues the outward expansion of the truss that eventually will be 356 feet long.

  The work to install the S1 was accomplished during three spacewalks totaling more than 19 hours that included hooking up power, data and ammonia lines linking S1 to the station; deploying antennas, installing TV cameras, preparing a handcar for use on the truss' railway, readying S1's three large radiators for use and installing devices to ensure quick disconnect fittings in fluid lines will work.

  Later this morning, the shuttle performs its own experiment when SHIMMER is activated to measure Hydroxyl in the upper atmosphere. Hydroxyl plays a role in the ozone destroying chemical process and helps in measuring water vapor and temperature over a broad altitude range.

  The day began for the shuttle and station crews with a wakeup call from Mission Control at 2:52 a.m. The Alan Parsons Project's "Prime Time" was played for Pilot Pam Melroy, requested by her husband, Chris.

• 2002 Oct 16 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #19 

  Following an emotional farewell, the crews of Atlantis and the International Space Station closed the hatches of their spacecraft concluding a week of joint operations, that saw the transfer of about 1,800 pounds of supplies and hardware to the station, and the addition of the 15 ton, 45-foot long Starboard One (S1) truss segment continuing the station's expansion.

  Following undocking, Pilot Pam Melroy flew Atlantis a partial lap around the station, as her crewmates used cameras to document its latest addition and overall condition. At 10 a.m., she fired Atlantis' engines in a final separation maneuver, leaving the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - to continue stowing away many of the items that were transferred over the past week and preparing for the early November arrival of a new Soyuz return vehicle, and its visiting crew.

  Flying solo, the focus on board Atlantis is on preparing for a return trip to Earth on Friday. Commander Jeff Ashby, Melroy and flight engineer Sandy Magnus will check out Atlantis' flight control systems and test fire its reaction control system jets in preparation for re-entry and landing. The entire crew also will begin packing up the cameras, equipment and hardware they've used over the course of the past 10 days in space.

  The Atlantis crew will be awakened at 2:16 a.m. to begin what should be its final full day in orbit with landing scheduled for 10:44 a.m. CDT Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Expedition Five crew will awaken at 3:30 a.m., settling into a slightly later than normal shift to support the upcoming visits of the Soyuz taxi crew and Space Shuttle Endeavour.

• 2002 Oct 17 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #20 

  On its own again following yesterday's undocking from the International Space Station, Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew today focuses on readying the orbiter for the return to Earth tomorrow at 10:44 a.m. Weather forecasts indicate pristine conditions across the southeastern U.S. tomorrow with clear skies and light winds.

  The first steps in changing Atlantis from a spaceship to an airplane are to test its aero surfaces, required as the orbiter begins to interact with the upper atmosphere on reentry and landing. Also tested today are the thruster jets on the nose and tail of Atlantis which maneuver the vehicle prior to dropping below 400,000 feet in altitude following the deorbit burn.

  Atlantis' computers systematically deactivate these jets when desired air pressure readings are detected at various stages throughout entry and landing.

  The crew of Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin spend the day stowing equipment, supplies and belongings in preparation for tomorrow's anticipated return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

  At 11:46 this morning, the crew will discuss the success of the mission with media representatives from the AP Radio Network, KMOX Radio of St. Louis and WISH-TV of Indianapolis. The interview will air on NASA Television.

  Behind the shuttle at a distance of 120 miles (193 kilometers), the ISS Expedition Five crew of Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev are preparing for their next visitors, a Soyuz taxi crew scheduled to arrive late this month. The taxi crew will return to Earth in the Soyuz at the station, which is nearing its certified on orbit life limit.

  The shuttle crew began its last full day on orbit with a wakeup call from Mission Control at 2:18 a.m. The song "These are the Days" performed by Natalie Merchant was played for Sellers at the request of his wife.

  Atlantis' crew sleep begins at about 6:30 this evening and the crew will be awakened at 2:16 a.m. Friday to begin landing preparations.

• 2002 Oct 17 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #21 

  Activities aboard Atlantis today focused on preparations for Friday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a voyage of 4.5 million miles.

  Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Flight Engineer Sandy Magnus activated one of three hydraulic power units on Atlantis, tested all of the orbiter's aerosurfaces, and then test-fired the steering jets. All of the systems are in good shape for reentry and landing. The remaining crew members - Dave Wolf, Piers Sellers and Fyodor Yurchikhin - continued packing up gear and hardware in anticipation of tomorrow's landing.

  Atlantis has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Friday. The first begins with a deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 9:36 a.m., followed by a landing at 10:44 a.m. Central (11:44 a.m. Eastern.) In the event weather prevents a landing on that first opportunity, there is a second opportunity, beginning with a deorbit burn at 11:16 a.m. and resulting in a 12:21 p.m. Central (1:21 p.m. Eastern) landing in Florida.

  Tomorrow's weather forecast for the shuttle landing facility at KSC is favorable. The backup-landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not called up for support Friday. Atlantis has sufficient consumables to remain in orbit, if necessary, until Tuesday.

  Atlantis' crew will begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 6:16 p.m. today, waking just after 2 a.m. Friday to prepare for a homecoming to the Kennedy Space Center. Actual deorbit preparations will get underway at 5:40 a.m. Atlantis' payload bay doors are scheduled to be closed at 6:56 a.m. and the crewmembers will get into their seats at 8:36 a.m.

  Meanwhile, aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - enjoyed a few hours of off-duty time today. Tomorrow they will turn their attention back to unpacking the Russian Progress resupply vehicle that arrived at the station in late September.

• 2002 Oct 18 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #22 

  After traveling more than 4.5 million miles, delivering the second segment of the International Space Station's main truss and three successful spacewalks to hook it up, Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center today.

  Atlantis has two landing opportunities at KSC. The first begins with the firing of the shuttle's braking rockets at 9:36 a.m. and a landing at 10:44 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity for a KSC landing would see the deorbit burn at 11:16 a.m. and a landing at 12:21 p.m. Forecasts call for favorable weather for landing, with scattered clouds, good visibility and 10-knot winds.

  The backup-landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base will not be activated today. Atlantis has enough consumables to stay in orbit until Tuesday.

  The crew, Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, was awakened at 2:25 a.m. by "Someday Soon," performed by Suzy Bogguss. It was for Ashby, requested by his wife.

  Deorbit preparations began about 5:40 a.m. The payload bay doors are to be closed at 6:56 a.m.

  About 3,000 miles behind the shuttle, the ISS Expedition 5 crew, Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, is in its 135th day in space. Crewmembers are awaiting a taxi crew scheduled to arrive late this month with a replacement for the Soyuz now at the station. Expedition 5 is to return home on the STS-113 mission of Endeavour, scheduled for launch with their Expedition 6 replacements no earlier than Nov. 10.

  During the week it was docked to the station, Atlantis did two reboosts of the orbiting laboratory, raising its altitude by about six miles. Another station reboost was performed about 3:25 a.m. today using the engines of the Progress unpiloted cargo carrier docked to the rear of the Zvezda Service Module. It was to raise the station's altitude an additional 6.9 miles and adjust the orbit for the arrival of the new Soyuz. The station's average altitude after the reboost was expected to be 249 miles.

  If Atlantis lands on time, crewmembers are tentatively scheduled to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday afternoon.

• 2002 Oct 18 - STS-112 MCC Status Report #23 

  Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a noontime landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida completing a 4.5 million mile journey to outfit the International Space Station with a new section of truss and supplies for the Expedition crew onboard.

  With weather of little concern today, Commander Jeff Ashby piloted the shuttle to its 60th landing at KSC at 10:44 a.m. CDT. The deorbit burn occurred an hour earlier as Atlantis flew high above the southwestern Indian Ocean, dropping the shuttle out of orbit for the high-speed reentry and landing.

  Atlantis' ground track carried it above Central America and western Cuba before crossing the west coast of Florida south of Tampa. Ashby took over manual control of Atlantis at an altitude of 50,000 feet, guiding the 200,000 pound shuttle through a 290-degree right turn to line up with Runway 33.

  Meanwhile, aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Five crew was able to watch Atlantis' safe landing while the three crewmembers continue to unpack and stow supplies delivered by the shuttle crew. Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Cosmonaut Sergei Treschev are in their 135th day in space (133rd aboard the station).

  Their next visitors are the three members of a Soyuz Taxi Crew scheduled to deliver a fresh rescue spacecraft to the station later this month. Expedition Five's ride home will be aboard Endeavour scheduled to launch no earlier than Nov. 10 bringing another truss segment and the Expedition Six crew.

  Atlantis will be hauled into its hangar later today to begin preparations for its next mission to the station in March 2003 on the STS-114 mission.

  Atlantis' six crewmembers are expected to hold a news conference at about 4 p.m. today on NASA Television and plan to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday at about 5:30 p.m.

• 2002 Oct 25 - International Space Station Status Report #02-47 

  Having bid farewell to a visiting space shuttle crew last week, the Expedition 5 crewmembers began preparing for the arrival of the next two groups of visitors to the International Space Station, the Soyuz 5 taxi crew and the STS-113 space shuttle crew.

  Next week, the taxi crew will bring a new Soyuz to the station and remain on board the ISS for eight days. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch at 9:11 p.m. CST Oct. 29 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Docking to the station is scheduled for 11 p.m. CST Oct. 31. The taxi crew will undock the Soyuz now at the station and land Nov. 9. The crew, which consists of Russian Commander Sergei Zalyotin, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne from Belgium and Russian Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov, will perform science experiments during their stay on board.

  Endeavour is planned to launch from the Kennedy Space Center Nov. 10 between midnight and 4 a.m. EST. Endeavour's STS-113 flight will deliver the next segment of the station's backbone, the (P1) Truss, and the three members of the station's Expedition 6 station crew.

  The Expedition 5 crewmembers - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - have already begun packing for their return to Earth aboard Endeavour.

  On Thursday, from the robotic workstation in the Destiny lab, Whitson and Korzun successfully "flew" the space station robotic arm through a dry run of the procedure to install the P1 truss. Working in the station's Quest airlock, Whitson prepared the batteries and air regeneration system for the spacesuits that STS-113 spacewalkers Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington will wear when they conduct three spacewalks to help install and activate the P1 truss to the station.

  Whitson's own science investigation on board the space station was completed this week with a final data collection. The experiment tests a drug that may prevent the formation of kidney stones during long duration space flights.

  Flight controllers at Houston's Mission Control Center Houston sent new files to the three systems computers in the Destiny lab module this week. The computers run life support, thermal control and power systems in the lab. The new files upgraded the operating system in Destiny for the first time since it was mated to the station in February 2001.

• 2002 Oct 29 - International Space Station Status Report #02-48 

  Right on time, a Russian-Belgian cosmonaut crew blasted off in a newly modified Soyuz capsule from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight, headed for a linkup to the International Space Station later this week to deliver a fresh crew return vehicle.

  Russian "taxi crew" Commander Sergei Zalyotin, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne from Belgium and Russian Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov lifted off in dense fog in the new Soyuz TMA-1 vehicle at 9:11 p.m. Central time (311 GMT Oct. 30). About nine minutes later, the new Soyuz had reached orbit and its solar panels and navigational antennas had deployed.

  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. Zalyotin, who commanded the last mission to the Mir Space Station in 2000, DeWinne, a first-time flier, and Lonchakov, who flew on the shuttle Endeavour to deliver the Canadarm2 robotic arm to the ISS in 2001, are scheduled to dock their Soyuz vehicle to the station's Pirs Docking Compartment Thursday night around 11 p.m. CST (500 GMT Nov. 1) for the start of eight days of joint operations. Hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS are scheduled to swing open around 12:40 a.m. CST Friday (640 GMT).

  The Expedition 5 crewmembers - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - were asleep at the time of the Soyuz launch. When they are awakened, they will begin their 147th day in space, the 145th day aboard the ISS.

  After arriving at the station, Zalyotin, DeWinne and Lonchakov will join their Expedition resident colleagues in performing a variety of scientific experiments, many of them furnished under a commercial contract between the European Space Agency and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency on behalf of DeWinne. The taxi trio is scheduled to board the Soyuz TM-34 return craft that has been linked to the ISS since April, and undock on Nov. 9 for a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 1 - International Space Station Status Report #02-49 

  A Russian-Belgian cosmonaut crew arrived at the International Space Station in the wee hours this morning in a newly modified Soyuz capsule after a flawless two-day flight following launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 8 - International Space Station Status Report #02-50 

  All six people living aboard the International Space Station have started packing up for their return to Earth. The visiting "taxi crew" will be coming home tomorrow after delivering a new crew return capsule and performing a host of experiments, and the Expedition 5 crew, which has been on orbit for nearly five months, will return aboard the space shuttle later this month.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 9 - International Space Station Status Report #02-51 

  A Russian-Belgian cosmonaut crew departed the International Space Station today after delivering a new Soyuz return vehicle to the complex and conducting more than a week's worth of joint scientific experiments with the residents on board.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 15 - International Space Station Status Report #02-52 

  The Expedition 5 crewmembers - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - spent their 23rd week in space continuing preparations for the arrival of their replacements, the Expedition 6 crew.

  During the week, Expedition 5 packed, checked and labeled experiment racks, and did a dry run of the installation of the Port One (P1) truss segment onto the ISS using the Canadarm2. The crew also performed maintenance on the VOA (volatile organics analyzer), which looks for volatile organic compounds in the station's atmosphere, and replaced a cable on the station's treadmill. They also set up the EarthKam equipment to give over 2,000 students and teachers across the U.S. and Japan a chance to take pictures of the Earth using a remotely controlled camera aboard the station. Whitson deactivated the camera Friday, but Expedition 6 will reactivate it for use during its mission.

  The space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Expedition 6 crew, along with the P1 truss, to the station during the STS-113 mission. The P1 will be the third segment of the station's integrated truss system to be launched this year. Part of the station's backbone, it is one of 11 such truss segments that will support cooling radiators power-producing solar arrays and a railroad on which the Canadarm2 can move.

  Preparations continue for the launch next week of Endeavour to the ISS next week.

• 2002 Nov 23 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #01 

  Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:50 p.m. CST today, carrying three new residents and a 14-ton truss segment to the International Space Station. At the time of Endeavour's launch, the International Space Station was orbiting 240 statute miles over Southern Austria.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 24 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #02 

  Endeavour's crew was awakened at 8:50 a.m. today to begin its first full day in orbit, a day dedicated to preparations for Monday's docking to the International Space Station. As the crew awoke, Endeavour and the station were separated by about 2,700 miles, with Endeavour slightly below and behind the ISS.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 24 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #03 

  Endeavour's crew spent its first full day in space preparing for its arrival at the International Space Station. Endeavour, now 1,400 miles behind the station and closing, is scheduled to dock at 3:26 p.m. Central time Monday.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 25 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #04 

  The crew of Endeavour awakened at 7:29 a.m. to begin final preparations for this afternoon's docking with the International Space Station. Endeavour is now 350 miles behind the space station closing the distance between them at the rate of about 130 miles every orbit. Docking is slated to occur at 3:26 p.m. central time today with the two spacecraft high over the Kazakh/Uzbekistan border.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 25 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #05 

  Endeavour docked with the International Space Station at 3:59 CST this afternoon, bringing a new crew and another segment of the station's backbone, the Port One (P1) segment of the Integrated Truss System.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 26 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #06 

  The crew of Endeavour was awakened at 7:26 a.m. to begin a day that will see the installation of the Port One (P1) truss onto the International Space Station. The P1 is the third such truss to be installed on the station this year and is one of 11 truss segments that will make up the station's final Integrated Truss Structure.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 26 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #07 

  Endeavour and International Space Station crewmembers completed a smooth installation of the Port One (P1) truss and a spacewalk to hook up connections between P1 and the rest of the station. The spacewalk, by Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington successfully completed scheduled tasks.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 27 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #08 

  Endeavour's crew today will focus its efforts on transferring supplies and equipment to the International Space Station that will be used by the station's Expedition Six crew during their four-month stay aboard the complex. The station and shuttle crew members also will move supplies, equipment and completed experiments that were used by the Expedition Five crew to the shuttle for return to Earth.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 27 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #09 

  Endeavour and International Space Station crewmembers worked today to transfer equipment and supplies between their docked spacecraft. Expedition 5 crewmembers exchanged notes with their Expedition 6 successors and mission specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington prepared for a Thanksgiving Day 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.

• 2002 Nov 28 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #10 

  A Thanksgiving Day spacewalk will highlight activities aboard Endeavour and the International Space Station today.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 28 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #11 

  Endeavour astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington completed the second of three spacewalks of the STS-113 mission, accomplishing all their scheduled tasks on the International Space Station's new Port One (P1) truss and doing two additional jobs during the 6-hour, 10-minute outing.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 29 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #12 

  With the Expedition Six crewmembers settling into their new on-orbit home, today's activities largely will focus on continuing transfer of equipment, experiments and hardware, and a formal Change of Command ceremony between resident crews on board the International Space Station.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 29 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #13 

  Transfer of equipment and supplies from Endeavour's middeck to the International Space Station passed the 1,700-pound mark today, with about 75 percent of the total material from the shuttle now aboard the orbiting laboratory. More than 750 pounds of material has been moved from the station to Endeavour's crew compartment.

  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.

• 2002 Nov 30 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #14  

  Today Mission Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington will perform their third and final spacewalk of the mission. The spacewalk is set to begin at 1:20 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.

• 2002 Nov 30 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #15 

  The third and final spacewalk of STS-113 ended at 8:25 p.m. central time today, as Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington climbed back inside the Quest Airlock. The two spacewalkers spent seven hours outside the International Space Station today, continuing the outfitting of the newly-installed P1 truss segment.

  Today's spacewalk began at 1:25 p.m., with Herrington being asked to look for possible obstructions that might have stalled the station's railcar, or Mobile Transporter (MT) that had stopped unexpectedly about 10 feet short of its intended destination. At 10:21 a.m. today, the MT was commanded to move from its position at Worksite 4 near the S-Zero (S0) truss to Worksite 7 where the station's robotic arm would have "walked off" from its mooring on the Destiny Laboratory to the MT and been used to maneuver Herrington through some of his tasks.

  Herrington spotted a stowed UHF communications antenna that had snagged a trailing umbilical mechanism on the MT, halting its motion. Herrington then deployed the antenna, freeing the MT to continue its travel toward Worksite 7. At 4:11 p.m., the railcar was in place and just before 6 p.m., was securely latched into place.

  Flight controllers evaluated the performance of the railcar and possible impacts to the spacewalk schedule as a result of troubleshooting activities, ultimately deciding to reprioritize some of today's tasks to ensure the high priority items were completed. After Herrington informed flight controllers he could complete all his assigned tasks without using the station's robotic arm, flight controllers elected not to perform the "walk off" of the station arm to the MT.

  Herrington and Lopez-Alegria successfully completed all of their assigned tasks during today's spacewalk, including the installation of 33 spool positioning devices on various locations around the outside of the station. From onboard Endeavour, Pilot Paul Lockhart coordinated the two spacewalkers' efforts, providing them with visual cues as they moved around the station.

  Aboard the station, handover activities continued between Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin.

• 2002 Dec 1 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #16 

  With most of their mission objectives successfully completed, the crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station will enjoy some scheduled time off during their last full day of joint operations.

  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.

• 2002 Dec 1 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #17 

  The crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station today got ready to say goodbye to one another, checking out tools that will be used during undocking of the two spacecraft on Monday. They also configured and stowed spacesuits used in the mission's three spacewalks. Crewmembers got some afternoon time off to relax and talk via radio with family members.

  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.

• 2002 Dec 2 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #18 

  Today, the crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station will bid each other a final farewell and shortly after will close hatches between the two spacecraft in preparation for Endeavour's departure this afternoon.

  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.

• 2002 Dec 2 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #19 

  Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station today, leaving behind the Expedition 6 crew -- Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin -- to begin its four-month stay.

  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.

• 2002 Dec 3 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #20 

  Endeavour's crew will turn its attention to a return trip home today as they prepare for a possible landing Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Weather permitting, Endeavour is scheduled for a landing at 2:48 p.m. central time Wednesday.

  The crew will spend its day stowing away equipment and hardware, and preparing their vehicle for its high-speed reentry. With a landing tomorrow, the returning Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev -will have spent 182 days in space. Approximately 2,203 pounds of equipment and experiments from the International Space Station will also return home aboard Endeavour.

  Over the course of an 11-day mission, the STS-113 crew - Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington - Whitson, Korzun and Treschev, and the Expedition Six crew of Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, combined to install the new P1 truss to the station, perform three spacewalks to outfit and activate the truss, and transfer supplies and equipment between the two spacecraft.

  Preliminary weather forecasts for tomorrow's landing in Florida indicate the possibility of clouds and rain showers in the vicinity of the landing site. Flight controllers will continue to watch weather conditions and receive updated briefings throughout the day today.

  About 2 p.m. today, Endeavour's crew will take time to discuss the successful mission with CBS "Up to the Minute," TV-E Spain and Tulsa World newspaper. Aboard the space station, Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin are spending their 10th day in space unpacking the 2,135 pounds of supplies and equipment brought to the station by Endeavour.

• 2002 Dec 3 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #21 

  Activities aboard Endeavour today focused on preparations for Wednesday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a voyage of 4.5 million miles.

  Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Flight Engineer John Herrington activated one of three hydraulic power units on Endeavour, tested all of its aerosurfaces, and then test-fired Endeavour's steering jets. The remaining crewmembers - Mike Lopez-Alegria, and Expedition 5 crewmembers Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - continued packing up gear and hardware in anticipation of tomorrow's landing.

  Endeavour has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The first begins with a deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 1:42 p.m. CST, followed by a landing at 2:48 p.m. In the event weather prevents a landing on that first opportunity, there is a second opportunity, beginning with a deorbit burn at 3:20 p.m. and resulting in a 4:26 p.m. landing. Preliminary weather forecasts call for the possibility of clouds and rain showers in the vicinity of the three-mile-long landing strip on Wednesday. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not activated for Wednesday. Endeavour has sufficient consumables to remain in orbit until Sunday.

  The seven crewmembers took a few minutes this afternoon to talk with CBS' "Up to the Minute," TV-E Spain and the Tulsa World newspaper. The crew discussed its successful shuttle mission as well as the Expedition 5 crew's to date 181-day experience in space.

  Meanwhile, aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 6 crew -Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin - spent today settling into its new home and unpacking some of the equipment and hardware carried to the station by Endeavour. The crew also enjoyed some time off during its first full day alone on the station.

  Endeavour's crew will begin a scheduled eight-hour sleep period at 9:50 p.m. today, waking at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for a homecoming to the Kennedy Space Center.

• 2002 Dec 4 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #22 

  Activities aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour today will focus on a planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon.

  Endeavour has two opportunities to land today. The first begins with a deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 1:42 p.m. CST, followed by a landing at 2:48 p.m. In the event weather prevents a landing on that first opportunity, there is a second opportunity, beginning with a deorbit burn at 3:20 p.m. and resulting in a 4:26 p.m. landing.

  Preliminary weather forecasts call for the possibility of clouds and rain showers in the vicinity of the three-mile-long landing strip, with a 30 percent probability of weather prohibiting landing. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base has not been activated for today. Endeavour has sufficient consumables to remain in orbit until Sunday.

  Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Missions Specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington have been in space since Nov. 23. Returning to Earth from the International Space Station with STS-113 is the Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - which has been in space since June 5.

  The new crew of the International Space Station - Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin - will spend its day, respectively, reconfiguring the station's computer network and loading new software onto the computers to support the crew's activities for the next four months; checking out the equipment in the Human Research Facility Rack and the station's defibrillator; and performing periodic maintenance on the station's Russian systems.

  If Endeavour lands on time, crewmembers are tentatively scheduled to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday afternoon.

• 2002 Dec 4 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #23 

  The Space Shuttle Endeavour will spend at least one more day in space awaiting acceptable landing weather after two opportunities to return to Florida today were bypassed due to low clouds at the landing site.

  Flight controllers are now focusing on opportunities for landing on Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center. The next opportunity for a landing by Endeavour would begin with an engine firing at 12:49 p.m. CST Thursday leading to a touchdown in Florida at 1:54 p.m. CST. A second opportunity to land tomorrow also is available beginning with an engine firing at 2:26 p.m. CST leading to touchdown at 3:30 p.m. CST.

  Flight controllers plan to monitor weather forecasts for Florida overnight before making a decision early tomorrow on whether to pursue Thursday's landing opportunities. The alternate shuttle landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California will not be considered on Thursday.

  Endeavour has enough supplies to remain in orbit until at least Sunday if necessary. The current weather forecast for a Thursday landing calls for possible clouds and rain that could be unacceptable.

  Aboard Endeavour are Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington and the returning International Space Station Expedition 5 crew of Commander Valery Korzun, Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev. Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington have been aloft since Nov. 23. Korzun, Whitson and Treschev have been in orbit since June 5.

• 2002 Dec 5 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #24 

  The Space Shuttle Endeavour will spend at least one more day in space after rain, clouds and windy conditions at the Kennedy Space Center prompted flight controllers to wave off today's opportunities to bring Endeavour and its crew of seven home.

  There are two opportunities for Endeavour to return home to Florida on Friday. The first begins with an engine firing at 11:51 a.m. Central Time leading to a 12:57 p.m. touchdown in Florida. A second opportunity is available with a 1:27 p.m. deorbit burn leading to a 2:33 p.m. landing.

  Flight controllers will continue to monitor weather forecasts throughout the day. Preliminary forecasts indicate a continuing chance of clouds and rain over the next 24 hours. The alternate shuttle landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California will not be called up for support Friday. Endeavour has enough supplies to remain in orbit until at least Sunday if necessary.

  Aboard Endeavour are Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington and the returning International Space Station Expedition Five crew of Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev. Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington have been aloft since Nov. 23. Korzun, Whitson and Treschev have been in orbit since June 5.

• 2002 Dec 6 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #25 

  Flight controllers will once again closely watch weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in hope of bringing Endeavour and its seven-member crew home today.

  There are two landing opportunities in Florida today. The first begins with a deorbit firing of Endeavour's engines at 11:51 a.m. resulting in a 12:57 p.m. Central Time landing. If weather does not permit a landing on the first opportunity, there is a second, with a deorbit burn at 1:27 p.m. resulting in a 2:33 p.m. Central Time landing.

  Preliminary forecasts for today continue to show low cloud ceilings, possible windy conditions and rain at the Florida landing site. A clearing trend is expected over the next 24 hours with improved conditions in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. The alternate shuttle landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California will be called up for support as well on Saturday.

  There are two landing opportunities available at both the Kennedy Space Center and Edwards Air Force Base on Saturday, if required. The first of two opportunities in Florida would see Endeavour land at 1:37 p.m. Central Time, with a second opportunity at 3:14 p.m. Central. The times for a California landing are 4:45 p.m. Central and 6:22 p.m. Central.

  Endeavour's seven-member crew includes Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and the returning International Space Station Expedition Five crew of Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev. Korzun, Whitson and Treschev are now in their 184th day in space.

  Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition Six crew is completing its first week in orbit. Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit have been busy at work stowing away the supplies and hardware carried to orbit by Endeavour. They also are preparing for Thursday's scheduled 6 1/2 hour-long spacewalk to be conducted by Bowersox and Budarin. NASA Television coverage of the spacewalk begins at 7 a.m., with the start of the spacewalk slated for 8 a.m. Central.

• 2002 Dec 6 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #26 

  A stalled cold front at the Kennedy Space Center, resulting in low clouds and overcast weather, will keep Endeavour aloft for another 24 hours. For the third consecutive day, flight controllers were forced to wave off opportunities to bring Endeavour home to Florida.

  There are a total of four landing opportunities on Saturday, two in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The Kennedy Space Center remains the primary landing site, with improved weather conditions predicted. Preliminary forecasts at KSC currently show the potential for continuing cloud cover, but generally improved conditions. Weather at Edwards Air Force Base is expected to be acceptable to support a landing.

  The first opportunity for Endeavour to return to Florida would see a deorbit burn at 12:32 p.m. Central Time with landing at 1:37 p.m. Central. The second opportunity of the day begins with a deorbit firing of Endeavour's engines at 2:09 p.m. with landing at 3:15 p.m. Central. If weather conditions require Endeavour to land at the alternate site in California, the first opportunity would be at 4:45 p.m., with a second opportunity at 6:22 p.m. Central.

  Flight controllers will carefully monitor weather forecasts on both coasts overnight as they prepare to bring Endeavour home Saturday. A landing tomorrow will conclude a 185-day stay in space for the returning Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - and a 14-day mission for the STS-113 crew of Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

• 2002 Dec 7 - Landing of STS-113 

  STS-113 landed at 19:36 GMT.

• 2002 Dec 7 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #27 

  With the most favorable weather forecast so far this week, Endeavour and crew are focusing on a landing today preferably at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., although a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where the weather is clear and calm, is possible.

  This is the fourth day of landing attempts for Endeavour. There are four landing opportunities available today, the first two opportinuties in Florida and the later two in California. The forecast for the Kennedy Space Center today calls for a slight chance of low clouds and fairly strong winds predicted to calm as the day progresses.

  The first opportunity for Endeavour to return to Florida would see a deorbit burn at 12:32 p.m. Central Time with landing at 1:37 p.m. Central. The second opportunity of the day begins with a deorbit firing of Endeavour's engines at 2:09 p.m. with landing at 3:15 p.m. Central. If weather conditions require Endeavour to land at the alternate site in California, the first opportunity would begin with an engine firing at 3:41 p.m. Central leading to touchdown at 4:45 p.m. Central. The second California opportunity would begin with an engine firing at 5:18 p.m. Central leading to a touchdown at 6:22 p.m. Central.

  A landing today will conclude a 185-day stay in space for the returning Expedition Five crew - Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev - and a 14-day mission for the STS-113 crew of Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

• 2002 Dec 7 - STS-113 MCC Status Report #28 

  Endeavour descended to a flawless landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this afternoon, ending four days of landing attempts thwarted by bad weather and returning home an International Space Station crew that spent 185 days in space.

  Commander Jim Wetherbee guided Endeavour to a touchdown on KSC's shuttle runway at 1:37 p.m. Central, completing a 5.74-million-mile journey that added a new segment to the space station's growing backbone and exchanged resident space station crews. Endeavour's landing completed the final shuttle mission of the year and brought home the station's Expedition Five crew -- Commander Valery Korzun, Science Officer Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev. The Expedition Six crew -- Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin -- remain on the International Space Station, beginning a three-month stay. Ending a 14-day flight aboard Endeavour today were Wetherbee, Shuttle Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.

  Official landing times for Endeavour include main gear touchdown at 1:37:12 p.m. Central which equates to 13 days, 18 hours, 47 minutes and 25 seconds Mission Elapsed Time. Nose gear touch down occurred at 1:37:23 p.m. Central or 13 days, 18 hours, 47 minutes and 36 seconds Mission Elapsed Time. Wheels stop for Endeavour occurred at 1:38:25 p.m. Central or 13 days, 18 hours, 48 minutes and 38 seconds Mission Elapsed Time.

  The Expedition Five crew and Endeavour's crew will return to Houston's Ellington Field on Monday, December 9. A welcome home ceremony is planned beginning at 3 p.m. Central at Hangar 990.