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STS-96
Part of ISS
STS-96

STS-96
Credit: NASA
First docking with the ISS. Transferred equipment from the Spacehab Logistics Double Module to the interior of the station.

AKA: Discovery;ISS-2A.1;Spacehab Logistics Double Module. Launched: 1999-05-27. Returned: 1999-06-06. Number crew: 7 . Duration: 9.80 days.

Discovery docked at the PMA-2 end of the International Space Station PMA-2/Unity/PMA-1/Zarya stack. The crew transferred equipment from the Spacehab Logistics Double Module in the payload bay to the interior of the station. Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry made a space walk to transfer equipment from the payload bay to the exterior of the station. The ODS/EAL docking/airlock truss carried two TSA (Tool Stowage Assembly) packets with space walk tools. The Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), built by Energia and DASA-Bremen, carried parts of the Strela crane and the US OTD crane as well as the SHOSS box which contains three bags of tools and equipment to be stored on ISS's exterior.

The STS-96 payload bay manifest:

The STS-96 stack, on mobile launcher 2, was rolled back out to pad 39B after hail damage to the external tank had been repaired. On the launch day, solid rocket booster separation was at 10:51 GMT, main engine cut-off of external tank ET-100 at 10:57 GMT. Discovery was in an initial 74 km x 320 km x 51.6 degree transfer orbit. After the OMS-2 burn at 11:32 GMT, the orbit was 324 km x 341 km x 51.6 degree. Discovery docked with the International Space Station's PMA-2 docking port at 04:24 GMT on May 29. ISS was in a 379 km x 385 km x 51.6 degree orbit. In its configuration at that time it consisted of the PMA-2 docking port, NASA's Unity node, the NASA-owned, Russian-built Zarya module, and the PMA-1 docking unit connecting Unity and Zarya.

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

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

NASA Official Mission Summary:

STS-96
(2nd International Space Station Flight)
Discovery
Pad B
94th Shuttle mission
26th flight OV-103
47th KSC landing
Crew:
Kent V. Rominger, Commander (4th Shuttle flight)
Rick D. Husband, Pilot (1st)
Ellen Ochoa, Mission Specialist (3rd)
Tamara E. Jernigan, Mission Specialist (5th)
Daniel T. Barry, Mission Specialist (2nd)
Julie Payette, Mission Specialist (1st) (Canadian Space Agency)
Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, Mission Specialist (1st) (Russian Aviation and Space Agency)
60
Orbiter Preps (move to):
OPF - Nov. 7, 1998
VAB - April 15, 1999
Pad - April 23, 1999
Return to VAB - May 16, 1999 (Rollback due to hail damage)
Return to Pad - May 20, 1999

Launch:

May 27, 1999, 6:49:42 a.m. EDT. The originally scheduled launch of Discovery on May 20 was postponed because of hail damage sustained May 8 by the external tank while on the pad. It was determined that some of the tank's foam insulation could not be reached for repairs with the orbiter on the pad. The orbiter was returned to the VAB, and inspections revealed more than 650 divots in the tank's outer foam. Workers repaired about 460 critical divots over four days to minimize ice formation prior to launch. The countdown proceeded smoothly, with the only concern the presence of a sailboat in the solid rocket booster recovery area. As planned, launch managers determined the exact orbital location of the International Space Station during the countdown's T-9-minute built-in hold. The decision was then made to launch Discovery at 6:49 a.m. EDT to achieve optimum Shuttle system performance and to accommodate Shuttle-Space Station docking activities.

Landing:

June 6, 1999, 2:02:43 a.m. EDT. Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 8,866 feet. Rollout time: 56 seconds. Mission duration: nine days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, 57 seconds. Landed on orbit 154. Logged 3.8 million statute miles. Landed on first opportunity at KSC, marking 18th consecutive landing in Florida and 25th in the last 26 missions.

Mission Highlights:

All major objectives were accomplished during the mission. On May 29, Discovery made the first docking to the International Space Station (ISS). Rominger eased the Shuttle to a textbook linkup with Unity's Pressurized Mating Adapter #2 as the orbiter and the ISS flew over the Russian-Kazakh border.

The 45th space walk in Space Shuttle history and the fourth of the ISS era lasted 7 hours and 55 minutes, making it the second longest ever conducted. Jernigan and Barry transferred a U.S.-built crane called the Orbital Transfer Device, and parts of the Russian crane Strela from the Shuttle's payload bay and attached them to locations on the outside of the station. The astronauts also installed two new portable foot restraints that will fit both American and Russian space boots, and attached three bags filled with tools and handrails that will be used during future assembly operations. The cranes and tools fastened to the outside of the Station totaled 662 pounds.

Once those primary tasks were accomplished, Jernigan and Barry installed an insulating cover on a trunnion pin on the Unity module, documented painted surfaces on both the Unity and Zarya modules, and inspected one of two Early Communications System (E-Com) antennas on the Unity.

During the incursion inside the ISS, Barry and Husband replaced a power distribution unit and transceiver for E-Com in the Unity module, restoring that system to its full capability. Payette and Tokarev replaced 18 battery recharge controllers in the Russianbuilt Zarya module, and Barry and Tokarev also installed a series of "mufflers" over fans inside Zarya to reduce noise levels in that module. The mufflers caused some air circulating duct work to collapse, and Rominger sent down a video inspection of the mufflers.

The crew transferred 3,567 pounds of material – including clothing, sleeping bags, spare parts, medical equipment, supplies, hardware and about 84 gallons of water – to the interior of the station. The astronauts also installed parts of a wireless strain gauge system that will help engineers track the effects of adding modules to the Station throughout its assembly, cleaning filters and checking smoke detectors. Eighteen items weighing 197 pounds were moved from the Station to Discovery for a return to Earth. The astronauts spent a total of 79 hours, 30 minutes inside the Station before closing the final hatch on the orbiting outpost. Rominger and Husband commanded a series of 17 pulses of Discovery's reaction control system jets to boost the Station to an orbit of approximately 246 by 241 statute miles. After spending 5 days, 18 hours and 17 minutes linked to the Station, Discovery undocked at 6:39 p.m. EDT as Husband fired Discovery's jets to move to a distance of about 400 feet for 2 _ lap fly-around. The crew used the fly-around to make a detailed photographic record of the ISS.

After the fly-around, mission specialist Payette deployed the STARSHINE satellite from the orbiter's cargo bay. The spherical, reflective object entered an orbit two miles below Discovery. The small probe became instantly visible from Earth as part of a project allowing more than 25,000 students from 18 countries to track its progress.

Other payloads included the Shuttle Vibration Forces experiment and the Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring HEDS Technology Demonstration.

Statistics:

More at: STS-96.
Family: Manned spaceflight. People: Barry, Husband, Jernigan, Ochoa, Payette, Rominger, Tokarev. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Discovery. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral. Agency: NASA, NASA Houston.
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Credit: www.spacefacts.de
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