STS-88

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-88
insignia = Sts-88-patch.png shuttle = Endeavour
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = December 4, 1998 3:35:34 a.m. EST (8:35:34 GMT)Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-02.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 2 |accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA]
landing = December 15, 1998, KSC 10:53 p.m. EST
duration = 11 days, 19 hours, 18 minutes, 47 seconds.
altitude = convert|173|nmi|km|0.
inclination = 51.6°
orbits = 185
distance_traveled = 4.7 million miles (7,600,000 km)
crew_photo = STS-88 crew.jpg
previous = STS-95
next = STS-96
mass = "Orbiter landing with payload:" 90,854 kg "Payload:" 12,501 kg
perigee = 388 km
apogee = 401 km
period = 92.4 min

STS-88 was the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was flown by Space Shuttle "Endeavour", and took the first American module, the Unity node to the station.Cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/mission-sts-88.html|title=STS-88 (93)|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA]

The seven-day mission was highlighted by the mating of the U.S.-built "Unity" node to the Functional Cargo Block ("Zarya" module) already in orbit, and three spacewalks to connect power and data transmission cables between the Node and the FGB. "Zarya", built by Boeing and the Russian Space Agency, was launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in November of 1998.

Other payloads on the STS-88 mission included the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), the Argentinean Scientific Applications Satellite-S (SAC-A), the MightySat 1 Hitchhiker payload, the Space Experiment Module (SEM-07) and Getaway Special G-093 sponsored by the University of Michigan.Cite web|url=http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-88/payload19.htm|title=IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC)|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=Boeing/NASA/United Space Alliance|year=1998|author=shuttlepresskit.com]

Crew

*Robert D. Cabana (4), Commander
*Frederick W. Sturckow (1), Pilot
*Nancy J. Currie (3), Mission Specialist 2
*Jerry L. Ross (6), Mission Specialist 1
*James H. Newman (3), Ph.D, Mission Specialist 3
*Sergei K. Krikalev (4), Mission Specialist 4 - flag|Russia RKA

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Docking with ISS

*Docked: December 7, 1998, 02:07:00 UTC
*Undocked: December 13, 1998, 20:24:30 UTC
*Time Docked: 6 days, 18 hours, 17 minutes, 30 seconds.

Mission highlights

Node 1, named "Unity", was the first space station hardware delivered by the space shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMA), one attached to either end. One PMA is permanently mated to "Zarya", and the other is used for orbiter dockings and crew access to the station. "Unity" also contains an International Standard Payload Rack used to support on-orbit activities, which was activated after the fifth Shuttle/Station assembly flight.

To begin the assembly sequence, the crew conducted a series of rendezvous maneuvers similar to those conducted on other Shuttle missions to reach the orbiting FGB. On the way, Currie used the Shuttle's robot arm to place Node 1 atop the Orbiter Docking System.Cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/sts-88-day-03-highlights.html|title=STS-88 Day 3 Highlights|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-06.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 6 |accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] Cabana completed the rendezvous by flying "Endeavour" to within 35 feet (10 m) of the FGB, allowing Currie to capture the FGB with the robot arm and place it on the Node's Pressurized Mating Adapter.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-09.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 9 |accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA]

Once the two elements were docked, Ross and Newman conducted two scheduled spacewalks to connect power and data cables between the Node, PMAs and the FGB.Cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/sts-88-day-05-highlights.html|title=STS-88 Day 5 Highlights|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] The day following the spacewalks, "Endeavour" undocked from the two components, completing the first Space Station assembly mission.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-10.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 10 |accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-13.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 13|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA]

Endeavour's astronauts toured the new International Space Station on December 11, entered the Unity and Zarya modules for the first time, and establishing an S-band communications system that enables U.S. flight controllers to monitor the outpost's systems.Cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/sts-88-day-08-highlights.html|title=STS-88 Day 8 Highlights|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-17.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 17|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA] Reflecting the international cooperation involved in building the largest space complex in history, Commander Robert Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting module and floated into the new station together.

The rest of the crew followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the roomy hub to which other modules will be connected in the future. Each passageway within Unity was marked by a sign leading the way into tunnels to which new modules will be connected.

About an hour later, Robert Cabana and Sergei Krikalyov opened the hatch to the Russian-built Zarya control module, which will be the nerve center for the station in its embryonic stage. Joined by Pilot Frederick Sturckow and Mission Specialists Jerry Ross, James Newman and Nancy Currie, Cabana and Krikalev hailed the historic entrance into the International Space Station and said the hatch opening signified the start of a new era in space exploration.

Ross and Newman went right to work in Unity, completing the assembly of an early S-band communications system that allows flight controllers in Houston to send commands to Unity's systems and to keep tabs on the health of the station with a more extensive communications capability than exists through Russian ground stations. The astronauts also conducted a successful test of the videoconferencing capability of the early communications system, which was used by the first crew to permanently occupy the station in January 2000 (Expedition 1). Newman downlinked greetings to controllers in the station flight control room in Houston and to astronaut Bill Shepherd, who will command the first crew and live aboard the station with Krikalev and Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko.

Krikalev and Currie replaced a faulty unit in Zarya which controlled the discharging of stored energy from one of the module's six batteries. The battery had not been working properly in its automatic configuration, but the new unit was functioning normally shortly after it was installed.

The astronauts also unstowed hardware and logistical supplies stored behind panels in Zarya, relocating the items for use by the Shuttle crew that will visit the station in May and by Shepherd's expedition crew. The astronauts also completed their initial outfitting of the station.

The hatches to Zarya and Unity were closed before "Endeavour" undocked from the new station, leaving the new complex to orbit the Earth unpiloted.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/shuttle/sts-88/STS-88-18.html|title=STS-88 Mission Control Center Status Report # 18|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=October 6|publisher=NASA|year=1998|author=NASA]

Extra-vehicular activity

Three extra-vehicular activity (EVA) spacewalks were scheduled and completed during STS-88.

ee also

*Space science
*Space shuttle
*List of space shuttle missions
*List of human spaceflights chronologically
*List of ISS spacewalks
*List of spacewalks

References

External links

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/mission-sts-88.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle93.htm STS-88 Video Highlights]