ISS Status Report #15 – 22 May 2001 – 8 PM CDT

Following two days of free flight since its launch Sunday, a unmanned
Russian Progress spacecraft automatically docked to the back end of the
International Space Station’s Zvezda module at 7:24 p.m. Central time today.
It is the fourth Progress dedicated to the resupply of the orbiting outpost.
The Progress is carrying 3,100 pounds of supplies, including food, spare
computer parts, and other logistical items which Expedition Two Commander
Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms will begin to
unload on Wednesday.

The Progress joins a Russian Soyuz craft that is linked to the earthward
facing docking port of the Zarya module of the ISS, and paves the way for
the arrival in three weeks of the Shuttle Atlantis with a five-person crew
on the STS-104 mission to install the huge Joint Airlock to complete the
second phase of the assembly of the station.

While awaiting the arrival of the Progress, Voss and Helms spent Monday
operating the Canadian-built station robotic arm to gather additional data
as to the cause of the intermittent problem seen during last week’s checkout
activities in the backup, or redundant string of arm software. The test
yesterday repeated some of last week’s tasks and the redundant system worked
perfectly. While the arm work was underway, Usachev tested the automatic
and manual docking systems on the station in preparation for the Progress
vehicle’s arrival.

The stage now is set for a complete "dry run" Thursday of the
robotic arm movements required for installation of the Airlock. The
station’s robotic arm is the only means for attaching the Airlock on the
Unity module since the shuttle’s robot arm cannot reach the installation
location. In preparation for that task, Thursday’s checkout will mirror the
movements planned in June as if the Airlock were attached to the arm. This
test not only will validate the arm’s operational capability, but also will
be conducted on the redundant string of software and hardware. The primary
string was tested nearly two weeks ago with no problems.

If this week’s checkout is successful, Friday’s meeting of the ISS Mission
Management Team will reassess the need for replacement of one of the arm’s
computer units, which is mounted on the arm itself. If required, the change
out of the Computer Unit would be added to a previously scheduled
"internal" spacewalk June 8 to reposition a docking cone in the
cylindrical transfer compartment of the Zvezda module which is linked to the
Zarya module. That docking cone will serve as the target and initial
contact point for the Russian Docking Compartment set to arrive at the
station in late August or early September.

While on-orbit activities continue, Space Shuttle Atlantis is being readied
for launch shortly after 3 p.m. Central time on June 14. The orbiter will
be moved to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center next week.