Shuttle Mission Begins 2001 Science Odyssey for International Space Station

The International Space Station meets its destiny with the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, now scheduled for 2:11 a.m. EST, Jan. 19.
 
Atlantis and its five-member crew will deliver the American-made Destiny module during the STS-98 mission. Destiny is the first laboratory to be delivered to the orbiting platform and will mark the beginning of a 2001 space science odyssey for the space station and its Expedition One crew.
 
"The Space Shuttle will see the 20th anniversary of its first launch this spring, and it’s a fitting celebration that the year ahead holds some of the most challenging and spectacular tasks the Shuttle has ever been assigned," Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said.  "The team has done an excellent job getting Atlantis ready to go, and we’re ready to get what will be a historic year in space off to a great start."
 
The crew of Atlantis, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and Mission Specialists Tom Jones, Marsha Ivins and Bob Curbeam, will use the Shuttle’s robotic arm to attach the 15-ton Destiny lab to the station and reposition one of the docking ports. Astronauts Jones and Curbeam will conduct three space walks to complete the new laboratory’s connection.
 
This will be the second group of Shuttle astronauts to visit the space station and the Expedition One crew, American commander Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Krikalev and Yuri
Gidzenko.
 
After an 11-day mission, Atlantis is scheduled to land at about 9:51 p.m. EST Jan. 29 at the Kennedy Space Center, FL.