Status Report

RSC Energia: Joint flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis with the International Space Station and its Undocking

By SpaceRef Editor
February 16, 2001
Filed under ,

The joint flight of the International Space Station (ISS) and U.S.
Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis is completed.


The Atlantis Orbiter undocked from the ISS at 17:05:50 Moscow time,
to which it docked on February 9, 2001.


The scheduled ISS joint activities program was accomplished within seven
days. Three Atlantis-based EVAs were conducted, during which the Laboratory
Module Destiny was installed on the ISS U.S. on-orbit segment and connected
to the onboard station systems. During the joint flight the Station
was stabilized and reboosted by using the Atlantis Orbiter propulsion
system.


The first station prime crew, ISS-1 crew (Russian cosmonauts Sergey
Krikalev, Yury Gidzenko and American astronaut William Sheppard) working
in orbit for more than three months and proceeding with the implementation
of the Station flight program performed activities on the ISS/Space
Shuttle joint flight support, integration of the Laboratory module in
the International Space Station, took part in the unloading of the equipment
and other cargoes delivered to the Station, as well as in transfer of
the return cargoes to the Atlantis Orbiter. Air samples were taken and
pressure integrity was checked in the Station compartments at regular
intervals. Video imagery was conducted inside the Station, TV communication
sessions were conducted with the ground, in which Russian and foreign
mass media took part.


The International Space Station currently consists of the Soyuz TM-31
manned vehicle, Russian Service Module Zvezda, Functional Cargo Block
Zarya, U.S. modules Unity and Destiny. The complex mass is about 105
t.


According to the Lead Operational Control Team data (Flight Director
is pilot-cosmonaut Soloviev V.A), the International Space Station is
flying in an orbit with inclination of 51.6°. Maximum and minimum altitudes
are 406.7 and 378.9 km, respectively. The orbital period is 92.1 minutes.

SpaceRef staff editor.