STS-105 Status Report #1 – 10 Aug 2001 – 4:30 PM CDT
After a one-day
delay because of weather, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off this afternoon,
carrying a crew of four and three new residents to the International
Space Station.
As the station
sailed over the Pacific Ocean southwest of the border between Mexico
and Guatemala, Discovery rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy
Space Center at 4:10 p.m. Central time en route to a rendezvous and
docking Sunday afternoon.
Aboard Discovery
were Commander Scott Horowitz, Pilot Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialists
Pat Forrester and Dan Barry along with Expedition Three Commander Frank
Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin.
They will replace the Expedition Two crew, Commander Yury Usachev and
Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, who were wrapping up their
155th day in space at the time of Discoveryís launch.
Less than nine
minutes after beginning its journey, Discovery settled into its preliminary
orbit as the crew prepared to open the shipís payload bay doors
prior to receiving the green light to begin orbital operations. This
is the fifth shuttle mission of the year.
Discoveryís
crew will spend the next few hours unpacking equipment, setting up computers
and conducting the first in a series of engine firings to refine the
shuttleís orbit as it heads for the station. The crew will begin
an eight-hour sleep period shortly after 11 p.m. and will be awakened
at 7:15 a.m. Saturday for its first full day in orbit. That day will
be devoted to preparations for Sundayís rendezvous and docking
and eight days of joint operations with the Expedition Two crew, highlighted
by the official transfer of command of the station from Usachev to Culbertson.
Aboard the station,
Usachev, Voss and Helms have spent most of the past couple of weeks
packing gear for the trip home aboard Discovery, and tidying up for
the arrival of visitors about 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Discovery is in
an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator with all
of its systems operating normally.
The next STS-105
mission status report will be issued Saturday morning after Discoveryís
crew is awakened.