STS-105 Status Report #18 – 19 Aug 2001 – 5:30 AM CDT

The ten astronauts
and cosmonauts aboard Discovery and the International Space Station
have started a day that will see the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Leonardo removed from the Unity node of the station and reberthed in
the shuttle’s cargo bay for the trip home.

Discovery’s crew,
including the returning Expedition Two crewmembers, were awakened shortly
after 4 a.m. Central time by the sounds of "Under the Boardwalk"
by the Drifters, played for Jim Voss by his wife Suzan.

Leonardo brought
almost 7,000 pounds of material to the station, including equipment,
supplies and two scientific racks for the new Expedition Three crew
of Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer
Mikhail Tyurin. Leonardo, which is one of three pressurized cargo carriers
for station resupply activities provided by the Italian Space Agency,
is completing its second visit to the station.

Mission Specialist
Pat Forrester will use the shuttle’s robotic arm this afternoon to unberth
Leonardo from the station and move it to Discovery, beginning the one-hour
operation a little before 12:30 p.m. He will be backed up by Discovery
Commander Scott Horowitz, who operated the arm during two successful
space walks by Forrester and Dan Barry to outfit the station with critical
spare equipment and scientific gear.

Overnight, controllers
reworked the crewmembers’ flight plan to give them some time off this
afternoon after Leonardo is returned to Discovery. The day will be highlighted
by final handover discussions between the two Expedition crews before
hatches are closed one last time between Discovery and the station tomorrow
morning just before 7 a.m. Central time. Discovery is scheduled to undock
from the ISS at 9:52 a.m. Central time Monday to set the stage for a
landing at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday afternoon, completing
167 days in space for Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, Voss and
Susan Helms.

Meanwhile, Russian
space officials are all set to launch a new Progress resupply craft
to the International Space Station on Tuesday at 4:24 a.m. Central time
for a docking early Thursday. The Progress will carry supplies, food
and equipment for the new Expedition Three crew. The Progress currently
docked to the aft end of the Zvezda Service Module will be undocked
on Wednesday and commanded to a destructive reentry in Earth’s atmosphere.

Discovery and
the ISS are orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 246
statute miles with all systems functioning normally. The next mission
status report will be issued at about 6 p.m., or earlier, if events
warrant.