Status Report

STS-105 Status Report #19 – 19 Aug 2001 – 6:00 PM CDT

By SpaceRef Editor
August 19, 2001
Filed under , ,

With its job completed

for the mission, the Leonardo cargo module packed with more than 3,000

pounds of return hardware was safely tucked back aboard Discovery this

afternoon. The operation sets the stage for the shuttle’s departure

from the International Space Station scheduled for 9:52 a.m. CDT Monday.

The ten crewmembers

aboard Discovery and the station are spending their final day and night

together prior to the farewell ceremony and hatch closing scheduled

for about 7 a.m. CDT tomorrow. That follows the wakeup call from Mission

Control set for 4:40 a.m.

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 ñ one of three pressurized cargo carriers provided

by the Italian Space Agency ñ completes its second visit to the station.

Astronaut Pat

Forrester carefully removed the high-tech moving van from the station

and placed it back in Discovery’s payload bay at 2:15 p.m. CDT. He was

backed up throughout the operation by Discovery Commander Scott Horowitz,

who operated the arm during the spacewalks by Forrester and Dan Barry

to outfit the station with spare equipment and scientific gear.

Once Discovery

departs, Pilot Rick Sturckow will perform a strategic fly around of

the station at a distance of about 400 feet before firing thrusters

shortly after 11 a.m. to depart the vicinity of the complex. Wednesday

afternoon, Discovery is set to return to the Kennedy Space Center with

the Expedition Two crew of Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms. The

three departed the Florida spaceport March 8 and will return after 167

days in space.

Meanwhile, Russian

space officials are set to launch the fifth Progress resupply craft

to the International Space Station Tuesday at 4:24 a.m. Central time

followed by an automatic docking early Thursday. The Progress will carry

supplies, food and equipment for the new Expedition Three crew. Its

predecessor will be undocked Wednesday and commanded to burn up harmlessly

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 a.m. Monday, or earlier, if

events warrant.

SpaceRef staff editor.