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