STS-105 Status Report #3 – 11 Aug 2001 – 7:00 PM CDT
The seven crewmembers
aboard Discovery, including the future residents of the International
Space Station (ISS), spent their first full day in orbit today preparing
for their arrival tomorrow at the orbital outpost.
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, checked
out Shuttle systems, navigational tools and docking hardware in advance
of Discoveryís planned linkup to the ISS.
The docking is
scheduled to occur Sunday at 1:38 p.m. Central time over the Indian
Ocean northwest of Australia, just south of the Indonesian island of
Jawa.
Forrester and Horowitz
powered up, unfurled and checked out Discovery’s 50-foot long robotic
arm, which will be used by Forrester to move the Leonardo cargo module
from Discovery’s payload bay to the ISS for the transfer of food and
supplies, and by Horowitz to transport Barry and Forrester around the
Station during their two spacewalks next week.
In addition, Barry
and Forrester tested the devices they will use tomorrow to measure Discoveryís
distance from the ISS and its rate of closure on the complex during
the terminal phase of the Shuttleís approach to the Station. Discovery’s
docking mechanism was also checked out and its outer docking ring extended
to insure it is ready for tomorrow’s capture of the ISS docking port
on the forward end of the Station’s Destiny laboratory module.
Next week, Barry
and Forrester will test the spacesuits they will wear during their two
excursions outside Discovery to attach a spare cooling reservoir to
the ISS and to hook up heating cables for a large truss structure that
will be mounted to the Station next year.
The crew enjoyed
a few hours of spare time this afternoon to relax as they wound down
for the start of an eight-hour sleep period just after 9 p.m. Central
time tonight.
Aboard the ISS,
Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss
and Susan Helms spent the day packing up personal items and preparing
Station systems for tomorrow’s arrival of their replacements, Culbertson,
Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. This was
the 156th day in space for the current occupants of the ISS.
The exchange of
crew members on the Station will occur on Monday, although formal command
of the Station will not be transferred from Usachev to Culbertson until
a few hours before Discovery’s undocking on August 20.
Almost 7,000 pounds
of food, supplies and personal items for the Expedition Three crew are
housed in Leonardo, the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
(MPLM).
Once the module
is transferred to the Station and unpacked, it will be filled with equipment
no longer needed on the ISS, including Expedition Two crew clothing
and trash for return to Earth.
Discovery is orbiting
the Earth in excellent shape with no issues being worked by the flight
control team. The next mission status report will be issued Sunday morning
after the crew is awakened, or earlier, if events warrant.
