STS-105 Status Report #5 – 12 Aug 2001 – 6:00 PM CDT

New

residents arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) today following

a flawless docking of Discovery to the orbital outpost to relieve a

trio of space travelers who have lived and worked on the complex since

March.

Discovery Commander

Scott Horowitz, with the assistance of Pilot Rick Sturckow and Mission

Specialists Pat Forrester and Dan Barry, carefully guided the Shuttle

to a linkup with the ISS at 1:42 p.m. Central time as the two craft

sailed 240 miles above northwestern Australia. On board Discovery were

the new Station Commander Frank Culbertson, and his Expedition Three

crewmates, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin.

Expedition Two

Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms

looked on from the station’s Destiny laboratory as Discovery arrived

this afternoon, then worked in concert with their Shuttle counterparts

to ensure a tight seal and a firm mate between the two vehicles.

At 3:41 p.m.,

hatches finally swung open between Discovery and the ISS, and the two

crews greeted one another. First aboard the station was Culbertson to

survey his home for the next four months. Within minutes, all ten astronauts

and cosmonauts had shared greetings before settling in for a station

safety briefing conducted by Usachev.

Monday the crews

will attach the Leonardo cargo carrier to the station at about 9:30

a.m. and begin unloading its supplies.

Just prior to

this operation, the two station crews will systematically begin the

process of handing over command from Expedition Two to Expedition Three.

The plan is for Culbertson and Helms to remove her form-fitting seat

liner from the Soyuz spacecraft and replace it with Culbertson’s at

about 7 a.m. Two hours later at about 9 a.m., Dezhurov and Usachev will

do the same followed at 12:30 p.m. by the seat liner swap of Tyurin

and Voss. The Soyuz is used as a return vehicle in the event of a problem

on the station.

Crew sleep is

scheduled for about 8 tonight with a musical wakeup call from Mission

Control at 5:10 a.m. Monday.

The station and

shuttle complex is orbiting the Earth every 92 minutes in good shape.

The next status report will be issued Monday morning shortly after crew

wakeup, or earlier, if events warrant.