STS-98 Status Report #07 10 Feb 2001 10 PM CST

The crews of the
Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station successfully
installed the U.S. Destiny Laboratory onto the station today in a dazzling
display of robotics finesse and spacewalking skill.

Astronaut Marsha
Ivins began the work, using Atlantis’ robotic arm to remove a station
docking port, called Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA 2), to make room
for Destiny. The adapter was removed from the station’s Unity module
and latched in a temporary position on the station’s truss. Then, at
9:50 a.m., astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam began a spacewalk that
continued throughout the day, in tandem with Ivin’s robotic arm work.
Jones provided Ivins visual cues as she moved the adapter to its temporary
position, and Curbeam removed protective launch covers and disconnected
power and cooling cables between the Destiny lab and Atlantis.

Ivins then latched
the robotic arm onto the Destiny lab at about 11:23 a.m. Central and
began lifting it from Atlantis’ payload bay. High above the bay, Ivins
deftly flipped the 16-ton lab 180 degrees, moving it into position to
attach to the station berthing port. At 12:57 p.m., the lab was latched
into position on the station, and soon a set of automatic bolts tightened
to hold it permanently in place for years of space research.

The lab
adds 3,800 cubic feet of volume to the station, increasing the onboard
living space by 41 percent. The station’s mass is now 112 tons. After
the PMA 2 docking port is attached to the lab’s end on Monday, the station
will measure 171 feet long, 90 feet high and 240 feet wide. It will
have a volume of more than 13,000 cubic feet, already a larger volume
than any space station in history, including the U.S. Skylab launched
in the 1970s and the Russian Mir space station.

With the Destiny module
secured to the station, Jones and Curbeam began connecting electrical,
data and cooling lines. While Curbeam was attaching a cooling line,
a small amount of frozen ammonia crystals leaked. However, the leak
was quickly stopped. The ammonia dissipated and vaporized, and it posed
no problems as the crew continued their work. Because of the leak, however,
flight controllers followed a decontamination procedure, ensuring no
ammonia would enter Atlantis’ cabin. Curbeam remained in the sun a half-hour
to vaporize any ammonia crystals on his spacesuit while Jones brushed
off the suit and equipment. Then, the spacewalkers performed a partial
pressurization and venting of the shuttle airlock to flush out any ammonia
before a final repressurization. Then, as the airlock began exchanging
air with the shuttle cabin, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky
and Ivins wore oxygen masks in the cabin for about 20 minutes as a protective
measure, allowing any residual ammonia to be cleansed from the cabin
by shuttle life support systems. In the end, the crew reported no contamination
or smell of ammonia when the inside airlock hatch was opened and they
were rejoined by Jones and Curbeam.

The decontamination
procedures lengthened the spacewalk to a final duration of seven hours,
34 minutes, more than an hour longer than originally planned, and put
the crew behind schedule for the remainder of the day’s work. That work
included reopening the hatches between Atlantis and the station, which
occurred at 7:50 p.m. Central. About a half-hour later, Commander Ken
Cockrell and International Space Station Commander Bill Shepherd began
remotely powering up key Destiny laboratory systems and cooling equipment,
sending commands via a laptop computer. The initial activation of Destiny
was successful, and flight controllers will continue commanding to set
up station systems during the night.

The crew had an
extended day, beginning their sleep period almost two hours later than
was first planned. As a result, flight controllers are planning to awaken
the crew at 5:13 a.m. Central on Sunday, an hour later than originally
planned. The crews of Atlantis and the station will work together throughout
the day on Sunday, opening the hatch into Destiny for the first time
at about 8:13 a.m. Central and continuing to activate its equipment.
The Johnson Space Center newsroom will close at 10 p.m. Central and
reopen at 5 a.m. Central on Sunday. The next mission status report will
be issued about 7 a.m. Central time on Sunday.