STS-98 Status Report #10 12 Feb 2001 6:00 AM CST

Astronauts Tom
Jones and Bob Curbeam are set for another excursion outside Atlantis
and the International Space Station today, preparing the orbiting complex
for future growth and visiting space shuttles.

After Commander
Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins,
Jones and Curbeam were awakened just after 4 a.m. Central time today
to the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”, Jones
and Curbeam began gearing up for the donning of their spacesuits, and
the start of the second of three planned spacewalks on this flight around
9:40 a.m.

Jones and Curbeam
will float into Atlantis’ cargo bay just before Ivins uses the shuttle’s
robotic arm to move a docking adapter temporarily parked on the side
of the Station’s external truss structure to the forward end of the
newly installed Destiny Laboratory. Once that docking adapter is installed
and latched to Destiny, it will serve as the primary shuttle docking
port for most missions in the future. After the docking port relocation
is completed, Jones and Curbeam will attach an electronic power and
data grapple fixture to Destiny along with a video signal converter
unit in preparation for the delivery of the Station’s Canadian-built
robotic arm, which is set to be launched on the STS-100 mission in April.

With the spacewalk
in progress, Expedition One crewmembers Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko
and Sergei Krikalev will continue to activate systems inside Destiny,
including the atmospheric revitalization rack, which will be used to
help purify the Station atmosphere, working in tandem with the Russian
Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal system in the Zvezda living quarters.

At the conclusion
of the spacewalk late this afternoon, Station flight controllers will
begin to send commands to Destiny’s computers for the spinup of four
large gyroscopes on the Z1 truss which will be used to provide electronic
orientation of the expanding complex. The so-called Control Moment Gyros
will ultimately be instrumental in transferring command and control
of the Station from the Russian segment to the U.S. segment and will
save valuable propellent otherwise used to maintain the proper orientation
of the orbiting outpost. Testing of the gyros will continue throughout
the flight.

Atlantis and the
International Space Station are currently orbiting at an altitude of
224 statute miles with all systems functioning in excellent shape. The
next mission status report will be issued around 7 p.m. or sooner, if
events warrant.