STS-108

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-108
insignia = Sts-108-patch.png shuttle = Endeavour
launch_pad = 39-B
launch = December 5, 2001 22:19:28 UTC
landing = December 17, 2001 17:56:13 UTC KSC Runway 15
duration = 11 days 19:36:45
altitude = 177 nautical miles ()
inclination = 51.6 degrees
distance = 4.8 million miles ()
crew_photo = STS-108 crew2.jpg
crew_caption = (L-R): Mark E. Kelly, Linda M. Godwin, Daniel M. Tani, Dominic L. Gorie
previous = STS-105
next = STS-109

STS-108 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle " Endeavour". Its primary objective was to deliver supplies to and help maintain the ISS. This was the first mission after the 9/11 attacks.

STS-108 was the 12th shuttle flight to visit the International Space Station and the first since the installation of the Russian airlock called Pirs on the station. Endeavour delivered the Expedition Four crew to the orbital outpost. The Expedition Three crew returned to Earth on Endeavour. [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-108/index.html HSF - STS-108 Shuttle Archives ] ]

While at the station, the crew conducted one spacewalk and attached the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the station so that about 2.7 metric tons (3 tons) of equipment and supplies could be unloaded. The crew later returned Raffaello to Endeavour's payload bay for the trip home.

Crew

*Dominic L. Gorie (3), Commander
*Mark E. Kelly (1), Pilot
*Daniel M. Tani (1), Mission Specialist 2
*Linda M. Godwin (4), Mission Specialist 1

Launched ISS Expedition 4 Crew:

*Yuri I. Onufrienko (2), ISS Commander - flag|Russia
*Carl E. Walz (4), ISS Flight Engineer
*Daniel W. Bursch (4), ISS Flight Engineer

Landed ISS Expedition 3 Crew:

*Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. (3) ISS Commander
*Mikhail Turin (1), RSA ISS Flight Engineer - flag|Russia
*Vladimir N. Dezhurov (2), RSA ISS Soyuz Commander - flag|Russia

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Launch highlights

The launch of space shuttle Endeavour on November 29 was rescheduled for Tuesday, December 4, to allow sufficient time for the Expedition Three crew on the space station to successfully complete a spacewalk to clear an obstruction on the latching mechanism on the Russian Progress supply vehicle.

The launch December 4 was postponed due to unsatisfactory weather conditions in the KSC area. Launch controllers counted down to the T-5 minute point and held until the remainder of the window expired. The scrub had to be called after Astronaut Office Chief Charles Precourt, flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft, detected precipitation in a cloud mass that moved into the Complex 39 area shortly before launch.

Endeavour lifted off December 5 at 17:12 - 5:12 p.m. EST on the final space shuttle mission of 2001 to deliver three tons of supplies and a fresh crew to the International Space Station, and return home a crew that spent four months in space.

In addition to a new station crew and supplies, Endeavour carried a host of scientific investigations, including experiments from space agencies, schools and universities across the United States, Europe and South America, as well as a small satellite that involved more than 25,000 students in 26 countries. [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-108.html NASA - STS-108 ] ]

Mission highlights

The hatches were opened between Endeavour and the ISS Destiny Laboratory at 5:42 p.m. EST Dec. 7, enabling the ten crew members to greet one another. The Expedition 3 crew officially ended their 117-day residency on board the International Space Station Dec. 8 as their custom Soyuz seatliners were transferred to Endeavour for the return trip home. The transfer of the Expedition 4 seatliners to the Soyuz return vehicle attached to the station marked the official exchange of crews.

Endeavour Pilot Mark Kelly and Mission Specialist Linda Godwin used the shuttle's robotic arm to lift the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the shuttle payload bay and attach it to a berth on the station's Unity node. The crews began unloading supplies the same day.

EVA: 4 hours, 12 minutes -- Endeavour astronauts Linda Godwin and Dan Tani completed a four-hour, 12-minute spacewalk to install insulation on mechanisms that rotate the International Space Station's main solar arrays. The two spacewalkers stopped at a stowage bin to retrieve a cover that had been removed from a station antenna during an earlier flight, and after its return to Earth, may be reused. Godwin and Tani also performed a "getahead;" task, positioning two switches on the station's exterior to be installed on a future shuttle mission, STS-110. The spacewalk completed a record year with 18 spacewalks conducted: 12 originating from the shuttle and six from the station.

Mission managers extended Endeavour's flight to a duration of 12 days to allow Endeavour's crew to assist with additional maintenance tasks on the station, including work on a treadmill and replacing a failed compressor in one of the air conditioners in the Zvezda Service Module.

The astronauts and cosmonauts completed the transfer of more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and material from Endeavour's mid-deck and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the station. The transferred items included more than 850 pounds of food, 1,000 pounds of clothing and other crew provisions, 300 pounds of experiments and associated equipment, 800 pounds of spacewalking gear, and 600 pounds of medical equipment. In turn, the crew packed up the Raffaello module with items bound for a return trip to Earth.

On December 12, the crew and Mission Control noted a transient problem with one of the shuttle's three inertial measurement units (IMUs), the primary navigation units for the shuttle. Only two of the three IMUs were on line at the time, with the third unit off line to save electricity. The IMU that experienced a problem, designated IMU 2, was immediately taken off line and the third IMU brought on line. IMU 2 operated well after that, but it remained off line and was considered failed by flight controllers. The loss of one IMU had no impact on Endeavour's mission, and the other two units operated in excellent condition.

A formal change of command ceremony took place December 13 as Expedition 3 ended its residence and Expedition 4 began theirs.

Flight controllers planned slight changes to Endeavour's departure from the station December 15, allowing time for a small jet firing by the shuttle to boost the station's future path away from a piece of space debris that could pass near the complex. Mission Control was notified that a spent Russian rocket upper stage launched in the 1970s could pass within three miles of the station if Endeavour did not perform the engine firing. With the shuttle reboost, the station was predicted to pass more than 40 miles away from the debris.

Because the scheduled reboost used additional propellant, Endeavour did not perform a full-circle flyaround of the station after undocking. Instead, the shuttle undocked from the station, performing a quarter circle flyaround of the complex to a point about 400 feet directly above the station where it fired its engines in a final separation burn at 12:20 a.m. EST, beginning its departure from the orbiting outpost.

Endeavour's middeck carried home the results of several experiments completed during Expedition 3's stay on the station. These included the Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility, the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth experiment and cells from the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System (CBOSS).

The CBOSS equipment aboard the space station will remain active during Expedition 4, growing ovarian and colon cancer cells, as well as kidney cells in microgravity.

Experiments in Endeavour's payload bay were returned for investigators around the world. The Multiple Application Customized Hitchhiker-1 (MACH-1) carried a wide array of experiments, including the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector, the Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2, the Capillary Pump Loop, and the Space Experiment Module (SEM). The SEM carried experiments from Argentina, Portugal, Morocco and Australia, as well as experiments from U.S. schoolchildren. Several other canisters in Endeavour's payload bay also carried student experiments.

On its return to Earth, Endeavour's crew deployed a small satellite called STARSHINE 2 from a canister located in the payload bay. More than 30,000 students from 660 schools in 26 countries will be tracking STARSHINE 2 as it orbits the Earth for eight months. The students, who helped polish STARSHINE's 845 mirrors, will use the information they collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Honoring The Victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks

A large American flag from the New York City Police department, along with 6,000 smaller flags, were flown aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, then later were given to the families of the lost loved ones.

Mission parameters

*Mass: 4,082 kg payload
*Perigee: 353 km
*Apogee: 377 km
*Inclination: 51.6°
*Period: 92 min

Docking with ISS

*Docked: December 7, 2001, 20:03:29 UTC
*Undocked: December 15, 2001, 17:28:00 UTC
*Time Docked: 7 days, 21 h, 24 min, 31 s

pace walks

*" Godwin and Tani " - EVA 1
*EVA 1 Start: December 10, 2001 - 17:52 UTC
*EVA 1 End: December 10, - 22:04 UTC
*Duration: 4 hours, 12 minutes

=

Dominic L. Gorie STS-108 commander, and pilot Mark E. Kelly are in their respective stations during rendezvous operations with the ISS. Gorie brought Endeavour to a gentle linkup with the ISS as the two craft sailed over England.

---

Illustration_of_the_International_Space_Station_during_STS-108Image:Sts_108_spacewalk.jpg|(10_December_2001)_---_Astronaut_Linda M. Godwin, STS-108 mission specialist, is pictured near the end of the Space Shuttle Endeavour's remote manipulator system (RMS) arm during the four-hour session of extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Daniel M. Tani (out of frame), mission specialist, joined Godwin on the space walk. [ [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-108/html/s108e5349.html Photo-s108e5349 ] ]

References

ee also

*Space science
*Space shuttle
*List of space shuttle missions
*List of human spaceflights chronologically
*List of ISS spacewalks
*List of spacewalks
*108 (number)

External links

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-108/mission-sts-108.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle107.htm STS-108 Video Highlights]