STS-92
STS -92 (English Space Transportation System) is the designation for a flight mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery ( OV -103 ) from NASA. The launch took place on 11 October 2000. It was the 100th Space Shuttle mission and the 28th flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery and the fifth flight of a shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS).
Team
- Brian Duffy (4th space flight), Commander
- Pamela Melroy ( first space flight), pilot
- Leroy Chiao ( third space flight), Mission Specialist
- Michael López- Alegría ( second space flight), Mission Specialist
- William McArthur ( third space flight), Mission Specialist
- Koichi Wakata ( second space flight), Mission Specialist ( NASDA / Japan Japan)
- Peter Wisoff (4th space flight), Mission Specialist
Mission Description
The Discovery docked at two days after the launch to the International Space Station. Due to a defect in the Ku- band antenna TV broadcasts were not possible during the entire mission. Some other problems, including a short circuit could be resolved relatively quickly by the crew. On 14 October, the 9 -ton truss segment was Z1 ( Z is the zenith ) with the manipulator of the space shuttle lifted from the cargo bay of Discovery and maneuvered to the intended transshipment facility at Unity module. Here, Astronaut Wakata also been guided by different cameras that were installed in the cargo bay of the shuttle and in Unity. When the respective sensors indicated the correct position of the component, the locking mechanism has been triggered.
The astronauts McArthur and Chiao rose on 15 October for 6 hours and 28 minutes from the shuttle and joined 10 electrical cables to the appropriate connectors. They also relocated the S-Band antenna from its starting position. At its final location it was installed until the next shuttle mission. S-band data through the system with maximum TDRS 192 kilobits per second to be transmitted. The Space -to -Ground Antenna ( space -to-ground antenna ), however, allows a data rate of up to 50 Mbits per second and is designed for the simultaneous transmission of four video channels thought. She was taken to its final position during alighting. Finally, McArthur and Chiao mounted a tool box for future use.
On October 16, Wisoff and López- Alegría worked outboard 7 hours and 7 minutes. First they broke the mounts for the third coupling adapter PMA -3 ( Pressurized Mating Adapter ) in the cargo bay of Discovery. After that she acted for Wakata, who operated the manipulator arm again, as additional pairs of eyes. Slowly, the 1.5 -tonne adapter was directed to its intended position. When this was achieved, a plurality of connecting pins were activated remotely. The other compounds were realized only after a temperature approximation.
In the third activity in free space McArthur and Chiao mounted two power converter at Z1 and moved further cables. They also prepared the retaining devices for the arrival of the solar cell module. Finally, they installed a second toolbox. The withdrawal on 17 October took 6 hours and 48 minutes.
On October 18, the last spacewalk ( 6:56 hours) of the mission took place. The astronauts Wisoff and López- Alegría first tested it a locking mechanism at Z1 and brought a cable shaft in position by the connecting lines to the 2001 arrived U.S. Destiny laboratory run. Then, both led by a controlled flight within the cargo bay of Discovery, where they put the new rescue system SAFER. SAFER is mounted on the back of the spaceman rescue help with rocket nozzles, which are operated with nitrogen gas. The system is designed for the case that an astronaut during a spacewalk despite the proposed safety line loses contact with the shuttle or the station.
With the engines of discovery, the path of the complex was raised during three half-hour drive phases by about 8 kilometers. Simultaneously structural tests were carried out. After the successful installation work in space the gyroscopes were heated in Z1 and briefly approached to 100 revolutions per minute. In addition, within the module Unity cables to your new coupling adapter and computer equipment and film accessories ( IMAX ) transported to the station and brought an experiment for growing protein crystals in microgravity in the Shuttle. The experiment was with the Atlantis arrives in September in the station. Routine experiments concerned the acquisition of GPS data for navigation and testing of a semiconductor star sensor for tracking large and bright targets. So that the navigation is to be relieved in the vicinity of the station.
The Discovery landed due to bad weather at both possible landing places two days later than originally planned on the site of Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Trivia
The period between the landing of STS- 92 on October 24, 2000 at 20:59:41 UTC and the launch of Soyuz TM -31 to the International Space Station on October 31, 2000 at 07:52:47 UTC was the last time phase in which not a single person was in space. This phase lasted exactly 6 days 10 hours 53 minutes 6 seconds.