Spaceflight Now | Stage 7A.1 Mission Report

Space Station Stage 7A.1 Welcome to Spaceflight Now's comprehensive coverage of the international space station, its full-time residents and the next shuttle assembly mission, flight STS-105/ISS-7A.1 of Discovery that will exchange the Expedition crews living aboard the outpost. NASA refers to STS-105 and the Expedition Two and Three rotation as "Stage 7A.1" in the space station assembly matrix. This page incorporates that approach. We will post data on upcoming shuttle assembly flights as each stage is completed. E-mail us your comments, suggestions and corrections!
Top Stories

Expedition Two astronauts shuttled back to Earth Space shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, bringing home the second resident crew to live and work aboard the international space station after their 167-day expedition in orbit. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER DETAILED ENTRY AND LANDING TIMELINE
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Discovery departs station The shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station Monday, leaving a fresh three-man crew behind and bringing the lab's departing Expedition Two crew one step closer to Earth after five-and-a-half months in space. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates DETAILED UNDOCKING TIMELINE ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN

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Leonardo module put back into shuttle's payload bay The Italian-built Leonardo cargo module was detached from the international space station Sunday and returned to shuttle Discovery's payload bay for the trip back to Earth. The reusable module delivered over three tons of supplies and equipment to the station for the new Expedition Three crew. Discovery is slated to undock from Alpha on Monday. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN

Spacewalkers lay backup cables for future assembly Astronauts Daniel Barry and Patrick Forrester attached handrails and two 45-foot-long emergency power cables to the hull of the international space station Saturday during a successful spacewalk. The cables will provide backup power for a giant truss segment scheduled for attachment next year. FULL STORY ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS FULL MISSION COVERAGE

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Changing of the guard aboard space station Alpha The Expedition Two commander Yuri Usachev officially handed command of the international space station to Expedition Three commander Frank Culberston in a ceremony in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on Friday. MISSION STATUS CENTER

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Spacewalk success on station's 1,000th day Two Discovery astronauts -- Dan Barry and Pat Forrester -- stepped outside the shuttle Thursday for a 6-hour spacewalk that successfully mounted an ammonia servicing unit and two suitcase-shaped experiments to the exterior of the international space station. MISSION STATUS CENTER SPACEWALK STATISTICS ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS FULL MISSION COVERAGE

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Expedition 3 crew moves in, cargo module attached As the Expedition 3 astronauts moved into their new home aboard space station Alpha Monday, the shuttle crew has used Discovery's robotic arm to attach the Leonardo cargo module to the outpost's Unity node. MISSION STATUS CENTER

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Discovery arrives at station with Expedition 3 crew Space shuttle Discovery crossed the finish line of its two-day race to the international space station on Sunday, docking to the orbiting outpost about 250 miles above northwestern Australia. The main objective of Discovery's visit is the exchange of resident crews living aboard the outpost. FULL STORY

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Life aboard Discovery The astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery provided an insight into life aboard the ship on Saturday by downlinking some video of activities, including the crew conducting experiments, a dramatic view of a maneuvering engine firing, exercising to keep in shape in space and a birthday celebration far from home.

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Shuttle crew gear up for Sunday's station linkup The crew of space shuttle Discovery spent its first full day in space preparing for Sunday's planned 2:38 p.m. EDT docking with the international space station. They have set up rendezvous tools and docking equipment and fired thrusters to fine tune their approach to the station. MISSION STATUS CENTER - updates ASTRONAUTS' MASTER FLIGHT PLAN DETAILED DOCKING TIMELINE QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS ORBIT OPS SNAPSHOT

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Discovery launches with next Alpha resident crew The shuttle Discovery rocketed away from NASA's Florida spaceport Friday and set off after the international space station, carrying a fresh three-man crew and nearly four tons of supplies and equipment, including yet another sorely needed command-and-control computer. FULL STORY QUICK-LOOK MISSION FACTS ORBIT OPS SNAPSHOT

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Stubborn storms scrub shuttle Discovery's launch Thunderstorms forced NASA to call off Thursday's planned launch of the space shuttle Discovery on space station crew exchange mission. Liftoff has tentatively been rescheduled for 5:15:12 p.m. EDT (2115:12 GMT) on Friday. Check the status center for further updates. MISSION STATUS CENTER COUNTDOWN EVENTS CHART

Shuttle countdown begins The three-day countdown is underway at Kennedy Space Center for Thursday's launch of space shuttle Discovery on a taxi mission to exchange the resident crews of the international space station. Officials reviewing the cracked solid rocket booster fuel injector have concluded the issue does not pose a safety threat to Discovery. MISSION STATUS CENTER

Earlier Stories

No decision yet on possible shuttle Discovery repairs The seven astronauts who will ride space shuttle Discovery into orbit during this week's scheduled launch arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday amid ongoing analysis about cracks found in a critical solid rocket booster system. MISSION STATUS CENTER EARLIER STORY

Discovery taking ovarian tumor cells into space When the space shuttle Discovery blasts off, it will take ovarian cancer into space for the first time. The ovarian cancer cells are headed to the space station to develop three-dimensional cancer cell clusters that function more like cancer in humans than the two-dimensional cell cultures traditionally grown in petri dishes. FULL STORY

Station science team set for change of expeditions The international space station crew and ground teams are preparing to conclude one successful science expedition and begin another. Three Expedition Two experiments returned home aboard shuttle Atlantis recently. Expedition Three will have 18 experiments, including 10 continuing from Expedition Two, as well as eight new experiments. FULL STORY

NASA studies shuttle solid rocket booster problem Space shuttle engineers are investigating cracks found inside a solid rocket booster hydraulic steering unit that could force NASA to delay next week's planned blastoff of Discovery. FULL STORY

Shuttle launch pads filled for summer station missions For the first time in 18 months both space shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center are occupied following Monday's rollout of Discovery in preparation for blastoff in August on a mission to exchange the resident crew aboard the international space station. Discovery joins sistership Atlantis, which was rolled out June 21. FULL STORY [Posted: July 2]

Past Missions

Quest airlock added to international space station The Joint Airlock Quest was delivered to the international space station in July by space shuttle Atlantis, giving the outpost a new doorway for American and Russian spacewalkers. FULL COVERAGE

Station gets an arm and first tourist The crew of space shuttle Endeavour delivered the Canadian-built robotic arm to the international space station in April. The shuttle visit was immediately followed by Dennis Tito's historic joyride to the outpost. FULL COVERAGE

Station pioneers back on Earth after historic voyage After a dramatic reversal of fortune, the shuttle Discovery dropped out of orbit and glided to a pre-dawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center on March 21, bringing the international space station's first full-time crew back to Earth after a 141-day space odyssey. FULL COVERAGE

2001 began with flawless lab delivery The shuttle Atlantis delivered the $1.4 billion U.S. Destiny laboratory module to the international space station in February during a highly successful mission. FULL COVERAGE

Station's power-generating solar wings spread In December the astronauts of space shuttle Endeavour bolted a $600 million solar power tower to the international space station and unfurled the most powerful solar wings ever launched. FULL COVERAGE

Building a space outpost The crew of space shuttle Discovery carried out a complex four-spacewalk construction mission in October to mount a truss structure with gyroscopes and communications gear to the international space station and add another docking port. FULL COVERAGE

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Flight of Atlantis

A 59-minute VHS video cassette from Spaceflight Now captures the highlights of the July mission of shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. Available from the Astronomy Now Store in NTSC format (North America and Japan) and PAL (UK, most of Europe, Australia and other countries).

Status Summary

The fifth Russian Progress cargo freighter docked with the space station on Thursday.

The Expedition Two crew is now home after 167 days in space.

See the Status Center for full play-by-play coverage.

At a Glance
Mission: ISS-7A.1 (STS-105)
Vehicle: Shuttle Discovery
Launch date: Aug. 10, 2001
Launch time: 5:10:14 p.m. EDT (2110:14 GMT)
Launch site: LC-39A, KSC
Landing date: Aug. 22, 2001
Landing time: 12:48 p.m. EDT (1648 GMT)
Landing site: SLF, KSC

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