BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Follow the shift change between the first and second Expedition Crews leaving aboard the international space station as well as the STS-102 flight of space shuttle Discovery. Reload this page for the very latest.
MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2001
2220 GMT (5:20 p.m. EST)
The crew of shuttle Discovery was awakened at 2217 GMT (5:17 p.m. EST) to begin flight day 13 of the mission. On the flight plan today: a check out of the shuttle's landing systems.
1622 GMT (11:22 a.m. EST)
Things are returning to normal aboard the International Space Station after the earlier false fire alarm. Ventilation is again running in the Destiny module. Flight engineer Susan Helms has asked mission control to investigate why the station's laptop computers shutdown as the alarm sounded, leaving the crew without some necessary procedures.
The CAPCOM has said goodnight to the crew.
1600 GMT (11:00 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers in Houston are taking over the task of reactivating the ventilation fans aboard the station. The fans are automatically shut down in the event of a fire alarm to slow the spread of smoke through the complex.
1557 GMT (10:57 a.m. EST)
Based on gas detection readings from Jim Voss, flight controllers in Houston have confirmed that the fire alarm was indeed false. Mission control will disable the cabin smoke detector that triggered the alarm. It may have been caused by dust from unpacking work.
1554 GMT (10:54 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers in Moscow are working with the crew to reactivate ventilation systems. The crew is providing Mission Control Houston with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide readings from the lab. The readings were requested to double check that there are no traces of fire in the module.
1520 GMT (10:20 a.m. EST)
Ventilation in the laboratory module and in the other modules automatically shutdown when the fire alarm sounded. Flight controllers are working with the crew to reactivate the air circulation but the efforts are being hampered because it appears the necessary procedures are on a laptop computer that is not working.
1505 GMT (10:05 a.m. EST)
A fire alarm that sounded aboard the International Space Station a short while ago appears to be a false alarm. The alarm was triggered in the Destiny lab module by a cabin smoke detector. Flight controllers believe the detector may have been tripped by dust from unpacking.
0630 GMT (1:30 a.m. EST)
The international space station's first commander formally turned the ship over to his replacement Sunday night, wishing the lab's second three-person crew good luck aboard the orbital outpost and urging them to "sail her well" during their four-and-a-half-month stay. Four hours later, at 0432 GMT (11:32 p.m. EST), the shuttle Discovery undocked from the space station, pulling smoothly away after an eight-day 21-hour and 54-minute linkup. Read our full story.
0548 GMT (12:48 a.m. EST)
The final separation burn by Discovery has been performed and the shuttle is now quickly departing the vicinity of the international space station.
The shuttle crew will enjoy some off duty time to relax later today before going to bed at 9:12 a.m. EST. They will awakened at 5:12 p.m. EST to begin packing up the crew cabin and checking out Discovery's flight control aerosurfaces, hydraulics and steering jets in preparation for Tuesday night's planned reentry and landing back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The homecoming is currently scheduled to begin with a two-minute, 57-second deorbit burn starting at 11:50:03 p.m. EST and touchdown on Runway 15 at 12:56:04 a.m. EST (0556:04 GMT Wednesday).
A second landing opportunity would be available one orbit later with a two-minute, 56-second deorbit burn beginning at 1:25:57 a.m. EST and landing on Runway 15 at 2:31:25 a.m. EST.
The weather forecast, however, does not look good with low clouds, rain and stiff winds predicted. See the full forecast.
0547 GMT (12:47 a.m. EST)
The shuttle is reaching the so-called -R bar once again -- the point directly above the international space station. Pilot Jim Kelly will soon fire the shuttle's jets to depart the vicinity of the station.
0535 GMT (12:35 a.m. EST)
Discovery is back in front of the station on the so-called +V bar. The shuttle is a little more than 400 feet away from the docking port where Discovery was parked for the past nine days. Discovery will continue the flyaround until it reaches the point directly above the station and performs a separation engine firing.
0524 GMT (12:24 a.m. EST)
The shuttle is now at a point directly beneath the international space station, passing the so-called +R bar.
0514 GMT (12:14 a.m. EST)
Discovery reaching a point directly behind the station terms of the direction of travel of the two spacecraft around the Earth. This is known as the -V bar.
0510 GMT (12:10 a.m. EST)
Pilot Jim Kelly -- a space rookie -- explained the rationale for performing this flyaround in a pre-flight interview.
"The major reason we do the fly-around is basically to do an exterior survey of the station. The station's going to change throughout its years, either from micrometeoroid debris hits or wear and tear or as EVAs happen. They're changing the outside of the station constantly. They're putting new gear on, moving things around, stuff like that. There's going to be some deterioration, things like that.
"So we want to get a good photographic record of all these things. We do the fly-around to basically take a photo survey of the outside of the station and see if anything has changed, and we take as many pictures as we can with different types of cameras."
0505 GMT (12:05 a.m. EST)
Under the control of pilot Jim Kelly, Discovery is now beginning the one-lap radial flyaround of the international space station from a distance of about 450 feet. The shuttle is currently flying backwards with its tail in the direction of travel. The flyaround starts with the shuttle directly above the station, takes Discovery behind and below the outpost and then loops around the front and back to a point above.
The shuttle performed a quarter-lap maneuver from the docking port on the front the station to reach the official flyaround start point.
0449 GMT (11:49 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The shuttle's docking mechanism has been powered down. Discovery now about 280 feet from the station as pilot Jim Kelly begins flying the shuttle from directly in front of to a point above the outpost.
0445 GMT (11:45 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Discovery's visit to the space station has brought the elapsed time of shuttles docked to the outpost over eight missions to 55 days, 23 hours and 7 minutes.
0445 GMT (11:45 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Distance between the two craft is now reported to be 180 feet.
0436 GMT (11:36 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Discovery continues inching away from the station. Distance now 41 feet. The shuttle is directly in front of the station as they travel on the so-called Velocity Vector in orbit. Once the shuttle reaches a point about 150 feet away, pilot Jim Kelly will begin preps for flying a full lap around the outpost.
0435 GMT (11:35 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Under the control of pilot Jim Kelly, the shuttle is now over 25 feet from the station. And the station crew reports the outpost has returned to its own attitude control.
0434 GMT (11:34 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Discovery was docked to the station for eight days, 21 hours and 54 minutes.
0432 GMT (11:32 p.m. EST, Sun.)
UNDOCKING! Discovery is slowing backing away from the international space station after completing a change of command aboard the orbiting outpost. The spaceplane is shuttling back to Earth the vanguard Expedition One crew of commander Bill Shepherd, pilot Yuri Gidzenko and flight engineer Sergei Krivalev. The three men spent 136 days living aboard the station to begin a continual human presence in space.
The shuttle ferried the Expedition Two crew of commander Yuri Usachev and flight engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms to the station for the start of their four-and-a-half-month voyage. They formally took control of the complex at 9:32 p.m. EST (0232 GMT) tonight when the hatchway leading to Discovery was closed.
0430 GMT (11:30 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Two minutes until undocking. Once the hooks and latches are opened, one final command will be sent to undock the shuttle.
0429 GMT (11:29 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The command has been issued to begin driving open the hooks holding Discovery and station together.
0428 GMT (11:28 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The steering jets on Discovery are inhibited for the period of physical undocking from the station. The separation occurs when large springs push the two craft apart.
0427 GMT (11:27 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Now five minutes from the planned undocking time. This separation comes as Discovery begins its 169th orbit of Earth.
0425 GMT (11:25 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Undocking is scheduled to occur while the two spacecraft fly 245 miles over the northern coast of South America at 4.8 degrees North and 58.6 degrees West.
0423 GMT (11:23 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The shutters on the window of the Destiny module have been closed to protect the optical-quality, 20-inch diameter window during undocking.
0422 GMT (11:22 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Now about 10 minutes from Discovery's undocking from the international space station, completing a nine-day visit by the shuttle and 136 days of residence by the Expedition One crew.
0417 GMT (11:17 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The space shuttle and international space station flight control teams are both reported "go" for undocking, which is now 15 minutes away.
0410 GMT (11:10 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Discovery's docking mechanism is now powered up. Mission Control reports all systems are "go" for undocking at 11:32 p.m. EST.
0400 GMT (11:00 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The international space station's solar arrays -- the U.S. P6 wings and arrays on the Russian modules -- have been turned to an edge-on position relative to Discovery. The repositioning is done to ensure the jet thruster plumes from the shuttle during departure don't damage the delicate arrays.
0357 GMT (10:57 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Now 35 minutes away from the scheduled undocking of space shuttle Discovery from the Destiny research module of the international space station.
0325 GMT (10:25 p.m. EST, Sun.)
With the hatches closed, the vestibule between the shuttle and station was depressurized and leak checks were just performed without incident. The hatchway was opened three times during Discovery's stay at the station for a duration of 142 hours and 22 minutes. Undocking still slated to occur at 0432 GMT (11:32 p.m. EST) while the two craft sail high above South America.
0235 GMT (9:35 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The astronauts report the hatchway between Discovery and the space station was closed at 0232 GMT. Activities are continuing in preparation for the shuttle to undock from the station in about two hours.
0155 GMT (8:55 p.m. EST, Sun.)
The international space station's first commander formally turned over the ship to his replacement this evening, wishing the lab's second three-person crew good luck aboard the orbital outpost and urging them to "sail her well" during their four-and-a-half-month stay. Read our full story.
For our Mission Theater subscribers, you can watch the full video of the change of command ceremony.
0050 GMT (7:50 p.m. EST, Sun.)
Command of the International Space Station has been transferred from U.S. astronaut Bill Shepherd to Russian cosmonaut Yury Usachev, as the shuttle Discovery astronauts and the expedition 1 crew prepare to depart the orbital outpost.
SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2001
2245 GMT (5:45 p.m. EST)
The crew of space shuttle Discovery was awakened at 2242 GMT (5:42 p.m. EST) to begin the shuttle crew's 12th day of the mission. The shuttle is scheduled to depart the station tonight at about 0432 GMT (11:32 p.m. EST).
1204 GMT (7:04 a.m. EST)
The Leonardo module has been returned to the payload bay of space shuttle Discovery for the journey back to Earth. The module was carried aloft by the shuttle, then mounted to the international space station for the past six days so astronauts could unload its near-10,000 pounds of cargo.
The stage is now set for Discovery to undock from the station late tonight.
1142 GMT (6:42 a.m. EST)
Leonardo is nearing completion of its ride back to the payload bay of Discovery. The crew is awaiting for orbital sunrise to provide better lighting before moving the module the final couple of feet.
1125 GMT (6:25 a.m. EST)
The robot arm has again resumed its work to move Leonardo.
1118 GMT (6:18 a.m. EST)
Leonardo is now hovering above the payload bay in a position where the astronauts will ensure proper alignment before the robot arm lowers the module into its berth.
1100 GMT (6:00 a.m. EST)
The robot arm continues to inch Leonardo away from the space station. All of this is coming about five hours behind schedule primarily due to earlier unplanned work by the astronauts to perform health checks on Discovery's computers and depressurization problems that were encountered before Leonardo could be unbolted from the station.
1042 GMT (5:42 a.m. EST)
LEONARDO DETACHED! The Leonardo "moving van" is now pulling away from the doorway of the international space station after delivering five tons of equipment, experiments and supplies to the orbiting outpost.
The shuttle robotic arm, operated by astronaut Andy Thomas, is now maneuvering the Italian-made cargo module away from the Earth-facing docking port of the station's Unity node. Over the next hour or so, the reusable Leonardo will ride the arm back to Discovery's payload bay to be locked down for the trip back to Earth.
The module spent the past six days attached to the station as astronauts emptied its cargo, then loaded about a ton of trash, dirty clothes, unneeded equipment and personal items of the Expedition One astronauts for return to the ground.
1039 GMT (5:39 a.m. EST)
All 16 electrically-driven bolts holding Leonardo to the space station have been released thanks to commands sent via laptop computer from the flight deck of Discovery by shuttle astronaut Paul Richards. The capture latches will be opened in advance of the robot arm detaching Leonardo from its station berth.
1007 GMT (5:07 a.m. EST)
The second attempt at depressurization has been successful. There was some increase in pressure noticed again, but officials have determined a hose connected to the passageway is causing it. The main pressure valve is closed and Mission Control says the situation is acceptable. And with that, the shuttle crew has been given a "go" to begin sending commands via remote control to release the bolts and latches holding the Leonardo module to the station. Discovery's robot arm continues to have a firm grasp of the module.
0935 GMT (4:35 a.m. EST)
The pressure increase in the vestibule has been explained. Expedition Two crew member Jim Voss reported a loose fitting on a connection to the leak port. The pressure readings had fallen to three millimeters as planned, then climbed to just over six millimeters, which stumped ground controllers. Officials were just about to ask the crew to replace the onboard pressure gauge when Voss radioed his discovery.
So with that fitting tightened, the astronauts will have to re-perform the depressurization to three millimeters before vestibule vacuum is declared and the unbolting of Leonardo can occur.
0919 GMT (4:19 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers are studying a yet-unexplained increase of pressure in the vestibule between Leonardo and the station. That passageway was depressurized over the past hour and had was near vacuum when Mission Control detected a slight bump up in pressure. While this is discussed the astronauts are holding off the work to unbolt Leonardo from the station.
0759 GMT (2:59 a.m. EST)
Under the control of astronaut Andy Thomas, the shuttle's robotic arm has grappled the Leonardo module docked to the international space station. This occurred as depressurization of the vestibule between the module and station has gotten underway. It will take another 40 minutes or so before the vestibule will reach vacuum and commands can be sent to unbolt the module from the Unity node.
0720 GMT (2:20 a.m. EST)
The inner hatch of the vestibule between the Unity node and Leonardo has finally been closed. This will allow the vestibule to be depressurized. The Leonardo hatch was sealed nearly three hours ago. Meanwhile, Discovery's robot arm is being powered up.
0645 GMT (1:45 a.m. EST)
The astronauts continue to run behind schedule -- right now about 90 minutes -- following the extra work to check Discovery's onboard computer software. At this pont, activities to ready the Leonardo module for demating are continuing including the upcoming vestibule depressurization.
Shuttle astronaut Andy Thomas should soon power up Discovery's robotic arm and drive the 50-foot long crane into position to grapple Leonardo. Be he says he will take his time given the good deal of work still remaining to get Leonardo ready to depart the station.
Once the arm has a firm grasp of the module, the electrically-driven bolts holding the Leonardo to the Unity node of the internatonal space station will be released via remote control from a laptop computer. Thomas then will slowly lower the Italian-built reusable cargo carrier back into its berth in Discovery's payload bay.
0515 GMT (12:15 a.m. EST)
With Leonardo's hatchway sealed, the astronauts have deactived the module's systems in preparation for the upcoming detachment from the international space station. The crew is currently performing a leak check of the vestibule between the module and station. Once that is completed, the vestibule will be depressurized.
0434 GMT (11:34 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Expedition One commander Bill Shepherd has announced the Leonardo module hatch has been closed.
0428 GMT (11:28 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Astronauts aboard the international space station have been given a "go" from the ground to close the hatch on the Leonardo cargo module. This is in advance of Leonardo being demated from the station in a couple of hours for berthing back in Discovery's cargo bay.
0418 GMT (11:18 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Mission Control reports the test being run onboard Discovery shows the computers are healthy. No problems have been detected in this diagnostic and confidence-building test.
0415 GMT (11:15 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Concern about possibly corrupted software in the shuttle Discovery's critical flight computers triggered an intensive engineering analysis today and consideration of an unprecedented in-flight software reload. Read our full story.
0403 GMT (11:03 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Commander Jim Wetherbee reports he is beginning the "confidence test" to verify Discovery's onboard General Purpose Computers are indeed fine.
0327 GMT (10:27 p.m. EST, Sat.)
During an unscheduled meeting of the Mission Management Team tonight, officials concluded Discovery's onboard computers are healthy and a software reload will not be necessary. However, the "confidence test" will be concluded over the next couple of hours to determine the computers are talking to each other by transitioning them between different software packages as mentioned below.
Once this computer work is completed, the astronauts will press ahead with detaching the Leonardo cargo module from the international space station using Discovery's robot arm. The module will be lowered into the shuttle's payload bay for return to Earth.
0317 GMT (10:17 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Mission Control just told Discovery commander Jim Wetherbee that new procedures are being generated to transition the onboard computers from their OPS-2 software package to OPS-8 and then back to OPS-2 again. This will be attempted in an effort to gather more data on the state of onboard software. OPS-2 is the main software package used while Discovery is in space and OPS-8 is the on-orbit check-out software.
To recap, the software loaded in computers No. 2 and 4 has been called into question after the astronauts did not follow the proper start up process on Saturday morning. They should have waited 10 seconds between activation of the two computers, but only paused 6 seconds. That may have corrupted the software.
0255 GMT (9:55 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Discussions continue among NASA officials tonight to determine what corrective actions might be necessary to fix potentially corrupt software in space shuttle Discovery's primary computers.
The trouble stems from an apparent botched activation of two computers Saturday morning by the shuttle astronauts. There is a ten second interval required between the start up of General Purpose Computers to ensure that the mass memory units are not overloaded with too much information at the same time, NASA spokesman Rob Navias says. That 10-second pause did not occur, causing Mission Control's concerns about the software being corrupted.
0215 GMT (9:15 p.m. EST, Sat.)
If Discovery's crew has to reload the software for all four primary General Purpose Computers, it will be the first time it has been attempted in 103 shuttle flights.
The crew would use the software stored in the back-up, fifth GPC to reload each of the four primary computers.
Procedures for the software reload are being sent to the shuttle crew via the space station's early communications system, as the shuttle's own antenna is currently in blockage.
The Mission Management Team convened at 0200 GMT (9 p.m. EST) for an unscheduled meeting to determine whether to proceed with the software reload.
A software reload could conceivably delay the undocking and stowage of the Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module by up to 24 hours.
The problem with the GPC software occurred when the shuttle crew failed to wait ten seconds between starting up GPCs No. 2 & 4.
0200 GMT (9:00 p.m. EST, Sat.)
Discovery's four primary General Purpose Computers (GPCs) might need a software reloaded after a quick start-up Saturday that could have corrupted their crucial lines of code. Although the computers have behaved normally software engineers at the Johnson Space Center have ruled the computers could be suspect.
"We have looked at all the data overnight (while the shuttle crew slept today). The common set software is still suspect," CAPCOM Gerhard Thiele radioed the astronauts a short time ago.
The problem arose when the crew started two of the computers (GPCs 2 & 4) too quickly on Saturday. They were trying to warm the shuttle's freon cooling system to remove a build up of ice. The computers had been turned off to conserve electricity while the shuttle was docked with the station.
The Mission Management Team has convened to discuss the problem.
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2001
1200 GMT (7:00 a.m. EST)
The astronauts are wrapping up a quiet but productive day in space, completing work to stow about a ton of discarded equipment and trash in an Italian-built cargo module for return to Earth.
Early today, astronauts Andrew Thomas, James Kelly and Paul Richards took a moment to discuss the mission and to reflect on the upcoming demise of the Russian Mir space station.
"It's ironic that here we are on the verge of bringing the first crew back from the international space station almost to the same day that Mir will be deorbited," said Mir-veteran Thomas.
"It's kind of sad, it's the passing of a veteran spacecraft. Mir suffered a lot of problems, but it was nonetheless remarkably successful and it was a great technical triumph and a great achievement. I was very priviledged to serve on it and I look back on it with great fondness.
"I'm going to be sorry that Mir is being deorbited, but that is, of course, the inevitable consequence of progress," he said. "Because of the lessons learned on Mir, we now have this vehicle here. So we've gained a lot from that Mir experience. But I will be sorry to see it go nonetheless."
See our full story for additional details.
FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2001
2345 GMT (6:45 p.m. EST)
The crew of space shuttle Discovery was awakened by mission control at 2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST).
1145 GMT (6:45 a.m. EST)
The Discovery astronauts are firing the shuttle's small steering jets to boost the international space station's altitude. This is the second of three such hour-long reboost maneuvers planned for the space station.
0730 GMT (2:30 a.m. EST)
The astronauts are busy today continuing to stow away equipment and supplies delivered to the international space station by Discovery while also transferring garbage and unneeded items into the Leonardo cargo module that will ride back to Earth aboard the shuttle.
Mission managers on Thursday approved plans to extend Discovery's visit to the station an extra day to allow the crew members more time to repack Leonardo.
Under the new plan the astronauts should finish their repacking work early Saturday morning. After waking up Saturday evening the crew will deactivate Leonardo's systems as the shuttle's robot arm detaches the module from the station. The reusable cargo container is scheduled to be locked into Discovery's payload bay at 2:17 a.m. EST Sunday.
The shuttle and station crews will say their farewells and close hatches between the two spacecraft at 8:27 p.m. EST Sunday in advance of Discovery's undocking at 11:30 p.m. EST.
On Monday night the crew will test the shuttle's reaction control system jets and aerosurfaces and clean up the cockpit in preparation for reentry and landing.
Discovery is due to brake from orbit Tuesday at 11:51 p.m. EST, sending the shuttle to a pin-point landing at Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 12:55 a.m. EST Wednesday to conclude the 12-day, 18-hour mission.
We have posted the entire schedule on our detailed flight plan page.
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2001
2347 GMT (6:47 p.m. EST)
CAPCOM Cady Coleman has awakened the Discovery crew with the news that the Mission Management Team has formerly decided to extend the shuttle's stay at the International Space Station by one more day. The shuttle was originally scheduled to leave the station on Saturday night.
The overall mission will also be extended by one more day. Discovery will now return to the Kennedy Space Center at 0559 GMT (12:59 a.m. EST) on Wednesday.
The astronauts were awakened at 2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST) after a short night's sleep.
1815 GMT (1:15 p.m. EST)
Flight controllers are considering extending Discovery's stay at the International Space Station by one day because work to pack the Leonardo module with items for return to Earth is going slower than expected. Under the plan, the mission would also be extended by a day.
The crew was informed about the possibility before they went to bed at about 1730 GMT (12:30 p.m. EST), about an hour and a half later than planned. Mission control will discuss the matter further when the astronauts are awakened at 2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST).
The shuttle is carrying enough consumables for at least an extra day in orbit.
Our mission theater subscribers can watch NASA's Crew Activity Report for flight day 8 and today's Mission Status Briefing.
1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. EST)
The 9,650 pounds of equipment and supplies carried to the international space station inside the Italian-built Leonardo mini pressurized logistics module have been completely unloaded. The combined shuttle-station crews are now repacking Leonardo with discarded equipment and trash for return to Earth.
At the same time, Expedition One commander William Shepherd, Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko are briefing their replacements - Expedition Two commander Yury Usachev, James Voss and Susan Helms - on how to operate the complex outpost after Discovery departs Saturday.
In between handover sessions, Voss and Helms have been activating one of the two computer work stations that will be needed next month to operate the station's Canadian-built robot arm.
At a 4:30 a.m. EST news briefing, lead flight director John Shannon said the work was going smoothly and that the station-shuttle complex continues to operate in fine fashion with no technical problems of any significance.
Before the astronauts went to bed Wednsday morning, they carried out a reboost maneuver ahead of schedule after radar tracking indicated a possibly close encounter with a portable foot restraint attachment device lost during a weekend spacewalk by Voss and Helms.
Shannon said today that as it turned out, the tracking forecast was in error and the lost hardware would not have come close enough to Discovery to pose a threat. As it now stands, the lost PAD is more than 20 miles from the shuttle and continuing to separate.
2345 GMT (6:45 p.m. EST )
Mission control awakened the crew of space shuttle Discovery at 2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST) to begin flight day eight of mission STS-102.
1459 GMT (9:59 a.m. EST )
Shannon Lucid has told the crew to terminate the reboost burn a few minutes early because of a little bit of overperformance from the shuttle's thrusters. It was due to end at 1502 GMT (10:02 a.m. EST).
1438 GMT (9:38 a.m. EST )
Discovery's thrusters are being used to boost the orbit of the International Space Station. The maneuver, originally planned for tonight, is being performed early to put some extra distance between the shuttle/station complex and a Portable Attachment Device, or PAD, lost overboard during the first spacewalk of the mission.
Today's burn will change the velocity of the two craft by 11.6 feet per second.
The burn began at 1412 GMT and is expected to last about 50 minutes. A total of three reboosts planned for this mission will increase the station's altitude by about 8.5 statute miles.
1120 GMT (6:20 a.m. EST )
Astronaut Susan Helms officially moved aboard the international space station at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) today, completing the lab's first crew rotation. She joins Expedition Two commander Yury Usachev and James Voss, who moved aboard the outpost earlier.
While Expedition One commander William Shepherd and his crewmates - Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev - are now sleeping aboard the shuttle Discovery, Shepherd will remain in formal command of the station until hatches are closed Saturday night prior to undocking.
As of 6 a.m. today, the combined shuttle-station crews had unloaded about 70 percent of the five tons of supplies and equipment carried into orbit inside the Leonardo cargo carrier.
Live television from the station showed the astronauts working inside the roomy supply module, moving equipment bags into the station. The crew also provided a video tour of the space station just before 6 a.m., showing off new equipment and experiment racks in the Destiny laboratory module.
Lead flight director John Shannon says so far, the 103rd shuttle mission "has gone better than I had ever hoped." Read our full story about today's crew rotation and logistics transfer work.
0045 GMT (7:45 p.m. EST Tues.)
The shuttle crew has been awakened for Flight Day 7 -- a day dedicated to continue unloading the Leonardo cargo carrier and outfitting the Destiny lab module.
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2001
1530 GMT (10:30 a.m. EST)
The hatches between Discovery and the International Space Station were opened at 1437 GMT (9:37 a.m. EDT), according to NASA mission commentator John Ira Petty. Russian flight controllers in Moscow have said goodnight to the ISS crew during the last communications session of the day.
1500 GMT (10:00 a.m. EST)
The Discovery and ISS crews have been given an extra 30 minutes to sleep. They will begin their scheduled sleep period at 1542 GMT (10:42 a.m. EST) and will wake again at 0012 GMT (7:12 p.m. EST).
1440 GMT (9:40 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers report that air pressure has been equalized between Discovery and the International Space Station. The hatches between the two craft will be opened shortly.
1415 GMT (9:15 a.m. EST)
The portable attachment device, or PAD, lost during the first spacewalk of Discovery's mission has been tracked on radar and does not present a debris threat to the shuttle or station. Lead STS-102 flight director John Shannon told a news conference the device was 8 nautical miles ahead of and 1 nautical mile below the shuttle/station complex. It is expected to reenter the atmosphere and burn up in about 32 days.
1215 GMT (7:15 a.m. EST)
Today's spacewalk officially ended at 6:44 a.m. EST (1144 GMT). Total duration was six hours and 21 minutes.
This was the 102nd spacewalk in U.S. space history, the 62nd in the shuttle program and the 18th devoted to space station assembly. With today's excursion, U.S. and Russian astronauts have logged 124 hours and one minute in 18 station assembly and outfitting spacewalks.
Shuttle spacewalks are officially measured from the time the astronauts switch their suits to battery power to the time the airlock is repressurized.
Today's spacewalk officially ended at 6:44 a.m. when the astronauts mistakenly began repressurizing Discovery's airlock. The airlock was subsequently taken back to vacuum to complete an engineering test.
The goal of the test was to fire Discovery's large primary thrusters with an evacuated airlock to determine what effect they had on the structural stability of the shuttle-station "stack."
When the test was complete, the airlock was repressurized normally.
1021 GMT (5:21 a.m. EST)
A quick inspection of the Floating Potential Probe on top of the P6 truss of the space station has revealed all its status lights are off. The FPP is designed to measure the space station's electrical environment. It has not been working properly in recent weeks and officials wanted to the spacewalkers to look at diagnostic lights while in the vicinity today.
This completes the major chores of the spacewalk. Thomas and Richards will start heading back towards Discovery's payload bay to start cleaning up and ultimately return to the airlock.
1015 GMT (5:15 a.m. EST)
Success has been achieved by the spacewalkers in coaxing the fourth latch to engage on the solar wing of the international space station, completely securing the bracing of the structure following its deployment last December.
1000 GMT (5:00 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers will try to lock the fourth of four pins on the bracing for one of solar arrays of the international space station. They won't really apply any force to move the pin. Rather, they will give it a tap and see what happens.
0938 GMT (4:38 a.m. EST)
Spacewalkers finally making their way up the P6 truss.
0903 GMT (4:03 a.m. EST)
Now three hours, 40 minute into this spacewalk. The duo are still wrapping up the last touches to the Destiny lab's shielding around the Rigid Umbilical and gathering tools before going up to the solar arrays.
0833 GMT (3:33 a.m. EST)
All the cable connections between the Rigid Umbilical and Destiny lab have now been made. The cabling will route power, data and video between the station and its robotic arm due to arrive on the next shuttle mission in April.
The next task for the spacewalkers will be climbing to the very top of the station's P6 solar array tower to inspect, and possibly fix, a stuck locking pin on the port wing. The pin -- one of four -- did not latch into place during deployment of the wings last November.
0816 GMT (3:16 a.m. EST)
A visual check by one of the spacewalkers has confirmed that the claw on the newly installed Lab Cradle Assembly is indeed open. That is good news for the flight controllers after shuttle commander Jim Wetherbee was unable to get that indication during commanding tests of the claw earlier. The claw will be used to capture the pallet containing the station's robotic arm when it arrives late next month.
0809 GMT (3:09 a.m. EST)
Mission Control says the cable connections as part of the Rigid Umbilical tray continues successfully with the spacewalk pretty much on the timeline.
0743 GMT (2:43 a.m. EST)
As the spacewalkers continue their work to hook cabling associated with the Rigid Umbilical, Mission Control says the tests of the Lab Cradle Assembly claw may not be working as expected. As a result, the spacewalkers have been asked to take a first-hand look at the device mounted to the exterior of the Destiny lab once the umbilical connections are completed. The claw will be used to hold the pallet containing the station's robot arm when delivered on the next shuttle mission.
0728 GMT (2:28 a.m. EST)
Thomas has docked the 250-pound Pump and Flow Control Subassembly box to the External Stowage Platform on the international space station and connected heater cables. This device could be employed in the future to replenish ammonia coolant to the station's P6 solar power tower.
Mission Control reports the EVA is currently 36 minutes ahead of the timeline as things proceed well for the first-time spacewalkers.
0720 GMT (2:20 a.m. EST)
Paul Richards is now beginning to make cable connections between the Rigid Umbilical structure and station. The RU was mounted to Destiny during the spacewalk two days ago. But spacewalkers Jim Voss and Susan Helms didn't have time to connect the various power, data and video cables, leaving the job to Paul Richards tonight.
Meanwhile, Andy Thomas is preparing to attach the cooling box to the station.
0711 GMT (2:11 a.m. EST)
While the spacewalk continues, Discovery commander Jim Wetherbee is remotely conducting a checkout of the Lab Cradle Assembly device mounted to the Destiny's hull during the mission's first EVA on Sunday morning. The cradle features a large claw that will capture the container holding the Canadian-made space station robot arm during delivery next month.
0701 GMT (2:01 a.m. EST)
Riding on the end of Discovery's robot arm, Andy Thomas is now unbolting the Pump and Flow Control Subassembly box from a pallet in the shuttle's payload bay. He will mount this 250-pound box to the External Stowage Platform just installed on the international space station.
0648 GMT (1:48 a.m. EST)
The External Stowage Platform is now firmly attached to the international space station's Destiny module to serve as a storage location for spare parts. The rectangular platform was mounted to Destiny's port aft trunnion by Andy Thomas. Cable connections will now be hooked up to route heater power from the station to the platform to warm components left on the ESP in the future. The first such spare piece of hardware will be a cooling pump that the spacewalkers plan to transport from the shuttle to the platform shortly.
Meanwhile, Paul Richards has configured circuit breakers to allow power to flow from the station's giant solar arrays to DC-to-DC Conversion Units recently installed inside Destiny. The units are part of power distribution racks that were just transferred from the Leonardo cargo carrier to Destiny by the station crew.
0619 GMT (1:19 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers have now unbolted the External Stowage Platform from its launch position in shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The ESP will be carried up to the Destiny lab and mounted to the module's hull. The platform is designed as a storage location for critical space station spare parts.
0600 GMT (1:00 a.m. EST)
While Andy Thomas practices moving around in space and getting accustomed to spacewalking, Paul Richards has climbed up the side of the Destiny laboratory to disconnect a no-longer-needed heater umbilical on the module. The cable is associated with the system designed to keep Destiny warm during its launch in January aboard shuttle Atlantis. The system did not work normally, with the heaters remaining on continuously, and engineers are still trying to determine why that was.
0533 GMT (12:33 a.m. EST)
The two astronauts are floating outside the airlock. This is the first spacewalk for both Thomas and Richard. They will spend some time to get acclimated to working outside the shuttle's cabin and gather the tools and equipment needed for this EVA today before getting down to business. The first chore is mounting a foot platform to Discovery's robot arm.
The main goals tonight include wiring up some umbilical connections and attaching a cargo platform and pump device to the exterior of the Destiny module and attempting to latch a stuck locking pin on one of the station's solar array wings.
0523 GMT (12:23 a.m. EST)
EVA BEGINS. Astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Richards switched their spacesuits from shuttle-provided power to internal batteries at 12:23 a.m. EST, signalling the official start of today's planned 6.5-hour spacewalk. The EVA is the 102nd in U.S. space program history, the 62nd to occur from the space shuttle, 18th dedicated to international space station construction and second of Discovery's current mission.
0519 GMT (12:19 a.m. EST)
The airlock is now at vacuum, and Mission Control has given the spacewalkers a "go" to open the outer hatch leading to Discovery's payload bay.
0505 GMT (12:05 a.m. EST)
Airlock depressurization has started.
0502 GMT (12:02 a.m. EST)
The oxygen pre-breathing is now completed by Thomas and Richards. The airlock depressurization is expected to begin shortly. The spacewalk will officially start when the two crew members switch their suits to internal battery power.
0440 GMT (11:40 p.m. EST Mon.)
The spacewalkers are finishing up the pre-breathing procedure to purge their blood streams of nitrogen to protect against the bends during today's excursion. NASA says the EVA should get started around 12:10 a.m., a bit behind schedule.
0325 GMT (10:25 p.m. EST Mon.)
Andy Thomas and Paul Richards have donned their spacesuits inside Discovery's airlock in preparation for tonight's spacewalk to continue outfitting the exterior of the Destiny laboratory module. The two men are proceeding through their activities to begin the EVA right on schedule at about 11:47 p.m. EST. See our detailed timeline of tonight's spacewalk.
Meanwhile aboard the international space station, astronauts Bill Shepherd, Yuri Usachev and Jim Voss are at work unloading the Leonardo cargo container docked to the station nearly 24 hours ago.
MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2001
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
The shuttle crew has been awakened for Flight Day 6 -- a day that will feature the second of two spacewalks of Discovery's mission to continue international space station construction. The six-and-a-half hour excursion by astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Richards is due to get underway at 11:47 p.m. EST.
1235 GMT (7:35 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston have taken over work to activate the Leonardo module after installation of an electrical jumper between the cargo carrier's systems and the space station's.
Shuttle commander James Wetherbee closed two relays and turned on two power converter units just before 7:30 a.m. to provide power to the module after initial attempts failed due to a jumper that had not been installed as expected.
After powering up the converter units, Wetherbee lowered Discovery's cabin air pressure from 14.7 pounds per square inch to 10.2 psi in preparation for tonight's spacewalk by Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards.
1145 GMT (6:45 a.m. EST)
Hatches between the shuttle Discovery and the international space station were closed at 6:39 a.m. EST (1139 GMT) in preparation for a spacewalk this evening by astronauts Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards.
1125 GMT (6:25 a.m. EST)
The space station crew ran into unexpected problems powering up life support systems in the newly attached Leonardo cargo carrier. After troubleshooting, ground controllers told station skipper William Shepherd a critical electrical jumper between the station and the module apparently had not yet been installed.
Shepherd quickly confirmed that, saying "if they can get in the database and tell us where to find a jumper, we can fix that fairly quickly."
"And we're working that as we speak," replied Stephanie Wilson from the space station control center. "Stand by."
A few moments later, Wilson told Shepherd the jumper in question was located inside the Leonardo module. Once the jumper is installed, fans can be activated to prevent pockets of carbon dioxide from building up.
"So at this time, you are 'go' to ingress," Wilson said around 6:15 a.m. "Please monitor your symptoms as you do so. And I have a rack and section location for the jumper when you're ready to copy."
1100 GMT (6:00 a.m. EST)
The space station crew is working through troubleshooting procedures to overcome problems powering up systems in the newly attached Leonardo cargo carrier. Station skipper William Shepherd is repeating steps in the activation sequence to determine which systems are drawing power.
1050 GMT (05:50 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers have revised the timeline for this evening's spacewalk by astronauts Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards in the wake of a record spacewalk overnight Saturday by James Voss and Susan Helms.
Voss and Helms fell behind schedule and were unable to make electrical connections between cables in a cable tray they installed on the Destiny laboratory module's hull.
The cables in question will route power, telemetry and video between a workstation in the lab and the station's Canadian-built robot arm, scheduled for installation next month.
The cable tray hooks up have been added to the spacewalk by Thomas and Richards, scheduled to get underway at 11:42 p.m.
Once the cable work is complete - the job is expected to take about 50 minutes - the spacewalkers will mount an external cargo carrier on Destiny's hull before splitting up to carry out individual tasks.
Richards will inspect a non-propulsive valve mounted on Destiny during the last shuttle mission and configure circuit interrupt devices to route power from the P6 solar array to internal lab systems.
The valve in question is designed to permit venting without imparting enough force in any direction to affect the station's orientation. Lead station flight director Rick La Brode said today the valve is, in fact, imparting a slight bit of roll to the station.
The station's stabilizing gyroscopes easily compensate, but engineers want to find out what might be affecting the operation of the valve.
Thomas, meanwhile, will make his way to the top of the P6 solar array truss to inspect the so-called four-bar linkage holding one of its two solar wings in place. During deployment last December, one of four locking pins failed to fully engage.
Thomas and Richards were trained to use a come-along type device to crank the linkage toward the fully deployed position in hopes the one stuck locking pin could slip into place.
Lead flight director John Shannon said early today that plan has been called off because of an analysis that indicates potential problems when the come-along is released. Instead, Thomas will simply tap on the linkage with a tool to see if that might be enough to coax the pin free.
Thomas also plans to inspect the floating potential probe, a device at the top of the P6 truss that measures the electrical environment around the space station.
The device has performed intermittently since installation late last year. It was working in recent weeks, until the station's crew powered down the FPP's control computer prior to relocating their Soyuz ferry craft to another port.
When they tried to power the system back up, the FPP failed to operate. Thomas will inspect the unit, note the status of diagnostic LEDs and report the same to Houston.
The spacewalk is expected to last about six-and-a-half-hours.
0645 GMT (1:45 a.m. EST)
Astronaut Andrew Thomas, operating the shuttle Discovery's 50-foot-long robot arm, gently lifted a $150 million Italian-built cargo carrier from the shuttle's cargo bay and successfully attached it to the international space station early today. Read our full story.
0602 GMT (1:02 a.m. EST)
LEONARDO ATTACHED. The Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module has been mounted to the international space station with its 9,993 pounds of equipment and experiments for the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. The astronauts are slated to enter the $150 million pressurized module in a few hours, then start unpacking its contents on Monday night.
Its payload includes six systems racks for the lab, including two with power equipment that will control research experiments, two needed for operating the space station robotic arm set for delivery next month, one for the station's Ku-band high-data rate and TV communications antenna and another holding astronaut medical equipment. One experiment rack is also aboard carrying life sciences investigations. There are also a variety of supplies and spare parts to be transferred to the station.
Once emptied, the crew will load about 2,600 pounds of old equipment and trash into Leonardo for return to Earth. Plans call for the module to be detached from the station and put back into Discovery's payload bay next Saturday.
Leonardo is a cylindrical module stretching 21 feet in length and 15 feet in diameter. It's launch weight was 23,265 pounds.
Two similar modules have been built -- Raffaello and Donatello -- and will be used to ferry cargo to and from the space station in the coming years. All three modules are reusable, and will make trips to orbit, unloaded by astronauts and then brought back to Earth. They are each designed to fly up to 25 times -- 10 flights during station assembly and 4 or 5 missions per year during the outpost's operational life span.
Although built by the Italian Space Agency, the modules are owned by NASA.
0559 GMT (12:59 a.m. EST)
Now two inches.
0553 GMT (12:53 a.m. EST)
Leonardo is now about one foot away from its latching point on the station. Meanwhile, flight controllers report the astronauts are about 90 minutes behind the timeline tonight. Officials are studying the timeline to see what can be compressed tonight to recover the lost time.
0545 GMT (12:45 a.m. EST)
A "go" has been given from Mission Control to berth Leonardo. The robot arm is again in motion under the control of astronaut Andy Thomas.
0530 GMT (12:30 a.m. EST)
Leonardo remains a matter of inches away from its berthing port on the station. Mission Control is trying to get a television view set up to ensure good alignment before the module is cleared for docking.
0508 GMT (12:08 a.m. EST)
The robot arm is again moving to maneuver Leonardo to its install position.
0503 GMT (12:03 a.m. EST)
Leonardo is now in a position where the astronauts will be able to determine if the module is properly aligned with the berthing port on the space station. Once the alignment check is completed, the shuttle's robot arm will finish the job moving the module and dock it to the Unity node of the station.
0445 GMT (11:45 p.m. EST Sun.)
Jim Voss is now officially a resident of the international space station, beginning his scheduled four-and-a-half month voyage aboard the orbiting outpost as part of Expedition Two. Voss takes the place of Sergei Krikalev who is now a shuttle astronaut for the return trip home.
Voss joins Yuri Usachev who moved into the station on Saturday morning, replacing Yuri Gidzenko.
The final exchange between the two Expeditions will occur on Tuesday night when Susan Helms transfers into the station and Bill Shepherd moves over to the shuttle.
0430 GMT (11:30 p.m. EST Sun.)
Leonardo is now clear of the payload bay walls as it rides on the end of the shuttle's robot arm.
0423 GMT (11:23 p.m. EST Sun.)
While Leonardo continues its slow rise out of the payload bay, Mission Control says Expedition Two flight engineer Jim Voss has moved his Soyuz capsule seatliner from shuttle Discovery to the international space station. This is a key milestone in his transfer from one home spacecraft to the other.
The seatliner is a custom-made structure that goes inside the Russian Soyuz escape capsule docked to the station. Once the seatliner is installed and Voss completes a fit check of his Russian spacesuit, he will become a full-time resident of the station, replacing Expedition One flight engineer Sergei Krikalev, who is currently moving his gear over to the shuttle for return to Earth next week.
0409 GMT (11:09 p.m. EST Sun.)
Leonardo is on its way to meet up with the international space station. The robot arm has begun to slowly lift the module out of Discovery's payload bay.
0352 GMT (10:52 p.m. EST Sun.)
The remote umbilical running to Leonardo has been demated successfully.
Meanwhile, the crew handover between Expedition One's Sergei Krikalev and Expedition Two's Jim Voss is now underway.
0345 GMT (10:45 p.m. EST Sun.)
While Andy Thomas oversees robot arm operations tonight, Discovery's pilot, Jim Kelly, is responsible for commanding the remote umbilical connecting Leonardo to the shuttle. Kelly has now started work to disconnect the umbilical, which has provided power and heat to the cargo module since launch.
Once the umbilical is pulled, the retention latches physically holding the module in the payload bay will be opened. That will clear the way for the robot arm to unberth Leonardo.
0337 GMT (10:37 p.m. EST Sun.)
LEONARDO GRAPPLED. Discovery's 50-foot long robot arm now has a firm grasp on the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) riding in the shuttle's payload bay. The arm will gently lift the 23,000-pound module out of the bay shortly and attach it to the nadir port of the space station's Unity node.
Inside Leonardo resides about 9,000 pounds of cargo -- equipment, experiments and supplies -- to outfit the station's near Destiny laboratory. The astronauts will begin unpacking Leonardo tomorrow night, a job that will take several days.
The Italian-built module will be returned to Discovery's bay next Saturday for the trip back to Earth for later reuse.
0330 GMT (10:30 p.m. EST Sun.)
Robot arm operator Andy Thomas has been given a "go" to grapple the Leonardo module.
0316 GMT (10:16 p.m. EST Sun.)
Mission Control reports the hatches between the shuttle and space station are once again open, uniting crews of both craft.
0300 GMT (10:00 p.m. EST Sun.)
Before grappling Leonardo, the shuttle's robot arm is being used to survey the berthing port on the space station where the "moving van" module will be docked tonight. The arm's cameras are providing visual verification that the berth's locking mechanism is properly configured.
0230 GMT (9:30 p.m. EST Sun.)
Space shuttle Discovery's arm has been powered to life as astronaut Andy Thomas prepares to hoist the Italian-made Leonardo cargo module from the payload bay and dock it to the international space station over the course of the next two hours. Meanwhile, commander Jim Wetherbee and station skipper Bill Shepherd are in the process of equalizing pressures in preparation to open hatches between the two spacecraft.
Besides attaching Leonardo tonight, the other major activity will be the crew exchange between Expedition One's Sergei Krikalev and Expedition Two's Jim Voss. Krikalev will transfer from the station into the shuttle to conclude his four-and-a-half month residence on the outpost. Voss, who completed a spacewalk last night, will move into his new orbital home for a stay expected to last until July.
0007 GMT (7:07 p.m. EST Sun.)
The highlight of flight day five will be the installation of the Leonardo logistics module. Astronaut Andy Thomas will use the shuttle's robot arm to lift the module out of the payload bay and attach it to the docking port on the Unity module vacated by PMA-3 on Sunday morning.
About five tonnes of equipment and supplies will be unloaded from the module over the next five days. The module will then be restowed in the cargo bay for the return to earth.
The hatches between Discovery and the station will be re-opened at about 9:12 p.m. EST tonight. The hatches will remain open for about eight hours or so before they are close again in preparation for the second spacewalk of the mission scheduled for Monday night/Tuesday morning.
SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2001
1150 GMT (6:50 p.m. EST)
The crew of Discovery were awakened at 2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST) to the music of "Blastoff" from the soundtrack of the movie Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders. The wake-up music was requested by the children of mission specialist Paul Richards.
"I understand that song is played around your house quite a bit," radioed CAPCOM Cady Coleman.
1420 GMT (9:20 a.m. EST)
Today's spacewalk by the numbers: it was the 61st of the shuttle program, bringing the total duration of shuttle spacewalks to 386 hours and 15 minutes. It was the 17th spacewalk in the space station program, bringing the total EVA duration for that program to 117 hours 39 minutes.
1408 GMT (9:08 a.m. EST)
Repressurization of the airlock has begun 8 hours and 56 minutes after the start of the spacewalk, now officially the longest in U.S. space history.
1405 GMT (9:05 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers have been give a "go" to repressurize the airlock as soon as the hatch is closed.
1401 GMT (9:01 a.m. EST)
The arm has released its grip on the PMA.
1400 GMT (9:00 a.m. EST)
Discovery's crew has been given approval to detach the robot arm from the PMA. The spacewalkers have been told to close the thermal cover on the airlock and get ready to close the hatch. They will have to wait for the robot arm to ungrapple the PMA before repressurizing.
1350 GMT (8:50 a.m. EST)
With the docking adapter finally in place, Voss and Helms will soon be given permission to repressurize the airlock. Although they have been in the airlock for sometime now, the spacewalk is officially the longest in U.S. spacewalk history.
1345 GMT (8:45 a.m. EST)
PMA-3 is finally confirmed in postion at the left-hand docking port of the Unity module.
1342 GMT (8:42 a.m. EST)
Voss and Helms have set a new EVA endurance record of more than 8 hours 29 minutes. The record was previously held by the three-man spacewalk to rescue a communications satellite during the STS-49 mission in 1992.
1335 GMT (8:35 a.m. EST)
PMA-3 does not appear properly aligned. The crew are getting different data from their two positioning systems, the Space Vision System and robot arm digital data. They will pull back 12-inches, reposition the PMA and try again.
1329 GMT (8:29 a.m. EST)
The arm is again in motion, inching PMA-3 toward its new docking port.
1315 GMT (8:15 a.m. EST)
Docking of the PMA is being held up while, flight controllers and the crew are discussing the configuration of the Space Vision System, which will aid the the alignment and docking of the PMA.
With Voss and Helms still in the airlock, their spacewalk has become the longest in ISS history at over eight hours. The previous longest space station assembly EVA was 7 hours 55 minutes during mission STS-96 in May 1999.
1253 GMT (7:53 a.m. EST)
PMA-3 is now less than found feet from its docking port.
1243 GMT (7:43 a.m. EST)
The petals of the common berthing mechanism where PMA-3 will be docked are being driven open.
Mission Theater subscribers can watch a video clip of Voss and Helms putting on their space suits.
1235 GMT (7:35 a.m. EST)
Wetherbee reports the crew is ready drive PMA-3 towards its new docking port.
1221 GMT (7:21 a.m. EST)
PMA-3 is in position a short distance from its new docking port.
1221 GMT (7:21 a.m. EST)
PMA-3 is in position a short distance from its new docking port.
1212 GMT (7:12 a.m. EST)
Discovery astronaut Andy Thomas has backed PMA-3 away from its original location on Unity and has begun to swing it around to its new docking port on the module's left-hand side.
1159 GMT (6:59 a.m. EST)
The robot arm has started to slowly move PMA-3 to its new location.
1146 GMT (6:46 a.m. EST)
With Voss and Helms safely in the airlock, mission control has given Discovery commander Jim Wetherbee a "go" to proceed with the move of the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) No. 3. The port is being moved from the Unity node's downward Earth-facing berth to the left-side berth to make way for the Leonardo logistics module.
1138 GMT (6:38 a.m. EST)
Helms and Voss are now in Discovery's airlock. Helms is already hooked up to orbiter umbilicals.
1124 GMT (6:24 a.m. EST)
Space shuttle Discovery's robot arm has grappled the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3. The electrically driven bolts holding the cone-shaped docking port to the space station's Unity node will be released via remote control shortly, allowing the arm to transport the PMA. The port is being moved from the node's downward Earth-facing berth to the left-side berth.
1033 GMT (5:33 a.m. EST)
With the Rigid Umbilical attached to the station, the spacewalkers have now completed the last planned job of today's EVA. They will now remove equipment from the shuttle's robot arm so it can be used to grapple the station's Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 docking port for its upcoming detachment and relocation over the next two hours.
Voss and Helms will proceed to clean up Discovery's payload bay, putting away tools and tethers and return to the airlock. They will not repressurize the airlock until after the PMA is firmly docked to its new location on the left side of the Unity node in case a problem comes up and they have to assist.
1021 GMT (5:21 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers are now mounting the Rigid Umbilical -- a tray-like structure -- to the bottom side of the Destiny lab near the Power & Data Grapple Fixture. The RU holds the cabling that will route power, data and video between Destiny and the station's robotic arm once it is delivered next month.
Since today's spacewalk is running behind schedule, Voss and Helms are only physically attaching the Rigid Umbilical. Work to connect wires to Destiny will be rescheduled for the mission's second spacewalk, which will be performed by astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Richards.
0956 GMT (4:56 a.m. EST)
Jim Voss is currently unbolting the Rigid Umbilical from the bottom of a cargo carrier platform in Discovery's payload bay. Susan Helms in riding on the robot arm. They spacewalkers will take the umbilical structure up the the Destiny lab module for attachment, the final major task of their excursion.
0940 GMT (4:40 a.m. EST)
Umbilicals linking the cradle to Destiny have been connected. The cradle will be a vital part of the next shuttle mission a month from now when it captures the structure containing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System robot arm.
Jim Voss has been riding on the shuttle's robot arm during this spacewalk with Susan Helms the free-floating astronaut. They will swap places in preparation for installing the Rigid Umbilical structure to the Destiny hull.
0915 GMT (4:15 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers continue working to secure the Lab Cradle Assembly, which was attached to the Destiny module a short time ago.
0855 GMT (3:55 a.m. EST)
Mission Control has determined that the spacewalkers will mount the so-called Rigid Umbilical to the underside of Destiny as planned today. However, the various power, data and video connections between the Rigid Umbilical and Destiny lab will be deferred to the mission's second spacewalk, saving about 50 minutes. That will recover the time lost earlier in the EVA and allow the PMA docking port relocation to occur as scheduled while Voss and Helms are still able to assist if needed. There is a limit of how long the spacewalk can last and NASA wants to accomplish the PMA move while the two could climb up and lend a hand should a problem arise.
0848 GMT (3:48 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers have mounted the Lab Cradle Assembly to the top of U.S. Destiny laboratory module of the international space station above the nose of shuttle Discovery. This 300-pound, 4-foot square box is basically a truss with a claw that will be used to hold the pallet containing the station's robotic arm during deliver next month. The lab is so large, and just fit inside the shuttle's payload bay for launch in January, that the cradle couldn't be installed on Earth.
Meanwhile, Mission Control continues to refine options to shorten the workload for this spacewalk following delays experienced earlier.
0830 GMT (3:30 a.m. EST)
Flight controllers now calculate that the spacewalk is more like an hour behind schedule. Because of the constraint of needing to get the PMA 3 relocated before the spacewalk concludes (in case Voss and Helms have to lend a hand), officials are looking at what activities could be deferred to the mission's second EVA to get this excursion back on the timeline.
0811 GMT (3:11 a.m. EST)
Jim Voss has successfully removed the box-like port-side Early Communications Antenna from the Unity node. He will bring the antenna back into the station after the spacewalk.
Mission Control reports the spacewalkers are running about 40 minutes behind schedule. This was caused in part of the extra time Jim Voss had to spend getting a new PAD, or portable attachment device, out of a tool bag on the station and mounting it to the robot arm. His original PAD was accidently lost near the start of the spacewalk when it became untethered and floated into space. The spacewalkers also experienced some minor difficulty during the umbilical routing with a stubborn connector.
0800 GMT (3:00 a.m. EST)
Spacewalker Jim Voss is working to release the Early Communications Antenna assembly from the port-side berth of the international space station's Unity node. This is where the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 will be relocated today. Susan Helms, meanwhile, is completing some preparatory work associated with the Lab Cradle Assembly mounted to a platform in Discovery's payload bay. The cradle will be attached to the U.S. Destiny lab a little later during the spacewalk.
0730 GMT (2:30 a.m. EST)
The umbilical routing work is now reaching completion by the spacewalkers, including disconnection of cables running to the PMA 3. So the cone-shaped docking port is now ready to be unbolted and removed from the Unity node in a couple of hours.
The next chore in the spacewalk will be preparing the new parking slot for the PMA 3 -- the left-side berth of Unity. That is about 45 degrees from its present downward-facing berth. A communications antenna assembly is currently attached to the side berth and must be removed to clear the way for the PMA's attachment around 8 a.m. EST today by the shuttle's robot arm. The communications antenna is no longer needed and will be brought inside the station following the conclusion of the spacewalk.
0712 GMT (2:12 a.m. EST)
Now two hours into today's EVA.
The spacewalkers hit a bit of difficulty with one connector in some of the cables being run on the Unity node. The umbilical in question is needed to route power to a data bus for the Common Berthing Mechanism, which will be used to release the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 from Unity in a few hours. The PMA has be relocated so the Leonardo cargo module can be docked tomorrow.
But after some extra effort, Jim Voss was finally able to resolve to make the connection.
Meanwhile, Susan Helms is performing an inspection to ensure the PMA can be removed cleanly without any obstruction from Unity.
0700 GMT (2:00 a.m. EST)
The wiring work by spacewalkers Jim Voss and Susan Helms continues on the exterior of the international space station's Unity node. They are disconnecting umbilicals running to the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 mounted to the Node's Earth-facing -- or nadir -- berth.
Also underway is routing loop-back cabling to ensure power to the Common Berthing Mechanism that holds the PMA to Unity. The mechanism will be controlled via laptop computer by commander Jim Wetherbee inside Discovery later this morning when electrical bolts are driven open to the PMA can be detached and relocated to the side of Unity.
0622 GMT (1:22 a.m. EST)
Voss and Helms are currently working around the Unity node of the international space station, unhooking cabling running between the U.S. module and the PMA 3 docking port. The cables are being removed from the PMA and attached to dummy interfaces on Unity. Later this morning, the PMA will be unbolted from the node's Earth-facing berth and moved to the left-side berth by Discovery's robot arm.
0552 GMT (12:52 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers are experiencing some trouble losing things so far in today's EVA. While Susan Helms was working her way outside the airlock, a bag of hydrazine detector equipment accidently floated into the payload bay. Fellow spacewalker Jim Voss was already outside and able to catch the bag. It was stowed back in the airlock.
Later, Voss was not as lucky when a PAD, or portable attachment device, somehow became detached from a tether and floated away. Another such device is located in a tool bag on the station's exterior.
At this time work is already underway to disconnect cables on the PMA 3 docking port.
0522 GMT (12:22 a.m. EST)
The spacewalkers are heading outside the airlock following a thorough check of their suits. They will get acclimated to working outside the shuttle's cabin, gather the tools and equipment needed for their work today and then set off on the first task -- unhooking cabling connecting the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 docking port to the station. The cone-shaped port will be moved to another spot on the station later this morning using Discovery's robot arm.
Today's spacewalk is the third for Jim Voss, who is designated EV-1 and has red stripes on his suit. He previously made excursions on STS-69 and 101. Susan Helms is a spacewalk rookie. She is EV-2 and has no stripes on her suit.
0512 GMT (12:12 a.m. EST)
EVA BEGINS. Astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms switched their spacesuits from shuttle-provided power to internal batteries at 12:12 a.m. EST, signalling the official start of today's planned 7-hour spacewalk. The EVA is the 101st in U.S. space program history, the 61st to occur from the space shutle and 17th dedicated to international space station construction.
0507 GMT (12:07 a.m. EST)
Mission Control reports space shuttle Discovery's airlock is now at vacuum. The spacewalkers will now make final checks and place their suits on battery power.
0457 GMT (11:57 p.m. EST Sat.)
Depressurization is underway.
0450 GMT (11:50 p.m. EST Sat.)
Discovery's airlock will soon begin depressurizing to vacuum in advance of Voss and Helms opening the hatch to space. The spacewalk officially begins when the two switch their suits to battery power.
0433 GMT (11:33 p.m. EST Sat.)
The Discovery crew just reported the EVA preparation timeline has been completed. Once the pre-breathing is finished, the airlock will be depressurized and the spacewalkers set out on their excursion. Activities are running a few minutes behind schedule this evening.
0430 GMT (11:30 p.m. EST Sat.)
The pure oxygen pre-breathing by Voss and Helms -- done to prevent "the bends" during tonight's spacewalk -- continues. The EVA is expected to begin within the half-hour.
0335 GMT (10:35 p.m. EST Sat.)
Spacewalkers Jim Voss and Susan Helms will begin the 40-minute procedure of breathing pure oxygen shortly, one of the final steps in advance of depressurizing Discovery's airlock and starting the EVA.
0212 GMT (9:12 p.m. EST Sat.)
As the spacewalkers continue with chores to ready themselves for tonight's adventure, we have posted the very latest version of the day's flight plan timeline.
0212 GMT (9:12 p.m. EST Sat.)
Jim Voss and Susan Helms are donning their spacesuits aboard Discovery at this hour in preparation for tonight's spacewalk outside the shuttle-station complex. Activities are on track for the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) to begin around 11:45 p.m. EST.
The shuttle crew was awakened at 6:42 p.m. EST by the song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," performed by Starship. The tune was played by Mission Control in honor of the two spacewalkers.
SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2001
2343 GMT (6:43 p.m. EST)
The seven astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery were just awakened by Mission Control to begin Flight Day 4 of the STS-102 mission -- a day that will feature a seven-hour spacewalk and relocation of one cone-shaped docking port on the international space station.
Expedition Two astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms will begin preparatory work for their spacewalk excursion about two hours from now. The EVA is due to start around 11:45 p.m. EST.
The main goals of this first of two spacewalks on Discovery's flight will include disconnecting the various cable umbilicals running between the Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3 docking port to the U.S. Unity node of the station. That will clear the way for the shuttle's robot arm to grapple the PMA and physically move it from the nadir berthing slot on Unity to the node's port side early Sunday. The spacewalkers will also move the Early Communications Antenna currently located on the port side of Unity to make room for the PMA.
The PMA relocation is necessary because the PMA's current parking spot will be filled by the Leonardo cargo-carrying module when it is attached to the station on Monday morning.
Voss and Helms also plan to mount the Lab Cradle Assembly and Rigid Umbilical to the exterior of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. See a detailed timeline of the spacewalk.
We will have live updates on this page throughout the night.
1155 GMT (6:55 a.m. EST)
Expedition Two commander Yury Usachev officially joined the space station crew at 5:34 a.m. EST (1034 GMT). Hatch closure, in preparation for a spacewalk later this evening, occurred at 5:54 a.m. (1054 GMT).
1120 GMT (06:20 a.m. EST)
Hatches between the space station and the shuttle Discovery have been closed to permit the shuttle crew to lower the orbiter's cabin air pressure from 14.7 pounds per square inch to 10.2 psi. This sets the stage for a planned spacewalk late this evening. by astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms.
Russian cosmonaut Yury Usachev, meanwhile, is now officially a member of the station's three-person crew, taking the place of Expedition One Soyuz pilot Yuri Gidzenko, who is now considered a member of Discovery's crew.
The crew transfer became official with installation of Usachev's custom-fit seat liner in the station's Soyuz lifeboat spacecraft earlier in the morning (the exact time is not yet known). From this point forward, Usachev will sleep aboard the station while Gidzenko bunks on the shuttle.
Usachev is commander of the station's second full-time crew. But he will not take on that role until after Expedition One commander William Shepherd is replaced by astronaut Susan Helms on Wednesday.
Usachev's other Expedition Two crewmate, James Voss, will transfer aboard the station Monday.
1045 GMT (5:45 a.m. EST)
Despite some 40 minutes of unplanned station keeping before this morning's docking, shuttle commander James Wetherbee managed to save 80 pounds of propellant over what was predicted for a normal rendezvous and docking.
Lead flight director John Shannon said the saved propellant will be used to help increase the station's altitude during three planned one-hour reboost sessions later in the flight.
Today's docking was delayed because of problems getting one of the P6 solar array's two wings to lock in place before Discovery's final approach.
Station flight director Rick La Brode told reporters the problem involved one of two latches on the starboard array's gimbal mechanism (starboard as viewed from the shuttle).
Only one such latch is needed and flight controllers elected to use latch No. 2, which had never been used before, for Discovery's docking. The latch motor drew current, La Brode said, but failed to drive closed.
Flight controllers then decided to open latch No. 2, move the array slightly and attempt to engage latch No. 1, which has been used in the past. This time, the array locked in place as required and Wetherbee was cleared to begin the final push to docking.
Shannon said a 34-minute loss of voice and telemetry from the shuttle shortly after docking apparently was caused by a computer glitch at NASA's White Sands, N.M., satellite control center.
The cause of the problem is under investigation. In the meantime, communications from NASA's Tracking and Data Relay satellites is being routed through an alternate channel.
0851 GMT (3:51 a.m. EST)
HATCH OPENING. The shuttle Discovery crew has opened the hatches leading into the international space station while flying over the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Florida. The 10 astronauts will unite for a welcoming ceremony in the U.S. Destiny lab module of the outpost.
Over the next hour or so, the the first of three crewmember handovers will occur between Expeditions One and Two as Yuri Usachev moves from the shuttle into the space station and Yuri Gidzenko takes up residence aboard Discovery for return to Earth. The remaining swaps are scheduled over the next few days.
Our docking story will be updated as warranted with updates on the ceremony and crew exchange.
The hatches will be reclosed later this morning so Discovery's crew module pressure can be lowered from 14.7 to 10.2 psi in preparation for the first spacewalk of the mission, set to begin at about 11:30 p.m. EST tonight.
0831 GMT (3:31 a.m. EST)
Leak checks are now reported successfully completed. Hatches will be opening shortly.
0814 GMT (3:14 a.m. EST)
Final pressure leak checks continue aboard the shuttle and station in preparation for hatch opening.
0727 GMT (2:27 a.m. EST)
The leak checks of the hatchway leading between Discovery and the space station are underway, and the shuttle crew will soon pressurize the vestibule in preparation for entry into the station in about an hour. This comes after some communications problems between the ground and shuttle.
0725 GMT (2:25 a.m. EST)
For our Mission Theater subscribers, you can watch a video clip of docking.
0712 GMT (2:12 a.m. EST)
Discovery commander James Wetherbee guided the shuttle to a gentle docking with the international space station early this morning after flight controllers remotely coaxed latches into place to secure a possibly free-swinging solar array. Read our full docking story.
0707 GMT (2:07 a.m. EST)
The extension ring on the shuttle's docking system has been retracted, bringing the international space station's docking port to a firm seal with Discovery. Hooks and latches also have driven closed to keep the two craft connected. The seven astronauts aboard Discovery and the three men of the station's Expedition One crew are now orbiting together in a single, joined spacecraft.
The shuttle astronauts are powering down Discovery's docking mechanism following today's successful linkup. Pressure checks will now begin between the two spacecraft before the three hatches can be opened to unite the shuttle and station crews. That hatch opening is expected about 90 minutes from now, followed by a welcoming ceremony. The exchange of home spacecraft between Expedition Two's Yuri Usachev and Expedition One's Yuri Gidzenko is expected around 4:30 a.m. EST.
0700 GMT (2:00 a.m. EST)
A problem at the White Sands ground station is preventing voice and data communications between Discovery and Mission Control. ISS commander Bill Shepherd, who is contact with the shuttle crew view VHF radio, is relaying updates from Discovery to flight controllers.
0658 GMT (1:58 a.m. EST)
After waiting for motion between Discovery and the station to damp out, the hooks and latches have now been driven closed. And the space station's solar arrays have resumed tracking the sun to generate onboard electrical power.
0639 GMT (1:39 a.m. EST)
Mission Control reports the docking occurred above the South Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 236 statute miles. Currently, the rates between the shuttle and station are being damped out. Later the hooks and latches will be closed to firmly join the two spacecraft and Discovery's Orbiter Docking System docking ring will be retracted.
0638 GMT (1:38 a.m. EST)
CONTACT AND CAPTURE! Space shuttle Discovery has docked to the international space station. Discovery arrives to serve as a space taxi -- bringing the Expedition Two crew to the orbiting complex to begin their 4.5-month tour of duty and shuttling the Expedition One astronauts back to return to conclude their vanguard mission.
The link up comes more than an hour behind schedule after some drama created by the lack of indication that one of the outpost's solar arrays was secured for docking. Despite the delay, Mission Control says the major chores planned today will still occur, including the swap of Expedition Two commander Yuri Usachev for Expedition One pilot Yuri Gidzenko.
Read our earlier status center coverage.
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A 50-minute VHS video cassette from Spaceflight Now features spectacular "rocketcam" footage from April's launch of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey probe. Available from the Astronomy Now Store in NTSC format (North America and Japan) and PAL (UK, most of Europe, Australia and other countries).
The space shuttle Discovery docks with the International Space Station in this sequential still video beamed to the ground.
NASA's Crew Activity Report carries the highlights of flight day two of mission STS-102.
STS-102 lead flight director John Shannon provides reporters with an update on the progress of the mission.
The space shuttle Discovery eclipses the rising sun as it lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station.
A camera mounted in Discovery's overhead cockpit window captures a "rear-view mirror" angle of the shuttle's dawn liftoff. Mission commander Jim Wetherbee narrates.
Orbit ops snapshot