STS-92

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  26563 / 00062A Launch date - time  11 Oct 2000 - 23:17 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Discovery #28 (OV-103) Primary payload   Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Duffy, Melroy, Chiao, McArthur Wisoff, Lopez-Alegria, Wakata Docking date - time  13 Oct 2000 - 17:45 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/PMA-2 Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  386 x 394 km    - Inclination  51.6°    - Period  92.3 min Undocking date - time  20 Oct 2000 - 13:30 UT Landing date - time  24 Oct 2000 - 20:59:41 UT Landing location  Edwards AFB, Runway 22 Flight Duration  12d 21h 43m Nbr orbits  203

Flight crew

Summary:

Mission details:

• STS-92 was space station assembly flight ISS-3A, to bring the Z-1 Truss (mounted on a Spacelab pallet), Control Moment Gyros, Pressurised Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the International Space Station.
• The RSRM-76 solid rocket boosters separated at 23:19 GMT and main engine cut-off (MECO) came at 23:25 GMT. External tank ET-104 separated into a 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At apogee at 00:01 GMT on Oct 12, Discovery's OMS engines fired to raise perigee to a 158 x 322 km x 51.6 deg orbit; ET-104 re-entered over the Pacific around 00:30 GMT. At Oct 12 on 03:01 GMT the NC1 burn raised the orbit to 180 x 349 km; NC3 on Oct 12 to 311 x 375 km; and the TI burn at 14:09 GMT on Oct 13 to 375 x 381 km x 51.6 deg. Discovery's rendezvous with the International Space Station came at 15:39 GMT on Oct 13, with docking at 17:45 GMT. The spaceship docked with PMA-2, the docking port on the +Y port of the Space Station's Unity module. Hatch was open to PMA-2 at 20:30 GMT the same day.
• STS-92 Cargo Manifest
  • Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System + 3 EMU spacesuits
  • Bay 5 Port: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit
  • Bay 5 Starboard: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit
  • Bay 7-8: Spacelab Pallet MD003 with PMA-3
  • Bay 10-12: ISS Z1 first segment of the space station truss
  • Bay 13 Adapter Beam with IMAX Cargo Bay Camera
  • Sill: Canadarm RMS 301

  Total payload bay cargo: ca. 14,800 kg

• Z1 truss (above) and Unity Module (below) from STS-92 in October 2000

  The Z1 first segment of the space station truss was built by Boeing/Canoga Park and was 3.5 x 4.5 meters in size. It was attached to the +Z port on Unity. Z1 carried the control moment gyros, the S-band antenna, and the Ku-band antenna.

  PMA-3, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was docked to the -Z port opposite Z1. PMA-3 was installed on a Spacelab pallet for launch.

• On October 14 at 16:15 GMT the Z1 segment was unberthed from the payload bay and at around 18:20 GMT it was docked to the zenith port on the Unity module.

  On Oct 15 at 1420 UTC the ODS airlock was depressurized, beginning a spacewalk by Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao. The hatch was probably unsealed at around 1425 UTC. The spacesuits went to battery power at 1427 UTC, and the thermal cover on the airlock was opened at 1430 UTC. McArthur exited the airlock about 1446 UTC. The astronauts connected cables between Z1 and Unity, relocated the SASA S-band antenna on Z1, and deployed Z1's SGANT Ku-band antenna. They then took the port ETSD (EVA stowage) box from the Spacelab pallet and installed it on Z1. The astronauts were back in the airlock around 2040 UTC and closed the hatch at about 2050 UTC. Repressurization began at 2055 UTC for a depress duration of about 6h 35min, a hatch open/close duration of 6h 25 min. Official NASA EVA duration (battery power to repress) was 6 hours 28 minutes.

• The second spacewalk was on Oct 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. The airlock was depressurized about 1410 UTC, with the hatch and thermal cover opened prior to 1413 UTC. The suits went to battery power at 1415 UTC and Wisoff left the airlock at 1421 UTC. Wakata used the RMS arm to unberth the PMA-3 docking unit from the SLP pallet at 1614 UTC, and docked it to Unity at 1740 UTC. Wisoff and Lopez-Alegria first unbolted PMA-3 from the SLP and then guided Wakata through the delicate alignment process as PMA-3 was removed from the bay and attached to the Station. By 2109 UTC the astronauts were back in the airlock and at 2110 UTC the thermal cover was closed, with hatch seal at 2115 UTC. Repressurization began at 2122 UTC for a duration of 7h 12 min (depress/repress).

• Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur began the third STS-92 EVA at 15:30 GMT on October 17, depress around 14:25 UTC, on battery at 14:30 UTC, and hatch open around 1432 UTC. McArthur emerged at 14:39 UTC. At 16:06 the port DDCU, DDCU-HP 4B, was unberthed from its sidewall carrier and taken up to Z1 for installation by 16:15 UT. DDCU-HP 3B was installed by 16:48 UTC. Next, Z1's cables were attached to Unity. An ETSD spacewalk toolbox was then taken from the Spacelab pallet to Z1, and the Z1 keel pin was relocated. The astronauts were back inside at 21:13, with hatch close at 21:14 and repress at 21:18 UT. Duration was about 6h53min (depress/repress), 6h42min (hatch open/close), or 6h48m (NASA scheme).

  After the spacewalk, Discovery completed the second of the three station reboosts scheduled for STS-92. They fired reaction control system jets in a series of pulses of 1.4 seconds each, over a 30-minute period, gently raising the station's orbit by about 3.1 km.

• The last of four successful spacewalks, by Wisoff and Lopez-Alegria, began with depressurization around 14:50 UTC on Oct 18, 2000. The hatch was opened early, probably around 14:55 UTC, and the astronauts then went onto battery power at 15:00 UTC. The thermal cover was opened at 15:07 UTC and the astronauts emerged at that point. They tested a latch on Z1, removed a grapple fixture, and deployed a cable tray for the ammonia cooling system. The main tasks complete, it was time for the most spectacular moment of the mission - tests of the SAFER spacesuit backpack propulsion units. Wisoff and Lopez-Alegria took turns with semi-free flights, still attached to Discovery by a long, slack tether but otherwise floating free. Wisoff flew first, starting at 18:55 UTC and flying from Lopez-Alegria on the RMS near Zarya to the payload bay. By 19:39 he was back on the RMS, with a flight duration of under 46 min. Lopez-Alegria then flew from 19:49 to 20:16, a duration of 27 min. The astronauts entered the airlock at 21:45, closed the hatch at 21:49, and repressurized the airlock at 21:56. Duration was about 7h06m (depress/repress), 6h54m (hatch open/close), or 6h56m (NASA scheme).

  After the space walk, Discovery completed the third and final reboost of the space station.

• On 19 October the astronauts worked within the ISS. They completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the Expedition One first resident crew of the Station. The crew also tested the four 290-kg gyroscopes in the truss, called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits the Earth. They will ultimately assume attitude control of the ISS following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny. The tests and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed. Melroy and Wisoff took samples from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. They then unclogged the solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief interruption in service.

• The STS-92 crew closed the hatches to the Space Station at around 1330 UTC on Oct 20. Discovery undocked from PMA-2 at 1508 UTC the same day and separated from the vicinity of ISS at around 1550 UTC. Deorbit attempts were waved off on Oct 22 and Oct 23; the deorbit burn finally came at 1951:55 UTC on Oct 24, lowering the orbit from 378 x 389 km x 51.6 deg to 40 x 387 km x 51.6 deg.
• Discovery landed on Runway 22 at Edwards AFB, California, at 2059 UTC on Oct 24 - the first Edwards landing for a Space Shuttle since 1996. The return to earth, planned for 22 October, was delayed repeatedly due to high winds at the Kennedy landing site.

• On Nov.2, 2000 Discovery was transported from Edwards to KSC.
• The PMA-2/Unity/PMA-3/Z1/PMA-3/Zarya/Zvezda/Progress M1-3 complex remains in orbit in automatic mode. The Expedition 1 crew of Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalyov will be launched from Baykonur next week to begin occupation of the station.
  Current mass of the station is at least 71000 kg:
  • Unity 9800 kg
  • 3 PMAs 3900 kg
  • Truss (Z1) 8800 kg
  • Zarya 21000 kg
  • Zvezda 21600 kg
  • Progress M1-3 5400 kg
  • + 500 kg fuel?
  • -------------------------------
  • 71000 kg
  
  The crew had added 9 tonnes to the station's mass, bringing it to about 72 tonnes.

STS-92 (100)

Discovery (28) Pad 39-A (70) 100th Shuttle Mission 28th Flight OV-103

Crew:

Brian Duffy (4), Commander Pamela A. Melroy (1), Pilot Koichi Wakata (2), (Japan) Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao (3), Mission Specialist Peter J.K. Wisoff (4), Mission Specialist Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (2), Mission Specialist William S. McArthur (3), Mission Specialist

Milestones:

OPF -- 12/27/99 VAB -- 8/21/00 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 8/21/2000) PAD -- 9/11/00

Payload: Space Station Assembly Flight ISS-05-3A (Z-1 Truss/SLP, CMGs, Ku/S-Band, PMA-3/SLP, DDCU), IMAX

Mission Objectives:

STS-92 was a space station assembly flight to bring the Z-1 Truss (mounted on a Spacelab pallet), Control Moment Gyros, Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the International Space Station.

ITS Z1 was an early exterior framework to allow first U.S. solar arrays on flight 4A to be temporarily installed on Unity for early power. The Ku-band communication system supported early science capability and U.S. television on 6A. The CMGs (Control Moment Gyros) weighed about 600 lbs and were to provide non-propulsive (electrically powered) attitude control when activated on 5A, and PMA-3 provided a shuttle docking port for solar array installation on 4A, and Lab installation on 5A.

The mission included 7 docked days to the ISS, 4 EVA′s and 2 ingress opportunities.

Over the course of four scheduled spacewalks, two teams of space walkers and an experienced robot arm operator collaborated to install the Z1 (Z for zenith port) truss structure on top of the U.S. Unity connecting node and to deliver the third Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA 3) to the ISS for the future berthing of new station components and to accommodate shuttle dockings.

The Z1 truss was the first permanent lattice-work structure for the ISS, very much like a girder, setting the stage for the future addition of the station's major trusses or backbones. The Z1 fixture would also serve as the platform on which the huge U.S. solar arrays were to be mounted on the next shuttle assembly flight, STS-97.

The Z1 contains four large gyroscopic devices, called Control Moment Gyros (CMGs), which will be used to maneuver the ISS into the proper orientation on orbit once they are activated following the installation of the U.S. laboratory.

The Space Shuttle Discovery glides in for landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Credit: NASA

Astrophilately covers:

Special launch cancel KSC for 100th Shuttle mission, signed by pilot Melroy. Credit: #402

Manuel Launch cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.

Red docking cancel Houston. Credit: #402

Docking cancel Korolev, send registrated.

1th Space walk by William Mc Arthur. Credit: #401

Second spacewalk on Oct 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. Credit: #401

Undocking cancel Houston. Credit: #401

Landing cancel Edwards AFB. Credit: J. Vd Dr.