STS-97

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  26630 / 00078A Launch date - time  01 Dec 2000 - 03:06:01 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39B Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Endeavour #15 (OV-105) Primary payload   Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Jett, Bloomfield, Tanner Garneau, Noriega Docking date - time  02 Dec 2000 - 19:59 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/PMA-3 docking port Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  370 x 381 km    - Inclination  51.58°    - Period  89.7 min Undocking date - time  09 Dec 2000 - 19:13 UT Landing date - time  11 Dec 2000 - 23:03:25 UT Landing rollout time  55 sec Landing location  KSC, Runway 15 Flight Duration  10d 19h 58m 19s Nbr orbits  170

Flight crew

Summary

Mission details:

• Endeavour was launched at 03:06 UTC on Dec 1, 2000 on mission STS-97 to the International Space Station. The external tank and the Orbiter entered a 74 x 325 km orbit at 03:14 UTC. Endeavour's OMS burn raised its perigee to 205 km at around 03:47 UTC; the ET reentered over the Pacific. Endeavour docked with the Station's PMA-3 docking port at 19:59 UTC on Dec 2.

• The payload bay of Endeavour for STS-97 contains:
  

  .	.	Est. Mass (kg)
  Bay 1-2:	Orbiter Docking System	1800
  .	3 EMU spacesuits (S/N unknown)	360?
  .	FPPU experiment (in airlock)	23
  Unknown	APCU Assembly Power Converter Unit	35
  Unknown	APCU Assembly Power Converter Unit	35
  Bay 3-6:	ITS P6 Long Spacer	4000?
  .	TCS radiator (aft)	500?
  .	TCS radiator (starboard)	500?
  Bay 8-11:	ITS P6 Integrated Equipment Assembly	7200?
  .	PV radiator P6	500?
  Bay 12-13:	ITS P6 Photovoltaic Array/Beta Gimbal Asy.	1000?
  .	Solar array wing 2B	1070
  .	Solar array wing 4B	1070
  Bay 13S	IMAX Cargo Bay Camera	238
  Sill:	Canadarm RMS 303	410
  .	Total payload bay cargo	18740 kg

  
  

  The crew of STS-97 installed the first set of U.S.-built solar arrays, radiators and batteries onto the ISS, transforming it into the brightest artificial object in Earth′s skies. Photo Credit: NASA

  The International Space Station (ISS), with Endeavour docked and the P-6 truss and arrays fully deployed. Image Credit: NASA

  
  
• The main cargo is P6, which is made up of the LS (Long Spacer), PV-1 IEA (Integrated Equipment Assembly) and the PVAA (Photovoltaic Array). The LS carries two Thermal Control Systems with radiators to eject waste heat from the Station; these radiators will be moved to truss segments S4 and S6 later in assembly. The PVAA has solar array wings SAW-2B and SAW-4B, which were deployed to a span of 73 meters.
  The FPPU (Floating Potential Probe Experiment) will be installed on P6 to measure charge buildup as the arrays pass through the ionospheric plasma. P6 has devices to bleed off excess charge, and FPPU will see how well they are doing.
  The Boeing Rocketdyne APCUs are boxes which provide Orbiter power to the Station; they first flew on STS-91 (providing simulated ISS power to the AMS experiment) and are probably attached to APCs (Adaptive Payload Carriers) somewhere in the bay .

• The first STS-97 spacewalk began with airlock depress and hatch open at 18:31 UTC on Dec 3, 2000. The suits went to battery power at 18:35 UTC and Joe Tanner and Carlos Noriega left the airlock around 18:45 UTC. Around 19:32 UTC the RMS arm berthed P6 on the Z1 truss, and the astronauts manually latched it in place by 19:40 UTC. There were some problems releasing latches on the solar array wings, but the first solar array began to deploy at 01:23 UTC on Dec 4. This was the "starboard" (+X) array, wing SAW-2B. The port (-X) array, SAW-4B, was left undeployed. The astronauts closed the hatch at 02:02 UTC on Dec 4 and repressurized at 02:09 UTC for an EVA-1 duration of 7:38 (depress), 7:31 (hatch open/close), or 7:34 (NASA rule). The P6 PVR radiator was deployed on the +Y side of the IEA at 04:14 UTC on Dec 4. The SAW-4B wing was deployed starting at 00:52 UTC on Dec 5.

• The second spacewalk began on Dec 5, 2000 with depress at 17:18 UTC, hatch open around 17:19 UTC and battery power at 17:21 UTC. Repress was at 23:58 UTC. Duration was 6:40 (depress), 6:35 (hatch open/close), or 6:37 (NASA rule). The astronauts connected up P6 to the station, inspected the tension wires on wing 2B, and relocated the S-band antenna to the top of P6. They unlatched the aft TCS radiator, which was deployed sometime early on Dec 6.

• Astronauts Noriega and Tanner on Dec 7 performed EVA-3 to fix the tension in the SAW-2B solar array on the Station. Airlock depress was at 16:09 UTC, hatch open at 16:10 UTC and battery power at 16:13 UTC. The astronauts left the airlock a few minutes later, at about 16:20 UTC. After fixing the solar array they installed the FPPU device to measure plasma conditions near the top of P6 and performed a few other minor tasks. They returned to the airlock at around 21:10 UTC, closing the hatch at 21:19 and repressurizing at 21:22 for a duration of 5:14 (depress), 5:09 (Hatch open/close) or 5:10 (NASA rule).

• The Endeavour crew then entered the station at 14:36 UTC on Dec 8, delivering supplies to Alpha's Expedition One crew. Hatches were closed again at 15:51 UTC Dec 9, and Endeavour undocked at 19:13 UTC the same day. After one flyaround of the station, Endeavour fired its engines to depart the vicinity at 20:17 UTC Dec 9.
  The deorbit burn was at 21:58 UTC on Dec 11, changing the orbit from 351 x 365 km to 27 x 365 km, with landing at Runway 15 of Kennedy Space Center at 23:03 UTC.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: Remembering STS-97 Mission

Astrophilately covers:

Rollsover from OPF to BAB, cancel KSC. Credit: #401

Rollsout from VAB to Pad 39B, cancel KSC. Credit: #401

Launch cancel KSC, with barres. Credit: J. Vd Dr.

Launch cancel KSC, without barres. Credit: #401

Docking cancel Houston. Credit: #401

Docking cancel Houston.

Landing cancel KSC. Credit: J. Vd Dr.