April 23, 2001 - The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station and the docked shuttle Endeavour are beginning a day that will see the first opening of hatches linking the two spacecraft. Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now" for Pilot Jeff Ashby started the shuttle crews' day. Hatch opening was set for 5 a.m.

After transfer of equipment and supplies, the hatches will be closed again a little after 2 p.m. so that the Shuttle cabin pressure can once again be lowered to prepare for Tuesday's second spacewalk. That spacewalk will focus on permanently powering the station arm and doing further checkouts.

After additional checkouts by Helms and Voss this morning, the arm will "walk" off the Spacelab Pallet on which it was launched. Its free end will be attached to a Power and Data Grapple Fixture on Destiny, becoming the arm's base.

April 22, 2001 - The shuttle crew was awakened earlier this morning by Canadian Stan Roger's "Take It From Day to Day" played for Hadfield in honor of the space walk - the first ever by a Canadian. Endeavour's astronauts extended the reach of the International Space Station today, successfully installing a 57.7 foot long Canadian-built robotic arm.

Mission Control Houston recognized the importance of today's activities sending up a congratulatory message from Canadian Astronaut Steve MacLean and playing the Canadian anthem, "Oh Canada" before the two space walkers - Scott Parazynski and Chris Hadfield - floated back into Endeavour. Hadfield became the first Canadian to conduct a spacewalk today as he worked to install the Canadian built and provided Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Parazynski and Hadfield spent 7 hours and 10 minutes working outside the station, installing first an Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) antenna before turning their attention to the station's new robotic arm. They floated out of Endeavour's airlock at 7:45 a.m. EDT and about two hours later had installed and deployed the UHF antenna on the Destiny module of the station.

With that complete, the two astronauts turned their attention to installing the new station robotic arm. The main boom was deployed at 11 a.m. EDT, and a few minutes later, at 11:10 a.m. Hadfield and Parazynski began unfolding the arm as Endeavour and the station flew 238 miles over the Atlantic Ocean.

Today's spacewalk, which concluded at 2:55 p.m., was the 19th conducted to assemble the International Space Station. A second spacewalk scheduled for Tuesday will focus on establishing permanent power connections between the arm and station and performing a thorough checkout.

At 2:53 p.m., Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss, on board the station, commanded the first motion of the new station robotic arm as they flew 242 miles over the Indian Ocean crossing the eastern coast of Africa. All indications are that the arm operated perfectly in this initial commanding.

After a busy day on orbit for both crews, the station crew went to sleep at 6:31 p.m., followed 10 minutes later by Endeavour's crew. Mission Control will wake up Commander Kent Rominger, Ashby, Mission Specialists John Phillips, Yuri Lonchakov, Umberto Guidoni, Hadfield and Parazynski at 2:41 a.m. Monday. The station crew is scheduled to wake up at 3:01 a.m.

April 21, 2001 - Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" awakened Endeavour's crew - Rominger, Ashby and Mission Specialists Chris Hadfield, John Phillips, Scott Parazynski, Umberto Guidoni and Yuri Lonchakov - early this morning. The song from the Top Gun soundtrack was played for Rominger. With Commander Kent Rominger at the controls, Endeavour gently docked with the International Space Station this morning as the two spacecraft flew 243 miles over the southern Pacific Ocean, just southeast of New Zealand. Docking occurred at 9:59 a.m. EDT. Though securely linked together, the two crews are not scheduled to greet one another in person until early Monday, following the first space walk to be conducted Sunday by Hadfield and Parazynski.

All systems are in good shape aboard both vehicles. The Station crew went to sleep at 6:31 p.m. today, followed 10 minutes later by the crew of Endeavour. Mission Control will awaken the shuttle crew at 2:41 a.m. Sunday and the station crew will hear its wake-up alarm tone at 3:01 a.m.

April 20, 2001 - The Endeavour crew, Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, John Phillips, Scott Parazynski, Umberto Guidoni of the European Space Agency and Yuri Lonchakov of Rosaviakosmos were awakened at 3:41 a.m. by "Then the Morning Comes" by the musical group Smashmouth. It was chosen for Phillips, making his first spaceflight.

The day on orbit was one of preparations as Endeavour's seven astronauts got ready for tomorrow morning's scheduled arrival at the International Space Station, and Sunday's planned space walk by Mission Specialists Chris Hadfield and Scott Parazynski. Rominger, Ashby and Flight Engineer John Phillips performed another in a series of engine firings to refine Endeavour's approach to the Station. European Space Agency astronaut Umberto Guidoni began preparations for the transfer of hardware and material from Endeavour to the station and worked with Ashby in checking out the shuttle's robotic arm to verify its operation. Yuri Lonchakov of Rosaviakosmos worked on the middeck and filled two large water containers for later transfer to the station.

Endeavour's astronauts went to sleep at 6:41 p.m. today, awakening at 2:41 a.m. Saturday. They will quickly begin the final stages of their chase of the International Space Station. The final intercept burn is scheduled for 7:13 a.m., with docking at 9:32 a.m., as the two spacecraft fly overhead the Southeast coast of China, northeast of Victoria, Hong Kong.

April 19, 2001 - The Shuttle Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, carrying a multi-national crew and a complex Canadian-built robotic arm to the International Space Station (ISS).

Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, John Phillips, Scott Parazynski, Umberto Guidoni of the European Space Agency and Yuri Lonchakov of Rosaviakosmos blasted off on time from Launch Pad 39-A at 2:41 p.m. EDT as the ISS sailed over the Indian Ocean south of India.

Less than nine minutes after launch, Endeavour had reached its preliminary orbit and began its pursuit of the station for a docking Saturday morning. The seven astronauts began to configure systems for on-orbit operations and opened the shuttle's cargo bay doors before the start of an eight-hour sleep period tonight at 7:41 p.m. EDT.

Overview - Endeavour's mission on STS-100 is centered on the delivery and installation of the Canadian-contributed International Space Station robotic arm, called Canadarm2.

The highest priority objectives of the flight are the installation, activation and checkout of the robotic arm on the station. The operation of the arm is critical to the capability to continue assembly of the International Space Station and to attach a new airlock to the station on the subsequent shuttle flight, mission STS-104, planned for launch in June.

Other major objectives for Endeavour's mission are to berth the Raffaello logistics module to the station, activate it, transfer cargo between Raffaello and the station, and reberth Raffaello in the shuttle's payload bay. Raffaello is the second of three Italian Space Agency-developed multi-purpose logistics modules to be launched to the station. The Leonardo module was launched and returned on the last shuttle flight, STS-102, in March.

Remaining objectives include the transfer of other equipment to the station such as an Ultra-High Frequency communications antenna and a spare electronics component to be attached to the exterior during space walks. Finally, the transfer of supplies and water for use aboard the station, the transfer of experiments and experiment racks to the complex, and the transfer of items for return to Earth from the station to the shuttle are among the objectives.

Endeavour also is planned to boost the station's altitude and perform a flyaround survey of the complex, including recording views of the station with an IMAX cargo bay camera.

Home, Hale-Bopp, Space Memorabilia, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Books, Space History, NASA Spinoffs, Past shuttle, Present shuttle, Future shuttle, SETI, Space Links, FAQ, Ordering Info

questions/comments
or
call 321-454-4236.