May 29, 2000 - Atlantis' astronauts glided to a pre-dawn landing this morning at the Kennedy Space Center to wrap up a successful refurbishment and resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Commander Jim Halsell flew Atlantis to a nighttime touchdown at the Florida spaceport at 2:20:17 a.m. EDT (main gear touchdown) to complete a 4,076,000 mile mission, the second Shuttle flight of the year. It was the 14th nighttime landing in Shuttle history and the 22nd consecutive mission to end with a landing at KSC. Halsell was joined on Atlantis' flight deck by Pilot Scott Horowitz, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber. Crewmates Susan Helms, Jim Voss and Yury Usachev were seated down on the orbiter's middeck for entry and landing. Nose gear touchdown occured at 2:20:30 and full stop occured at 2:21:19 for a mission elapse time of 9 days, 20 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds.

Atlantis returned to Earth after Flight Director John Shannon determined that crosswinds at the Kennedy Space Center's three-mile long landing strip were gentle and steady, enabling him to give the astronauts the green light to come home on time. The crew climb into their seats at 12:13 a.m., performed a gimbal check of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 12:35 a.m. and pre-start of the auxiliary power units to generate hydraulic power for the aerodynamic surfaces at 12:39 a.m. Halsell fired the Shuttle's OMS engines at 1:12 a.m. EDT, allowing Atlantis to drop out of orbit for its high-speed descent. Atlantis passed over southern Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico before crossing over the Sarasota / Ft. Myers area of Florida en route to the Cape. Atlantis broke the quiet of the pre-dawn hours in Central Florida with a double sonic boom just minutes before touchdown, heralding its arrival at the landing site as it went subsonic.

Left in orbit is the renovated International Space Station, equipped with an upgraded electrical system, new fans, filters, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and communications gear. ISS flight controllers report that the complex is functioning in excellent condition. The Station is orbiting at an altitude of about 238 statute miles, awaiting the arrival of its next component, the Russian Service Module "Zvezda", which is scheduled to be launched on a modified Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in July. The ISS will automatically rendezvous and dock with "Zvezda" about two weeks after the new module is placed in orbit.

Atlantis will now be processed for the next Shuttle flight in early September to return to the International Space Station with another crew for the outfitting and supply of the newly arrived Service Module. That flight, STS-106, will be led by veteran Commander Terry Wilcutt.

May 28, 2000 - The astronauts aboard Atlantis have packed their bags and checked out their spacecraft in preparation for a return home and a planned touchdown at 2:20 a.m. EDT Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. Early this morning, Halsell fired Atlantis steering jets to lower its orbit by about nine miles, a maneuver that optimizes the landing opportunities that will be available for the shuttle.

The crew began their sleep period at 8:11 a.m. and were awakened at 4:11 p.m. EDT this afternoon to make final preparations for their return to Earth following 10 days in space readying the International Space Station for future occupation. Mission Control awakened the astronauts to the march "El Capitan," by John Philip Sousa.

Final deorbit preparation begins at 9:13 p.m. EDT this evening on the crew's timeline. The space shuttle's payload bay doors were closed at 10:33 p.m. and the spacecraft's radiators no longer provide cooling once they are closed. Mission Control gave a "go" call for transition to the software phase known as "Ops 3" at 10:45 p.m., shifting the onboard computers' attention to deorbit and entry tasks.

The astronauts got into their launch/entry suits at 11:49 p.m. and the flight control team in Mission Control will review the condition of the Shuttle Orbiter and make a go/no go decision for the deorbit burn at 12:58 a.m. early Monday morning. Atlantis maneuvers to the deorbit burn attitude at 1:00 a.m. and fires the OMS engines at 1:12 a.m. EDT to slow the forward speed and drop the spacecraft from orbit. Touchdown is planned for 2:20 a.m. EDT Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. A second opportunity for landing occurs one orbit later with a deorbit burn at 2:50 a.m. and a landing at KSC at 3:56 a.m. EDT.

May 27, 2000 - With all major mission objectives successfully completed, Atlantis' crew turned its attention to a planned return trip home, with a landing scheduled for 2:20 a.m. EDT on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center.

The crew began a sleep period at 8:11 a.m. EDT and was awakened at 4:11 p.m. to begin what is their final full day in orbit, a day devoted to the pre-landing checkouts and packing. As Commander Jim Halsell, Pilot Scott Horowitz and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams conducted their work from the flight deck, crewmates Mary Ellen Weber, Jim Voss, Susan Helms and Yury Usachev continued stowing away equipment used over the past nine days on orbit. Throughout the five days of docked operations with the International Space Station, the Spacehab module in Atlantis' payload bay served as a way station for more than 3,000 pounds of material transferred between the two vehicles. As the astronauts prepare for their Memorial Day landing, they will ensure that equipment housed in that module -- and in Atlantis' crew cabin -- is properly stowed and secured in place.

Shortly after 8 p.m. today, Halsell, Horowitz and Williams successfully test fired Atlantis' steering jets and verified the performance of the various aerosurfaces that will be used during Atlantis' high-speed return to Earth. This checkout of Atlantis' flight control surfaces and systems is a routine activity on the day prior to landing to verify that all required systems are operating as expected. The tests were monitored by Entry flight director John Shannon from Mission Control in Houston.

Preliminary weather forecasts for Monday morning's landing indicate a slight possibility of rain within 30 miles of the landing site, and cross winds in excess of acceptable limits. The weather forecasts will be refined over the course of the next 24 hours in preparation for landing.

May 26, 2000 - With all of their mission's objectives met or exceeded, Atlantis' crew shut the doors to the International Space Station early this morning in preparation for bidding the rejuvenated outpost farewell this evening.

"I couldn't be happier with the way this mission has gone," Lead Flight Director Phil Engelauf said. "Our accomplishments are at more than 100 percent for the flight."

"The crew will be leaving a pristine International Space Station behind them," added Paul Hill, Lead Station Flight Director.

Astronaut Susan Helms and Cosmonaut Yury Usachev began backing out of the station -- closing five hatches behind them -- by closing a hatch to the Zarya module's main compartment at 1:23 a.m. EDT. The final hatch to the station was shut at 4:04 a.m. EDT as the orbiting complex flew about 234 miles above the Red Sea. Helms, Usachev and Voss will again visit the station next year to spend more than four months as the second crew to live aboard. In total, the astronauts on Atlantis spent three days, eight hours and one minute with the hatches open to the station during the mission.

With a gentle push, Atlantis and the International Space Station parted company this evening as the two spacecraft flew 237 miles over Kazakhstan concluding five days of work to prepare the outpost for its first resident crew. Undocking occurred at 7:03 p.m. EDT, as Pilot Scott Horowitz slowly backed Atlantis away from the space station and then flew a half-circle around the station, before firing Atlantis' jets in a final separation burn at 7:41 p.m.

Now flying solo, the seven-member Atlantis crew will enjoy several hours of off-duty time tonight in recognition of the ambitious pace of work they maintained throughout this flight. Commander Jim Halsell, Horowitz, and Mission Specialists Jeff Williams, Mary Ellen Weber, Jim Voss, Susan Helms and Yury Usachev powered down some of the equipment used during today's undocking and flyaround, and then performed some routine housekeeping tasks before beginning their scheduled off duty time.

The station is now in the optimum orbit to await the arrival of the next major station component -- a Russian-built living quarters that will launch in July -- flying in an orbit with a high point of 238 miles and a low point of 230 miles, circling the Earth every 92 minutes.

May 25, 2000 - The seven STS-101 astronauts are spending their final full day docked to the International Space Station as they prepare for undocking Friday evening. The crew began a sleep period at 8:11 a.m. EDT and were awaken at 4:11 p.m. to begin the eighth day of the mission. Today's wakeup song -- "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance" by Jerry Jeff Walker -- was played at the request of Williams' son and family.

Charging of the fourth new battery began today and will be completed before Atlantis undocks from the station on Friday. Tonight, the crew finished the transfer of equipment to the station.

The third and final reboost maneuver began at 7:36 p.m. EDT. Like the two previous reboosts, Atlantis' reaction control system jets were fired 27 times over a 58 minute period to gently raise the station. At the end of the reboost, the station's average altitude was raised by about 30 statue miles.

Just before 12:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Halsell and his crew will reverse the steps they used when they entered the station Monday evening, closing each of the five hatches associated with station components or transfer tunnels. The overall process of closing out the station and preparing for undocking is expected to take about two hours to complete.

Everything remains on schedule for undocking on Friday evening at 7:07 p.m. EDT and will happen while the two spacecraft are over Russian ground stations. Atlantis will make a shortened fly around, one half revolution of the station, before the final separation burn is initiated. Atlantis remains on track for a landing back at Kennedy Space Center at 2:18 a.m. EDT on Monday, May 29th.

May 24, 2000 - Station controllers in Moscow completed charging the second new battery installed in the station, although the charging of that battery was interrupted briefly early this morning by an unforeseen conflict that prevents conducting charging and battery installation work simultaneously. The interruption halted the battery charging for about an hour and a half. Controllers were confident the new battery is in good condition and revised plans that ensured no similar conflict occured as Astronauts Susan Helms and Jim Voss along with Cosmonaut Yury Usachev completed the installation of a fourth and final fresh battery in the station. The third new battery is currently undergoing a 20-hour charging process, although controllers did note some apparently irregular readings in data during the early portions of the charging activity.

The crew began a sleep period at 8:28 a.m. EDT and was awakened at 4:28 p.m. EDT with the music, "I'm Gonna Fly" by Amy Grant which was requested by Pilot Scott Horowitz's wife. Halsell, Horowitz and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, Jeff Williams, Susan Helms, Jim Voss and Yury Usachev spent their third day inside the station continuing the maintenance work and supply transfer activities that began Monday evening. During their first two days inside the station, the astronauts have moved more than a ton (2,049 pounds) of supplies and equipment inside the facility to be used by the first station crew -- ranging from sewing kits to clothing -- to the station to await use by the first resident crew. Among the items transferred this morning was a stationary bicycle ergometer as well as four 12-gallon bags of drinking water. Seven similar bags were left during the STS-96 mission last year. The water bags will be part of the potable water supply used by the first station crew when it arrives later this year. More than 3,000 pounds will be transferred to the station before Atlantis undocks on Friday evening.

Other work performed this evening included installation of several new storage compartments behind panels in the Zarya module. Helms and Usachev also installed a new Radio Telemetry System in the module, a memory unit that can store data onboard when the station is not in communications with the ground. The new memory unit replaces one that was nearing the end of its planned operational lifetime.

Commander Jim Halsell and Pilot Scott Horowitz fired Atlantis' steering jets to perform the second part of a three-day maneuver that is raising the station's orbit. Atlantis' jets were fired 27 times over the course of almost an hour to raise the Atlantis-station complex's average altitude by about nine miles. The third and final orbit-raising activity is planned tonight and will leave the station about 30 miles higher than when Atlantis arrived.

The Atlantis-International Space Station complex is now in an orbit with an altitude of about 225 miles, circling Earth every 91 minutes.

May 23, 2000 - This morning, station controllers in Moscow began charging the first of the two newly installed batteries, finding it functioning perfectly thus far. The crew began a sleep period at 8:41 a.m. EDT and was awakened for Day 6 of the mission at 4:41 p.m. EDT. Today's wake up song from Mission Control was a long distance dedication from Kathy Halsell to her husband, Mission Commander Jim Halsell, the Flamingoes tune "I Only Have Eyes for You."

Commander Jim Halsell and pilot Scott Horowitz fired Atlantis' steering jets 27 times during almost an hour Tuesday evening to gently lift the 35-ton outpost about 10 miles higher. The same process will be repeated again tomorrow and on Thursday to boost the station by about 27 miles in total and leave it in an orbit with an average height of about 233 miles when Atlantis departs on Friday. The higher altitude will aim the International Space Station toward the optimum orbit for a link up with the Russian Zvezda living quarters module planned for launch in July.

As has been the case through much of the mission, the crew completed most jobs ahead of schedule. Inside the Zarya module, Astronaut Susan Helms and Cosmonaut Yury Usachev completed the installation of a third fresh battery for the station. One of the batteries replaced yesterday already has been recharged and been pronounced in excellent condition. The second replacement battery will go through its charging and checkout shortly.

The crew also installed 10 new smoke detectors in Zarya, replacing detectors that had reached the end of the lifetime for which they were designed to operate. The astronauts replaced four cooling fans in Zarya for the same reason. In addition, they completed the installation of new cabling for the module's central computer that will allow that computer to be turned on and off via a United States-built backup station communications system. As the installation work progressed, the crew continued transferring items ranging from exercise equipment to computer printers to the station for use by future crews. Well over 1,200 pounds of gear have been moved from Atlantis to the station thus far.

May 22, 2000 - Astronauts Jim Voss and Jeff Williams performed a six hour 44 minutes spacewalk this morning, completing a variety of planned assembly and maintenance tasks on the International Space Station with ease. The astronauts secured a United States-built crane that was installed on the station last year; installed the final parts of a Russian-built crane on the station; replaced a faulty antenna for one of the station's communications systems; and installed several handrails and a camera cable on the station's exterior. The spacewalk began at 9:48 p.m. EDT Sunday and was completed at 4:32 a.m. EDT today.

The crew's attention turned to entering the station, a process planned to begin at 8:03 p.m. today. The crew went to sleep at about 9 this morning and was awakened by Mission Control at just before 5 p.m. EDT, with the focus of work this evening being the first entry into the station. Today's wakeup call was "Haunted House" by Ray Buchanan since the opening lyrics say "I just moved into a new house today..." in honor of the STS-101 crew entering what will be a new home for astronauts and cosmonauts later this year.

Astronaut Susan Helms and Cosmonaut Yury Usachev were the first crew members to enter the station as they opened the first of five station hatches at 8:03 p.m. EDT. Helms and Usachev then opened the hatch into the station's Unity connecting module a half-hour later and were quickly joined by Astronaut Jim Voss. Voss, Helms and Usachev are scheduled to live aboard the station for more than four months next year as the second resident station crew. Helms and Usachev next entered the Zarya module at 8:53 p.m. EDT and opened the final station hatch, accessing Zarya's main compartment, at 8:58 p.m.

Once inside, the seven Atlantis crewmates took air samples and checked the carbon-dioxide level to make sure it was safe. The air-quality problems which plagued astronauts with nausea, itchy eyes and headaches - presumably because of the stagnant air - during NASA's last space station visit a year ago were not evident this time. The astronauts had personal-sized fans to prevent exhaled carbon dioxide from pooling around their heads. The crew also placed ducting throughout the station to improve air circulation and prevent problems with stale air.

Maintaining a pace hours ahead of schedule, Helms and Usachev replaced two of six batteries in the Zarya module along with some associated battery-charging electronics. Two additional fresh batteries will be installed on successive days of the mission. The crew also installed three fresh fire extinguishers in Zarya, replacing three that were nearing the end of their design life. Inside the Unity module, Pilot Scott Horowitz and Mission Specialist Jim Voss replaced a power distribution box for a United States-built communications system. The crew also inspected the station for signs of condensation or mold, finding all areas clean and dry.

Aboard Atlantis, Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber readied more than a ton of supplies -- ranging from sewing kits and trash bags to an exercise treadmill and IMAX film camera -- for transfer to the station beginning this evening. The crew also began filling several water containers that will be left aboard the station as well to await future resident station astronauts. The Atlantis and station complex are now in an orbit with a high point of 208 statute miles and a low point of 204 statute miles, circling Earth each 91 minutes.

May 21, 2000 - Flying five miles a second above the Ukraine, Commander Jim Halsell gently pulled the Shuttle Atlantis into port early this morning, flawlessly latching his 200-ton spacecraft to the 35-ton International Space Station for a five-day stay. Halsell and his crew performed the rendezvous and docking with the station by the book, docking on target at 12:31 a.m. EDT Sunday. Although Atlantis is now firmly attached to the station, the astronauts will not enter the new outpost until Monday, turning their immediate attention instead to a six and half-hour spacewalk to begin late tonight.

The crew also lowered the air pressure inside Atlantis from the standard sea-level pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch to 10.2 pounds per square inch, a pressure equivalent to that felt at an altitude of 10,000 feet on Earth. The lower cabin pressure helps Voss and Williams purge nitrogen from their bodies to avoid decompression sickness when they go to the 4.2 pounds per square inch, pure oxygen atmosphere of the spacesuits this evening.

The crew began a sleep period at 9:11 a.m. and were awakened at 5:11 p.m. EDT to the song "Lookin' Out the Window" by Stevie Ray Vaughan and prepared for tonight's space walk. Voss and Williams started the spacewalk early at 9:48 p.m. EDT and remained ahead of schedule throughout.. The shuttle and station are in an orbit with a high point of 209 statute miles and a low point of 203 statute miles, circling Earth every 91 minutes.

May 20, 2000 - Atlantis' Commander Jim Halsell and Pilot Scott Horowitz tested the navigation equipment and flight controls they will use late tonight to rendezvous with and then dock to the station. They also fired Atlantis' engines periodically to adjust the rate at which the Shuttle is closing in on the station. During an engine firing Friday evening using both large orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines on Atlantis, flight controllers saw an indication that one of two propellant valves for the left OMS engine may have failed to close. The engine's backup valve did operate normally, and the engine remains in good operating condition. However, as a precaution, the left engine will not be used again until Atlantis is ready to deorbit at the completion of the flight. The right OMS engine alone can be used for large rendezvous engine firings with no impact on the mission.

The crew began a sleep period at about 9:11 a.m. and were awakened at 5:11 p.m. EDT today to the song "Still Shining" by Bob Seger in honor of tonight's rendezvous with the International Space Station. At 9:39 p.m., with Atlantis trailing the International Space Station by about 50,000 feet, Halsell fired the Shuttle's engines to initiate the final phase of the rendezvous. Just before 11 p.m., as Atlantis reaches a point about a half-mile below the station, Halsell took over manual control of the approach. He reached a distance of about 170 feet from the station at 11:39 p.m. Docking is expected at about 12:31 a.m. Sunday morning. Atlantis is in an orbit with a high point of 204 miles and a low point of 199 miles, circling Earth every 90 minutes.

May 19, 2000 - By pre-dawn's early light, six American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center to pay a "home improvement" house call on the fledgling International Space Station. Riding aboard the upgraded and refurbished space Shuttle Atlantis, Commander Jim Halsell, Pilot Scott Horowitz and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, Jeff Williams, Jim Voss, Susan Helms and Yury Usachev rocketed away from their Florida launch site at 6:11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Atlantis launched on time after three delays last month caused by high winds at the launch site and at overseas emergency landing strips. Today, conditions were perfect. The launch was Atlantis' first since September 1997. Atlantis recently underwent major modifications, including the introduction of a state-of-the-art, hi-tech glass cockpit filled with computer displays to replace the old cockpit dials and switches.

The astronauts began their first eight-hour sleep period just five hours after liftoff, just after 11 a.m. Eastern time, and was awakened just after 7 p.m. EDT to Tom Petty's song "Free Fallin'," played for Mission Specialist Susan Helms. Once awake, Atlantis' seven-member crew began preparing for its first full day on orbit to ready the vehicle for docking with the International Space Station early Sunday morning at 12:31 a.m. EDT and a space walk Sunday night.

Atlantis is currently in a highly elliptical orbit of 199 x 98 statute miles. At about 8 o'clock this evening, Eastern time, the shuttle was a little over 2,700 s.m. behind the station, closing in at a rate of about 546 s.m. every 90 minutes.

Overview - The primary mission objectives for STS-101 was to deliver supplies to the International Space Station, perform a 44 minute spacewalk and then reboost the station from 208 statute miles to 238 statute miles.

Detailed objectives include ISS ingress/safety to take air samples, monitor carbon dioxide, deploy portable, personal fans, measure air flow, rework/modify ISS ducting, replace air filters, replace Zarya fire extinguishers and 10 smoke detectors. Critical replacement of four suspect batteries and associated electronics on Zarya was preformed along with replacement of the Radio Telemetry System memory unit, a new communications antenna, replace Radio Frequency Power Distribution Box and clear Space Vision System target

The mission also includes incremental assembly/upgrades such as assembly of Strela crane, installation of additional exterior handrails, set up of center-line camera cable, installation of "Komparus" cable inserts and reseating the U.S. crane. Assembly parts, tools and equipment will also be transfered to the station and equipment stowed for future missions.

The crew unloaded over 3,300 pounds of gear from Atlantis. Subtracting equipment removed from the station and stowed on Atlantis, the net change in mass for the station is about one additional ton. Along with the new electrical equipment installed, the crew also stowed supplies for future crews aboard the station, including about 48 gallons of water in four 12-gallon bags; a treadmill, exercise bicycle ergometer, and resistive exercise device; and sewing kits, trash bags, clothes, tools, books, note pads and can openers, among other items. Overseeing the unloading and stowing of supplies was Astronaut Mary Ellen Weber. Also, Commander Jim Halsell and Pilot Scott Horowitz fired Atlantis' steering jets in gentle, hour-long maneuvers during each of the past three days to raise the station's orbital altitude by 30 miles. The station is now in the optimum orbit to await the arrival of the next major station component -- a Russian-built living quarters that will launch in July.