July 24, 2001 - Atlantis and its crew of five glided to a landing at Kennedy Space Center late Tuesday, ending a 5.3-million-mile mission that saw successful installation of the International Space Station's new airlock Quest. The Atlantis crew, Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly, spent eight days docked to the station during their almost 13-day flight. Reilly and Gernhardt completed three spacewalks to help with Quest's installation and its fitting out with four high-pressure tanks, two oxygen and two nitrogen.

"Hold Back the Rain" by Duran Duran was the wakeup song for Atlantis crewmembers about 3:30 p.m. EDT. Florida weather cooperated beautifully, with none of the rain showers that caused waveoff of two landing opportunities a day earlier. Lindsey and Hobaugh fired Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines at 10:32 p.m. EDT to drop the shuttle out of orbit for the 11:39 p.m. landing at KSC on the 3-mile-long Shuttle Landing Facility runway. Their landing was the 55th shuttle landing and the 13th night landing at KSC.

July 23, 2001 - With the equipment used during the 10th International Space Station assembly mission securely stowed and all systems needed for landing checked out and ready to go, Atlantisí crew went to bed at 8:04 a.m. EDT today. Atlantis Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly were awakened at 4:04 p.m. EDT to begin preparations for a return trip to Earth with a planned landing tonight at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The wakeup song was "Honey, I'm Home" by Shania Twain, played for Kavandi.

Deorbit preparations began at 7:30 p.m. The shuttle's payload bay doors were closed around 8:49 p.m. Computers on the shuttle were switched to landing mode at about 9:01 p.m., and the crew climbed into their seats around 10:29 p.m. Unforunately, weather in Florida refused to permit landing at Kennedy Space Center on either of two opportunities. The forecast for Florida is more favorable 24 hours from now when there will be two landing opportunities at KSC. The first will begin with a deorbit burn at 10:32 p.m. and landing at 11:39 p.m. A second try will be available one orbit later with a deorbit burn at 12:08 a.m. Wednesday morning and landing at 1:15 a.m.

July 22, 2001 - The crew of Atlantis took a spin around the International Space Station this morning after undocking on time at 12:54 p.m., some 240 miles above the coast of Newfoundland. Pilot Charlie Hobaugh was at the shuttle's aft flight deck controls for the fly-around, which allowed the shuttle crew to take a parting look at the newly installed airlock, Quest, and the four large air supply tanks they had delivered.

Commander Steve Lindsey, Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly, had spent 196 hours, 46 minutes - or more than 8 days - docked to the station, working with Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms to install, checkout and christen the station's newest asset.

A final separation burn at 2:14 a.m. EDT put Atlantis on its initial course for home, with landing scheduled for 12:37 a.m. EDT Tuesday at Kennedy Space Center.

The Atlantis crew was awakened at 5:36 p.m. Sunday by the song "Orinoco Flow" sung by Enya. The song was played for Mike Gernhardt. They will spend their day preparing the spacecraft for its return to Earth early Tuesday morning.

July 21, 2001 - The first space walk to originate from the International Space Station's new airlock, Quest, lasted 4 hours, 2 minutes, and established a higher degree of station independence in its own construction and maintenance.

The space walk also was the first to be supported primarily from the space station Flight Control Room in Houston, and the first demonstration of a new pre-breathing protocol that uses vigorous exercise to help purge nitrogen bubbles from the space walkers' bloodstreams and prevent what is known as "the bends."

Mission Specialists Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly exited the new airlock at 12:35 p.m. EDT and were back inside by 4:37 a.m. Working in tandem with the station's Canadarm2 operator and Expedition Two Flight Engineer Jim Voss and shuttle arm operator and Atlantis Commander Steve Lindsey, the space-age construction workers attached a nitrogen supply tank to the airlock's shell. This completed the installation of two nitrogen and two oxygen tanks that will be used to pressurize the airlock and resupply space suits. Atlantis Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and Station Commander Yury Usachev coordinated the space walk from inside, while Flight Engineer Susan Helms supported station arm operations.

Depressurizing the airlock took longer than expected - about 40 minutes instead of the anticipated 7 minutes. Flight controllers and engineers have not yet identified what caused the pressure equalization valve on the Crew Lock's hatch to react so slowly, but are continuing to evaluate data and reports from the crew.

During the mission's third spacewalk, Gernhardt and Reilly also moved hand-over-hand up the station's solar array truss to take a look at a gimbal assembly mechanism that allows the arrays to swivel with the Sun. They reported no visible signs that could account for high-current readings being witnessed by flight controllers on the ground.

The successful construction foray brings the total time for space station-based walks to 4 hours, 21 minutes. There have been 24 space walks devoted to station assembly, a combined total of 155 hours, 39 minutes.

The crews went to bed at 9:04 a.m., and was awakened at 5:14 p.m. by the song "Who Let The Dogs Out" sung by the Baha Men. The song was played for Atlantis Pilot Charlie Hobaugh. The crews of Atlantis and the International Space Station bid one another farewell and closed the hatches between the vehicles at about 10 p.m. Since July 2000, 77 tons of hardware has been added to the station, including the Zvezda module, the Z1 Truss Assembly, Pressurized Mating Adapter 3, the P6 Truss and its 240-foot long solar arrays, the U.S. laboratory Destiny, the Canadarm2 and the Quest airlock.

July 20, 2001 - Expedition Two Flight Engineer Jim Voss reported tracking down and sealing a minor leak discovered during an overnight pressure check. Air had found a path from the Equipment Lock segment of the new airlock to its Crew Lock, which is the segment the orbital construction workers will open to the vacuum of space when they step outside about 12:09 a.m. EDT Saturday.

Flight Directors Paul Hill and Mark Kirasich talked with the crew about 2 a.m., going over the final details and sending up the good news that both the shuttle and station flight control teams agree all systems are "go" for the first station-based excursion out of the airlock. Lindsey sent down a video tour of the fully outfitted Quest module about 5:50 a.m.

After some time off to rest up after a very busy week, the crews turned in at 9 a.m. The Atlantis crew was awakened at 5:04 p.m. by the song "I Could Write A Book" from the motion picture When Harry Met Sally. The song was played for Commander Steve Lindsey.

July 19, 2001 - The two crews on board the International Space Station completed checkout and activation of the new Quest airlock and conducted a dry run of the steps they will take before christening the newest station component. The Atlantis crew was awakened at 5:04 p.m. by the song "A Time To Dance" by Janet Giroux played by the Space Center Intermediate School Symphonic Band. The band was directed by Giroux and the song was played for Mission Specialist Jim Reilly.

July 18, 2001 - Six arms worked together outside the International Space Station again today to install supply tanks for the new joint airlock, accomplishing a bonus oxygen tank installation during a 6 hour, 29 minute space walk. Four of the arms belonged to space walkers Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly. Two robotic arms also were called into service - the shuttle's Canadarm and its big brother, the station's Canadarm2. Station Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss were at the station arm's controls, while Mission Specialist Janet Kavandi guided the shuttle limb.

Gernhardt and Reilly, supported by their six colleagues inside the shuttle and station, latched the first two dog house-shaped tank assemblies into place without difficulty, so shuttle and station Flight Directors Paul Hill and Mark Kirasich decided to move ahead with installation of the third tank at 2:41 a.m. The second space walk of the mission concluded at 5:33 a.m. EDT Wednesday. It was the 66th space walk in shuttle program history, and the 23rd devoted to International Space Station assembly. So far, STS-104 space walks have lasted 12 hours, 28 minutes.

After a well deserved rest, the Atlantis crew was awakened at 5:04 p.m. by Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do." The song was played for the entire crew from their training team. STS-104 Commander Steve Lindsey and Expedition Two Flight Engineer Jim Voss finished replacing the Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Assembly valve in the station's Unity module about 8:30 p.m. With help from station Commander Yury Usachev, they replaced the leaking valve with another from the Destiny laboratory that won't be needed until the station's second node arrives in 2003.

Voss, Mission Specialist Janet Kavandi and Susan Helms moved the hatch from its initial location between the Unity module and the airlock's Equipment Lock to between the Equipment Lock and Crew Lock. The Equipment Lock will be used for storing and servicing space suits, while the Crew Lock will serve as the exit to space.

July 17, 2001 - Shuttle and station crews set aside work on a leaky ventilation valve and pressed forward with activation of the new Quest airlock and a dry run of the steps they'll use for the first space walk using the new station doorway to space. The practice run included a successful lowering of the airlock's pressure to 10.2 pounds per square inch for the first time in space.

Lead Flight Director Paul Hill said troubleshooting on the valve -- and work the day before to get air bubbles out of an airlock water cooling line -- have put the combined crew about half a day behind its timeline. Early this morning, mission managers decided to add an additional docked day to the flight between the second and third spacewalks. The mission's third spacewalk, which will be the first out of the Quest airlock, will now occur Friday evening on Flight Day 10 instead of Thursday evening.

The eight people on orbit went to bed about 9 a.m. and was awakened at 5:08 p.m. by "Happy Birthday Darlin'" sung by Conway Twitty. It was played for Atlantis Mission Specialist Janet Kavandi who is celebrating a birthday today as she soars 235 miles above the Earth..

The second space walk of the flight got off to a slightly delayed start at 11:04 p.m. EDT after the station's primary Command and Control computer had to be restarted. The computer, needed to guide the station arm as it lifted the high-pressure oxygen and nitrogen tanks out of the shuttle cargo bay and into position alongside the new airlock, was back in business shortly after 9 p.m., allowing first motion of the arm by 10 p.m.

July 16, 2001 - Utilities for the International Space Station's newest addition were hooked up today as the Expedition Two and Atlantis crews prepared the station's new airlock, named Quest, for its first use later in the week. After cleaning up about half a liter of water that spilled from a coolant line and getting rid of some air bubbles that caused the spill, the two crews installed valves that connect Quest to the station's environmental control system and a computer that will be used to run the airlock's systems.

STS-104 Commander Steve Lindsey and Pilot Charlie Hobaugh fired the shuttle's engines for an hour Sunday night to boost the station to an altitude of 238 by 235 statute miles (383 by 375 kilometers). Mission Specialists Michael Gernhardt, Janet Kavandi and Jim Reilly also worked on equipment and supply transfers between the shuttle and station. Gernhardt and Reilly made preparations for the second spacewalk of the mission, during which they will help install the first set of the High-Pressure Gas Tanks -- one oxygen tank and one nitrogen tank -- onto the airlock's shell on Tuesday.

The two crews went to bed at 9:04 a.m. The Atlantis crew was awakened at 5:19 p.m. today by the song "Nobody Does it Better" performed by Carly Simon, played by Mission Control for Mission Specialist Jim Reilly. Atlantis' space walkers Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly will spend today preparing for their two remaining space walks. They will review plans and set up equipment in both Atlantis' airlock and the station airlock. The second spacewalk, to begin Tuesday evening, will originate from Atlantis while the third spacewalk, to begin Thursday, will be the first to originate from the station's new Quest airlock.

July 15, 2001 - The International Space Station received a new airlock early Sunday, an addition that will permit spacewalks without a space shuttle docked to the station. The airlock, named Quest, can accommodate either Russian or U.S. spacesuits and brings the mass of the space station to about 130 tons.

After moving into the cargo bay, mission specialist Mike Gernhardt removed an insulating cover, called the "shower cap," from the airlock's berthing mechanism and other covers from its seals. Mission specialist James Reilly installed bars on the 61/2-ton airlock which will serve as attachment points for four high-pressure tanks, two oxygen and two nitrogen. The tanks will be installed during the two subsequent spacewalks. The mission's third and final spacewalk will be conducted from the new airlock itself.

Station Expedition Two crewmember Susan Helms lifted the airlock from the cargo bay of Atlantis using the station's Canadarm2 at 1:10 a.m. EDT. After a slow and carefully planned series of maneuvers with the arm, the airlock was maneuvered to the berthing port on the station's Unity node. After the airlock was securely attached and after installation of the cable to power its heaters, Gernhardt and Reilly returned to the shuttle's airlock after flight controllers confirmed that the airlock's heaters were functioning. Official end of the spacewalk occurred with repressurization of Atlantis' airlock at 5:09 a.m. today. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 59 minutes.

The shuttle crew's next "day" began at 5:04 p.m. with a wake-up call from Mission Control playing the song "No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley for Mission Specialist Mike Gernhardt. After the airlock was attached to the station earlier this morning, and the first part of its checkout was completed, the shuttle and station crews held a ribbon cutting for the new addition. Station Commander Yury Usachev and Atlantis Commander Steve Lindsey cut a white ribbon that had been strung across the entrance of Quest's crew lock. Lindsey and Usachev made two cuts to the ribbon, each on either side of the word Quest to christen the new compartment.

Yesterday, a decision was made to bring home a spare space suit aboard Atlantis that had experienced a leaking battery. Controllers were worried that the leaking battery may have damaged portions of the suit and decided to bring the suit home for inspection and cleaning. The originial plan had been to leave the suit aboard the station for use by future crews.

July 14, 2001 - The hatch separating the Atlantis crew, Lindsey, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, and mission specialists Mike Gernhardt, Janet Kavandi and James Reilly, from Expedition Two crewmembers Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms were opened at 1:00 a.m.. After a safety briefing by Expedition Two Commander Usachev, both crews began an hour-long review of procedures for the first of three spacewalks of the STS-104 mission. Hatches between Atlantis and the station were closed at 5:45 a.m. and the pressure in the shuttle's cabin reduced to 10.2 pounds per square inch in preparation for the first spacewalk.

The Shuttle crew's wake-up call from Mission Control came at 5:04 p.m. with the song "Space Cowboy" by N'Sync playing for Mission Specialist Janet Kavandi. On board the Space Station, Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms also awoke at 5:04 p.m.

During this nights space walk, Gernhardt, designated EV1, was identifiable by the red stripes around the legs of his spacesuit, while Reilly, EV2, was wearing an all-white space suit. Atlantis' pilot Charlie Hobaugh coordinated the space walk from within the shuttle cabin. The spacewalk, coordinated by Atlantis' pilot Charlie Hobaugh in the shuttle's cabin, began at 11:10 p.m. with the shuttle and the station 237 statute miles above the South Pacific east of New Zealand.

July 13, 2001 - The Atlantis crew went to sleep at about 9:04 a.m. and was awakened at 4:04 p.m. EDT to the song "God of Wonders" by the group Caedmon's Call. The five-member crew's day was focused on a rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station.

Firing of Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines at 7 p.m. refined the shuttle's approach. A final burn, called the Terminal Intercept (Ti) burn, was performed at about 8:33 p.m. when Atlantis was about 50,000 feet behind the station. Atlantis Commander Steve Lindsey then traced a quarter-circle around the station, bringing the shuttle to a point a little more than 300 feet in front of the Destiny laboratory and Pressurized Mating Adapter 2. From that point, Lindsey moved Atlantis toward the station at a speed of one tenth of a mile per hour until the two vehicles were just 30 feet apart; there he paused for a few minutes to check his alignment.

Lindsey smoothly docked the space shuttle with the International Space Station at about 240 statute miles above the northeastern coast of South America. With both spacecraft moving at about 17,500 mph, Lindsey moved Atlantis to the station at a relative speed of about a tenth of a foot per second. Docking occurred at 11:08 p.m. EDT.

July 12, 2001 - The Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on time this morning at 5:04 a.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center and, after a smooth climb to orbit, is now en route to deliver a new doorway to space to the International Space Station later this week. After opening Atlantis' payload bay doors and preparing the shuttle for an extended stay in space, Atlantis' crew went to sleep at about 10:04 a.m. The song "Wallace Courts Murron" from the movie "Braveheart" awakened the five-member crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at 6:38 p.m. The song, by James Horner, was played for Atlantis Pilot Charlie Hobaugh.

Atlantis Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Jim Reilly and Mike Gernhardt spent their first full day in space testing the space suits and other equipment in preparation for the major events to come on their 11-day mission: Friday's docking with the station at about 10:51 p.m. EDT and Saturday's first of three space walks.

During the suit checks, the crew noted a white substance in the vicinity of the spare space suit's battery. Mission Control instructed the crew to take several standard precautionary measures, such as donning rubber gloves and turning off several ventilation fans, as they cleaned the substance off of the suit, swapped the suspect battery with a fresh one and changed the carbon dioxide removal cartridge. The old battery was then stowed away, sealed in leak-proof bags. The substance did no damage to the space suit and it remains in excellent operating condition.

Overview - Top priority of the STS-104 mission of Atlantis is installation on the International Space Station of the Joint Airlock. This will give station crewmembers the capability of conducting spacewalks from the orbiting laboratory using either the Russian Orlan spacesuits or U.S. spacesuits.

Other major priority for Atlantis crewmembers will be to install two oxygen and two nitrogen tanks on the airlock. The tanks, called high-pressure gas tanks or oxygen/nitrogen tank orbital replacement units, must be installed before a spacewalk can be performed from the airlock without a shuttle present and without oxygen- or nitrogen-related constraints.

Station Joint Airlock - The Joint Airlock is a pressurized flight element consisting of two cylindrical chambers attached end-to-end by a connecting bulkhead and hatch. Once installed and activated, the airlock becomes the primary path for International Space Station space walk entry and departure for U.S. spacesuits, which are known as Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs. In addition, the Joint Airlock is designed to support the Russian Orlan spacesuit for EVA activity.

The Joint Airlock acts as a stowage area for EMU hardware as well as a staging area for crewmembers preparing to conduct a space walk. A combination of the Russian depress pump and pressure equalization valves located within the hatches accommodate the depressurization /pressurization capability of the airlock. The addition of the airlock permits space station-based space walks to be performed without major loss of environmental consumables such as air.

High-Pressure Gas Tanks (HPGT) - Two oxygen and two nitrogen High-Pressure Gas Tanks will be attached externally to the airlock during two of the STS-104 space walks and will be transported to the space station attached to a Space Lab Double Pallet in the orbiter's cargo bay. These tanks provide a replenishable source of gas to the Atmosphere Control and Supply System and 900 psi oxygen for recharging the EMU's. Recharging the high pressure tanks is accomplished by the orbiter when it is docked to the station's Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 or Pressurized Mating Adapter 3, using lines that are routed through the pressurized elements. The Oxygen Recharge Compressor Assembly is used to pump oxygen from the shuttle tanks into the high-pressure oxygen tanks on the space station.

IMAX Cargo Bay Camera-3D - The IMAX Cargo Bay Camera-3D payload is a 65 mm color 3-D motion picture camera system. The system consists of a camera, a lens turret assembly, and a film magazine containing approximately 1,646 meters (5,400 feet) of film. The camera system is housed in an insulated pressurized enclosure with a movable lens window cover, and is mounted in the cargo bay on a Get-Away Special beam. The camera system is operated from the Aft Flight Deck with a Payload and General Support Computer. The dc power for heating and camera operation will be supplied by the orbiter. An audio recorder with microphones supplied by the customer will be used in the crew compartment in conjunction with the camera system.

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