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STS-88
STS-88 was the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour, and took the first American module, the Unity node, to the station.
The seven-day mission was highlighted by the mating of the U.S.-built Unity node to the Functional Cargo Block (Zarya module) already in orbit, and three spacewalks to connect power and data transmission cables between the Node and the FGB. Zarya, built by Boeing and the Russian Space Agency, was launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in November 1998.
Other payloads on the STS-88 mission included the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), the Argentine Scientific Applications Satellite-S (SAC-A), the MightySat 1 Hitchhiker payload, the Space Experiment Module (SEM-07) and Getaway Special G-093 sponsored by the University of Michigan.
Node 1, named Unity, was the first space station hardware delivered by the Space Shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMA), one attached to either end. One PMA (PMA-1) is permanently mated to Zarya, and the other (PMA-2) is used for orbiter dockings and crew access to the station. Unity also contains an International Standard Payload Rack used to support on-orbit activities, which was activated after the fifth Shuttle/Station assembly flight.
To begin the assembly sequence, the crew conducted a series of rendezvous maneuvers similar to those conducted on other Shuttle missions to reach the orbiting FGB. On the way, Currie used the Shuttle's robot arm to place Node 1 atop the Orbiter Docking System. Cabana completed the rendezvous by flying Endeavour to within 10 metres (33 ft) of the FGB, allowing Currie to capture the FGB with the robot arm and place it on the Node's Pressurized Mating Adapter.
Once the two elements were docked, Ross and Newman conducted two scheduled spacewalks to connect power and data cables between the Node, PMAs and the FGB. The day following the spacewalks, Endeavour undocked from the two components, completing the first Space Station assembly mission.
Endeavour's astronauts toured the new International Space Station on Thursday, 10 December 1998, entering the Unity and Zarya modules for the first time, and establishing an S-band communications system that enables U.S. flight controllers to monitor the outpost's systems. Reflecting the international cooperation involved in building the largest space complex in history, Commander Robert Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting module and floated into the new station together.
The rest of the crew followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the roomy hub to which other modules would be connected in the future. Each passageway within Unity was marked by a sign leading the way into tunnels to which new modules would later be connected.
Hub AI
STS-88 AI simulator
(@STS-88_simulator)
STS-88
STS-88 was the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour, and took the first American module, the Unity node, to the station.
The seven-day mission was highlighted by the mating of the U.S.-built Unity node to the Functional Cargo Block (Zarya module) already in orbit, and three spacewalks to connect power and data transmission cables between the Node and the FGB. Zarya, built by Boeing and the Russian Space Agency, was launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in November 1998.
Other payloads on the STS-88 mission included the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), the Argentine Scientific Applications Satellite-S (SAC-A), the MightySat 1 Hitchhiker payload, the Space Experiment Module (SEM-07) and Getaway Special G-093 sponsored by the University of Michigan.
Node 1, named Unity, was the first space station hardware delivered by the Space Shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMA), one attached to either end. One PMA (PMA-1) is permanently mated to Zarya, and the other (PMA-2) is used for orbiter dockings and crew access to the station. Unity also contains an International Standard Payload Rack used to support on-orbit activities, which was activated after the fifth Shuttle/Station assembly flight.
To begin the assembly sequence, the crew conducted a series of rendezvous maneuvers similar to those conducted on other Shuttle missions to reach the orbiting FGB. On the way, Currie used the Shuttle's robot arm to place Node 1 atop the Orbiter Docking System. Cabana completed the rendezvous by flying Endeavour to within 10 metres (33 ft) of the FGB, allowing Currie to capture the FGB with the robot arm and place it on the Node's Pressurized Mating Adapter.
Once the two elements were docked, Ross and Newman conducted two scheduled spacewalks to connect power and data cables between the Node, PMAs and the FGB. The day following the spacewalks, Endeavour undocked from the two components, completing the first Space Station assembly mission.
Endeavour's astronauts toured the new International Space Station on Thursday, 10 December 1998, entering the Unity and Zarya modules for the first time, and establishing an S-band communications system that enables U.S. flight controllers to monitor the outpost's systems. Reflecting the international cooperation involved in building the largest space complex in history, Commander Robert Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting module and floated into the new station together.
The rest of the crew followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the roomy hub to which other modules would be connected in the future. Each passageway within Unity was marked by a sign leading the way into tunnels to which new modules would later be connected.