STS-102 was a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

(ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery'' and launched from

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

, Florida. STS-102 flew in March 2001; its primary objectives were resupplying the ISS and rotating the

Expedition 1 Expedition 1 was the first long-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS). The three-person crew stayed aboard the station for 136 days, from November 2000 to March 2001. It was the beginning of an uninterrupted human presence on the ...

and

Expedition 2 Expedition 2 (also called ISS EO-2) was the second long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station, immediately following Expedition 1. Its three-person crew stayed aboard the station from March to August 2001. In addition to st ...

crews. At eight hours 56 minutes, the first EVA performed on the mission remains the longest spacewalk ever undertaken.

Crew

Spacewalks

* '' Voss and Helms '' – EVA 1 *EVA 1 Start: 11 March 2001 – 05:12 UTC *EVA 1 End: 11 March 2001 – 14:08 UTC *Duration: 8 hours, 56 minutes * '' Thomas and Richards '' – EVA 2 *EVA 2 Start:13 March 2001 – 05:23 UTC *EVA 2 End: 13 March 2001 – 11:44 UTC *Duration: 6 hours, 21 minutes

Mission highlights

Space Station Assembly Flight ISS-5A.1 was the first use of the

Multi Purpose Logistics Module A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and init ...

(Leonardo) to bring supplies to the station. The steel modules were equipped with up to 16

International Standard Payload Rack The International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) is a steel framework container that is designed and been adopted by the International Space Station (ISS) program to support efficient integration and interchangeability of space payload hardware, ...

s for installation in the US Lab. Also carried an Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). The ICC had the

External Stowage Platform External stowage platforms (ESPs) are key components of the International Space Station (ISS). Each platform is made from steel and serves as an external pallet that can hold spare parts, also known as orbital replacement units (ORUs), for the spa ...

-1 mounted on its underside. ESP-1 was placed on the port side of 'Destiny' as a storage location for ORUs. The mission also included two spacewalks to relocate the units carried up by the ICC to the Destiny module exterior.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

References

External links