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FIRST SHUTTLE ISS ASSEMBLY FLIGHT SUCCEEDS

They are working as if there is no tomorrow", the CNN reporter comments the first of three extravehicular activities (EVA) by the STS-88 Shuttle crew. When the US mission specialists Jerry Ross and Jim Newman stow their tools away after seven hours and 21 Minutes of spacewalk, they have mated 40 cables and connectors running between the first two modules of the International Space Station ISS.

The Russian "Zarja" module and the US connecting node "Unity" stretch 76 feet above Endeavour's payload bay. While Ross and Newman are still working on the outside of the modules, the Russian flight control team aktivates two Russian-American power converter. For the first time power is running from the Russian into the American module. Everything works fine.

Zarja is the station's energy and command center during the early assembly phase of the project and was launched already on 20 November from Kazakstan. When Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on 4 Dezember, Zarja was orbiting the Earth for 222nd time. All systems of the Russian module were working nominal. Only one of the six battery charging systems seemed to have a glitch. The STS-88 crew launched with some spare parts on board.

Endeavour launched with a delay of one day. In the first attempt, an alarm in the cabin had pushed the Mission out of the very tight launch window.

The orbital chase of Zarja was scheduled to last two days. During this time, Ross and Newman tested and verified the three spacesuits, two of which were to be used during the EVAs. The astronauts also checked the suits' new SAFER units (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue), a miniature maneuvering system that allows the astronauts to get back to the Shuttle or station in case they would become untethered during their work in free space.

On late Saturday afternoon, astronaut Nancy Currie lifted the Unity module with the 50-feet long Shuttle roboter arm out of the payload bay and set it on the Shuttle docking mechanism, preparing for the mating with Zarja.

On the afternoon of December 7, the Shuttle was maneuvered into the immediate vicinity of the Russian module. Currie again used the Shuttle's roboter arm to grab Zarja, bringing it precisely into a position on top of Unity's pressurized mating adapter, just inches away. After igniting the Shuttle's lower thrusters, both modules moved together and joined.

First, Currie surveyed Zarja with the cameras at the tip of the roboter arm. Two antennae of a back-up navigation system had not deployed properly. The defect was to be corrected by Ross and Newman during their EVAs.

In their second EVA, the two American spacewalkers installed to boxshaped antennae on the outside of Unity. The antennae are part of a S-band communication system which will give the US flight control team a better monitoring capability of the on-board systems and also allow for videoconferencing with the later station crews.

Finally, on Thursday December 10, the STS-88 crew stepped into the International Space Station for the first time. As a symbol of the international cooperation, Commander Cabana and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev together opened the hatch to Unity and floated into the station. The rest of the crew followed and switched on the light. Approximately an hour later, Cabana and Krikalev also opened the entry to the Russian module, such "beginning a new age of space exploration."

Krikalev and Currie replaced the faulty battery charger of the Russian module. The astronauts also continued to outfit the station with hardware and logistics material which had been stowed behind panels inside Zarja. This included tools and clothing for the next station assembly crew, scheduled to arrive in May of 1999.

On mission day 8 Cabana and Krikalev closed all the hatches of the two modules. In their third and last EVA Ross and Newman mounted a hand rail on Zarja and stowed a tool bag on the outside of Unity. They also fixed the second of the two jammed antennae on the Russian module. Finally the two astronauts checked out the SAFER units. Reportedly they functioned sufficiently but used a little more nitrogene gas than expected.

On December 13 the Shuttle undocked from the station and landed safely in Florida two days later. Shortly after the undocking the Russian flight control team put the station into a very slow spin, with Unity pointing towards Earth and Zarja pointing into deep space. This attitude is supposed to safe fuel and will allow for an equal temperature distribution on the surface of the station. Zarja's thrusters will be fired periodically to reboost the station and to prepare ISS for the upcoming station assembly flight in May of 1999.

From page 38 of FLUG REVUE 2/98