STS-101 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-101 — Atlantis

98th Space Shuttle Mission

21st Flight of Atlantis

Crew:

James D. Halsell, Jr., Commander

Scott J. “Doc” Horowitz, Pilot

Mary Ellen Weber, Mission Specialist

James S. Voss, Mission Specialist

Jeffrey N. Williams, Mission Specialist

Susan J. Helms, Mission Specialist

Yury Usachev, Mission Specialist, Russian Space Agency

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – September 27, 1998

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building (for storage) – December 10, 1998

Rollover to Orbiter Processing Facility – February 17, 1999

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building (for storage) – July 26, 1999

Rollover to Orbiter Processing Facility – September 24, 1999

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – March 17, 2000

Rollout to Launch Pad 39A – March 25, 2000

Launch:

May 19, 2000 – 6:11:10 a.m. EDT. Launch was originally targeted for March 16, 2000 but was postponed to April 13, 2000 then April 17, 2000 to allow wiring inspections and subsequent repairs to the midbody and aft compartments of Atlantis. Launch was postponed to April 24, 2000 to allow Commander James Halsell more time to fully recover from an ankle injury and complete his mission training activities.

Launch attempt on April 24, 2000 was scrubbed due to high crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. Launch attempt on April 25, 2000 was scrubbed due to high crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility as well as high winds at Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Launch Attempt on April 26, 2000 was scrubbed due to unacceptable weather at all available Transoceanic Abort Landing sites.

Launch was rescheduled for May 18, 2000 then slipped to May 19, 2000 due to conflicts with previously scheduled rocket and missile launches from Cape Canaveral. Launch on May 19 occurred on schedule with no delays.

Landing:

May 29, 2000 – 2:20:19 a.m. EDT at Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance was 8,892 feet. Rollout time was 62 seconds. Mission duration was 9 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing occurred during the 155th orbit.

Mission Summary:

STS-101 marked the third Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis docked with ISS at 12:31 a.m. EDT on May 21, 2000. On the fourth day of the mission, astronauts Voss and Williams conducted a 6-hour, 44-minute spacewalk. During the spacewalk, the astronauts secured a U.S. built crane previously installed on ISS, installed the final components of a Russian built crane, replaced a faulty ISS communications antenna and installed several handrails and a camera cable to the ISS exterior.

Hatches between Atlantis and ISS were opened on the fifth day of the mission, followed by a fever pitch of activity. Astronauts installed four batteries and related electronics, ten smoke detectors, four cooling fans, computer cables, a communications memory unit and a power distribution box aboard ISS. In addition, 3,300 pounds of supplies, including clothing, tools, can openers, sewing kits, trash bags, treadmill, ergometer and IMAX film camera were transferred to ISS. The crew also filled four 12-gallon water containers to be used by the first ISS permanent residents.

While docked to ISS, Atlantis thrusters were fired on three separate occasions to boost the altitude of ISS by a total of about 27 miles. Atlantis undocked from ISS at 7:03 p.m. EDT on May 26, 2000 followed by a half-circle flyaround to conduct a visual and photo inspection of the ISS exterior. Atlantis remained docked to ISS for a total of 5 days, 18 hours, 32 minutes during the mission.