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Weather brings Atlantis to Dryden
X-Press Assistant Editor The Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-104) topped off a 13-day, 5.3-million-mile roundtrip mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with a textbook landing at Edwards Air Force Base Feb. 20. The landing – the 47th Shuttle landing to take place at Edwards – marked the end of the 23rd flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the 102nd Space Shuttle mission of NASA's space program. Onboard for mission STS-98 – the seventh shuttle mission to support the construction of the ISS – were mission commander Kenneth D. Cockrell, pilot Mark L. Polansky, mission specialists Robert L. Curbeam Jr. (Commander, USN), Thomas Jones (Ph.D.) and Marsha Ivins. Following their Feb. 7 launch from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Fla. and after their rendezvous with the ISS two days later, astronauts off-loaded several major components. Assisted by Atlantis' robotic arm, Ivins transferred the billion U.S.-built Destiny Laboratory from the orbiter to the ISS. The centerpiece of the ISS, Destiny was designed to provide a shirtsleeve environment for full-scale scientific research, technology development and repairs conducted by ISS crewmembers. Destiny also provides much-needed additional living space and support systems for the station's crew. A RF Group/S-Band Antenna Support Assembly (SASA) was also transferred to the ISS to provide redundancy to the ISS communication system. The crew then installed a Power Data and Grapple Fixture (PDGF) . The PDGF will serve as the base for the ISS' robotic arm due to arrive on mission STS-100 aboard Endeavour. The five astronauts met with the Dryden workforce before returning to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas Feb. 21. "It's been a really nice welcome here at Dryden," said Cockrell. "It wasn't where we planned to come, but it's been great since we've been here…We're all very happy to be here and had a wonderful time here yesterday and this morning enjoying the Southern California high desert and your hospitality. We thank you very much for your hospitality and for coming out to see us." |
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Responsible NASA Official: John Childress For questions, contact: Dryden Web Group Page Curator:WD-Team Modified: March 26, 2001 |
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