STS-88
From The Space Library
 | |
| Organization | NASA-OfficeofSpaceFlight(UnitedStates) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Human Crew |
| Launch date | December 4, 1998 |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, United States |
| COSPAR ID | 1998-069A |
| Experiments | Here |
| Alternate Names | 25549 |
| Additional Information | Here |
| Telecommunications Information | Here |
| Data Collection | Here |
| Payload Mass Up | 14055.01 kg |
STS 88 is an American shuttle spacecraft. It carried Unity (also known as Node 1) module for the International Space Station (ISS), two minisatellites (SAC-A and Mightysat 1) for a later day ejection, and some other experimental items of interest to K-14 level students. The shuttle crew (of six) hoisted the Unity module over the open cargo bay on 05 December and positioned it perpendicular to the shuttle. Thrusters were then fired to black flip the shuttle and reach ISS-Zarya within 3 m when the robotic arm of the shuttle captured Zarya (that was below STS) on 06 December. Zarya's and Unity's ports were then aligned with a separation of only a few centimeters when the shuttle's thrusters fired again to dovetail them tight. After several days of extravehicular activities (EVAs) to secure the joints, and interconnect the power lines and computer links and, after raising the shuttle's altitude by about 10 km, the joined modules were released from the shuttle for free flight on 13 December 1998.
Mission patch: 
