May 19 2000
From The Space Library
Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from KSC in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Mission STS-101 bound for the ISS. The seven-astronaut crew comprised Americans James D. Halsell Jr., Scott J. Horowitz, Susan J. Helms, James S. Voss, Mary Ellen Weber, and Jeffrey N. Williams and Russian cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev. The crew planned to make repairs to the space station, focusing primarily on replacing four malfunctioning solar-powered batteries. The crew also planned to use the thrusters of the Shuttle to realign the ISS's orbit. Having been unoccupied and underpowered for nearly a year, the station had fallen below the optimal orbiting altitude. The station had gradually descended at a rate of about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) per week. The Shuttle mission plan also called for Atlantis's crew to repair a damaged radio antenna and stabilize a shaky construction crane mounted on the outside of the ISS. Because of volatile weather in April 2000 and a full docket of rocket launches, NASA had delayed Atlantis's launch three times, pushing the Shuttle's liftoff into mid-May. Russian cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev, a veteran of two tenures aboard Mir, had spent more time in space than the rest of Atlantis's crew combined.
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