STS-88

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STS-88
Organization NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States)
Mission type Human Crew
Launch date December 4, 1998 (1998-12-04)
Launch vehicle Space Shuttle
Launch site Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID 1998-069A
Inclination 51.6 degrees
Experiments Here
Alternate Names 25549
Additional Information Here
Telecommunications Information Here
Data Collection Here
Payload Mass Up 14055.01 kg
Payload Mass Down 2045.45 kg
Orbiter Endeavour
Lift Off Mass 2,053,813.64 kg
Orbiter Weight at Liftoff 119,966.82 kg
Orbiter Weight at Landing 91,043.64 kg
Landed Concrete runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Orbits of Earth 186
Orbital Altitude 173 nautical miles (199 statute miles)


Contents

Crew

  • Commander: Robert D. Cabana
  • Pilot: Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow
    • Mission Specialist 1: Nancy J. Currie
    • Mission Specialist 2: Jerry L. Ross
    • Mission Specialist 3: James H. Newman
    • Mission Specialist 4: Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, Russian Space Agency

Mission

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.


EVA

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) conducted by Jerry Ross and James Newman during three spacewalks for a total of 21 hours, 22 minutes. EVA 1, Ross and Newman, 7 hours, 21 minutes; Ross and New-man made all umbilical connections necessary to activate Node 1. Upon completion, the ground sent commands to the node to confirm power and activation. EVA 2, Ross and Newman, 7 hours, 2 minutes; Ross and Newman installed EVA translation aids and tools and early communications system antennas and routed the communication cable from the FGB to the starboard antenna. EVA 3, Ross and Newman, 6 hours, 59 minutes; EVA 3 was performed to support objectives of downstream assembly missions. Tasks included installation of a large tool bag for storing EVA tools outside the station and repositioning foot restraints. Additionally, Ross and Newman disconnected the umbilical on PMA-2 so that PMA-2 can be relocated in the future.


Payload

ISS Unity connecting module; IMAX cargo bay camera (ICBC); Satelite de Aplicaciones/Cientifico A (SAC-A); MightySat 1; Space Experiment Module (SEM) 07; Getaway Special G-093


Mission patch:

Books about the Space Shuttle Program