STS-106

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-106
Mission dates
Mission: STS-106
COSPAR-ID : 2000-053A
Begin: September 8, 2000, 12:45:47  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B
Space station: ISS
Coupling: September 10, 2000, 05:51:25 UTC
Decoupling: September 18, 2000, 03:46:00 UTC
Duration on the ISS: 7d 21h 54min 35s
Landing: September 20, 2000, 07:56:48 UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center, Lane 15
Flight duration: 11d 19h 11min 1s
Earth orbits: 185
Track height: 328 km
Covered track: 7.9 million km
Team photo
v. l. No. front: Scott Altman, Terrence Wilcutt; back: Boris Morukow, Richard Mastracchio, Edward Lu, Daniel Burbank, Juri Malentschenko
v. l. No. front: Scott Altman, Terrence Wilcutt;
back: Boris Morukow, Richard Mastracchio, Edward Lu, Daniel Burbank, Juri Malentschenko
◄ Before / After ►
STS-101 STS-92

STS-106 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem ) is the mission designation for a flight of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis ( OV -104) of NASA . The launch took place on September 8, 2000. It was the 99th space shuttle mission, the 22nd flight of the space shuttle Atlantis and the fourth flight of a shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS).

team

Mission description

The Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on the second day of flight. The main tasks were the transport of supplies, the preparation of the station for the arrival of the first permanent crew and assembly work outside the station. On September 11, Lu and Malenchenko went for 6 hours and 14 minutes to an approximately 2 meter long boom with a magnetometer to assemble and more cables between the module Zarya and the new module Zvezda to install. The magnetometer is part of a navigation system with which the position of the station in space can be determined based on the direction and strength of the earth's magnetic field . Of the total of 9 cables, 4 are used for the energy supply, 2 are part of a station-wide video system, 2 are data lines for controlling the solar cells of Sarja via the Zvezda orientation systems. In the future, a fiber optic cable will improve communication during exit maneuvers.

After opening the 12 hatches, the quality of the air in the new Zvezda module was checked. The total of around 3 tons of material that was unloaded from a double Spacehab module in the loading bay of the Atlantis and from the docked transport spaceship Progress M1-3 included food, clothing, 6 filled water containers, medical equipment and an amateur radio device for the ARISS project, computer and accessories and personal items from the first regular crew. In addition, two space suits of the “ Orlan ” type were installed in the exit lock, three additional batteries with charge control devices, voltage and current stabilizers were installed in Zvezda, two older batteries were replaced in Zarya and converters were installed for exchanging energy between American and Russian systems. The Toru approach and coupling system in the back of Zarya was dismantled and brought back to earth . The crew's assembly work also included the installation of a toilet, an electron- type oxygen generator , in which oxygen is electrolytically obtained from water, a carbon dioxide filter and a treadmill. This is mounted on a special platform that is largely isolated from the outer wall of the station. As a result, the movements that arise during the training of space travelers should not be transferred to the entire station and thus interfere with sensitive experiments. In addition, charging stations for docked spaceships were installed in Zvezda , fire extinguishers and protective masks for emergencies were made operational and work was carried out on the ventilation system. According to the crew, the noise level after this work was not higher than in the shuttle. After almost 8 days, the Atlantis disconnected from the station and circled it several times. Pictures of the ISS were taken with handheld and video cameras in order to document the progress in construction and expansion. During the joint flight, the station's orbit was raised by about 22.5 kilometers in 4 drive periods.

Several experiments flew in the shuttle, which were largely automatic. This included studies of the influence of weightlessness on the development of the nervous system of fruit flies as well as changes in the genetic make-up of kidney cells and the formation of kidney tissue (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus), experiments by pupils and students from various American schools in special containers ( Getaway Special 782 and Space Experiment Module 8 ), the testing of a measuring and recording system consisting of small, autonomous units that transmits its data wirelessly to a control center ( HTD 1403 Micro Wireless Instrumentation System ) and the demonstration of the functionality of a new, inexpensive system for the production of large and pure protein crystals ( Protein Crystal Growth Enhanced Gases from Nitrogen Devar ). Material samples are shock-frozen on the ground and placed in a container with liquid nitrogen. In space, the nitrogen then slowly boils and evaporates, allowing the samples to crystallize . This happens very slowly, resulting in extremely large protein crystals. Proteins play a major role in all life processes in the human body. Large crystals can be examined well by X-rays and their structure can be determined.

Further routine experiments concerned the navigation with the help of the Global Positioning System , the reactivation of dormant viruses in weightlessness, the function of the immune system and the investigation of balance disorders and readjustment to gravity after space flight. The Atlantis landed on the NASA site in Florida at night.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-106  - album with pictures, videos and audio files