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Their
mission to the International Space Station complete,
the crewmembers of STS-88 snapped this photo of the
fledgling station with its new Unity Node attached.
The Node is on the right side of the image.
Click
here to see STS-88 images in the Gallery.
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Endeavour
Delivers Unity Node to International Space Station
STS-88, the 13th flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, began
the largest international cooperative space venture in history
as it attached together in orbit the first two modules of
the International Space Station. STS-88 was the first human
International Space Station assembly flight.
The primary
mission objective was to rendezvous with the already launched
Zarya Control Module and successfully attach the Unity Node,
providing the foundation for future station components.
Zarya
was boosted into orbit by a Russian Proton rocket from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. Funded by the U.S. but built
in Russia, Zarya will act as a type of space tugboat for the
early station, providing propulsion, power, communications
and the capability to perform an automated rendezvous and
docking with the third module, the Russian-provided Service
Module, an early living quarters. After achieving orbit, Zarya
went through on-orbit checks as it awaited the arrival of
Unity. Unity will serve as the main connecting point for later
U.S. station modules and components.
Commander
Bob Cabana flew Endeavour to a rendezvous with Zarya, and
Currie used the shuttle's robotic arm to capture the Russian-built
spacecraft and attach it to the Unity Node in the payload
bay. At the time, Zarya was the most massive object ever moved
with the shuttle's remote manipulator system.
Mission
Specialists Jerry Ross and Jim Newman completed three spacewalks
during the mission. After the assembly work was completed
and it undocked from the station, Endeavour released two small
science satellites.
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