STS-92 Day 2 Highlights

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On Thursday, October 12, 2000, 7:45 a.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 2 reports:

Space Shuttle Discovery continues its approach to the International Space Station, trailing the orbital outpost by approximately 5500 nautical miles as of this morning, closing by about 600 nautical miles each orbit.

The STS-92 crew was awakened at 7:17 a.m. Central time with the song, "Incense And Peppermint" by the group, "Strawberry Alarm Clock". The tune is part of the "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" movie soundtrack and was played for the crew members, who are fans of the film.

Commander Brian Duffy and Pilot Pam Melroy will fire Discovery's thrusters in a continuing series of burns today to refine the Shuttle's approach to the International Space Station, and will check out some of the tools their crewmates will use to provide them with navigation information during the final phases of the Shuttle's approach to the Station for docking. Discovery's linkup to the ISS is planned for 12:43 p.m. Central time Friday afternoon.

It will be a day of preparations for Discovery's astronauts as Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Bill McArthur, Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria check out the space suits they will wear during four consecutive days of orbital construction space walks. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will power up Discovery's 50-foot long robot arm to ensure it is operating properly and will use it to conduct a photographic survey of the payload bay and the new Space Station components housed inside.

In the International Space Station control room in Mission Control, flight controllers continue to prepare the station for the arrival of Discovery's crew by warming up the Unity module and its attached docking port to maintain comfortable working conditions for the astronauts. Discovery's crew will enter the Unity module on Saturday to transfer logistical supplies and hardware associated with the installation of the first external truss structure for the complex.

Over the course of the next week, through the space walks and the use of the Shuttle's robot arm, the crew will install both the Z1 truss assembly and Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 to the Unity module of the Station. That adapter is a new docking port for the ISS. The Z1 truss provides a structural backbone for the Station, with four Control Moment Gyroscopes that will be used to maintain the Station's attitude or orientation in space. The truss also houses key communications gear. The truss assembly will support the large solar arrays that will be delivered during the next Shuttle mission, STS-97.

Discovery is orbiting at an altitude of about 200 statute miles with all of its systems operating in perfect shape. The next STS-92 mission status report will be issued about 8 p.m. Central time Thursday or sooner, if developments warrant.

On Thursday, October 12, 2000, 8:00 p.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 3 reports:

The seven crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery spent their first full day in orbit today checking equipment in preparation for the major events to come: docking with the International Space Station on Friday and, in following days, attaching an exterior framework and additional Shuttle docking port to the orbiting outpost.

The crew found everything in good shape aboard the Shuttle, although a failure in one of Discovery's communications systems may prevent Mission Control from visually following many of the crew's activities through live television. At about 9 a.m. Central today, flight controllers noted a failure in Discovery's Ku-Band communications system, a system used for high-rate communications - including television -- that includes a dish-shaped antenna in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The failure, still being analyzed by engineers, prevents the system from transmitting or receiving any usable communications. The Ku-Band system initially worked well when activated yesterday, only a few hours after launch. The Shuttle has other communications systems that are operating well. The loss of the Ku-Band system will not impact the crew's ability to successfully complete all of the flight's objectives. However, the failure of the Ku-Band system may drastically reduce the potential for live televisio! n to be transmitted to the ground for the remainder of the mission.

Discovery is trailing the International Space Station by about 1,680 statute miles, continuing to close in on the orbiting complex at a rate of 201 statute miles with each orbit. Commander Brian Duffy and Pilot Pam Melroy fired the Shuttle's engines twice today to adjust the rate at which Discovery is closing on the station. The continuing series of rendezvous engine firings is planned to culminate in Duffy manually guiding Discovery to a docking with the outpost at 12:45 p.m. CDT Friday. The final phase of the rendezvous is planned to begin with a Terminal Intercept engine firing planned at 9:09 a.m. CDT Friday, when Discovery reaches a point about nine statute miles behind the station.

Also today, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata powered up Discovery's robotic arm, checking out its operation in a survey of the cargo bay and finding everything in order. While that activity was under way on the Shuttle's upper deck, astronauts Leroy Chiao, Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria worked in the lower deck, or middeck, to check out the spacesuits that will be worn during four planned spacewalks. All of the suits and equipment are in excellent shape. Astronaut Bill McArthur will join Chiao, Wisoff and Lopez-Alegria in conducting those spacewalks, planned to begin on Sunday, that will complete connections of the new station components.

The crew will begin a sleep period at 9:17 p.m. CDT and awaken at 4:17 a.m. CDT Friday for day three of the mission. Discovery is in an orbit with a high point of 235 statute miles and a low point of 188 statute miles.

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