STS-89 Day 2 Highlights

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On Friday, January 23, 1998, 6:00 a.m. CST, STS-89 MCC Status Report # 02 reports:

The seven-member STS-89 crew of Endeavour -- Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Joe Edwards and Mission Specialists Jim Reilly, Mike Anderson, Bonnie Dunbar, Salizhan Sharipov and Andy Thomas -- will begin its first full day of on-orbit activities Friday morning with a wake-up call from Mission Control at 9:48 a.m. CST.

At 6 a.m. CST, Endeavour was approximately 2000 nautical miles from Mir closing the distance between the two spacecraft by about 250 nautical miles each orbit.

Most of Friday's activities will focus on preparations for Saturday afternoon's planned docking between the two spacecraft. Wilcutt and Edwards will conduct additional planned engine firings to refine Endeavour's approach to the Mir Space Station. The crew will install the centerline camera in the Orbiter Docking System which will provide views of docking targets and the docking module during the final phase of the rendezvous activities. They will also verify the health of tools to be used during the rendezvous activities. Docking is still targeted for 2:12 p.m. CST on Saturday.

One of Endeavour's General Purpose Computers (GPCs) remains down early this morning following an apparently unintended shutdown following ascent. The crew reported a problem with the switch that normally takes the computer down in stages, with the computer going from run directly to halt, missing the normal."standby" stage. Flight controllers plan to bring the computer back up, dump its data and put it back in use. No flight impact is anticipated.

Several crew members will take time this evening to discuss their mission and Thomas' transfer to the Mir Space Station with radio station KNX of Los Angeles and the."PowerPoint" program heard on National Public Radio stations in a pair of interviews scheduled for 7:03 p.m. central time.

Endeavour is currently in a 196 x 163 n.m. orbit, circling the Earth once every 91 minutes.

On Friday, January 23, 1998, 6 p.m. CST, STS-89 MCC Status Report # 03 reports:

Endeavour's astronauts spent much of today preparing for Saturday's docking with the Mir space station and their first face-to-face meeting with astronaut Dave Wolf, who has called the Mir home for the past four months.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the Mir at 2:14 p.m. central time tomorrow, marking the eighth meeting between the Shuttle and Mir, and the first by Endeavour. All previous docking missions were accomplished with the Shuttle Atlantis.

In preparation for tomorrow's rendezvous and docking, the astronauts began assembling the checklists, cameras and other tools they will use throughout the docking and installed the centerline camera in the Orbiter Docking System. The centerline camera will provide views of docking targets and the docking module during the final phase of the rendezvous activities.

Shortly before noon Saturday, from a position about eight miles behind Mir, Commander Terry Wilcutt and Pilot Joe Edwards will fire Endeavour's engines in a terminal initiation burn to put Endeavour in position to intercept the orbiting station. The current schedule shows Endeavour arriving 600 feet below the Mir Space Station about 1:20 p.m. central time. Over the course of the next two hours, Wilcutt and Edwards will slowly maneuver Endeavour into position to dock with Mir just after 2 p.m. central time. Hatch opening between the two spacecraft is scheduled for about 3:50 p.m., but could take place as much as a half-hour earlier.

Endeavour's crew will begin an eight-hour sleep period just before midnight, waking up at 8:48 a.m. central time tomorrow to begin in earnest their rendezvous activities.

Endeavour is currently in a 196 by 163 nm orbit, circling the Earth once every 91 minutes.

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