STS-108

STS-108 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. Its primary objective was to deliver supplies to and help maintain the ISS.

STS-108 was the 12th shuttle flight to visit the International Space Station and the first since the installation of the Russian airlock called Pirs on the station. Endeavour delivered the Expedition 4 crew to the orbital outpost. The Expedition 3 crew returned to Earth on Endeavour.^[1]

While at the station, the crew conducted one spacewalk and attached the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the station so that about 2.7 metric tons (3 tons) of equipment and supplies could be unloaded. The crew later returned Raffaello to Endeavour's payload bay for the trip home.^[1]

Crew

Position	Launching Astronaut	Landing Astronaut
Commander	Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie Third spaceflight
Pilot	Mark E. Kelly First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Linda M. Godwin Fourth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Daniel M. Tani First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Yuri I. Onufrienko, RKA Expedition 4 Second spaceflight ISS Commander/Soyuz Commander	Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. Expedition 3 Third spaceflight ISS Commander
Mission Specialist 4	Carl E. Walz Expedition 4 Fourth spaceflight ISS Flight Engineer	Mikhail Turin, RKA Expedition 3 First spaceflight ISS Flight Engineer
Mission Specialist 5	Daniel W. Bursch Expedition 4 Fourth spaceflight ISS Flight Engineer	Vladimir N. Dezhurov, RKA Expedition 3 Second spaceflight ISS Soyuz Commander

Cargo

MACH-1 Carrier

LMC with 3x GAS and SEM STS-108

SSAF-UF-1 carried the Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM-2) ‘Raffaello’ (2nd flight) 4th MPLM flight overall. Also the Multiple Application Customized Hitchhiker (MACH-1) MPESS Hitchhiker experiment bridge: with CAPL-3, Starshine-2, SEM-11 & 15, G-0761, Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector (PSRD) & COLLIDE-2. As well as the Lightweight MPESS Carrier #2 (LMC) carrying: SEM-12, G-0785, G-0064 and G-0730.

Launch highlights

The launch of Endeavour on 29 November 2001 was rescheduled for 4 December 2001 to allow sufficient time for the Expedition Three crew on the space station to successfully complete a spacewalk to clear an obstruction on the latching mechanism on the Russian Progress supply vehicle.

The launch 4 December was postponed due to unsatisfactory weather conditions in the KSC area. Launch controllers counted down to the T-5 minute point and held until the remainder of the window expired. The scrub had to be called after Astronaut Office Chief Charles Precourt, flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft, detected precipitation in a cloud mass that moved into the Complex 39 area shortly before launch.

Endeavour lifted off 5 December 2001 at 17:12 EST on the final space shuttle mission of 2001 to deliver three tons of supplies and a fresh crew to the International Space Station, and return home a crew that spent four months in space.

In addition to a new station crew and supplies, Endeavour carried a host of scientific investigations, including experiments from space agencies, schools and universities across the United States, Europe and South America, as well as a small satellite that involved more than 25,000 students in 26 countries.^[2]

Mission highlights

The hatches were opened between Endeavour and the ISS Destiny Laboratory at 22:42 UTC 7 December 2001, enabling the ten crew members to greet one another. The Expedition 3 crew officially ended their 117-day residency on board the International Space Station 8 Dec. as their custom Soyuz seat-liners were transferred to Endeavour for the return trip home. The transfer of the Expedition 4 seat-liners to the Soyuz return vehicle attached to the station marked the official exchange of crews.

Endeavour Pilot Mark Kelly and Mission Specialist Linda Godwin used the shuttle's robotic arm to lift the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the shuttle payload bay and attach it to a berth on the station's Unity node. The crews began unloading supplies the same day.

EVA

EVA: 4 hours, 12 minutes – On 10 December 2001, Endeavour astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani completed a four-hour, 12-minute spacewalk to install insulation on mechanisms that rotate the International Space Station's main solar arrays. The two spacewalkers stopped at a stowage bin to retrieve a cover that had been removed from a station antenna during an earlier flight, and after its return to Earth, may be reused. Godwin and Tani also performed a "getahead;" task, positioning two switches on the station's exterior to be installed on a future shuttle mission, STS-110. The spacewalk completed a record year with 18 spacewalks conducted: 12 originating from the shuttle and six from the station.

Maintenance and re-supply

Mission managers extended Endeavour's flight to a duration of 12 days to allow Endeavour's crew to assist with additional maintenance tasks on the station, including work on a treadmill and replacing a failed compressor in one of the air conditioners in the Zvezda Service Module.

The astronauts and cosmonauts completed the transfer of more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and material from Endeavour's mid-deck and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the station. The transferred items included more than 850 pounds of food, 1,000 pounds of clothing and other crew provisions, 300 pounds of experiments and associated equipment, 800 pounds of spacewalking gear, and 600 pounds of medical equipment. In turn, the crew packed up the Raffaello module with items bound for a return trip to Earth.

IMU failure

On 12 December 2001, the crew and Mission Control noted a transient problem with one of the shuttle's three inertial measurement units (IMUs), the primary navigation units for the shuttle. Only two of the three IMUs were on line at the time, with the third unit off line to save electricity. The IMU that experienced a problem, designated IMU 2, was immediately taken off line and the third IMU brought on line. IMU 2 operated well after that, but it remained off line and was considered failed by flight controllers. The loss of one IMU had no impact on Endeavour's mission, and the other two units operated in excellent condition.

A formal change of command ceremony took place 13 December as Expedition 3 ended its residence and Expedition 4 began theirs.

Reboost and departure

Flight controllers planned slight changes to Endeavour's departure from the station 15 December 2001, allowing time for a small jet firing by the shuttle to boost the station's future path away from a piece of space debris that could pass near the complex. Mission Control was notified that a spent Russian rocket upper stage launched in the 1970s could pass within three miles of the station if Endeavour did not perform the engine firing. With the shuttle reboost, the station was predicted to pass more than 40 miles away from the debris.

Because the scheduled reboost used additional propellant, Endeavour did not perform a full-circle flyaround of the station after undocking. Instead, the shuttle undocked from the station, performing a quarter circle flyaround of the complex to a point about 400 feet directly above the station where it fired its engines in a final separation burn at 12:20 am EST, beginning its departure from the orbiting outpost.

Scientific experiments

Endeavour's middeck carried home the results of several experiments completed during Expedition 3's stay on the station. These included the Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility, the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth experiment and cells from the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System (CBOSS).

The CBOSS equipment aboard the space station will remain active during Expedition 4, growing ovarian and colon cancer cells, as well as kidney cells in microgravity.

Experiments in Endeavour's payload bay were returned for investigators around the world. The Multiple Application Customized Hitchhiker-1 (MACH-1) carried a wide array of experiments, including the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector, the Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2, the Capillary Pump Loop, and the Space Experiment Module (SEM). The SEM carried experiments from Argentina, Portugal, Morocco and Australia, as well as experiments from U.S. schoolchildren. Several other canisters in Endeavour's payload bay also carried student experiments.

On its return to Earth, Endeavour's crew deployed a small satellite called STARSHINE 2 from a canister located in the payload bay. More than 30,000 students from 660 schools in 26 countries will be tracking STARSHINE 2 as it orbits the Earth for eight months. The students, who helped polish STARSHINE's 845 mirrors, will use the information they collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere.^[2]

Honoring victims of the September 11 attacks

STS-108 was the first Space Shuttle launch following the September 11 attacks, and remembering it would become a focus of the flight. Security was increased at Kennedy Space Center for press and visitors for the launch, and press activity was more tightly controlled.^[3]

In the early morning hours of 12 September 2001, New York City Police Sergeant Gerald Kane and Detective Peter Friscia, assigned to the office of Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik, retrieved a large American flag that was tattered and torn and wrapped around a flag pole near in corners of Church and Chambers Street amidst the devastation of the World Trade Center site.^[4] That American flag, a USMC flag recovered from the Pentagon, an American flag that flew over the State Capital in Harrisburg, PA on the day of 11 Sept., the 23 shields (badges) of the fallen NYPD officers; patches, posters and an emblem from the FDNY, patches from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and 6,000 small American flags to honor those lost and those that served in the response and recovery efforts for 9/11 were all flown aboard Endeavour.

The 6,000 smaller flags were later given to families that lost loved ones on 9/11 and the flag retrieved from the World Trade Center site is maintained by the Office of the New York City Commissioner of Records.

Mission parameters

Spacewalks

Godwin and Tani – EVA 1
EVA 1 start: 10 December 2001 – 17:52 UTC
EVA 1 end: 10 December 2001 – 22:04 UTC
Duration: 4 hours, 12 minutes

Images

Dominic Pudwill Gorie, STS-108 commander, and pilot Mark Kelly are in their respective stations during rendezvous operations with the ISS. Pudwill Gorie brought Endeavour to a gentle linkup with the ISS as the two craft sailed over England.
Illustration of the International Space Station during STS-108
(10 December 2001) --- Astronaut Linda Godwin, STS-108 mission specialist, is pictured near the end of the Space Shuttle Endeavour's remote manipulator system (RMS) arm during the four-hour session of extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Daniel Tani (out of frame), mission specialist, joined Godwin on the spacewalk.^[1]
STS-108 crew with ISS Expedition 3 and 4 crews
STS-108 lands at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.

^ Photo-s108e5349

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to STS-108.

Human spaceflights to the International Space Station

1998–2004	STS-88 STS-96 STS-101 STS-106 STS-92 Soyuz TM-31 STS-97 STS-98 STS-102 STS-100 Soyuz TM-32 STS-104 STS-105 Soyuz TM-33 STS-108 STS-110 Soyuz TM-34 STS-111 STS-112 Soyuz TMA-1 STS-113 Soyuz TMA-2 Soyuz TMA-3 Soyuz TMA-4 Soyuz TMA-5

2005–2009	Soyuz TMA-6 STS-114 Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-8 STS-121 STS-115 Soyuz TMA-9 STS-116 Soyuz TMA-10 STS-117 STS-118 Soyuz TMA-11 STS-120 STS-122 STS-123 Soyuz TMA-12 STS-124 Soyuz TMA-13 STS-126 STS-119 Soyuz TMA-14 Soyuz TMA-15 STS-127 STS-128 Soyuz TMA-16 STS-129 Soyuz TMA-17

2010–2015	STS-130 Soyuz TMA-18 STS-131 STS-132 Soyuz TMA-19 Soyuz TMA-01M Soyuz TMA-20 STS-133 Soyuz TMA-21 STS-134 Soyuz TMA-02M STS-135 Soyuz TMA-22 Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz TMA-04M Soyuz TMA-05M Soyuz TMA-06M Soyuz TMA-07M Soyuz TMA-08M Soyuz TMA-09M Soyuz TMA-10M Soyuz TMA-11M Soyuz TMA-12M Soyuz TMA-13M Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz TMA-15M Soyuz TMA-16M Soyuz TMA-17M

Current	Soyuz TMA-18M Soyuz TMA-19M

Planned	Soyuz TMA-20M Soyuz MS-01 Soyuz MS-02 Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz MS-04 Soyuz MS-05

Space Shuttle Endeavour (OV-105)

Flights	STS-49 STS-47 STS-54 STS-57 STS-61 STS-59 STS-68 STS-67 STS-69 STS-72 STS-77 STS-89 STS-88 STS-99 STS-97 STS-100 STS-108 STS-111 STS-113 STS-118 STS-123 STS-126 STS-127 STS-130 STS-134

Status	Retired

On display	California Science Center, Los Angeles

U.S. Space Shuttle missions

Completed

1970–79	1977 ALT

1980–89	1981 STS-1 STS-2 1982 STS-3 STS-4 STS-5 1983 STS-6 STS-7 STS-8 STS-9 1984 STS-41-B STS-41-C STS-41-D STS-41-G STS-51-A 1985 STS-51-C STS-51-D STS-51-B STS-51-G STS-51-F STS-51-I STS-51-J STS-61-A STS-61-B 1986 STS-61-C STS-51-L 1988 STS-26 STS-27 1989 STS-29 STS-30 STS-28 STS-34 STS-33

1990–99	1990 STS-32 STS-36 STS-31 STS-41 STS-38 STS-35 1991 STS-37 STS-39 STS-40 STS-43 STS-48 STS-44 1992 STS-42 STS-45 STS-49 STS-50 STS-46 STS-47 STS-52 STS-53 1993 STS-54 STS-56 STS-55 STS-57 STS-51 STS-58 STS-61 1994 STS-60 STS-62 STS-59 STS-65 STS-64 STS-68 STS-66 1995 STS-63 STS-67 STS-71 STS-70 STS-69 STS-73 STS-74 1996 STS-72 STS-75 STS-76 STS-77 STS-78 STS-79 STS-80 1997 STS-81 STS-82 STS-83 STS-84 STS-94 STS-85 STS-86 STS-87 1998 STS-89 STS-90 STS-91 STS-95 STS-88 1999 STS-96 STS-93 STS-103

2000–09	2000 STS-99 STS-101 STS-106 STS-92 STS-97 2001 STS-98 STS-102 STS-100 STS-104 STS-105 STS-108 2002 STS-109 STS-110 STS-111 STS-112 STS-113 2003 STS-107 2005 STS-114 2006 STS-121 STS-115 STS-116 2007 STS-117 STS-118 STS-120 2008 STS-122 STS-123 STS-124 STS-126 2009 STS-119 STS-125 STS-127 STS-128 STS-129

2010–11	2010 STS-130 STS-131 STS-132 2011 STS-133 STS-134 STS-135

Cancelled

Orbiters

← 2000 · Orbital launches in 2001 · 2002 →

Shenzhou 2 \| Türksat 2A \| Progress M1-5 \| USA-156 \| Sicral 1 · Skynet 4F \| STS-98 (Destiny) \| Odin \| Progress M-44 \| USA-157 \| STS-102 (Leonardo MPLM) \| Eurobird 1 · BSat-2A \| XM-2 \| Ekran-M No.18L \| Mars Odyssey \| GSAT-1 \| STS-100 (Raffaello MPLM) \| Soyuz TM-32 \| XM-1 \| PAS-10 \| USA-158 \| Progress M1-6 \| Kosmos 2377 \| Kosmos 2378 \| Intelsat 901 \| Astra 2C \| ICO F2 \| MAP \| STS-104 (Quest) \| Artemis · BSat-2B \| Molniya-3K No.11 \| GOES 12 \| Koronas-F \| USA-159 \| Genesis \| STS-105 (Leonardo MPLM · Simplesat) \| Progress M-45 \| Kosmos 2379 \| VEP-2 · LRE \| Intelsat 902 \| USA-160 \| Progress M-SO1 (Pirs) \| OrbView-4 · QuickTOMS · SBD · Odyssey \| Atlantic Bird 2 \| Starshine 3 · PICOSat · PCSat · SAPPHIRE \| USA-161 \| Globus No.14L \| USA-162 \| QuickBird-2 \| Soyuz TM-33 \| TES · PROBA · BIRD \| Molniya-3 No.64 \| Progress M1-7 (Kolibri 2000) \| DirecTV-4S \| Kosmos 2380 · Kosmos 2381 · Kosmos 2382 \| STS-108 (Raffaello MPLM · Starshine 2 \| Jason-1 · TIMED \| Meteor-3M #1 · Kompass · Badr-B · Maroc-Tubsat · Reflektor \| Kosmos 2383 \| Kosmos 2384 · Kosmos 2385 · Kosmos 2386 · Gonets-D1 No.10 · Gonets-D1 No.11 · Gonets-D1 No.12

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.

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