. SOYUZ TM31

Flight Crew

GIDZENKO, Yuri Pavlovich, 38, Russian Air Force, Soyuz commander,

2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz TM22 (1995)

KRIKALEV, Sergei Konstaninovich, 42, civilian, flight engineer, 5th mission Previous missions: Soyuz TM7 (1988); Soyuz TM12 (1991); STS-60 (1994); STS-88 (1998)

SHEPHERD, William McMichael, 51, Captain USN, NASA ISS commander, 4th mission

Previous missions: STS-27 (1988); STS-41 (1990); STS-52 (1993)

Flight Log

This was the pioneering mission that began the permanent occupation of the International Space Station, the first of a rotational system of crews planned to work aboard ISS in shifts of three to four months initially, increasing to six months. The inclusion of the Russians in the ISS project brought experience and hardware to the programme, enabling the station to be launched and manned earlier than by using the original elements envisaged under the Space Station Freedom programme. By using the Zarya and Zvezda modules and support from Progress re-supply vehicles, a crew could now remain on board what was essentially Mir-2 before its expansion with US and other international elements. The other advantage was the decision to use the Soyuz transport craft as a crew ferry and on-orbit rescue vehicle.

The best place to train for space flight is in space itself, and by that definition, the most logical place to make sure space equipment works as designed is in orbit. Therefore, the objectives of the first crew were to make the small ISS habitable and to discover what worked and what did not. Once the safety and security of their residency was confirmed, the first crew arrived aboard Soyuz TM31 on 2 November 2000 after a two-day flight from Baikonur. Bill Shepherd, the first ISS commander,

The first ISS resident crew enjoying the wonders of microgravity and fresh fruit during their busy residency

was only the second American astronaut to ride into space on an R7 and though the Soyuz remained docked to ISS for the majority of their stay, the crew would even­tually come home aboard the Shuttle. The Soyuz would only be used for an emergency return, if necessary.

Most of their work involved setting up the station and evaluating procedures and systems before the real science work commenced with the addition of the US Destiny lab and several logistics flights in 2001. This crew hosted two Shuttle visiting missions before receiving the crew that would bring them home. The first, STS-97, began the assembly of the station’s solar array systems while the second, STS-98, brought the US Destiny lab. Though engineering and systems activation was a priority of this residency, science was not totally neglected. A joint US/Russian science programme included Earth observations, technology and protein crystal growth experiments, and radiation studies. Due to the extended duration of this mission, medical studies were also included. There were also educational experiments and a joint Russian/German materials science experiment programme. A full complement of science would have to await the delivery of dedicated research facilities and modules and more power from the solar arrays.

The day before the crew docked, Progress M1-3 had been undocked auto­matically from the rear port of Zvezda, allowing the Soyuz to take its place. On

18 November, Progress Ml-4 docked with the station. This was later undocked and re-docked using the TORU system, a test of the cosmonaut-controlled docking system that had given so much trouble during Mir in 1997. A third Progress was sent to the crew (Progress M44) towards the end of their residency. In between, the crew temporarily vacated the station to move Soyuz TM31 from Zvezda’s rear port (where the Progress-compatible refuelling system was located) to the vacant nadir port of Zarya, an operation that took about 30 minutes and freed up the rear port for the Progress M44 re-supply flight.

During the residency, Shepherd kept a log of events, which was later posted (in a censored form) on the NASA website and provided a fascinating insight into life aboard the station. As the crew worked with both US and Russian ground stations, they used GMT as time on board, with the official language as English. Weekends were observed where possible and rest days and Earth “holidays” (Christmas and Easter) were also observed.

Limited communications with ground stations in Russia, locating equipment and the noise levels were early problems identified, problems which, according to the Russians, were normal in the development of a new station. Prior to the installa­tion of the solar arrays during STS-97 in December 2000, the Unity module was off limits to allow power that would heat the module to be diverted to keep the four CMG gyroscopes heated. After the installation of the P6 structure, access to Unity was allowed, offering more room to place equipment and the chance to finally retrieve the logistics stowed by earlier crews. With the arrival of Destiny, more volume was available, but with only a month of the first residency remaining, the real work in the new module and the expanded science programme would have to await the next resident crew. They duly arrived aboard STS-102 in March 2001. After years of training and delays, the ISS-1 crew had successfully configured the station to a position where a new crew could take over and science could begin in earnest. Though they were reluctant to hand over the helm with so much still to do, it was time to leave those details to a fresh crew and come home. Mission successful.

Milestones

220th manned space flight 90th Russian manned space flight 83rd manned Soyuz mission 30th manned Soyuz TM mission 1st Soyuz ferry ISS mission 1st ISS resident crew

Flight Crew

JETT Jr., Brent Ward, 42, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-72 (1996); STS-81 (1997)

BLOOMFIELD, Michael John, 41, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-86 (1997)

TANNER, Joseph Richard, 50, civilian, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-66 (1994); STS-82 (1997)

GARNEAU, Marc Joseph Jean-Pierre, 51, civilian, Canadian mission specialist 2, 3rd mission

Previous missions: STS 41-G (1984); STS-77 (1996)

NORIEGA, Carlos Ismael, 41, USMC, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-84 (1997)

Flight Log

The first set of US-provided solar arrays were delivered to the ISS on this mission. Docking with ISS occurred during FD 3 at the newly installed (STS-92) PMA-3 located on the nadir port of Unity. This new port would allow the temporary relocation of the forward PMA-2 to the Z1 Truss during the next Shuttle mission (STS-98) until after the attachment of the Destiny laboratory. Endeavour remained docked to the station for 167 hours, but only had the internal hatches open for a total of 24 hours, leaving little time to visit with their neighbours. The ISS-1 crew essentially followed their own timetable and programme during docked operations, supporting the activities of the STS-97 crew when required.

The P6 array was lifted from the payload bay of Endeavour by the RMS and parked in an “overnight” position to warm its components in the Sun. Inside the Shuttle, the crew opened the hatch into Unity to leave supplies and computer hard­ware for later relocation inside the station. Checks of EVA equipment and support hardware were also completed and verified during the day. The three EVAs (with rest

A view from the departing Shuttle back towards the ISS. The station now displays the deployed solar arrays delivered and installed by the crew of STS-97

days in between) would cover the installation and connection of solar arrays, prep­aration of the docking port for the attachment of Destiny on the next mission, installation of the Floating Potential Probe (FPP) to measure the electrical potential surrounding the station, and the installation of a camera cable outside the Unity.

During the first EVA (3 Dec for 7 hours 23 minutes), the EVA crew of Tanner (EV1) and Noriega (EV2) mated the P6 array to the station’s Z1 Truss. Despite some delay in unfurling the arrays (a problem solved by recycling the deployment and retraction process), the starboard and port sides of the array were successfully unfurled over two days to their full length of 111.9m long x 34 m wide. These were two of the eight arrays that would power ISS. Photovoltaic radiators to dissipate surplus heat from onboard electronics were also deployed. The second EVA (5 Dec for 6 hours 37 minutes) saw the two astronauts reconfigure electrical connections from the P6 arrays to the US segment, and prepare PMA-2 for its relocation during STS-98. After Destiny had been docked to the station, PMA-2 would be relocated to the rear of the laboratory to allow further Shuttle dockings at that location. For STS-97, the EVA programme continued (7 Dec for 5 hours 10 minutes) by moving an S-band antenna and releasing radiator launch restraints. They also increased the tension on the solar arrays during their third EVA. Following an Earth-based tradition con­ducted when a building reaches its final height, the EVA crew attached an image of an evergreen tree on a transfer bag to the FPP, a symbolic “topping out” of the ISS. Several get-ahead tasks were also completed before the men came back inside.

During the day inside ISS, the two crews completed a welcome ceremony and briefings, followed by structural tests of the array. A series of logistics transfer operations were completed, as was the removal of refuse back into Endeavour to make room on board the station. The undocking of Endeavour from ISS occurred without incident, and after the fly-around manoeuvre, the Shuttle departed, leaving the ISS-1 crew to continue their programme, enjoy the first festive holiday aboard the station and mark the change of year. The new year would bring a change of resident crews and further expansion of the station.

Milestones

221st manned space flight

131st US manned space flight

101st Shuttle flight

15th flight of Endeavour

45th US and 78th flight with EVA operations

6th Shuttle ISS mission

2nd Endeavour ISS mission