STS-108

Flight Crew

GORIE, Dominic Lee, 44, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-91 (1998); STS-99 (2000)

KELLY, Mark Edward, 37, USN, pilot

GODWIN, Linda Maxine, 49, civilian, mission specialist 1, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-37 (1991); STS-59 (1994); STS-76 (1996)

TANI, Daniel Michio, 40, civilian, mission specialist 2

ISS-4 crew up only:

ONUFRIYENKO, Yuri Ivanovich, 40, Russian Air Force, mission specialist 4, ISS-4 and Soyuz TM commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM23 (1996)

BURSCH, Daniel Wheeler, 44, USN, mission specialist 5, ISS-4 flight engineer 1, 4th mission

Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-68 (1994); STS-77 (1996)

WALZ, Carl Erwin, 46, USAF, mission specialist 5, ISS-4 flight engineer 2,

4th mission

Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-65 (1994); STS-79 (1996)

ISS-3 crew down only:

CULBERTSON Jr., Frank Lee, 52, civilian, ISS-3 commander,

mission specialist 3, 3rd mission

Previous missions: STS-38 (1990); STS-51 (1993)

TYURIN, Mikhail Vladislavovich, 41, civilian, Russian ISS-3 flight engineer, mission specialist 4

DEZHUROV, Vladimir Nikolayevich, 39, Russian Air Force, ISS-3 Soyuz commander, mission specialist 5, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM21 (1995)

Flight Log

Originally scheduled for launch on 3 December, the launch was postponed for 24 hours on 29 November in order the allow the ISS-3 crew to complete an extra unplanned EVA to clear the obstruction preventing Progress M1-7 from hard – docking with the station. The 4 December launch was postponed at the T — 5 minute point due to unfavourable weather in the KSC area, which remained throughout the duration of the launch window. After the successful launch, Endeavour docked to ISS during FD 3 (7 December) and remained linked to the station for the next 189 hours. There was one EVA, which was conducted by Godwin and Tani from the Shuttle airlock (instead of Quest) on FD 6. During the EVA (10 Dec for 4 hours 12 minutes), the astronauts installed insulation on the solar array rotation mechanism and retrieved antenna covers that had been stowed in a storage location on the outside of the station for return to Earth, and which may be returned for reuse on the station at a future date. They also performed a number of get-ahead tasks for the extensive EVAs planned for the coming year.

The flight was extended to 12 days in order to complete all the assigned main­tenance and logistics transfer tasks assigned it. During several days of logistics

transfer, the combined crew moved over 2,700 kg from the mid-deck of Endeavour and the Raffaello logistics module on to the station. This included over 385 kg of food, 453 kg of clothing, 136 kg of experiments and associated equipment, 362 kg of EVA hardware, and 272 kg of medical equipment. Over 900 kg of trash, unwanted gear and equipment was placed in the module for return to Earth, and in addition to the exchange of ISS resident crew personal items, the mid-deck of Endeavour was used for the return of several experiment results and samples from the research conducted during the ISS-3 residency. There were also several experiments conducted in the mid­deck of Endeavour during the mission, some of which would be transferred to the station while the others would return on the Shuttle.

While in orbit, the combined crew of astronauts and cosmonauts took time out to pay tribute to the victims of the 11 September attacks in the United States and the rescuers and investigation teams still working on the aftermath of the tragic day.

The official hand-over between ISS resident crews occurred on 13 December amid a week of briefings and exchange activities. One of the three Shuttle Inertial Measurement Units (IMU-2), the orbiter’s primary navigation units, experienced a problem on 12 December and was taken offline. Only two of the units were working at the time to save electricity, so IMU-3 was brought back on line to support operations. The failed unit worked after this exchange but remained off line for the rest of the flight without impact upon the mission. Prior to return to Earth after undocking from the station, the crew deployed a small satellite (Starshine 2) from a GAS canister located in the payload bay. It was estimated that over 30,000 students from 650 schools in 26 countries would track the satellite during its eight months orbiting the Earth.

Milestones

229th manned space flight

137th US manned space flight

107th Shuttle mission

17th flight of Endeavour

51st US and 84th flight with EVA operations

12th Shuttle ISS mission

4th Endeavour ISS mission

4th MPLM flight

2nd MPLM-2 Raffaello flight

1st utilisation flight