STS-112

Int. Designation	2002-047A
Launched	7 October 2002
Launch Site	Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landed	18 October 2002
Landing Site	Runway 33, Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC, Florida
Launch Vehicle	OV-104 Atlantis/ET-115/SRB BI-115/SSME #1 2048; #2 2051; #3 2047
Duration	10 days 19 hrs 58 min 44 sec
Call sign	Atlantis
Objective	ISS assembly flight 9A; delivery and installation of S1 Truss and Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart A

Flight Crew

ASHBY, Jeffrey Shears, 48, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-93 (1999); STS-100 (2001)

MELROY, Pamela Ann, 41, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-92 (2000)

WOLF, David Alan, civilian, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-58 (1993); STS-86/89 (1997)

MAGNUS, Sandra Hall, 37, civilian, mission specialist 2 SELLERS, Piers John, 47, civilian, mission specialist 3

YURCHIKIN, Fyodor Nikolayevich, 43, civilian, Russian mission specialist 4

Flight Log

Hurricane Lili, out in the Gulf of Mexico, had threatened mission control at JSC, and as the path of the storm could not be determined until late in its track, the decision was taken to power down the Houston centre. This meant that the original launch date for STS-112 of 2 October had to be rescheduled for 7 October. On launch, a back-up separation pyrotechnic system had to be used to release one of the SRBs from the launch platform when the primary charge failed to sever the hold-down bolts and release ground connections to the ET.

Docking of Atlantis to ISS was achieved on 9 October. The primary objective of this flight was the transfer and installation of the S1 Truss and the Crew Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart A. This was the first of two human-powered carts designed to traverse along the MBS rail, providing mobile work platforms for future EVA operations. The relocation of the truss was achieved the day after the docking, with MS Sandra Magnus and ISS SO Peggy Whitson using the Canadarm2 to relocate the truss at the starboard end of the S0 Truss by means of four remotely-controlled bolts.

The International Space Station as of October 2002. The departing Atlantis crew photographed the station following the undocking, and the newly added Starboard 1 (S1) Truss is visible in upper centre frame

During the first EVA (10 Oct for 7 hours 1 minute), Wolf (EV1) and Sellers (EV2) connected power, data and fluid lines and released launch bolts that allowed the S1 radiators to be orientated for optimum cooling. They also deployed a new S-band antenna near the end of the S1 Truss to increase voice communications capability with ground controllers. After releasing the launch restraints on the CETA-A, the two astronauts installed S1’s nadir external camera. EVA 2 (12 Oct for 6 hours 4 minutes) featured further work with CETA, the installation of 22 Spool Positioning Devices (SPD) on the ammonia cooling line connections and a second exterior camera, this time on the Destiny lab, and the preparation and checking of equipment to support the attachment of the next truss section. EVA 3 (14 Oct for 6 hours 36 minutes) focused on connecting ammonia lines, removing a structural support clamp and installing SPDs on a pump assembly, as well as removing a bolt that prevented the activation of a cable cutter on the Mobile Transporter.

In between the EVAs, the STS-112 crew worked with the ISS-5 crew to transfer 816 kg of logistics and supplies to the ISS. Approximately the same mass was brought back by the Shuttle at the end of the mission. The crews also repaired the exercise treadmill vibration dampening system in Zvezda, adjusted protective circuits which measured electrical current on the S1 radiator assembly to a greater tolerance for its use in space, and removed and replaced a humidity separator in the Quest airlock which had been leaking. The crews moved new scientific experiments across to the station and relocated completed ones in the mid-deck of Atlantis. Seven water containers and a new protein crystal growth experiment were moved over to ISS, while liver cell samples were stowed carefully in the Shuttle. In addition, 123 kg of gaseous nitrogen was transferred in two batches (7 kg then 116 kg) from Atlantis to the station’s storage tanks.

Milestones

234th manned space flight 141st US manned space flight 111th Shuttle mission 26th flight of Atlantis

55th US and 88th flight with EVA operations 15th Shuttle ISS mission 6th Atlantis ISS mission