March 10, 2001 Korolev, Moscow region
US Space Shuttle Discovery Orbiter currently on mission
5A.1 under the space station deployment program has docked
with the International Space Station.
The initial contact with the longitudinal docking port on
the Unity module occurred at 09:38, Moscow Time, more than
an hour behind schedule due to a failure to receive a signal
about latching a solar array panel on the US orbital segment
of ISS. During that time the Orbiter stayed in the stationkeeping
mode at a 100 meter distance from the space station.
The Expedition One (ISS-1) crew (Russian cosmonauts Sergei
Krikalev, Yury Gidzenko and US astronaut William Shepherd)
had prepared the space station for docking were providing
support from on-board the space station by monitoring the
rendezvous and docking process.
The ISS-1 and STS crews met each other at 11:43 in the Russian
Service Module Zvezda after transfer hatches were opened.
ISS vehicle stack weighing about 221,5 tons is currently
composed of unmanned logistics vehicle Progress M-44, Service
Module Zvezda, Functional and Cargo Module (FGB) Zarya,
Soyuz TM-31 manned spacecraft, US modules Unity and Destiny,
and Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery. The on-board systems
of the vehicle operate normally.
Ten persons are currently working on-board the vehicle,
including ISS-1 crew of three and Discovery crew of seven:
Russian cosmonaut Yury Usachev (cosmonaut-researcher of
S.P.Korolev RSC Energia, Commander of Expedition Two (ISS-2)
crew), NASA astronauts James Wetherbee (Orbiter Commander),
James Kelley (Orbiter Pilot), Andrew Thomas, Paul Richards,
James Voss, Susan Helms (Mission Specialists).
The docking operations were controlled by the Lead Operational
Control Team (LOCT) at the Moscow Mission Control Center
(MCC-M), Korolev, Moscow Region. The Flight Director for
ISS vehicle is cosmonaut V.A.Soloviev. The mission is controlled
in cooperation with the US Mission Control Center (MCC-H),
Houston, TX.
Based on the data from LOCT, ISS is flying in an orbit with
the following parameters: inclination 51.6°, maximum and
minimum altitudes, respectively, 393.4 and 371.8 km. The
orbital period of the space station is 92.0 min.
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