STS-106 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-106 — Atlantis

99th Space Shuttle Mission

22nd Flight of Atlantis

Crew:

Terrence W. Wilcutt, Commander

Scott D. Altman, Pilot

Edward Lu, Mission Specialist

Yuri I. Malenchenko, Mission Specialist, Russian Space Agency

Boris V. Morokov, Mission Specialist, Russian Space Agency

Richard A. Mastracchio, Mission Specialist

Daniel C. Burbank, Mission Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – May 29, 2000

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – August 7, 2000

Rollout to Launch Pad 39B – August 13, 2000

Launch:

September 8, 2000 – 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. Launch occurred as scheduled with no delays.

Landing:

September 20, 2000 – 3:58:01 a.m. EDT at Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance was 9,127 feet. Rollout time was 73 seconds. Mission duration was 11 days, 19 hours, 12 minutes, 15 seconds. Landing occurred during the 185th orbit. The mission was extended one day to allow the crew more time to complete work while docked to the International Space Station.

Mission Summary:

STS-106 marked the fourth Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis docked to ISS at 1:51 a.m. EDT on September 10, 2000. Astronauts Lu and Malenchenko conducted a 6-hour, 14-minute spacewalk which began in the late hours of September 10, 2000 and was completed on September 11, 2000. During the spacewalk, the astronauts routed and connected nine power, data and communications cables between the ISS Zvezda Module and the ISS Zarya Module. They also installed a six-foot magnetometer to the ISS exterior. Using tethers and handrails, the astronauts were able to venture as many as 100 feet above the Atlantis cargo bay, establishing a record distance for tethered Space Shuttle spacewalks.

On the fourth day of the mission, the crew entered ISS to begin the transfer of more than 6,000 pounds of hardware and supplies. Maintenance tasks, including the installation of batteries and electrical equipment, were also performed. While docked to ISS, the Atlantis Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters were fired to raise the orbit of ISS by about 14 miles. The crew spent 5 days, 9 hours, 21 minutes aboard ISS before hatches were closed. Atlantis undocked from ISS at 11:46 p.m. EDT on September 17, 2000 after a total stay of 7 days, 21 hours, 54 minutes. Undocking was followed by a double-loop flyaround by Atlantis at a distance of about 450 feet from ISS.