STS-88

At 12:15 am EST on Monday, 23 June 1997, an Air Force C-5 air cargo plane arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility carrying Unity (Node 1).[14] On 1 February 1998, Endeavour was towed to Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1.[15] On 15 October 1998, Endeavour was moved from Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building.[16] On 21 October 1998, Endeavour was transported atop the Crawler Transporter to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A.[17]

Space Shuttle Endeavour launched at 3:35:34 am EST from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. STS-88 was the first shuttle flight to the International Space Station. After launch, the crew opened the shuttle's payload bay doors, deployed the Ku-Band antenna, and activated the shuttle's Hitchhiker payload. The crew also started preparing for the multiple engine firings that will be performed to bring shuttle Endeavour within the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System's reach of the Zarya FGB. At launch, Zarya was 240 statute miles above the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and the module was on its 222nd orbit of the Earth since its launch.[18]

On Flight Day 2, the crew of Endeavour performed several tasks to get ready for the docking on Sunday and the extra-vehicular activities (EVA) to be completed on the mission. Nancy Currie conducted a photo survey of Unity and Endeavour's payload bay, using the shuttle's robotic arm, Canadarm. Jerry Ross and Jim Newman checked out the spacesuits they would use on the three EVAs and prepared the shuttle's airlock for use during the spacewalks. Rick Sturckow, who would be choreographing the EVAs from inside the shuttle, joined Ross and Newman to check out the SAFER units to be worn during the spacewalks in case Ross or Newman were to become separated from Endeavour during one of the spacewalks.[19]

On Flight Day 3, Currie used Canadarm to grapple and place Unity onto the Orbiter Docking System at 6:45 pm EST. The crew pressurized PMA-2 and entered it. They put several caps over vent valves to prepare for the entrance into Unity later in the week. Commander Bob Cabana performed a debris avoidance maneuver to move Endeavour out of the way of a casing from a Delta II rocket that launched on 6 November from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.[5]

On Flight Day 4, Bob Cabana fired Endeavour's rockets several times to maneuver the shuttle within Canadarm's reach of the Zarya FGB. At 6:47 pm EST, Currie grappled Zarya. Later, at 9:07 pm EST, Cabana fired Endeavour's downward jets to bring the two modules together.[20]

During a 7-hour, 21-minute spacewalk, astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman helped activate the Unity node, the first module to the U.S. segment of the International Space Station. They connected 40 connectors and cables running along the 35-ton, 76-foot-tall (23 m) space station. At 10:49 pm EST, flight controllers in Houston saw Unity's systems come on.[8]

On the 6th day of Endeavour's STS-88 mission, Mission Specialists Jerry Ross and Jim Newman relaxed after their long spacewalk on Flight Day 5. Ross, Newman, Nancy Currie, and Sergei Krikalev prepared equipment for Flight Day 7's EVA. Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Rick Sturckow fired Endeavour's main reaction control system jets for 22 minutes to raise the ISS approximately 51⁄2 statute miles. The crew conducted interviews with ABC News, Discovery Channel, and MSNBC.[21]

At 3:33 pm EST, Mission Specialists Jerry Ross and Jim Newman commenced on a 7-hour, 2-minute EVA to continue the installation of Unity. The two spacewalkers first installed two antennas on the outside of Unity. The astronauts also removed launch restraint pins on the four radial common berthing mechanisms of Unity. They installed covers on Unity's two data relay boxes to protect them from sunlight. Lastly, Newman freed a backup rendezvous system antenna on the Zarya FGB.[22]

Flight Day 8 was a historic day as the International Space Station was opened for the first time on orbit. At 2:54 pm EST, Commander Bob Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the Unity Node of the new International Space Station. The other members of the crew started unstowing gear and turning on the lights. At 4:12 pm EST, Cabana and Krikalev opened the hatch into Zarya. Jerry Ross and Jim Newman assembled a S-band communications system in Unity, and Krikalev and Nancy Currie replaced a problematic battery discharging unit in Zarya.[11]

On Flight Day 9, Pilot Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialist Nancy Currie continued unstowing hardware in Unity. After turning off the lights, the crew later closed the hatches to Zarya and Unity. The crew prepared for the mission's third and final spacewalk on Flight Day 10. Endeavour's crew also conducted interviews with CNN and CBS News.[23]

At 3:33 pm EST, astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman commenced on a 6-hour, 59-minute EVA to finish the installation of the Unity Node to Zarya. The two stowed tools on the side of Unity to prepare for the spacewalks on STS-96, the next mission to the ISS. Ross also freed another antenna on Zarya, similar to the one Newman freed on EVA-2. The spacewalkers also tested the redesigned SAFER jet packs, to be used in the event an astronaut became separated from the spacecraft during a spacewalk. After the EVA, Pilot Rick Sturckow depressurized the vestibule between Endeavour and PMA-2 to prepare for the undocking of the two spacecraft on Flight Day 11.[24]

On Flight Day 11, Space Shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station. At 3:25 pm EST, Pilot Rick Sturckow backed Endeavour 450 feet (140 m) away from the station and started a nose-forward fly-around of the station, so that the crew could take pictures of the space station. At 4:49 pm EST, Sturckow performed a final separation burn. Later, the crew deployed SAC-A, a small satellite for the Argentinean National Commission of Space Activities.[25]

On the last full day on orbit, the crew deployed a small Air Force satellite called MightySat-1. The crew tested the orbiter's aerosurfaces and steering jets to be used on landing day and stowed equipment.[26]

Flight Day 13 was landing day for Space Shuttle Endeavour and its crew of six. At 7:07 pm EST, the orbiter's payload bay doors were closed for entry. Flight Director John Shannon gave the go for the crew to fire the orbital maneuvering system engines for the deorbit burn at 9:46 pm EST so that Endeavour could slow down to enter the Earth's atmosphere. At 10:54 pm EST, Endeavour and crew landed on the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15. Endeavour wrapped up a 4.7 million mile mission, and the first to the International Space Station.[27]