1998-003A
Endeavour made its first space station flight in Jan 1998, Shuttle/Mir-08 (S/MM-08). The ODS and external airlock were in the cargo bay with the Spacehab Double Module; a TCS rendezvous laser was mounted in bay 2P. STS-89 was the first flight with Block IIA SSME engines, with a larger throat chamber and new low pressure turbopumps. Four GAS cans were carried in the aft payload bay.
Endeavour reached orbit and opened the payload bay doors; the experiments in SPACEHAB were then activated. On the second day, the crew filled water bags in preparation for their transfer to Mir. Docking came on day 3.
Thomas was to transfer to the Mir crew on the second docked day, Jan 26. The official transfer was delayed by several hours when his Sokol entry suit did not fit; transfer of the seat liner and checkout on the Sokol suit are both required prior to official crew transfer. Thomas tried on Wolf's suit and that was deemed good enough for him to join the crew; the correct suit was adjusted a couple of days later.
After several days of logistics transfers, it was time for David Wolf to return home. In a farewell press conference there was some controversy about Thomas' poor command of Russian, but Solov'yov defended him. Endeavour undocked minutes after the launch of Soyuz TM-27 from Baykonur, carrying Thomas's presumptive crewmates.
STS-89 brought 630 kg of water to Mir, 422 kg of US science equipment, 1473 kg of Russian logistics material, and 116 kg of miscellaneous cargo for a total of 2011 kg. On the return trip, 762 kg of science equipment were returned together with 308 kg of Russian logistics and 213 kg of miscellaneous cargo for a total of 1283 kg.
The Endeavour crew also carried out the SIMPLEX ionospheric modification thruster firing experiment and the Human Performance experiment.
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| STS-89 |
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| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|
|
| 1997 Dec 12 | | Roll to VAB/1 |
| 1997 Dec 13 | | Mate to ET/SRB |
| 1997 Dec 19 | | Roll to LC39A on MLP-3 |
| 1998 Jan 23 | 0248:15 | Launch |
| | 0250:18 | T+2:03 SRM sep |
| | 0256:44 | T+8:29 MECO 112141 kg? |
| | 0256:54 | ET sep |
| | 0317:37 | -X trim RCS 2s 0.3m/s |
| | 0330:03 | OMS-2 2:16 65.1m/s | 80 x 300 x 51.7 |
| | 0332:17 | OMS-2 CO |
| | 0332 | | 90.54 296 x 305 x 51.7 |
| | 0412? | ET reentry |
| | 0432:36 | PLBD open R |
| | 0436:24 | PLBD open L |
| | 0637:22 | OMS-3 NC1 35s 17m/s |
| | 0637 | | 91.16 298 x 363 x 51.7 |
| | 1659 | | 91.16 299 x 363 x 51.7 |
| | 1803:13 | OMS-4 NC2 45s 22m/s |
| | 1804 | | 91.96 363 x 378 x 51.7 |
| 1998 Jan 24 | 0401:14 | RCS NC3 12s 1m/s |
| 0430 | | 91.99 366 x 377 x 51.7 |
| | 1619:00 | OMS-5R NC4 10s 2.5m/s |
| | 1653:41 | RCS NCC 3s 0.3m/s |
| | 1751:23 | OMS-6L TI 11s 3m/s |
| 1811:24 | RCS MC1 4s 0.3m/s |
| | 1844:00 | RCS MC2 2s 0.2m/s |
| | 1911:00 | RCS MC4 7s 0.5m/s |
| 1910s | R-bar to Mir, 20m |
| | 1940s | Final approach |
| | 1954:17 | RCS DTO 258, 16 pulses over 17 min |
| | | (plume test, 1 thruster) |
| | 2000s | 10m, stationkeep |
| | 2008s | Approach |
| | 2014 | Docked with Mir SO |
| | 2023 | Hard dock |
| | 2153s | Hatch open |
| | 2200 | | 92.20 378 x 387 x 51.7 |
| 1998 Jan 25 | 2335 | Thomas/Wolf transfer |
| 1998 Jan 26 | 0600 | | 92.20 379 x 385 x 51.66 |
| 1998 Jan 28 | 2234 | Hatches closed |
| 1998 Jan 29 | 0600 | | 92.20 379 x 385 x 51.66 |
| | 1656:55 | Undocked from SO |
| | 1657:18 | RCS Sep from SO 12s 1m/s |
| | 1705 | Stationkeep at 73m |
| | 1730s | TORF Flyaround |
| | 1816:37 | Sep RCS 11s 1m/s | 92.16 377 x 383 x 51.66 |
| | 2332 | Orbit lower OMS-7 L 22s 5.7m/s |
| | 2340 | | 91.96 358 x 382 x 51.66 |
| 1998 Jan 30 | 2150:21 | OMS-8 R SIMPLEX, 9.2s 3m/s |
| 1998 Jan 31 | 1400 | | 91.96 359 x 382 x 51.66 |
| | 1853 | PLBD close |
| | 2127:55 | OMS-9 deorbit 3:24 0.104 km/s |
| | 2203:35 | Entry interface |
| | 2235:10 | Land RW15, 8:19:46:54 |
| | 2235:21 | NGTD |
| | 2236:21 | Wheels stop |
