This was a mission of the United States Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle program
Mission Insignia
Mission Statistics
Mission:	STS-96
Shuttle:	Discovery
Launch Pad:	39-B
Launch:	May 27, 1999 6:49a.m. EDT
Landing:	June 6, 1999 KSC's SLF 2:02:43 a.m. EDT (Runway 15)
Duration:	9 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, 57 seconds.
Orbit Altitude:	173 nautical miles (320 km)
Orbit Inclination:	51.6 degrees
Distance Traveled:	6 million km
Crew photo
Previous Mission: STS-88	Next Mission: STS-93

Crew

• Kent V. Rominger (4), Commander
• Rick D. Husband (1), Pilot
• Ellen Ochoa (3), Mission Specialist
• Tamara E. Jernigan (5), Mission Specialist
• Daniel T. Barry (2), Mission Specialist
• Julie Payette (1), (Canada) Mission Specialist
• Valery Ivanovich Tokarev (1), (Russia) Mission Specialist

Mission Parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter Liftoff: 118,859 kg
  • Orbiter Landing: 220,980 kg
  • Payload: 9,097 kg
• Perigee: 326 km
• Apogee: 340 km
• Inclination: 51.6°
• Period: 91.2 min

Docking with ISS

• Docked: May 29, 1999, 04:23:55 UTC
• Undocked: June 3, 1999, 22:39:00 UTC
• Time Docked: 5 days, 18 h, 15 min, 5 s

Space walk

• Jernigan and Barry - EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: May 30, 1999 - 02:56 UTC
• EVA 1 End: May 30, - 10:51 UTC
• Duration: 7 hours, 55 minutes

Mission highlights

STS-96 was a logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station. It was the first flight to dock with the International Space Station. The SPACEHAB double module carried internal and resupply cargo for station outfitting.

The Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) carried the Russian cargo crane, known as STRELA, which was mounted to the exterior of the Russian station segment, the SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS) and a U.S. built crane called the ORU Transfer Device (OTD).

Other payloads on STS-96 were the Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Equipment (STARSHINE), the Shuttle Vibration Forces Experiment (SVF) and the Orbiter Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring - HEDS Technology Demonstration (IVHM HTD).

The STARSHINE satellite consists of an inert, 19 inch (483 mm) hollow sphere covered by 1,000 evenly-distributed, flat, polished mirrors, each 1 inch in diameter. The payload consists of the STARSHINE satellite, integrated with the Pallet Ejection System (PES), then mounted inside a lidless carrier. The HH equipment consists of one HH Lightweight Avionics Plate (LAP), then mounted inside a lidless carrier. Additional HH equipment consists of one Hitchhiker Ejection System Electronics (HESE), one 5.0 cubic-foot (142 L) HH canister, and one Adapter Beam Assembly (ABA). The purpose of the mission was to train international student volunteer observers to visually track this optically reflective spacecraft during morning and evening twilight intervals for several months, calculate its orbit from shared observations, and derive atmospheric density from drag-induced changes in its orbit over time.

The Shuttle Vibration Forces (SVF) Experiment provided flight measurements of the vibratory forces acting between an aerospace payload and its mounting structure. The force transducers were incorporated into four custom brackets which replaced the existing brackets used to attach the 5 ft (1.5 m) standard canister to the side wall GAS adapter beam. The payload was activated automatically by the Orbiter Lift-off vibration and operated for approximately 100 seconds. STS-96 was the second flight of the SVF experiment.

The purpose of the Orbiter Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring- HEDS Technology Demonstration (IVHM HTD) was to demonstrate competing modern, off-the-shelf sensing technologies in an operational environment to make informed design decisions for the eventual Orbiter upgrade IVHM. The objective of IVHM was to reduce planned ground processing, streamline problem troubleshooting (unplanned ground processing), enhance visibility into systems operation and improve overall vehicle safety.

Daniel T. Barry, who enjoys playing the popular computer game StarCraft, brought along a copy of the game during the mission. [1]

Related articles

• Space science
• Space shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically
• List of ISS spacewalks
• List of spacewalks

External links

• NASA mission summary