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.
