STS-96 was a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...

mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

(ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery'', and the first shuttle flight to dock at the International Space Station. The shuttle carried the Spacehab module in the payload, filled with cargo for station outfitting. STS-96 launched from

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

, Florida, on 27 May 1999 at 06:49:42 AM EDT and returned to Kennedy on 6 June 1999, 2:02:43 AM EDT.

Crew

Space walk

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

Mission highlights

ISSafterSTS96.jpg, Illustration of the International Space Station (ISS) during Space Shuttle flight STS-96 01 ICC STS-96.jpg, Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), with among other the Russian cargo crane "STRELA", which was mounted on the ISS STS-96 was a logistics and resupply mission for the

carrying the Spacehab Double Module (DM) 13th Spacehab overall (6th dual module use). Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' carried to the ISS an Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) with parts for the Russian cargo crane STRELA, which was mounted to the exterior of the Russian station segment. Furthermore, the ICC carried the SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS) and the "ORU Transfer Device" (OTD), a U.S. built crane. 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, 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. STS-96 Launch

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. A copy of Blizzard Entertainment's ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

'' real-time strategy game was also flown aboard STS-96. It resides at Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, CA.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the

Gemini program Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than ear ...

. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Notes

:a.

References

External links

NASA mission summary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sts-096 Spacecraft launched in 1999 Space Shuttle missions Spacecraft which reentered in 1999 May 1999 events June 1999 events 1999 in Florida