Shuttle Mission: STS-88

STS-88 Mission Crew:

• Commander – Robert D. Cabana (Fourth Spaceflight)
• Pilot – Frederick W. Sturckow (First Spaceflight)
• Mission Specialist 1 – Jerry L. Ross (Sixth Spaceflight)
• Mission Specialist 2 – Nancy J. Currie (Third Spaceflight)
• Mission Specialist 3 – James H. Newman (Third Spaceflight)
• Mission Specialist 4 – Sergei K. Krikalev* (Fourth Spaceflight)

* Member of Russian Federal Space Agency

Shuttle mission STS-88 was assigned a 6 member crew one of which was a cosmonaut from the Russian Federal Space Agency. The Shuttle Endeavour was commanded by Robert Cabana from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with this being his fourth flight into space.

STS-88 Mission Objectives:

• Attach the first module, the Unity, to the Zarya module which was already in orbit beginning the construction of the International Space Station

The delivery of a section and beginning of construction of the International Space Station was the primary objective to mission STS-88. Secondary objectives included deploying two satellites and multiple science experiments as well as capturing footing with IMAX cameras.

STS-88 Mission Payloads:

1. Unity Module for International Space Station
2. Scientific Applications Satellite-S (Client: Argentina)
3. MightySat-1 Satellite (Client: Air Force)
4. Space Experiment Module (SEM-07)
5. IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC)
6. Handheld IMAX Camera

The cargo for this historic mission included a piece of the new International Space Station called the Unity module, a module of scientific experiments, two satellites for deployment and two IMAX cameras to record the events.

STS-88 Mission Summary:

After two scrubbed launch attempts Endeavour took flight and STS-88 was underway at 3:35 am EDT on December 4, 1998 from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at the Kennedy Space Center. This mission focused on the beginning of construction of the International Space Station.

On the first couple days of flight, a variety of experiments were performed from the SEM-7. Also brought along were two IMAX cameras for filming the joining of the two modules on the new space station for the NASA library. The crew then prepared to focus their concentrations to building the International Space Station.

The Zarya module, which was built by Russia, was launched into orbit unmanned a few weeks prior to Endeavour’s flight up with the American made Unity module. Once Endeavour had rendezvoused with Zarya the crew set to work on permanently combining the two modules. The SRMS was used to grapple the Unity out of the payload module and up into place.

Once the two elements were docked, two scheduled spacewalks were done to connect power and data cables between the different components. On Flight Day 8, the doors to the International Space Station (ISS) were opened for the first time. Reflecting the international cooperation involved in building the largest space complex in history, Commander Robert Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting module and floated into the new station together.

The rest of the crew followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the roomy hub to which other modules would be connected in the future. Each passageway within Unity was marked by a sign leading the way into tunnels to which new modules would later be connected.

The Shuttle undocked from the ISS on Flight Day 11 and the mission focused on deploying two satellites, the SAC-A, a small satellite for the Argentinean National Commission of Space Activities and a small Air Force satellite called MightySat-1.

Nearly two weeks from when she lifted off, Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on 10:54 pm EST on December 16, 1998. During the historic mission, Endeavour traveled 4.7 million mile, and was officially the first to the new International Space Station.

Images From STS-88:

Mission Highlights & Notes:

• STS-88 was the 93rd shuttle flight in the Space Shuttle program
• Commander Bob Cabana had to perform a debris avoidance maneuver to move Endeavour out of the way of a casing from a Delta II rocket that launched on November 6 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
• During the course of the mission 3 separate spacewalks were performed totalling twenty-one hours and two minutes
• The Space Experiment Module (SEM) program was an educational initiative to increase student access to space with Kindergarten through University students represented
• The originally scheduled launch of Endeavour on December 03, 1998 was postponed for 24 hours when time ran out on the launch window
• During the second attempt at launch a master alarm associated with hydraulic system number 1 in the crew cabin was noted and the countdown held at T-31 seconds to further assess the situation, however with only seconds to respond, launch controllers were unable to resume the countdown in time to launch within the allotted remaining window and another launch attempt was schedule for the next day