2001
Report # 2 
 Wednesday, January 11, 2001  11 a.m. CST 
 Expedition One Crew 
 
 Expedition One crewmembers are busily preparing the International Space
Station for its next visitors  the five astronauts of the STS-98 mission
of Atlantis  set to launch at 2:11 a.m. EST on January 19 from the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  Atlantis precious cargo is the U.S.
Laboratory Destiny, which will provide the orbiting outpost with its first
science facility.  STS-98 marks the seventh shuttle mission to the station
and twelfth overall devoted to the assembly of the ever-growing
international outpost in low Earth orbit.

Shuttle and station managers selected the target launch date following
Wednesdays traditional Flight Readiness Review to assess the readiness of
the shuttle, station, crew, payloads and flight control teams.  Based on a
Friday early morning launch, Atlantis is scheduled to dock to the ISS just
before 9 p.m. Eastern on January 20.

In preparation for the shuttles arrival, Expedition One Commander Bill
Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev
conducted a thorough inventory of items onboard and began stowing
equipment and supplies to clear passageways that will be used by the two
crews throughout the seven days of joint operations.

Remaining work for the Expedition One crew in preparing for Atlantis
arrival includes reviewing documentation for the laboratorys activation,
conferences with various technical specialists and the STS-98 crew, and a
mid-tour debrief with flight controllers.

Destinys attachment and activation is the highlight of the 11-day mission
along with the relocation of a shuttle docking port and three spacewalks
designed to complete final connections between the laboratory, docking
port and the station.  The third spacewalk will mark the 100th in U.S.
spacewalk history and the 60th based out of the shuttle.

In preparation for the relocation of the shuttle docking port, known as
Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, flight controllers in Houston attempted to
cycle four latches on the Common Berthing Mechanism to which the PMA
currently is attached.  The first latch cycled properly, but the second
apparently was obstructed by a piece of the air ducting used to circulate
air throughout the station while a shuttle is docked.  Shepherd visibly
detected the obstruction and a plan is in place to pressurize the volume
of the PMA so that he can float in, move the vent and watch as flight
controllers cycle the latch once again.  This procedure sets the stage for
the removal of the PMA to free the location for Destinys installation.

The only technical issue on the station at present is an apparent faulty
current converter unit on one of eight batteries inside the Zvezda module.
It has no impact on the stations electrical generation capability,
especially in light of the ample power available from the solar arrays
installed on the STS-97 mission of Discovery in December.  All station
life support systems are working fine.

Atlantis five astronauts, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and
Mission Specialists Bob Curbeam, Marsha Ivins and Tom Jones conducted a
countdown dress rehearsal last weekend as technicians were installing the
Destiny lab in its payload bay at Launch Complex 39B.

The International Space Station continues to operate in excellent shape as
it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 230 statute miles.

The next Expedition One status report will be issued on Wednesday, Jan.
17, or sooner, if developments warrant.

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