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STS-89

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STS-89 Credit: NASA

AKA: Endeavour;Spacehab Double Module. Launched: 1998-01-23. Returned: 1998-01-31. Number crew: 6 . Duration: 8.82 days.

Penultimate Shuttle mission to Mir. Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as the resident NASA astronaut. Endeavour docked with the SO module on Mir at 20:14 GMT on January 24, 1998.

Payloads included:

• Orbiter middeck: CEBAS (German/US biological module with fish and snails); dinosaur skull (part of a museum educational program)
• Bay 1: Tunnel Adapter
• Bay 3: Orbiter Docking System/External Airlock
• Bay 4-7: Transfer Tunnel
• Bay 8-12: Spacehab Double Module (payloads included supplies for Mir, X-ray crystallography detector planned for the International Space Station)
• Bay 13P: Getaway Special GABA carrier with G-141, G-145 (German materials processing experiments)
• Bay 13S: Getaway Special GABA carrier with G-093 (University of Michigan fluid dynamics experiment), G-432 (Chinese materials processing experiment)

Despite fits problems with his Sokol emergency spacesuit, Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as a Mir crew member on January 25. Endeavour undocked from Mir on January 29 at 16:57 GMT and made one flyaround of the station before departing and landing at Kennedy Space Center's runway 15 at 22:35 GMT on January 31.

NASA Official Mission Summary:

STS-89
(8th Shuttle-Mir docking)
Endeavour
Pad A
89th Shuttle mission
12th flight OV-105
8th Shuttle-Mir docking
7th U.S. crew member on Mir
42nd KSC landing
Crew:
Terrence W. Wilcutt, Commander
(3rd Shuttle flight)
Joe Frank Edwards Jr., Pilot (1st)
Michael P. Anderson, Mission Specialist (1st)
Bonnie J. Dunbar, Mission Specialist (5th)
James F. Reilly II, Mission Specialist (1st)
Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov, Mission Specialist (1st space flight) (Russian Aviation and Space Agency)
Embarking to Mir - Mir 24/25 crew member: Andrew S. W.Thomas, Mission Specialist and Cosmonaut Researcher (2nd Shuttle, 1st Mir)
Returning from Mir - Mir 24 crew member: David A. Wolf, Mission Specialist and Cosmonaut Researcher (3rd Shuttle, 1st Mir)
Orbiter Preps (move to):
OPF 1 - March 28, 1997
VAB - April 8, 1997 (temporary storage)
OPF 3 - April 21, 1997
VAB - May 23, 1997 (temporary storage)
OPF 1 - June 4, 1997 (begin preflight processing)
VAB - Dec. 12, 1997
Pad - Dec. 19, 1997

Launch:

January 22, 1998, 9:48:15 p.m. EST. Endeavour returned to space after completing its first Orbiter Maintenance Down Period, becoming first orbiter other than Atlantis to dock with Mir. On May 22, 1997, mission managers announced Endeavour would fly STS- 89 instead of Discovery. Launch originally targeted for Jan. 15, 1998, changed first to no earlier than Jan. 20 and then Jan. 22, per request from the Russian space program to allow completion of activities on Mir. First launch overseen by one of two new rotational launch directors, Dave King, following retirement of veteran Launch Director Jim Harrington.

Landing:

January 31, 1998, 5:35:09 p.m. EST, Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 9,790 feet (2,984 meters). Rollout time: One minute, 10 seconds. Mission duration: eight days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, 54 seconds. Landed on orbit 139. Logged 3.6 million statute miles. Landed on first opportunity at KSC, marking 13th consecutive landing in Florida and 20th in the last 21 missions.

Mission Highlights:

Docking of Endeavour to Mir occurred at 3:14 p.m., Jan. 24, at an altitude of 214 nautical miles. Hatches opened at 5:25 p.m. the same day. Transfer of Andy Thomas to Mir and return of David Wolf to the U.S. orbiter occurred at 6:35 p.m., Jan. 25. Initially, Thomas thought his Sokol pressure suit did not fit, and the crew exchange was allowed to proceed only after Wolf's suit was adjusted to fit Thomas. Once on Mir, Thomas was able to make adequate adjustments to his own suit (which would be worn should the crew need to return to Earth in the Soyuz capsule) and this remained on Mir with him. Wolf spent a total of 119 days aboard Mir, and after landing, his total on-orbit time was 128 days.

Hatches between the two spacecraft closed at 5:34 p.m., Jan. 28, and two spacecraft undocked at 11:57 a.m., Jan. 29. More than 8,000 pounds (3,629 kilograms) of scientific equipment, logistical hardware and water were taken from Endeavour to Mir. On Jan. 31, a new crew docked with Mir to begin a three-week handover. Thomas and his Mir 24 crewmates, Commander Anatoly Solvyev and Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov, greeted Mir 25 Commander Talgat Musabayev, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and French researcher Leopold Eyharts following a soft docking on Jan. 31, just hours before the STS-89 crew touched down in Florida. Eyharts was to return to Earth Feb. 19 with the two Mir 24 cosmonauts, leaving Thomas, Musabayev and Budarin on Mir. Thomas, the last U.S. astronaut assigned to complete a lengthy stay on Mir, will return to Earth after a four-month stay as Phase I activities draw to a close.

Photo Gallery

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STS-89 Credit: www.spacefacts.de

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• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: It's Not Unusual - . Flight: STS-89. "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - . Call Sign: Endeavour. Crew: Anderson, Dunbar, Edwards, Joe, Reilly, Sharipov, Thomas, Andrew, Wilcutt. Payload: Endeavour F12 / Spacehab Double Module. Mass: 116,277 kg (256,346 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Anderson, Dunbar, Edwards, Joe, Reilly, Sharipov, Thomas, Andrew, Wilcutt. Agency: NASA Houston. Manufacturer: Douglas. Program: Mir. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: Soyuz TM-26, STS-86 Mir NASA-5, STS-89, STS-89 Mir NASA-6. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Endeavour. Duration: 8.82 days. Decay Date: 1998-01-31 . USAF Sat Cat: 25143 . COSPAR: 1998-003A. Apogee: 382 km (237 mi). Perigee: 359 km (223 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.00 min.

  Penultimate Shuttle mission to Mir. Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as the resident NASA astronaut. Endeavour docked with the SO module on Mir at 20:14 GMT on January 24, 1998.

  Payloads included:

  • Orbiter middeck: CEBAS (German/US biological module with fish and snails); dinosaur skull (part of a museum educational program)
  • Bay 1: Tunnel Adapter
  • Bay 3: Orbiter Docking System/External Airlock
  • Bay 4-7: Transfer Tunnel
  • Bay 8-12: Spacehab Double Module (payloads included supplies for Mir, X-ray crystallography detector planned for the International Space Station)
  • Bay 13P: Getaway Special GABA carrier with G-141, G-145 (German materials processing experiments)
  • Bay 13S: Getaway Special GABA carrier with G-093 (University of Michigan fluid dynamics experiment), G-432 (Chinese materials processing experiment)

  Despite fits problems with his Sokol emergency spacesuit, Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as a Mir crew member on January 25. Endeavour undocked from Mir on January 29 at 16:57 GMT and made one flyaround of the station before departing and landing at Kennedy Space Center's runway 15 at 22:35 GMT on January 31.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Calypso - . Flight: STS-89. "Calypso" by John Denver CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Friends, We Are Migrant Birds - . Flight: STS-89. "Friends, We Are Migrant Birds" An old Russian pilots' song CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Singer From Down Under - . Flight: STS-89. "Singer From Down Under" by Slim Dusty CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• Mir News 404: Mir-routine - . Nation: Russia. Program: Mir. Flight: Soyuz TM-26, STS-86 Mir NASA-5, STS-89, STS-89 Mir NASA-6.

  During the weekend of 17.01.98 Solovyov and Vinogradov entered the airlock (Sh.S.O.) of the Module-D (Kvant-2) and showed images of the outer hatch and its malfunctioning locks. One of those locks was seriously damaged. The repair of this hatch will be done by the next crew for a special spanner is needed which has to be made on earth and delivered to Mir by that crew. The Russians can work inside the Sh.S.O. not wearing a space suit for the air in the Sh.S.O. is leaking away very slowly. Endeavour (STS-89): During the launch of Endeavour on 23.01 at 0248 UTC the Mir was over Western Europe.

  As the crew was not able to see the launch they slept. Appr. 19 minutes later Endeavour came in range of Western Europa and via the 259.700 mc (AM-W) Terrence Wilcutt could be heard reporting some facts to Houston via a tracking station in Spain. During the periods in which Endeavour and Mir could communicate directly on VHF both objects were out of our range. A short time before the docking images from Mir with the approaching Shuttle could be seen via Altair-2. This was not very much: 2 huge projectors and a few obstacles. In a very short transmission CNN transmitted the same images. (Not much attention by CNN for the Clinton sensation had a higher priority)

  Communications Mir after the docking:

  Via VHF channels a lot of interesting traffic. The docking took place on 24.01.98 at 20.14.15 UTC. Just before the docking there was a short pass for Western Europe (Mir's orbit 68163, 2008-2010 UTC) with an elevation of 1 degree. No traffic on 143.625 or 130.165 mc could be monitored then. During the pass in orbit 68164, 2140-2149 UTC, Solovyov could be heard on those 2 frequencies. He reported that at his side all was ready to open the hatches after airseal checks, equalisation of the pressures with the 'vestibule' of the docking compartment (SO) and the installation of protection caps.

  At the side of the Shuttle these procedures lasted longer and we had to wait until appr. 2225 UTC before we could see how both commanders met each other. During the pass in orbit 68165, 2314-2324 UTC, Solovyov reported that the hatches were open and that the joint crew had been instructed how to escape in case of emergency.

  Working days during the combined flight: Both crews will stick to the Houston working day.

  On 25.01.1998 during Mir's orbit 68179 (2007-2050 UTC) Altair-2 was in use for Mir-TsUP-M traffic. Meanwhile Andy Thomas had relieved David Wolf as a Mir-crew member. Andy belonged to the Mir crew after the installation of his 'seat-liner' in the Soyuz-TM26. That ship serves as a lifeboat in case of emergency and the seat-liner (the Russians speak about 'lozhement') must guarantee a safe landing for him. After a conversation about this seat-liner Mir transmitted video-images. The first images showed a totally disoriented salamander, followed by those of the approaching Endeavour, again the poor salamander and at last the opening of the hatch and capers of a happy David Wolf.

  But.... there was a problem: the spacesuit especially made for Thomas did not fit. He could not get in it and so he tried the suit of David Wolf. Again a problem: the fingers of his gloves were too long, the Americans said 15 centimetre, but in Solovyov's opinion this was not more than 7 centimetres. Solovyov convinced TsUP-M that this was not a problem for it was possible to correct the size of the gloves by the use of special tape (or: ribbons). Nevertheless for some time the Americans considered the possibility to take Andy back to earth this week. After 2 long communication sessions and a visit to Soyuz-TM26 of Terry Wilcutt they gave Andy permission to fulfil his mission on board Mir.

  Soyuz-TM27:

  On 29.01.98, so the day on which Endeavour will undock from Mir, the Soyuz-TM27 will be launched from Baykonur at 1633 UTC. The docking at Mir's aft (Kvant-1 +X ) docking port is planned for 31.01.98 at 1813 UTC. The main crew of Soyuz-TM27 (and the crew for the 25th Main Expedition to Mir) will consist of Talgat Musabayev (commander) and Nikolay Budarin (flight engineer). They will bring CNES guest astronaut Leopold Eyharts to Mir. Eyharts will remain 3 weeks on the Mir and after his stay return to earth together with Solovyov and Vinogradov in the Soyuz-TM26. The relief crew has the call sign: Kristall.

  . Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Clap For the Wolfman - . Flight: STS-89. "Clap For the Wolfman" by Burton Cummings in honor of astronaut David Wolf who joined the crew after 120 days aboard Mir. CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Hide Away - . Flight: STS-89. "Hide Away" by Stanley Clarke. For Mike Anderson. CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Here We Go Loopty-Loo - . Flight: STS-89. "Here We Go Loopty-Loo" ("Lupe de Lue") by Little Richard and The Disney Kids CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• Soyuz TM-27 - . Call Sign: Kristall. Crew: Budarin, Eyharts, Musabayev. Backup Crew: Afanasyev, Haignere, Treshchev. Payload: Soyuz TM s/n 76. Mass: 7,250 kg (15,980 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RAKA. Manufacturer: Korolev bureau. Program: Mir. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz TM-26, Soyuz TM-27, Soyuz TM-27 Mir Pegase, STS-86 Mir NASA-5, STS-89, STS-89 Mir NASA-6. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz TM. Duration: 207.53 days. Decay Date: 1998-08-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 25146 . COSPAR: 1998-004A. Apogee: 373 km (231 mi). Perigee: 363 km (225 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 91.90 min.

  Soyuz TM-27 carried the Mir EO-25 crew and French astronaut Leopold Eyharts. NASA and the Russian Space Agency had hoped Soyuz TM-27 could dock with Mir while Endeavour was still there, resulting in an on-board crew of 13, a record which would have stood for years or decades. But the French vetoed this, saying the commotion and time wasted would ruin Eyharts Pegase experimental programme. Soyuz TM-27 docked at the Kvant module port at 17:54 GMT on January 31, 1998, less than five hours before Endeavour landed in Florida.

  Solovyov handed over command of Mir to EO-25 commander Musabayev, and the Mir EO-24 crew and Eyharts undocked from the forward port of Mir at 05:52 GMT on February 19 aboard the Soyuz TM-26 for their return home. On February 20, the EO-25 crew and Andy Thomas of the NASA-7 mission boarded Soyuz TM-27 and undocked from the Kvant port at 08:48 GMT. They redocked with the forward port on Mir at 09:32 GMT. This freed up the Kvant port for a test redocking of the Progress M-37 cargo ship, parked in a following orbit with Mir during the crew transfer.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Bad To the Bone - . Flight: STS-89. "Bad To the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-89 - Wakeup Song: Breakfast Blues - . Flight: STS-89. "Breakfast Blues" by Trout Fishing in America CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• Landing of STS-89 - . Return Crew: Anderson, Dunbar, Edwards, Joe, Reilly, Sharipov, Wilcutt, Wolf. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Anderson, Dunbar, Edwards, Joe, Reilly, Sharipov, Wilcutt, Wolf. Program: Mir. Flight: Soyuz TM-26, Soyuz TM-27, Soyuz TM-27 Mir Pegase, STS-86 Mir NASA-5, STS-89, STS-89 Mir NASA-6. STS-89 landed at 22:35 GMT with the crew of Wilcutt, Edwards, Reilly, Anderson, Wolf, Dunbar and Sharipov aboard..

• Mir News 405: Mir-ENDEAVOUR - . Nation: Russia. Program: Mir. Flight: Soyuz TM-26, Soyuz TM-27, Soyuz TM-27 Mir Pegase, STS-86 Mir NASA-5, STS-89, STS-89 Mir NASA-6.

  During the combined flight the 'Russian segment' continued to maintain direct communications with TsUP Moscow. During previous flights the Mir-crew regularly used the American communication facilities. Now they used their geostationary sat. Altair-2 more often. In the early beginning of the combined flight there were technical problems on board of Endeavour and for a short period the Mir-complex controlled the attitude of the huge combination. Due to the high fuel consumption the attitude control was given back to the Endeavour. Now and then the Russians discussed the recent problems with the space suit of Andy Thomas. In their opinion a bad co-ordination between American and Russian experts in this field caused a lot of unnecessary fuss.

  Departure Endeavour from Mir:

  After a few days toiling to and fro with supplies and equipment Endeavour separated from Mir on 29.01.1998 at 1656 UTC. Before the separation Altair-2 transmitted images from Mir. These were old video recordings of the Endeavour during the approach on 24.01.1998. A few seconds before the undocking Altair-2 was switched off. Altair-2 transmitted the images of the departure and the fly around of the Shuttle between 1747 and 1827 UTC. A part of these images had been made through a porthole of the Priroda module. During this transmission Solovyov reported a malfunction of a ventilator of the CO2 scrubber Vozdukh.

  Launch Soyuz-TM27:

  At 16.33.52 UTC, so 23 minutes before the undocking of Endeavour Soyuz-TM27 started from Baykonur with on board the crew for the 25th Main Expedition to Mir and the French guest astronaut Leopold Eyharts. Commander is Talgat Musabayev, who is making his 2d spaceflight. Now as a commander, during his first flight he was on board engineer. This time engineer is Nikolay Budarin, who also makes his 2d flight. He started for the first time in a Soyuz-TM-ship as during his first flight he was delivered to Mir by the Shuttle Atlantis (June 1995). The call sign of the new crew is Kristall.

  Progress-M37:

  This freighter had to free the aft docking port (Kvant-1 +X axis) for the Soyuz-TM27 and when it was clear that all went well with that transport ship Progress-M37 separated from Mir on 30.01.1998 at 12.50.30 UTC. Initially there were no plans for a redocking, but as long as the Russians do not make a final decision Progress-M37 will fly autonomously. The advantage of the occupation of the aft docking port by a ship is a better thermo-protection of the docking mechanism of that port and the additional possibility for the crew to get rid off stuff which is no longer needed.

  Flight of the Soyuz-TM27:

  After the launch, which took place 12 seconds behind schedule, all went well. During the pass in the 3d orbit strong transmissions on all frequencies could be monitored over here. Musabayev, Kristall-1, reported that they meanwhile had entered the BO (life compartment). The pressure was 706 mm. (As always there was a lot of interference from the ground services of a nearby airport using the same frequency 121.750 mc in AM-Wide)

  During the next pass Musabayev reported the good performance of the 2nd orbit correction impulse. During the 3rd pass over here he reported that they had resolved a problem with the percentage of CO2 in the air and the so called 'ugli posadki' the angles of re-entry in the atmosphere and the related times if they in case of emergency would be forced to return to earth. Meanwhile Eyharts slept in his sleeping bag in the BO and the Russians continued to work in the SA (landing apparatus). During 30.01.98 the flight went on without problems. An employee of the ground services Rotterdam Airport recognises the language during a Soyuz-TM27 transmission and reacts with a 'dosvidaniya'. This was the first time during all those years in which this phenomenon regularly took place.

  Approach and docking Soyuz-TM27 on 31.01.98:

  This operation was an excellent performance. All went well from the very beginning until contact. Enjoying the benefit of optimum monitoring possibilities I could make this statement. Communications via Altair-2 started at 1724 UTC during Mir's orbit 68271. The approach was going on far ahead of schedule. At 1725 the distance was 7060M, the approach speed 10.5 M/sec. and the deviations around the 3 axes were minimal. At 1732, distance 4300M with appr. speed 10.2 M/sec.

  The operation was executed in the automatic regime with the system Kurs. Musabayev continuously reported details of the operation. He also regularly stated: No emergency instruction. So Kurs worked well and there was no need to take over manually. On 1735 Altair-2 switched over to TV-transmissions and the Mir complex could be seen via a camera in the Soyuz-TM27. At 1750 they again went over to phone with the clear and calm voice of Musabayev. At 17.54.29 UTC the smooth docking took place and immediately both crews reacted with great enthusiasm. Almost always dockings take place a few minutes after disappearance of both objects behind my eastern horizon, so just after the first pass and VHF window for my position.

  This time this VHF window showed up after the docking. After abt. 6 minutes after the docking CNN came with a 'live event' of the docking, so in fact not 'live', but somewhat later. This was also the case with the TV-images of the opening of the hatches and the meeting of the 2 crews. I monitored the voices of the enthusiastic crews while the TV-transmissions on a UHF channel went via a tracking station in Russia, so not via Altair-2. I could monitor a lot of joy. After the mutual greetings and congratulations the deputy head of RKA (the Russian NASA), Ostroumov, addressed himself to the crews with a statement of his chief, Koptev. (Congratulations and appreciation for the successful docking operation) Ostroumov also congratulated Musabayev with the birthday of his daughter.

  Pegasus:

  The mission of Leopold Eyharts is Pegase (Pegasus). This mission ends with the departure on 19.02.1998 of Leopold together with Solovyov and Vinogradov in the Soyuz-TM26. (I sincerely hope that the Soyuz-TM26 will perform during the return operations for during her stay within the Mir-complex the systems of Soyuz-TM26 regularly had to support the Mir-complex.

  Soyuz-TM27:

  After the departure of Soyuz-TM26 the crew of the 25th Main Expedition and Andy Thomas will make an autonomous flight to redock the Soyuz-TM27 to the forward (Transition section, -X axis) docking port, enabling Progress-M37 to redock there.

  . Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.