Table of Contents

Assembly Stages

May 27, 1999
Space Shuttle Logistics
Flight 2A.1; STS-96

June 3, 1999, 23:12:29 GMT (June 4 in Canada and the U.S.) – A STS-96 crew member recorded this image of the International Space Station during a flyaround following separation of the two spacecraft.

On May 22, 1999, at 6:49 a.m., the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, riding on a billowing tower of flame. This was Space Shuttle Mission STS-96–but also International Space Station Flight 2A.1–since Discovery was headed for a 9 day, 19 hour mission that included a rendezvous with the ISS, at an altitude of 277 kilometres. Canadian Mission Specialist Julie Payette had both the honour of being on the very first space shuttle to dock to the Station–and being the first Canadian astronaut to set foot on the Space Station.

STS-96/Flight 2A.1 was a logistics and resupply mission for the Space Station. Discovery’s SPACEHAB double module carried internal and resupply cargo for Station outfitting. The Russian cargo crane, called the Strela, was stowed in the Integrated Cargo Carrier, for deployment on the Station. Other payloads on board Discovery bound for the Station included the SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space System Box and a U.S. built crane called the ORU Transfer Device. Another payload was the Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Experiment, the purpose of which 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.

Payette, an engineer and jet pilot for the Canadian Armed Forces, joined the Canadian Astronaut Program in 1992, and underwent astronaut training in the United States from 1996 to 1998. She was then assigned to work on technical issues in robotics–one of Canada’s special interests in space technology. During her 10-day mission, Discovery delivered four tonnes of supplies and logistics to the International Space Station, in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live aboard the Station in November 2000. Discovery touched down on Runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center on June 6, 1999, after completing 153 orbits, and traveling a total of 6 million kilometres in 235 hours and 13 minutes.

STS-96 was the 26th flight of Space Shuttle Discovery, and the 94th mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in April of 1981. The Station remained unpiloted after Discovery undocked and returned home.