From a variety of NASA sources, including the STS-113 press kit and agency interviews with the crew, here is a summary of what's in store for Flight Day 3, Nov. 25, 2002.
Major tasks for the day: The ISS crew will set up the ISS Wireless Information System (IWIS) to observe loads caused by orbiter docking. After docking, the ISS crew will terminate the IWIS operations and will later downlink the data.
The ISS crew will perform an initial reading of the EVA Radiation Monitoring equipment to establish a baseline for future readings performed after EVAs.
The spacewalkers spacesuits will be removed from the shuttle airlock to facilitate hatch opening and transfers after docking.
The orbiter will rendezvous and dock with the ISS. After docking, leak checks will be performed on the PMA and ODS; the ODS will be prepared for ingress and hatches will be opened. A short ISS safety briefing will be given to the arriving shuttle crewmembers.
The SRMS will be powered and uncradled. A P1 install prep will check camera connectivity and views.
Spacewalkers spacesuits (Extravehicular Mobility Units or EMUs) and EVA equipment will be transferred to the ISS. The EMUs will be checked out with airlock interfaces. Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) batteries will be installed into the EMUs and REBA-powered equipment will be verified operational on both EMUs. EVA tools will be transferred to the ISS and prepared for EVA 1 the next day. The Pistol Grip Tool (PGT) will be checked out. All crewmembers involved in the first spacewalk will participate in an EVA 1 Procedure Review.
Large items in the shuttle middeck will be transferred to the ISS to clear space in the middeck.
NASA TV Schedule for Flight Day 3
Orbit Item EST25 ENDEAVOUR CREW WAKE UP (begins FD 3) 08:20 AM27 RENDEZVOUS OPERATIONS BEGIN 11:20 AM29 VIDEO FILE 12:00 PM29 TI BURN (time approximate) 02:34 PM31 ENDEAVOUR / ISS DOCKING 04:26 PM (time approximate; may not be televised live)32 ISS/ ENDEAVOUR CREW HATCH OPENING 06:17 PM AND HANDSHAKE32 EXPEDITION 5/EXPEDITION 6 CREW 06:50 PM TRANSFERS BEGIN33 MISSION STATUS BRIEFING 07:30 PM (time subject to change)33 SHUTTLE VTR PLAYBACK OF ENDEAVOUR / 09:13 PM ISS DOCKING (time approximate)36 ENDEAVOUR/ISS CREW SLEEP BEGINS 12:20 AM
Endeavour commander Jim Wetherbee describes the rendezvous and docking phase:
"It's basically, you can think of it as, as we do it in thirds. The first third is controlled by the ground and automatically done by burns onboard the vehicle, all computer-controlled. The middle third is still computer-controlled but we have onboard targeting and we start to complete the burns manually with computer steering. And then, the final third is done almost completely manually, where you're looking out the window at a camera and you have a visual of the target on the space station."
"And so the way we've evolved in our space program, we fly the final portion manually, actually controlling the vehicle which weighs, of course, as you know, about 100 tons. And we have about plus or minus three inches when we finally connect, and the vehicle's about 100 feet long and it's very slow, the closing rates."
"Of course you're traveling five miles a second, or 17,500 miles an hour, around the Earth, but the relative difference is about 1/10 of a foot per second. And so it's pretty exciting for us to dock. The system was designed by Russians and adapted by Americans to make that final connection."
Endeavour mission specialist John Herrington describes the rendezvous and docking phase:
"During the rendezvous there's a series of burns that we'll have to accomplish, or engine firings, jet firings, to be able to get the shuttle in to a point where it can actually dock with station."
"My job, we have computers on board the station laptops, we're all set up and it has certain information that the Pilot and Commander will use during the docking, during the approach sequence. So my job is to [be] sure that that's working properly, that I feed the proper information to Jim Wetherbee and, that also to take in data-we have a handheld laser that we use to determine how far the station is from us, what our closure rate is; Mike LA will be operating that but I've got to make sure that data is picked up by the computer."
"So it's really just to know where we're at and to follow the gates that we're going to, the different sequences in the rendezvous that Jim understands it, if he has questions about the information I'll be able to give him answers right away, and if it fails be able to fix it and get it together so we don't miss a beat during that process."
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