The Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 30 November on the STS 97 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Shuttle was scheduled to dock with the ISS on 2 December. Endeavour carried the first of four sets of $600 million solar arrays built by Lockheed Martin on what is regarded as the most challenging Shuttle ISS mission yet undertaken. Fitting the solar arrays will involve the crew in three extra-vehicular activities. The payload includes a 32m-high deployment mast and four dual solar arrays containing 262,400 cells with a span of 73m. Three further sets of arrays will eventually be flown to the ISS between 2002 and 2006. The four arrays will eventually provide the ISS with 64kW of electricity, complementing the limited power provided by the Russian-built Zvezda and Zarya modules. They will allow the US Destiny laboratory module, set for launch in January, to be fully functional.
Source: Flight International
