TIM FURNISS / LONDON
Shuttle Atlantis to install first 13m section of what will eventually become the longest structure to be built in orbit
The Space Shuttle Atlantis mission STS 110 to the International Space Station (ISS) on 4 April will install the initial 13m (42ft)-long girder-like section of the S-Zero (SO) truss. The truss, which will eventually be 109m long, will be the longest structure to be built in space.
The SO will act as the rail track for an 880kg (1,940lb) Mobile Transporter (MT) - also being flown on STS 110 - which will aid the construction and operation of the ISS.
The SO and MT will be part of the Mobile Base System (MBS) for the Canadian robotic manipulator system, Canadarm 2. The MBS, to be launched on the following mission, STS 111, will be used to move future truss segments and solar arrays down the track to 10 locations or worksites, for installation.
Future spacewalking astronauts will also be able to operate two small handcarts, called Crew and Equipment Translation Aids, to manoeuvre up and down the SO.
The STS 111 Endeavour mission to the ISS, carrying the fifth expedition crew and the MBS, has been delayed from 6 May to at least 31 May to allow the crew to train for additional work. The STS 111 crew will attempt to repair one of the wrist joints on the robot arm.
Meanwhile, the Russian Progress M1-8 tanker docked to the ISS on 23 March, three days after its Baikonur launch aboard a Soyuz booster.
The usual two-day flight to the ISS was extended by a day to allow Russian controllers to test new systems on the Progress.
M1-8 carried 2.4t of propellant, food and supplies to the ISS, while the departing Progress M1-7released the 22kg Kolibri 2000 microsatellite, developed by the Russian Academy of Science Space Research Institute, into 400km (250 mile) orbit after leaving the station and before its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Kolibri is a joint Russian-Australian educational project to let students monitor low-frequency waves and particle fluxes in low orbit. It has a 2m long gravity-gradient boom and four solar panels.
Source: Flight International
