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![]() ![]() BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW ![]() July 26, 2000 -- Follow the flight of the Zvezda module as it heads for a rendezvous and docking with the international space station. Reload this page for the very latest on the mission.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2000
0055 GMT (8:55 p.m. EDT) Zvezda will serve as a new home in space, acting as the initial crew living quarters aboard the international space station. The first long-duration crew of ISS, the Expedition One crew, are due to blast off in late October. The three-man team will be led by NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd. "You got a lot of happy astronauts and cosmonauts tonight," Shepherd just said from Mission Control-Houston. Watch a QuickTime video clip of his comments.
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TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2000 The craft are currently out of communications range with ground controllers. Aquisition of signal through Russian ground stations is expected at 8:36 p.m. EDT, with live TV from black and white video cameras on both Zarya and Zvezda possible at that time.
0401 GMT (12:01 a.m. EDT) Read our full story explaining how the docking will occur. Zvezda's final three rendezvous and correction burns took place Friday and Saturday night, placing the module in a 224 by 180 mile orbit (361 by 290 km). Rendezvous burn 3 occurred at 9:44 p.m. Friday (43 seconds). Rendezvous burn 4 took place at 10:20 p.m. (8 seconds). Combined, the two burns raised the overall orbit of Zvezda by 25 miles. The last jet firing, a 9-second correction burn, raised the perigee, placing the module in the desired orbit for tonight's docking. We will provide complete coverage with running updates on this page tonight and a live QuickTime streaming video broadcast starting at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT).
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2000 With its days flying alone in orbit coming to an end, the Zvezda service module nears completion of systems checkouts in preparation for docking to the International Space Station. The linkup remains scheduled for 8:53 p.m. Eastern Time next Tuesday as the two spacecraft fly high above the Russian Federation within the coverage area of ground communication stations. Another in a series of rendezvous maneuvers was completed late Wednesday when Russian flight controllers sent commands to Zvezda's computers to fire its engines for 15 seconds, raising the perigee, or low end of its orbit, by 13 miles (21 kilometers). The correction burn occurred at 10:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday and changed the velocity by 10 miles per hour (4.4 meters per second), placing the service module in a 224 by 180 mile orbit (361 by 290 km). The next two rendezvous burns for Zvezda are scheduled tonight about 30 minutes apart at 9:22 and 9:54 p.m. Eastern. The first will raise both sides of the orbit to 234 by 185 miles and the second will raise the low end by another 23 miles, to 208 statute miles. Also tonight a docking test will be performed that includes conducting a mechanical capture test of Zvezda's docking mechanism. This test will verify the operation of the software and mechanical systems associated with docking. It also will include positioning the module in the proper docking position with the solar arrays positioned parallel to the module. This position minimizes perturbations to the arrays at the time of docking. At present, one additional Zvezda orbit correction burn is scheduled for Sunday evening, Eastern Time. After that, the rendezvous is managed by the Zarya control module, which becomes the active vehicle, performing up to three rendezvous and correction maneuvers en route to the final approach and docking Tuesday night. Yesterday, controllers tested the camera on Zvezda that will view the ISS on approach. They also reviewed telemetry data from Zvezda's five batteries. Each battery captures energy from the module's solar arrays for use by onboard electronic equipment. As of Noon EDT Friday, Zvezda had completed 151 orbits of the Earth since its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome July 12. Read our earlier Mission Status Center coverage.
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Flight data file Vehicle: Proton Payload: Zvezda Launch date: July 12, 2000 Launch time: 0456 GMT (12:56 a.m. EDT) Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Docking date: July 26, 2000 Docking time: 0044 GMT (8:44 p.m. EDT on 25th) ![]() Pre-launch briefing Launch preview - The international space station's future riding on Zvezda. ![]() Sky high stakes - A look at the contingency plans if things go wrong with Zvezda's launch. ![]() Marvel of complexity - Overview of the Russian-made Zvezda service module. ![]() A rocky road to launch - Zvezda and the international space station have been delayed many times. ![]() Proton vehicle data - Overview of the Russian rocket that will launch Zvezda into space. ![]() Launch timeline - Chart with times and descriptions of events to occur during the launch. ![]() Two weeks to docking - Description of events leading up to Zvezda's docking to station. ![]() Shuttle to outfit station - A look ahead to September's mission of space shuttle Atlantis. ![]() ![]() Video vault ![]() PLAY (357k, 2min 04sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (340k, 35sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (593k, 1min 05sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (670k, 1min 12sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (265k, 29sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (406k, 45sec QuickTime file) ![]() ![]() PLAY (185k, 20sec QuickTime file) ![]() Download QuickTime 4 software to view this file. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |