STS-112
Report #04 
Wednesday, October 9, 2002 - 5 a.m. CDT 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 

A rendezvous in space awaits Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International
Space Station this morning with docking expected at 10:24 a.m. Central
time.  The shuttle's six crewmembers are the first visitors for the
station's Expedition Five crew since it arrived aboard the station in
early June.  The week of joint operations begins when the hatches are
opened about 12:30 p.m.  Television of the approach, docking and hatch
opening is expected on NASA TV.
 
Shortly after the musical wakeup call to the crew at 2:46 this morning
– Tina Turner's "The Best" for Commander Jeff Ashby from his wife,
Paige – the shuttle crew focused its attention on the rendezvous
and docking procedures that will culminate with the orbiter docking to a
port on the U.S. Destiny Lab of the station.
 
The Terminal Initiation burn preceding the final approach is planned for
8:04 a.m. and occurs with the two spacecraft 50,000 feet apart.  That is
followed by a series of four small correction burns, which set the stage
for Ashby's taking manual control of Atlantis' thruster jets as he looks
out the overhead and rear windows of the flight deck.  He will fly
Atlantis to a point 600 feet below the station, then begin a quarter
circle alignment of the orbiter's docking system and Destiny, which will
place the shuttle about 300 feet in front of the station.
 
Assisting with the rendezvous using lasers and computers are the
remaining shuttle crewmembers, including Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission
Specialists Dave Wolf, Sandy Magnus, Piers Sellers and Russian cosmonaut
Fyodor Yurchikhin.
 
Awaiting the arrival of Atlantis are the three station crewmembers
– Commander Valery Korzun, NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson
and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev – in their 126th day in space.
 
Thursday will see the installation of the station's newest component
– the Starboard 1 (S1) Truss – and shortly thereafter, the
first of three planned spacewalks will begin by Wolf and Sellers to
connect power, data and fluid lines between S1 and the station.
 
Crew sleep is set to begin about 6:30 this evening and the next STS-112
mission status report will be issued at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, or
earlier if events warrant.
 

The crew of the International Space Station welcomed the first visitors
to its home in space today when the hatch between the space station and
the space shuttle Atlantis was opened at 11:51 a.m. CDT. Hugs and smiles,
backslapping and laughter marked the elated celebration as the shuttle
crew entered the International Space Station and greeted the expedition
crew. Earlier, guided by Commander Jeff Ashby, Atlantis made a
picture-perfect rendezvous and docked with the station at 10:17 a.m. at
the end of a chase that began with its launch at 2:46 p.m. on Monday.
With the crewmembers merged into a single team, they went to work on
preparations for the mission's busiest day tomorrow. 

All efforts pointed toward the deployment and installation of the
Starboard One (S1) Truss. Pilot Pam Melroy, Space Station Commander
Valery Korzun, and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Piers Sellers, and
Fyodor Yurchikhin configured the spacesuits for Thursday's spacewalk.
Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy
Whitson reviewed robotic arm operations for moving the new truss segment
into place. Sergei Treschev, ISS Flight Engineer, participated in the
safety briefing for the station visitors. 

Thursday, Magnus and Whitson will use the Canadarm2 from inside Destiny
to grapple the huge S1 Truss, take it out of Atlantis' payload bay and
move it into position at the starboard end of the S0 Truss. After the
segments are soft-mated, capture bolts will make the mating solid. With
the truss firmly attached to the station, the spacewalkers will exit the
station. 

Tomorrow's EVA begins three days of spacewalks – Thursday, Saturday and
Monday - at the station-shuttle complex. Shuttle and Mir veteran Wolf and
space rookie Sellers will perform the EVAs, which are primarily focused
on the installation and hookup of the S1 segment. In Thursday's six-hour
spacewalk, Wolf and Sellers will connect power, data and fluid umbilicals
between the segments; install a camera and antenna assembly; and release
a number of launch restraints. Wolf will ride on the end of the robotic
arm for most of the excursion, while Sellers will be a "free floater"
moving around the truss structure. 

Tonight the crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 6:46 p.m. with
the wake-up call to sound at 3:16 a.m. Thursday. 

The next status report will be issued at about 6 a.m. Thursday, or
earlier if warranted.