Construction of the International Space Station continued this past week

as five Americans and one Russian successfully mated the American

built Unity component with the Russian built Zarya module.



On Monday, the Unity module came to life for the first time. Activation

followed the connection of electrical and data cables by Astronauts Jerry

Ross and Jim Newman during a 7-hour, 21-minute space walk.



Endeavour's astronauts boosted the fledgling International Space Station

to a higher altitude Tuesday and had a chance to relax for a few hours as

the first station assembly flight neared the halfway mark.



By Thursday, Endeavour's astronauts had installed antennas for an ISS

communications system and helped free jammed antennas on the

station's Russian module, achieving all the objectives planned for the

second mission space walk. Space walkers Ross and Newman pressed

ahead with the removal of launch restraint pins on the four hatchways on

the body of Unity. This is where additional station modules and truss

structures will be mated during future assembly missions. The two also

installed a sunshade over Unity's two data relay boxes to ensure that

they will be protected against harsh sunlight as the station circles the

Earth. Near the end of the space walk, Newman was hoisted to the

Zarya control module on the end of Endeavour's robot arm so that he

could use a grappling hook to free a backup rendezvous system

antenna. After nudging the antenna with the grappling device, the

antenna popped out to its fully extended position as the shuttle passed

over the northeast coast of Australia.



Endeavour's astronauts also opened the new International Space Station

'for business' Thursday, entering the Unity and Zarya modules for the

first time and establishing an S-band communications system that will

enable U.S. flight controllers to monitor the outpost's systems. Reflecting

the international cooperation involved in building the largest space

complex in history, Commander Bob Cabana and Russian Cosmonaut

Sergei Krikalev opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting

module and then floated into the new station together. The rest of the

crew followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the

roomy hub to which all other modules will be connected in the future.

Each passageway within Unity was marked by a sign leading the way

into tunnels to which new modules will be connected.



Cabana and Krikalev then opened the hatch to the Russian-built Zarya

control module, which will be the nerve center for the station in its

embryonic stage. Joined by Pilot Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialists

Jerry Ross, Jim Newman and Nancy Currie, Cabana and Krikalev hailed

the historic entrance into the International Space Station and said the

hatch opening signified the start of a new era in space exploration.



On Friday, Endeavour's astronauts wrapped up the first visit inside the

ISS and prepared it for undocking, closing the hatches for the final time

to the new complex before it is left to fly unpiloted for the next five

months. Left behind were tools, supplies and clothing for the next crew of

astronauts which will visit the station during the next shuttle assembly

flight in May. Permanent occupancy of the station is currently scheduled

for January 2000.



In all, Ross and Newman spent 21 hours and 22 minutes outside

Endeavour in the initial assembly of the station.



On Sunday, for the first time ever, the new International Space Station

Flight Control Room in Houston issued a wake-up call to orbiting

astronauts. After preparation, Pilot Rick Sturckow separated Endeavour

from the station, firing the shuttle's jets to place the orbiter 450 feet

above the outpost. Sturckow then initiated a nose-forward flyaround of

the station as shuttle TV cameras captured spectacular views of the two

station modules framed against the blue backdrop of the Earth.

Less than an hour and a half after undocking, Sturckow then fired

Endeavour's jets one final time as the orbiter passed 450 feet below the

complex, separating for the final time as the station faded from view

along the horizon.



International Space Station flight controllers at Mission Control, Houston

and at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow,

will now spend the next five months monitoring the station's systems and

awaiting the launch of Discovery on the STS-96 mission. That mission

will see a multinational crew of seven astronauts return to the station in a

logistics resupply flight which will include at least one spacewalk to

attach additional hardware to the new orbiting facility.



Late Sunday, flight controllers commanded the station into a new

orientation to point the Zarya Control Module toward deep space and the

Unity Module toward the Earth. Commands were then sent to place the

station into a slow spin of about one revolution every 30 minutes to keep

the station within proper thermal conditions as it orbits the Earth.

Zarya's motion control system will be reactivated about once a week over

the next few months to insure it is working properly and its guidance

system will be updated with the latest orbital parameters.



Endeavour's astronauts also deployed a small 590-pound satellite called

SAC-A for the Argentinean National Committee of Space Activities.

Equipped with five technology experiments, including one to track the

movement of whales off the coast of Argentina, SAC-A was ejected from

a canister in the cargo bay as the shuttle few over the northern Indian

Ocean. The satellite is expected to remain in orbit from five to nine

months sending back data to Argentine researchers back on Earth.



Endeavour is scheduled for landing at the Kennedy Space Center

Tuesday night. 



TDRS Tracking and Data Relay satellites handle all shuttle ground-to-air

communications. The easiest way to follow shuttle communications and

activities is NASA Select TV, which can be viewed from several sources

including the Internet. Two of the web sites that feature NASA Select TV

are:



http://www.shuttle.nasa.gov/realdata/index.html



http://www.broadcast.com/events/nasa 



Ken, N2WWD, has provided the following Keplerian elements:



STS-88  

1 25549U 98069A   98349.16833912  .00002668  00000-0  33343-4 0   424

2 25549  51.5722  42.3372 0012690 242.6373  16.6851 15.59060500  1701



[ANS thanks NASA and Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, for this information]