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Space Shuttle Atlantis to Deploy New Space Station Module NASA Public Affairs, August 30, 2000 Following a thorough review of mission preparations yesterday, the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis has been set for Sept. 8, on a mission that will open the doors to the International Space Station's new living quarters. "This mission begins a series of Station assembly flights aboard the Shuttle during the next year that will be as complex and challenging as anything NASA has ever done, including landing a man on the moon," Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said. "I believe these flights will be as impressive as they are complex. The team has done a fantastic job preparing Atlantis for this mission, and we're excited and ready to get started." Atlantis's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center on Shuttle mission STS-106 will be targeted for 8:45 a.m. EDT at the opening of a launch window that will be less than five minutes long. During the planned 11-day flight, the crew of seven will spend a week docked to the International Space Station, unloading more than one and a half tons of equipment and supplies from both the Shuttle and from a docked Russian Progress cargo craft. This mission will set the stage for the arrival of the first resident Station crew, planned to launch and begin living aboard the outpost later this year. Terry Wilcutt will command Atlantis and Scott D. Altman will be shuttle's pilot. The crew also includes mission specialists Edward T. Lu, Richard A. Mastracchio and Daniel C. Burbank. Atlantis will also carry two cosmonauts from the Russian Space Agency who will server as mission specialists, Yuri I. Malenchenko and Dr. Boris V. Morukov. While Atlantis is docked to the Station, Lu and Malenchenko are scheduled to perform one spacewalk to conduct assembly tasks. Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at about 4 a.m. EDT Sept. 19.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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