STS-113 will be the 16th American (11A) assembly flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The primary mission will be to bring the Expedition 6 crew to the ISS and return the Expedition 5 crew to the Earth. In addition to the crew exchange, STS-113 will be the next flight in the assembly sequence to install a major component, the Port 1 (P1) Integrated Truss Assembly.

If one held a giant mirror in front of the ISS during space shuttle Atlantis' mission in October, that image could be replayed to demonstrate the primary assembly task of Endeavour's crew to mount the next truss segment onto the station. The P1 Truss is virtually identical to the S1, which now is attached to the opposite side of the central truss piece.

Endeavour departed for the station from Launch Complex 39-A on Nov. 23 to install that P1 Truss element to the station and deliver the Expedition 6 crew to replace the Expedition 5 crew, which will return home after more than five months in space.

Known as STS-113 (station assembly flight 11A), Endeavour's mission is the fifth providing expedition crew rotation services.

The major objective of the planned 11-day mission is delivery of the 45-foot-long, 14-ton P1 to the ISS. The segment, identical to the one delivered on the recent STS-112/9A flight, will be attached to the port side of the centerpiece truss, the S-Zero (S0), which is home to the Mobile Transporter (MT), Mobile Base System (MBS) and the Canadarm2 robotic arm. P1 continues the outboard expansion of the station's rail system in preparation for the addition of new power and international science modules in the years to come. With the addition of P1, the station's truss spans 134 feet.

P1 contains the Active Thermal Control System (ATCS) for the station that will be activated next year. This system serves a similar purpose to an automobile's radiator except this system uses 99.9 percent pure ammonia. Additionally, the P1 houses a second Ultra High Frequency (UHF) communications system to provide enhanced and extended voice and data capability, and a second mobile work platform for spacewalkers called the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart. Like the S1, the P1 includes a Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint (TRRJ), which will provide the mechanical and electrical energy for rotating the station's heat-rejecting radiators.

Three spacewalks will be carried out to install and activate the truss and its associated equipment.

P1 is the fourth of 11 truss structures that ultimately will expand the ISS to the length of a football field and increase its power through the addition of new photovoltaic modules and solar arrays.

Future assembly missions will include additional truss elements and relocation in late 2003 of the P6 Truss with the first set of U.S. solar arrays, which was delivered to the ISS as part of the STS-97/4A mission in December 2000.

Endeavour will be commanded by veteran Astronaut Jim Wetherbee (Capt., USN), who will be making his sixth flight into space, most recently on STS-102 in 2001 - the first station crew rotation mission. He will be joined on the flight deck by Pilot Paul Lockhart (Lt. Col., USAF), making his second flight to the ISS this year after piloting the STS-111 mission that delivered the station's Mobile Base System along with the Expedition 5 crew and returned Expedition 4 home.

First-time shuttle crewmember John Herrington (Cmdr., USN) will serve as Endeavour's flight engineer and will be one of the two astronauts conducting three spacewalks during the docked phase of the mission to connect power and data cables between truss sections along with other external hardware.

Joining Herrington on the spacewalks (known as Extravehicular Activity, or EVA) is veteran Astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria (Capt., USN) who conducted spacewalks during his last mission to the station on the STS-92 flight to install the Z1 Truss and huge gyroscopes to the station two years ago. In addition to his outside work, Lopez-Alegria will oversee the transfer of equipment and supplies inside the station.

The Expedition 6 crew of Commander Ken Bowersox and Flight Engineers Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit will join Endeavour's four astronauts heading to the station for about a fourmonth stay. They will replace the Expedition 5 crew of Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Sergei Treschev and Peggy Whitson, also serving as the first NASA ISS Science Officer. That crew returns after more than five months on the station that included the conduct of some 25 science experiments. Pettit will serve as ISS Science Officer for Expedition 6.

Two days after Endeavour is launched, Wetherbee will guide the shuttle to a gentle linkup with a docking port on the U.S. Destiny laboratory, setting the stage for the opening of the hatches and the start of seven days of joint operations, including the fifth transition of one station crew to another.

The following day, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will begin spacewalk preparations while Wetherbee uses the shuttle's robotic arm to lift the huge P1 Truss out of Endeavour's payload bay to hand it to the station's Canadarm2 under control of Whitson inside Destiny. She then will carefully install it on the port side of the S0 Truss. Capture bolts will structurally mate the two trusses after a claw-like device on the S0 grabs a fixture on the P1 segment. The procedure will be timed so that the two spacewalkers do not exit the station's Quest Airlock until the mating process is complete.

Once outside, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington begin the connection of power, data and fluid umbilicals between the newly attached trusses. They also will release launch restraints on the truss' crew platform cart and install a wireless video system transceiver on the Unity module.

The next day - Flight Day 5 - is highlighted by the formal handover of station command from Expedition 5 to Expedition 6. The day includes inside transfer work and some off duty time before the second spacewalk begins on Flight Day 6 to continue the connection of fluid lines between the P1 and the S0 segments, the installation of another wireless video system transceiver on the P1, and the relocation of the CETA cart in preparation for the relocation of the Mobile Transporter. Also in preparation for the MT relocation, the station's Canadarm2 will be temporarily moved to a grapple fixture on the outside of Destiny.

Another day of transfer work will take place on the seventh day followed by the third and final spacewalk of the mission during which Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will focus on the installation of small devices called Spool Positioning Devices, which are being retrofitted on all of the quick disconnect fluid line fittings between modules and truss sections on the outside of the station. They are being installed as a precautionary step to ensure the lines can be disconnected even if pressure builds up due to an internal leak. Fifty-one SPDs are being installed during this mission - more than 40 during the third EVA. Additionally, Lopez-Alegria and Herrington will install a pump used to transfer ammonia through the P1 and also connect ammonia and nitrogen lines to its Ammonia Tank Assembly.

All three spacewalks are budgeted to last about 6 hours and will be conducted from the station's Quest Airlock.

The next day, Flight Day 9, the shuttle and station crews will complete transfer work and get-ahead tasks for future assembly flights. The Expedition 5 Crew bids farewell to its home for five months and the shuttle crew bids its Expedition 6 replacements bon voyage as the hatches are closed on Flight Day 10.

Lockhart will be at the controls as Endeavour undocks from the ISS and conducts a 400- foot radial fly around of the complex for photo and television documentation of the newly expanded facility.

After a day devoted to packing up gear, Endeavour's six crewmembers will glide to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center to wrap up the orbiter's 19th mission and the 112th in shuttle program history

Updated: 5 Dec 2002

MISSION STS-113 - 16th ISS Flight (11A) - P1 Truss Segment

• VEHICLE: ENDEAVOUR/OV-105
• LAUNCH DATE: Nov. 23, 2002 at 7:49:47 p.m. EST
• TARGET LANDING DATE: Dec. 6, 2002 at 1:57 p.m. EST
• MISSION DURATION: 13 days
• SHUTTLE CREW: Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria, Herrington
• ISS CREW UP: Bowersox, Budarin, Pettit
• ISS CREW DOWN: Korzun, Whitson, Treschev
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION: 122 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

Shuttle Processing Note: For the second consecutive day, flight controls at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, waved off both landing attempts for Shuttle Endeavour today due to deteriorating weather in the Kennedy Space Center vicinity. The Spaceflight Meteorology Group at JSC forecast high possibilities for crosswind violations, thunderstorms and low clouds at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC. The Shuttle will remain on orbit at least one additional day as managers proceed with efforts to attempt a landing at KSC tomorrow. The backup landing facility at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., was not called up today and will not be called up on Friday. Endeavour can safely remain in orbit through Sunday.

Forecasters currently predict improved weather conditions for tomorrow's landing attempts at KSC. Two opportunities exist for a KSC landing on Friday. The first is at 1:57 p.m. EST with deorbit burn occurring at 12:51 p.m. The second landing opportunity for Friday is at 3:33 p.m. EST.

Endeavour has two potential opportunities to land tomorrow, with the first of two landing opportunities available at KSC at 2:54 p.m. EST with deorbit burn occurring at 1:49 p.m. The second landing opportunity for tomorrow would be 4:30 p.m. EST. Two opportunities are also available at KSC on Friday. Edwards Air Force Base in Calif., will not be called up as backup landing site tomorrow.