STS-102

STS-102 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-102 flew in March 2001; its primary objectives were resupplying the ISS and rotating the Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews. It was Discovery's 29th flight. The first EVA performed on the mission, at eight hours and 56 minutes, held the title of the longest spacewalk ever undertaken until the 17th of December 2024 when it was surpassed by Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong during the Shenzhou 19 spaceflight.

STS-102

ICC (left) and the MPLM Leonardo (center) in Discovery's payload bay
Names	Space Transportation System-102
Mission type	ISS crew transport and resupply
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	2001-010A
SATCAT no.	26718
Mission duration	12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes, 32 seconds
Distance travelled	8,621,951 km (5,357,432 mi)
Orbits completed	102
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	99,503 kg (219,367 lb)
Landing mass	90,043 kg (198,511 lb)
Payload mass	5,760 kg (12,700 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	James D. Wetherbee James M. Kelly Andrew S. W. Thomas Paul W. Richards
Launching	Yuri V. Usachov James S. Voss Susan J. Helms
Landing	William M. Shepherd Yuri P. Gidzenko Sergei K. Krikalev
EVAs	2
EVA duration	15 hours, 17 minutes 1st EVA: 8 hours, 56 minutes 2nd EVA: 6 hours, 21 minutes
Start of mission
Launch date	8 March 2001, 11:42:09 (2001-03-08UTC11:42:09Z) UTC (6:42:09 am EST)
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39B
End of mission
Landing date	21 March 2001, 07:31:41 (2001-03-21UTC07:31:42Z) UTC (2:31:41 am EST)
Landing site	Kennedy, SLF Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	370 km (230 mi)
Apogee altitude	381 km (237 mi)
Inclination	51.5°
Period	92.1 minutes
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Destiny forward
Docking date	10 March 2001, 06:38 UTC
Undocking date	19 March 2001, 04:32 UTC
Time docked	8 days, 21 hours, 54 minutes
Mission patch Top group, from left: Kelly, Thomas, Wetherbee and Richards Bottom left is the landing Expedition 1 crew, from left: Krikalev, Shepherd and Gidzenko Bottom right is the launching Expedition 2 crew, from left: Voss, Usachov and Helms Space Shuttle program ← STS-98 (102) STS-100 (104) →

Crew

Position	Launching crew	Landing crew
Commander	Jim Wetherbee Fifth spaceflight
Pilot	James Kelly First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	/ Andy Thomas Third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer	Paul Richards Only spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Yuri V. Usachov Expedition 2 Fourth and last spaceflight	William Shepherd Expedition 1 Fourth and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 4	James Voss Expedition 2 Fifth and last spaceflight	Yuri Gidzenko Expedition 1 Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 5	Susan Helms Expedition 2 Fifth and last spaceflight	Sergei Krikalev Expedition 1 Fifth spaceflight

Crew seat assignments

Seat[1]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–8 are on the mid-deck. Seat 8 was located to the starboard (right) side of Seat 7.[1]
1	Wetherbee
2	Kelly
3	Thomas	Unused
4	Richards
5	Voss	Thomas
6	Helms	Krikalyov
7	Usachov	Gidzenko
8	Unused	Shepherd

Unique to this flight, Shepherd, Gidzenko, and Krikalev were all seated together on the mid-deck in special "recumbent couches" that allowed them to stay in a laid-back reclining position during landing, instead of the usual upright seats. It was thought that after their four months in space, their bodies would be deconditioned and the recumbent position would minimize the impacts of returning to a gravity environment.^[2] Because of the special seats, Thomas moved to the normal number 5 seat on the mid-deck to operate the side hatch as necessary. Future shuttle missions would not use the recumbent couches.

Spacewalks

ICC STS-102

EVA 1

• Personnel: Voss and Helms
• Start: 11 March 2001, 05:12 UTC
• End: 11 March 2001, 14:08 UTC
• Duration: 8 hours, 56 minutes

EVA 2

• Personnel: Thomas and Richards
• Start:13 March 2001, 05:23 UTC
• End: 13 March 2001, 11:44 UTC
• Duration: 6 hours, 21 minutes

Mission highlights

Space Station Assembly Flight ISS-5A.1 was the first use of the Multi Purpose Logistics Module (Leonardo) to bring supplies to the station. The steel modules were equipped with up to 16 International Standard Payload Racks for installation in the US Lab. Also carried an Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). The ICC had the External Stowage Platform-1 mounted on its underside. ESP-1 was placed on the port side of 'Destiny' as a storage location for ORUs. The mission also included two spacewalks to relocate the units carried up by the ICC to the Destiny module exterior.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15.^[3] Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.^[3][4]

Flight Day	Song	Artist/Composer
Day 2	"Living the Life"	Rockit Scientists
Day 4	"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"	Starship
Day 6	"From A Distance"	Nancy Griffith
Day 7	"Free Fallin'"	Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Day 8	"Should I Stay or Should I Go"	The Clash
Day 12	"Moscow Windows"	Unknown

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• List of human spaceflights
• List of International Space Station spacewalks
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999
• Outline of space science