Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC);
landing at Cape Canaveral (
KSC);
ISS 10A / Node 2 ("Harmony").
STS-120
delivered launch package 10A to the International Space Station (
ISS). It consisted of the U.S. Harmony module (also
known as Node 2), with four DC-to-DC Converter Unit (DDCU) racks and three
Zero-g Storage Racks (ZSR) installed; a Power and Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF)
for the station's robot arm, and a Shuttle Power Distribution Unit (SPDU).
Harmony was built for
NASA by Thales Alenia Space in Torino, Italy, as part
of an agreement between
NASA and the European Space Agency and was the first
pressurized habitable module delivered to the station since the Pirs docking
compartment was installed in August 2001.
Following a two days solo
flight the Discovery docked to the
ISS on October 25, 2007. For eleven days the crew
performed common work with the
ISS
expedition 16. Daniel
Tani
was tranferred to the
ISS and Clayton
Anderson to the STS-120 crew for returning to the Earth.
The first
EVA
was performed by Scott
Parazynski and Douglas
Wheelock on October 26, 2007 (6h 14m) to retrieve and stow
S-band Antenna Support Assembly, detach Node 2 ("Harmony") heater cables and
remove cover from Node 2 aft berthing mechanism, stow grapple fixture on Node
2, disconnect Z1/P6 truss fluid lines, install shrouds on P6 radiator and
Sequential Shunt Unit, move and attach Node 2 to Node 1 left hand docking port
with Station robotic arm, pressurise area between Node 1 and Node 2 hatches,
perform leak check, open Node 1 hatch.
The second
EVA
by Scott
Parazynski and Daniel
Tani
occured on October 28, 2007 (6h 33m). Main tasks: Disconnect Z1 to P6 truss
cables and unbolt P6; outfit outside Node 2 with handrails, worksite interface
fixtures, gap spanners and install thermal covers, remote Node 2 berthing
mechanism restraints; install grapple fixture on Node 2; configure squib firing
unit on S1 truss for deploying radiators.
The third
EVA
by Scott
Parazynski and Douglas
Wheelock was conducted on October 30, 2007 (7h 08m). During
this
EVA the astronauts bolt P6 truss to P5 truss, attached
P5 to P6 cabling, removed P6 radiator restraint and cover on Sequential Shunt
unit and deploy radiator, configured squib firing unit on P1 truss, relocated
main Bus Switching Unit from the Shuttle Cargo Bay to External Stowage Platform
2. Two blankets making up one side of the newly installed P6 solar arrays were
successfully re-extended the 17 ton truss segment was bolted to the far left
end of the space station's main power truss. But the astronauts aborted
extension of a second set of panels after noticing an apparent guidewire hangup
and a jagged tear in one of the two remaining blankets.
This second set
of blankets was more than halfway extended at that point. In television views
from the station, it appeared as if several slats might have gotten hung up on
a guidewire, increasing tension in that area and ripping a seam.
The
fourth and final
EVA
was again performed by Scott
Parazynski and Douglas
Wheelock on November 03, 2007 (7h 19m) to attach cufflink
like clips across the 15-foot width of the torn P6-4B solar array blanket to
provide the strength needed to permit its full extension. This dramatic repair
job was carried out successful.
