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Copyright © 2001 International Space Station Guide
ISS News & Mission:
Mission Overview
The Crew:
Commander: James Wetherbee
Pilot: James Kelly
Mission Specialist: Andrew Thomas
Mission Specialist: Paul Richards 
Carrying up ISS-2 Crew:
Commander: Yuri Usachev
Flight Engineer: James Voss
Flight Engineer: Susan Helms 
Carrying down ISS-1 Crew:
Commander: Bill Shephard
Flight Engineer: Yuri Gidzenko
Flight Engineer: Sergey Krikalev

Major Mission Goals:

  • PMA-3 movement & MPLM attachment to Node-1
  • Transfer of system and experiment racks to the US Lab
  • Logistics transfers to the ISS
  • Removal and return of MPLM
  • Installation of support equipment for the future SSRMS
  • Exchange ISS crews
Above, Discovery with the cargo carrier and MPLM in its cargo bay approach the station
STS-102 Mission

The STS-102/5A.1 mission was added to the ISS schedule of flights in 1998 to relieve the work load and payload of the preceding and successive shuttle missions to the ISS, the 5A flight adding the US lab, and the 6A flight adding the Canadian Space Station Remote Manipulator. By adding the 5A.1 mission to the schedule, more logistics could be carried to the station, EVA's could be accomplished at a slower safer pace, and integration of racks into the US Lab could happen over a longer period of time requiring fewer resources and personnel on the ground and in space.

5A.1 also accomplishes the movement of PMA-3 from the Nadir port of Node-1 to a side port to allow for MPLM dockings, and the ISS crew changeout, delivering the second ISS crew to the station and returning the first crew to Earth without requiring a Soyuz launch.

After a normal launch the shuttle Discovery docked to the ISS and next day, and the crews warmly greeted one another gathering in the US Lab module which has the largest open space of any module. The next day Voss and Helms went EVA to help move the PMA-3 by removing the wiring powering the docking port, removing the early comm system from the port PMA-3 was moved to, and installed equipment on the US Lab to prepare it for the SSRMS to be delivered on flight 6A in April 2000.

The next day the MPLM was lifted out of the shuttle payload bay and docked to Node-1's Nadir port allowing for the ISS crew to begin transferring Lab racks and other logistics on Monday March 12th. The next day Thomas and Richards go EVA to continue installing equipment to support future assembly missions. MPLM transfers continue until March 17 when the MPLM is removed from Node-1 and replaced in the shuttle cargo bay. March 18 the shuttle will undock from the station carrying the MPLM and the ISS-1 crew after another day in orbit landing is planned for the shuttle landing facility at the Kennedy Space Center.

The MPLM

For a detailed development events list for the MPLM, see MPLM Development.

For a general description of the MPLM see MPLM component.

The MPLM, a reusable logistics carrier, will be the primary delivery system used to resupply and return station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. It is one of Italy's major contributions to the International Space Station Program. The cylindrical module is approximately 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, weighting almost 4.5 tons excluding its capability to hold up to 20,000 pounds of contents. Launched in the Space Shuttle's payload bay, it will be docked to the International Space Station once on orbit. It will transport supplies, science experiments, spare parts and other logistical components to the International Space Station.

The MPLM was an element planned in the Space Station Freedom design and carried through the Alpha and ISS designs. The MPLM is required deliver the standard sized racks of equipment to the US, European and Japanese modules of the space station. The shuttle's hatchways are too small for the standard rack design, and after the addition of Russia to the ISS and use of the APAS-89 docking system also is too small to allow racks to pass between the shuttle and ISS. This also means that standard racks can't be moved to the Russian segment of the ISS because they would have to pass into the FGB which also uses the APAS-89 docking system.

So MPLM's are attached to the ISS modules directly to transfer racks in and out of the ISS. Since the mission of the MPLM's is short, they are equipped with minimal life support systems with no back up systems since its considered a low probability that the systems will fail within several days in such a way to make the MPLM completely uninhabitable, perhaps uncomfortable at most.

Three MPLM's have been constructed to service the ISS. The MPLM design was also reused in the ESA's Columbus Orbital Facility lab module to be added to the ISS in the future. The MPLM design also was adopted for US Nodes-2 and 3 which are being contributed by the ESA to the US station as payment for the launch of the COF lab module on the shuttle. The MPLM design is generally considered to be superior to the US Boeing designed modules like Node-1 and the US Lab.

The MPLM should not be confused with the future Japanese provided Experiment Logistics Module which will be docked to the Japanese Kibo lab module.
Above, the ISS-1, ISS-2 and STS-102 crews meet in the US Lab
Above, Susan Helms and Jim Voss prepare for EVA wearing space suit cooling undergarments
A view from the orbiter mid-deck looking into the airlock where astronauts Helms and Voss prepare for EVA
Above, Voss and Helms place equipment to support the future SSRMS on the outside of the US Lab
Removing the Early Comm antenna to make way for PMA-3
Andy Thomas moves PMA-3 to clear the Nadir port of Node-1 for the MPLM
PMA-3 in its original position next to the Soyuz docked to the FGB
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