This is the official mission patch of STS-97. It shows shuttle Endeavour docking with the ISS. It also shows the solar panels to be delivered to the ISS.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA

Endeavour to Rendevous with ISS
News story originally written on December 1, 2000

Shuttle Endeavour blasted off on Thursday from Kennedy Space Center at 9:06 p.m. CST. The successful launch began the 11-day STS-97 mission. There are 5 men aboard the shuttle including Commander Brent W. Jett, Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, Mission Specialists Joseph Tanner, Marc Garneau and Carlos Noriega. The shuttle is also carrying the P6 Integrated Truss Segment, which includes the first U.S. Solar arrays and a power distribution system. The Truss Segment weighs 17 tons and stands as the largest and heaviest piece delivered to the station.

The shuttle crew will work with the three-man crew aboard the Alpha space station. Three space walks will be needed as the 8 men work together to install the 90-foot high, 240-foot wide solar array structure. This structure will quintuple the station's electrical power. This power will allow for ongoing research to be perfomed onboard the station. These are the first of three solar array sets that will eventually be attached to the station.

The shuttle is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Saturday, at 1:57 CST. The shuttle will return to the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing facility on 12/11/00 at 5:19 p.m. CST.

Last modified November 30, 2000 by Jennifer Bergman.

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