Expedition 3
Encyclopedia
Expedition 3 was the third expedition to the International Space Station
. Commander Frank Culbertson was the only American crew member, and as such the only American not on Earth during the September 11 terrorist attacks, which the crew photographed and videoed from the ISS.
Research in space begun by two previous crews aboard the International Space Station (ISS) expanded during the Expedition Three mission. The third resident crew launched on 10 August 2001 on Space Shuttle Discovery
during mission STS-105
and took control of the complex on 13 August 2001. The crew conducted a science-intensive increment and completed four spacewalks. The Expedition Three crew ended their 117-day residency onboard the ISS on 8 December 2001 when their custom Soyuz seat-liners were transferred to Space Shuttle Endeavour
for the return trip home during mission STS-108
.
The Expedition Three crew of the International Space Station enjoyed a unique view of the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. "It looked like we were seeing UFOs approaching the earth flying in formation, three or four at a time," recalls astronaut Frank Culbertson. "There were hundreds per minute going beneath us, really spectacular!" News reports had warned sky watchers in advance: On 18 November 2001, Earth was due to plow through a minefield of debris shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Innumerable bits of comet dust would become meteors when they hit Earth's atmosphere at 144000 miles per hour (64,373.8 m/s). Experts predicted an unforgettable display ... and it came. Millions of people saw the show, but only three of them—the ones on board the space station—saw it from above. "We had to look down to see the meteors," says Culbertson. "That's because the atmosphere (where comet dust burns up) is below the station."
An international crew of three were the third crew to live aboard the International Space Station. The team was led by American Commander Frank Culbertson, and joined by Russian crewmates Vladimir Dezhurov, mission pilot, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin. As a part of the STS-105 mission, Discovery delivered the Expedition 3 crew to the station. During their four-month stay, the crew saw the orbital complex expand and research work grow. The Expedition 3 crew returned home on mission STS-108.
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. Commander Frank Culbertson was the only American crew member, and as such the only American not on Earth during the September 11 terrorist attacks, which the crew photographed and videoed from the ISS.
Crew
Mission objectives
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
during mission STS-105
STS-105
STS-105 was a mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station, launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 10 August 2001. This mission was Discoverys final mission until STS-114, because Discovery was grounded for a refit, and then all Shuttles were grounded in the wake...
and took control of the complex on 13 August 2001. The crew conducted a science-intensive increment and completed four spacewalks. The Expedition Three crew ended their 117-day residency onboard the ISS on 8 December 2001 when their custom Soyuz seat-liners were transferred to Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
for the return trip home during mission STS-108
STS-108
STS-108 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. Its primary objective was to deliver supplies to and help maintain the ISS....
.
The Expedition Three crew of the International Space Station enjoyed a unique view of the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. "It looked like we were seeing UFOs approaching the earth flying in formation, three or four at a time," recalls astronaut Frank Culbertson. "There were hundreds per minute going beneath us, really spectacular!" News reports had warned sky watchers in advance: On 18 November 2001, Earth was due to plow through a minefield of debris shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Innumerable bits of comet dust would become meteors when they hit Earth's atmosphere at 144000 miles per hour (64,373.8 m/s). Experts predicted an unforgettable display ... and it came. Millions of people saw the show, but only three of them—the ones on board the space station—saw it from above. "We had to look down to see the meteors," says Culbertson. "That's because the atmosphere (where comet dust burns up) is below the station."
An international crew of three were the third crew to live aboard the International Space Station. The team was led by American Commander Frank Culbertson, and joined by Russian crewmates Vladimir Dezhurov, mission pilot, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin. As a part of the STS-105 mission, Discovery delivered the Expedition 3 crew to the station. During their four-month stay, the crew saw the orbital complex expand and research work grow. The Expedition 3 crew returned home on mission STS-108.
Spacewalks
All four of the spacewalks during Expedition 3 were completed using the Russian Orlan spacesuit and from the Pirs air lock on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.| Mission | Spacewalkers | Start (UTC Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose... ) |
End (UTC) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expedition 3 EVA 1 |
Vladimir Dezhurov Vladimir Dezhurov Vladimir Nikolayevich Dezhurov is a former cosmonaut who resides in Star City, Moscow. He is a veteran of two spaceflights, to the Mir and International Space Stations. During his career, Duzhurov also conducted nine spacewalks before his retirement on July 12, 2004.- Personal :Dezhurov was born... Mikhail Tyurin Mikhail Tyurin Mikhail Vladislavovich Tyurin is a Russian cosmonaut.-Personal data:Michael Tyurin lives in Korolev, a small city outside of Moscow. He was born March 2, 1960, in Kolomna, USSR where his parents still reside. He is married to Tatiana Anatoleyvna Tyurina. They have a daughter, Alexandra, born in... |
8 October 2001 14:23 |
8 October 2001 19:21 |
4 hours 58 minutes |
| Dezhurov and Tyurin made connections between Pirs and the station's Zvezda Zvezda Zvezda is a common word among the Slavic languages meaning "star" , and may refer to one of the following:* Zvezda , 2002 Russian film* Zvezda , a component of the International Space Station... Service Module. The spacewalkers installed a cable that will allow space walk radio communications between the two station sections. They also installed handrails on the new compartment. Then, they installed an exterior ladder that will be used to help spacewalkers leave Pirs' hatch. Tyurin and Dezhurov installed a Strela cargo crane onto the station. |
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| Expedition 3 EVA 2 |
Dezhurov Tyurin |
15 October 2001 09:17 |
15 October 2001 15:09 |
5 hours 52 minutes |
| Dezhurov and Tyurin installed Russian commercial experiments on the exterior of Pirs. Among the experiments is a set of investigations of how various materials react to the space environment over a long time. Called MPAC-SEEDS, the investigation is housed in three briefcase-sized containers. | ||||
| Expedition 3 EVA 3 |
Dezhurov Frank Culbertson |
12 November 2001 21:41 |
13 November 2001 02:45 |
5 hours 4 minutes |
| Dezhurov and Culbertson connected cables on the exterior of Pirs for the Kurs automated docking system. They completed checks of the Strela cargo crane, using one space walker at the end of the crane's boom to simulate a cargo. They also inspected and photographed a small panel of one solar array on the Zvezda Service Module that has one portion of a panel not fully unfolded. | ||||
| Expedition 3 EVA 4 |
Dezhurov Tyurin |
3 December 2001 13:20 |
3 December 2001 16:06 |
2 hours 46 minutes |
| Dezhurov and Tyurin removed an obstruction that prevented a Progress resupply ship from firmly docking with the International Space Station. They also took pictures of the debris, which was a rubber seal from the previous cargo ship, and of the docking interface. | ||||