WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Backdropped against the blackness of space and the Earth's horizon, the S0 (S-zero) truss is removed from Atlantis' cargo bay and onto the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) by Astronauts Ellen Ochoa, STS-110 mission specialist, and Daniel W. Bursch, Expedition Four flight engineer, using the ISS' Canadarm2. Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis, STS-110 mission, prepared the International Space Station (ISS) for future spacewalks by installing and outfitting the 43-foot-long S0 truss and preparing the first railroad in space, the Mobile Transporter. The 27,000-pound S0 truss was the first of 9 segments that will make up the Station's external framework that will eventually stretch 356 feet (109 meters), or approximately the length of a football field. This central truss segment also includes a flatcar called the Mobile Transporter and rails that will become the first "space railroad," which will allow the Station's robotic arm to travel up and down the finished truss for future assembly and maintenance. The completed truss structure will hold solar arrays and radiators to provide power and cooling for additional international research laboratories from Japan and Europe that will be attached to the Station. Milestones of the STS-110 mission included the first use of the Station's robotic arm to maneuver spacewalkers around the Station and it was the first time all of a Shuttle crew's spacewalks were based out of the Station's Quest Airlock. It was also the first Shuttle to use three Block II Main Engines. The Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis, STS-110 mission, was launched April 8, 2002 and returned to Earth April 19, 2002.