STS-102 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-102 flew in March 2001; its primary objectives were resupplying the ISS and rotating the Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews. At eight hours 56 minutes, the first EVA performed on the mission remains the longest spacewalk ever undertaken.
ICC (left) and the MPLM Leonardo (center) in Discovery's payload bay
The STS-102 crew portrait.Space Shuttle program← STS-98 (102)STS-100 (104) →
ICC STS-102
Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American spacecraft. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.
Discovery in orbit in 2011, during STS-133, the orbiter's final flight
Space Shuttle Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Discovery rollout ceremony in October 1983
On the maiden voyage of Discovery: Judith Resnik, Henry Hartsfield, Michael L. Coats, Steven A. Hawley, Charles D. Walker, and Richard M. Mullane