physics

STS-98

STS-98 is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand STS-98 rather than just read about it. In short: STS-98 was a 2001 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the first human spaceflight launch of the 21st century.

Key takeaways

STS-98 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect STS-98 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of STS-98 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

STS-98 was a 2001 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the first human spaceflight launch of the 21st century. STS-98 delivered to the station the Destiny Laboratory Module. All mission objectives were completed and the shuttle reentered and landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base on 20 February 2001, after twelve days in space, six of which were spent docked to the ISS.

Crew

Crew seat assignments

Launch attempts

Mission highlights

The crew continued the task of building and enhancing the International Space Station by delivering the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module. It was the first NASA lab to be permanently used since the days of Skylab nearly three decades earlier. It was manufactured by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility and the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1997. Upon transport to Kennedy Space Center's industrial buildings, it was fitted with equipment, machines, racks and cables at the Operations and Checkout Building and Space Station Processing Facility. The U.S. laboratory module is 28 feet (8.5 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. It is made from aluminum, and comprises three cylindrical sections and two end-cones that contain the hatch openings through which astronauts enter and exit the module. The ends are colored blue and white respectively for the crew to navigate easily. A 20-inch (510 mm)-diameter window is located on one side of the center module segment. During the mission, the shuttle docked to PMA 3 located on the nadir of Node 1. The crew relocated PMA 2 to the holding area on the Z1 truss temporarily, before using the Shuttle's robotic arm to lift out the 14.5 ton steel module out of the Shuttle's payload bay, and permanently berthed it on the forward hatch of Node 1. Spacewalks conducted by Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam reattached electrical cables to the aluminum hull and connecting ports on Destiny, and also checked the laboratory's nadir window. PMA 2 was replaced to the forward hatch of Destiny. The Shuttle spent six days docked to the station while the laboratory was attached and three spacewalks were conducted to complete its assembly. The mission also saw the 100th spacewalk in U.S. spaceflight history. STS-98 occurred while the first station crew was aboard the new space station.

Space walks

Wake-up calls NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Popular culture and media STS-98 was the designation for the fictional NASA mission to destroy an asteroid in Armageddon (1998 film).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with STS-98

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what STS-98 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to STS-98 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about STS-98 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of STS-98

In research: STS-98 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses STS-98 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: STS-98 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 in Florida, Edwards Air Force Base, February 2001 in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for STS-98 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study STS-98 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what STS-98 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain STS-98 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is STS-98 in simple terms?

STS-98 was a 2001 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the first human spaceflight launch of the 21st century.

Why does STS-98 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study STS-98?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on STS-98.