Discovery STS-92 - Scheduled Launch on October 6, 2000 - 01:39 UTC

At Kennedy Space Center, prelaunch processing continues for Space Shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to launch Oct. 5. Discovery and its seven-member crew will deliver a piece of the exterior framework and a third mating adapter to the International Space Station. 
Tuesday at Launch Pad 39A, engineers conducted another Helium Signature Test, which confirmed that the efforts to repair leaks on Discovery's orbiter propulsion system were successful. Currently, workers are performing aft compartment closeouts on the orbiter and preparations for Thursday's installation of the explosive bolts are under way.

STS-92 will begin the "heart" of station construction in orbit, attaching two major components. Discovery will deliver an exterior framework called the Z1 Truss and a third mating adapter. 
The new truss houses four gyroscope devices that will become the station's primary "sense of balance," and Ku-Band communications equipment. The truss contains parts of both systems, but the full systems will not become active until STS-102. The crew will attach the truss and mating adapter using the robotic arm, and then the astronauts will perform four space walks to hook up electrical lines, computer connections and other finish work. STS-92 will be the 100th shuttle flight.

Discovery STS-92 - 100th Shuttle Flight

Now at the dawn of the 21st century, the space shuttle is about to launch for the 100th time when Discovery lifts off this year on STS-92, an International Space Station assembly flight. 
By that time, the space shuttle will have launched about 1.36 million kilograms (3 million pounds) of cargo into space and 596 passengers. The shuttle fleet will cumulatively have spent almost 2 ½ years in orbit and amassed almost 15 years of passenger-hours in flight. 
More than 850 payloads will have flown, and the shuttle will have deployed more than 60 payloads and retrieved more than two dozen. The shuttle has supported two space stations; made three maintenance flights to the Hubble Space Telescope; launched planetary missions to study Jupiter, Venus and the Sun; and conducted hundreds of studies of the effects of weightlessness on materials, plants, animals and human beings in onboard laboratories. 
Although flying for two decades, the shuttle still will have more than three-quarters of its design lifetime available. 
Out of 100 flights designed for each orbiter, when STS-92 — the 100th overall flight for the program — is completed, Discovery will be the most-flown shuttle with 28 flights to its credit. Columbia will be second with 26 flights. Atlantis will have made 22 trips to space and Endeavour will have completed 14 flights.

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