WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Workers in KSC's Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) assist in removing the protective casing from the Z1 Integrated Truss Segment (ITS), a major element of the STS-92 mission scheduled for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in January 1999. The Z-1 truss supports the staged buildup of International Space Station (ISS) on this third scheduled flight for ISS. The Z1 truss allows the temporary installation of the U.S. power module to Node 1. Early in the assembly sequence, the purpose of Z1 is to provide a mounting location for Ku-band and S-band telemetry and extravehicular activity (EVA) equipment. It also provides common berthing mechanism hardcover stowage. In addition, it will assist with the execution of nonpropulsive attitude control. The truss arrived at KSC on Feb. 17 for preflight processing in the SSPF.