The docking module, meanwhile, was launched aboard during STS-74 and mated to the orbiter's Orbiter Docking System.

3 July and hatch on Orbiter Docking System shut 16 minutes later.

Shortly after the jet firing, the first Canadian mission specialist, Chris Hadfield, activated the Russian-built docking module, housed in the shuttle's payload bay, ready for the docking of the module with Atlantis < nowiki >'</ nowiki > s Orbiter Docking System on flight day 2.

The five-member crew aboard the space shuttle Atlantis spent the bulk of their first full day in space readying the orbiter and its payloads for the mating of the Russian docking module to the Orbiter Docking System in advance of the 15 November docking to Mir.

The day's schedule also included the installation and alignment of the centerline camera in the centre of the Orbiter Docking System.

On flight day 3, the STS-74 crew members successfully mated the 15-foot Russian built docking module with the shuttle's Orbiter Docking System.

Chris Hadfield, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut and STS-74 mission specialist, used the shuttle's robot arm to hoist the docking module out of the aft portion of the payload bay, rotated it to a vertical position, and moved it to within five inches of the Orbiter Docking System.

Once the two spacecraft were locked together, the docking ring on the Orbiter Docking System retracted, and a series of hooks and latches were engaged to ensure an airtight seal between the two spacecraft.

Payload bay configuration included Orbiter Docking System in forward area and SPACEHAB single module toward the aft.

Actual connection between Orbiter Docking System and Docking Module attached to Kristall module docking port occurred at 9: 34 pm EST, 24 March.

** Orbiter Docking System

** Orbiter Docking System:

On the way, Currie used the Shuttle's robot arm to place Node 1 atop the Orbiter Docking System.

On Flight Day 3, Currie used Canadarm to grapple and place Unity onto the Orbiter Docking System at 6: 45 pm EST.

The successful checkout of the Extravehicular Mobility Units ( EMUs ), the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue ( SAFER ) units, the Canadarm ( RMS ), the Orbiter Space Vision System ( OSVS ) and the Orbiter Docking System ( ODS ) were all completed nominally.

In 1991 she certified as a Space Shuttle Test Project Engineer ( TPE ) and headed the checkout of the Extravehicular Mobility Units ( spacesuits ) and Russian Orbiter Docking System.

* A 36-wheeled transport trailer, the Orbiter Transfer System, originally built for the U. S. Air Force's launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ( since then converted for Delta IV rockets ) would transport the orbiter from the landing facility to the launch pad, which allowed both " stacking " and launch without utilizing a separate VAB-style building and crawler-transporter roadway.

As a backup for Lunar Orbiter NASA and NRO cooperated on the Lunar Mapping and Survey System ( LM & SS ), based on the KH-7 reconnaissance satellite.

* Lunar Orbiter Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration

* Lunar Orbiter Digitized Film Project USGS Astrogeology Science Center, NASA Planetary Data System Archive

Search teams recovered some of the remains of the shuttle and crew members, and the Orbiter Experiment Support System recorder ( OEX ) was found near Hemphill.

Experiments conducted were: Crystal Growth Furnace ( CGF ); Drop Physics Module ( DPM ); Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiments ( STDCE ); Zeolite Crystal Growth ( ZCG ); Protein Crystal Growth ( PCG ); Glovebox Facility ( GBX ); Space Acceleration Measurement System ( SAMS ); Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus ( GBA ); Astroculture-1 ( ASC ); Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project ( EDOMP ); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment ( SSCE ).

Another Canadian technology of note is the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, which is an extension of the Canadarm used to inspect the Space Shuttle's thermal Protection System for damage while in orbit.

The mission marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Space Shuttle, which reached its 288-nautical-mile -( 533-km )- high orbit using its Orbiter Maneuvering System ( OMS ) engines only once, to circularize its orbit.

Also in the payload bay was the Orbiter Experiments Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System ( OASIS ).

Cargo bay and middeck payloads included the Interim Operational Contamination Monitor ( IOCM ), Terra Scout, Military Man in Space ( M88-1 ), Air Force Maui Optical System ( AMOS ), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor ( CREAM ), Shuttle Activation Monitor ( SAM ), Radiation Monitoring Equipment III ( RME III ), Visual Function Tester-1 ( VFT-1 ), Ultraviolet Plume Instrument ( UVPI ), Bioreactor Flow, Particle Trajectory experiment, and Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project, a series of investigations in support of Extended Duration Orbiter.

The crew earned the name " Icebusters " when Hartsfield successfully removed a hazardous ice buildup from the Orbiter using the Remote Manipulator System.

Secondary payloads: ( 1 ) Canadian experiment, CANEX-2, located in both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of Space Vision System ( SVS ); Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit ( MELEO ); Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion ( QUELD ); Phase Partitioning in Liquids ( PARLIQ ); Sun Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 ( SPEAM-2 ); Orbiter Glow-2 ( OGLOW-2 ); and Space Adaptation Tests and Observations ( SATO ).

During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada ( ANIK C-2 ) and Indonesia ( Palapa B1 ); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite ( SPAS-01 ); conducted the first formation flying of the Orbiter with a free-flying satellite ( SPAS-01 ); carried and operated the first U. S ./ German cooperative materials science payload ( OSTA-2 ); and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System ( CFES ) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor ( MLR ) experiments, in addition to activating seven " Getaway Specials.

During the mission, the crew deployed satellites for Canada ( ANIK C-2 ) and Indonesia ( PALAPA B-1 ); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite ( SPAS-01 ); conducted the first formation flying of the Orbiter with a free-flying satellite ( SPAS-01 ); carried and operated the first U. S ./ German cooperative materials science payload ( OSTA-2 ): and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System ( CFES ) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor ( MLR ) experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials, Mission duration was 147 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.

Preparation of Atlantis itself for mission STS-74 began with the replacement of three thrusters in Atlantiss right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System pod in bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility on 25 August 1995.

In 1978, the end of the program saw a return to the inner solar system, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe, this time using orbital insertion rather than flyby missions.

* 1999 – NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.

During this time, the Orbiter Vehicle-105 received major hardware upgrades, including a new, multi-functional, electronic display system, often referred to as glass cockpit, and an advanced GPS receiver, along with safety upgrades recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board ( CAIB ) for the shuttle to return to flight after the disintegration of sister-ship Columbia during re-entry on February 1, 2003.

Following the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the initial Project Orbiter program was revived as the Explorer program to catch up with the Soviet Union.

The Pioneer Venus Orbiter carried 17 experiments ( with a total mass of 45 kg ):

On August 7, 1980 Viking 1 Orbiter was running low on attitude control gas and its orbit was raised from 357 × 33943 km to 320 × 56000 km to prevent impact with Mars and possible contamination until the year 2019.

During the Lunar Orbiter missions, the first pictures of Earth as a whole were taken, beginning with Earth-rise over the lunar surface by Lunar Orbiter 1 in August, 1966.

The Lunar Orbiter program consisted of five spacecraft which returned photography of 99 percent of the surface of the Moon ( near and far side ) with resolution down to 1 meter.

Based on a seven-month investigation, including a ground search that recovered debris from about 38 percent of the Orbiter, together with telemetry data and launch films, indicated that the failure was caused by a piece of insulation that broke off the external tank during launch and damaged the thermal protection on the Orbiter's left wing.

An artist's conception of aerobraking with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Simulations of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aerobraking use a force limit of 0. 35 N per square meter with a spacecraft cross section of about 37 m², and a maximum expected temperature as 340 ° F ( 170 ° C ).

The training process includes practice with the single systems trainer where the astronauts are trained to operate each Orbiter system and to recognize malfunctions and perform corrective actions.

** Orbiter landing with payload:

It was the first flight of a Space Shuttle with the Extended Duration Orbiter ( EDO ) hardware, allowing longer flight durations.

Thanks to the Extended Duration Orbiter kit, the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia remained in orbit for almost 14 days and future missions with Columbia could last as long as a month.

The Mars Relay antenna supported the Mars Exploration Rovers for data relay in conjunction with Mars Orbiter Camera's 12 MB memory buffer.

* Orbiter ( with Warren Ellis ) DC / Vertigo ( April 2003 ) graphic novel

The latest attraction in Galaxyland, which opened on July 17, 2007, called the Galaxy Orbiter, begins at the Mindbender and intertwines with the entire park.

The Mars Climate Orbiter was part of NASA's 10-year Mars Surveyor Program, with launches every 26 months when the Earth and Mars are favorably positioned.

This was the third flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a night launch and night landing.

Photo taken with Mars Orbiter Camera ( MOC ) on the Mars Global Surveyor.

The UHF system on Phoenix is compatible with relay capabilities of NASA ’ s Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and with the European Space Agency ’ s Mars Express.

In 2009, it was discovered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that Hermite is the coldest place recorded in the solar system, with temperatures at 25 Kelvin (- 415 ° Fahrenheit, − 248 ° Celsius ).