On the sunny afternoon of 8 April 2002, at 3:44 PM CDT (20:44 GMT), Space Shuttle>Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida. This marked the beginning of the flight of STS-110 which spent the next 44 hours more or less, chasing the International Space Station for rendezvous and docking. Docking took place on 10 April at 11:05 AM CDT (16:06 GMT), and the CREW of STS-110 were greeted by ISS Expedition Crew Four when hatches were opened. This commenced seven days of joint crew operations.

ISS Assembly Flight 8A was pivotal in the construction of ISSy. It delivered the center of the truss system, called the S0 (S-ZERO) truss. It is the central part of the Integrated Truss Structure, which will eventually reach a length of 356 feet (109m). The all important S0 truss is 44 feet long (13.4m) and weighs 27,000 lbs (12,247kg). In addition to nine other categories of Cargo, STS-110 also brought the Mobile Transporter up to ISSy. This is a miniature "rail road" system which spans the length of the main truss, which will allow Canadarm2 to ride back and forth to perform maintenance and construction jobs. There were some glitches involved with the MT, but they were worked out.

Four EVAs were carried out, in two teams, from the Quest Joint Airlock Module by Astronauts Steve Smith, Rex Walheim, Jerry Ross, and Lee Morin. During these four spacewalks, the S0 Truss, the Mobile Transporter, and a number of other hardware elements were installed. This mission saw the first occasion when the Station's Robotic Arm (Canadarm2) was used to maneuver Astronauts around the station, and it was the first time that all EVAs were mounted from the station's Quest Airlock Module.

After completing all the goals set for this flight, Atlantis undocked from ISSy on 17 April 2002, at 1:31 PM CDT (18:31 GMT). For the next two days, STS-110 flew solo. The crew got some rest, and carried out some micro-gravity experiments. They also took time to pack up their equipment, and personal effects, in anticipation of landing. Atlantis landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility , runway 33, on 19 April 2002 at 11:27 AM CDT (16:27 GMT). Total flight time 10 days 19 hours 44 minutes.

In the wee hours, as the crew were asleep, the INCO began to play a strange game with the cameras in the payload bay during a "live" downlink segment on NASA Select TV. I've seen this before, but have no idea if there is a purpose. What happens is that two cameras, with blinding floodlights attached, are swivelled and pointed at EACH OTHER, resulting in a wash-out picture.

An interesting feature of this game is that the usual mask of annoying "snow" is MISSING! So, have fun trying to figure out what they're up to here. I sure don't know.

Let's take a look at what happened that night, shall we?