Launch and Flight
Zarya was launched on November 20, 1998 on a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81 in Kazakhstan to a 400 km (250 mi) high orbit with a designed lifetime of at least 15 years. After Zarya reached orbit, STS-88 launched on December 4, 1998 to attach the Unity Module.
Although only designed to fly autonomously for six to eight months, Zarya was required to do so for almost two years due to delays to the Russian Service Module, Zvezda. Zvezda was finally launched on July 12, 2000, docking with Zarya on July 26 using the Russian Kurs docking system.
Zarya initially had problems with battery charging circuits, but these were resolved.
Zarya passed the 50,000-orbit mark at 15:17 UTC on August 14, 2007 during the STS-118 mission to the International Space Station.
Read more about this topic: Zarya
Famous quotes containing the word launch:
“Now launch the small ship, now as the body dies
and life departs, launch out, the fragile soul
in the fragile ship of courage, the ark of faith
with its store of food and little cooking pans
and change of clothes,”
—D.H. (David Herbert)