STS-112 was a space shuttle mission that was launched on October 7, 2002, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The primary objective of this mission was to continue the construction of the International Space Station (ISS). This was the 15th flight of Atlantis and the 112th space shuttle mission overall.
The crew of STS-112 consisted of five astronauts, including Commander J Jeffrey S. Ashby, commander; Pamela A. Melroy, pilot; and David A. Wolf, Piers J. Sellers, Sandra H. Magnus and Rosaviakosmos' Fyodor N. Yurchikhin, all mission specialists. During the mission, the crew carried out four spacewalks to install and activate the S1 Truss segment of the space station, which included the first set of solar arrays.
In addition to the main objective, the crew also conducted experiments related to materials science, plant growth in space, and other scientific studies. The mission lasted a total of 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes, and the crew returned to Earth on October 18, 2002, landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
STS-112 mission was a success, and it contributed significantly to the ongoing construction and maintenance of the International Space Station.
Image credits: NASA