Atlantis Launches: ISS Resupply Mission Begins Critical Phase

The toilet didn't work. That's what nearly killed the space station before STS-101 ever left the pad. Atlantis hauled up a replacement toilet, new batteries, and enough spare parts to keep the ISS breathing for another year. Mission Commander James Halsell and his crew spent a week installing what amounted to cosmic duct tape, because the most expensive construction project in human history, orbiting at 17,500 mph, was one bathroom failure away from evacuation. They fixed it. The station's been continuously occupied ever since. Twenty-four years and counting. STS-101 launched on May 19, 2000, carrying a crew of seven astronauts on a logistics and maintenance mission to the International Space Station, which was still in its early construction phase. The station had been unoccupied since the previous crew's departure, and multiple systems had degraded during the gap. The mission's primary tasks included replacing four failed batteries on the station's exterior, installing new fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, repairing the malfunctioning Russian toilet system, and upgrading communications equipment. Astronauts conducted a spacewalk lasting over six hours to perform external maintenance and install handrails for future spacewalks. The mundane nature of the repairs belied their critical importance: the ISS was designed to support continuous human habitation, and every failed system threatened that objective. The replacement batteries restored power redundancy, and the repaired sanitation system eliminated the need for the station's planned first crew to rely on backup facilities. STS-101 also delivered over 3,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. The first permanent crew, Expedition 1, arrived in November 2000, and the station has been continuously occupied since, making it the longest unbroken period of human habitation in space.