STS-99

STS-99 was Endeavour's February 2000 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, an Earth-mapping flight that used radar interferometry to produce a near-global digital elevation dataset. Kevin Kregel commanded the mission, Dominic Gorie served as pilot, and Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, Mamoru Mohri, and Gerhard Thiele flew as mission specialists. Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A on February 11, 2000, and landed at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on February 22 after about 11 days, 5 hours, and 39 minutes in orbit. The SRTM payload combined NASA, U.S. defense mapping, German, and Italian radar systems mounted on a Spacelab pallet with a mast extending about 60 meters from Endeavour's payload bay. After deployment and checkout, the crew worked in two shifts so radar mapping could continue around the clock. NASA's mission summary records that the radar covered nearly all planned land areas between about 60 degrees north and 56 degrees south latitude, filling hundreds of high-density data tapes and producing one of the most widely used terrain datasets of the spaceflight era. STS-99 also carried EarthKAM, allowing students to request Earth-observation images from orbit. The mission faced a cold-gas thruster issue in the payload system that increased orbiter propellant use during mapping, but the crew and flight controllers adjusted operations and completed the planned science campaign. The flight linked NASA with DLR, ASI, ESA, and NASDA/JAXA participation and gave Kregel his final Space Shuttle mission.