STS-88

Deliver the U.S.-built Unity connecting node, rendezvous with the already-orbiting Zarya module, and create the first assembled configuration of the International Space Station.

This record treats STS-88 as an assembly or station-support mission rather than as a satellite engineering page, keeping the mission objective separate from the hardware-level ISS engineering record.

STS-88 launched on December 4, 1998 using Space Shuttle Endeavour from Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39A.

Endeavour carried Unity in its payload bay. The crew used the shuttle robotic arm to capture Zarya and bring the modules together, then performed three spacewalks to connect electrical, data, fluid, and external hardware.

Primary hardware or assembly focus: Unity (Node 1) and two Pressurized Mating Adapters.

Installation record: Unity and Zarya were mated on December 6, 1998. This is the engineering connection between the mission story and the interactive International Space Station breakdown.

STS-88 completed the first on-orbit construction step of the ISS. Unity and Zarya became a connected station core, establishing the structural and utility foundation for later assembly flights.

The documented result makes STS-88 part of the larger ISS assembly chain, where individual missions progressively added structure, power, laboratories, robotics, thermal control, logistics, and crew-support systems.