International Space Station - Latest News

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station -
Latest News

Expedition 12 Heads Home, New Crew in Charge of Station


Image above: Expedition 12 is in the Soyuz spacecraft backdropped by the Earth moments after undocking for their return home. Photo Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 12 has left the International Space Station after six-months and is returning to Earth. Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev undocked their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft at 4:28 p.m. EDT. Brazil’s first astronaut Marcos Pontes, who arrived at the station with Expedition 13, is now headed home with Expedition 12. They are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan at 7:48 p.m.

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams are now the sole residents aboard the space station. A third crewmember, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, is scheduled to join Expedition 13 no earlier than July aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

Source: NASA - Space Station Edited October 26, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Station Crew Undocks, Heads Back to Earth

Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, the 12th crew of the International Space Station, undocked in their Soyuz spacecraft from the orbiting laboratory at 4:28 p.m. EDT Saturday and headed for a landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 7:48 p.m.

Image above: Expedition 12 is in the Soyuz spacecraft backdropped by the Earth moments after undocking for their return home. Photo Credit: NASA TV

With them was Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian astronaut, who flew to the space station with the Expedition 13 crew and spent about eight days doing experiments. He was aboard under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).

McArthur and Tokarev will spend several weeks in Star City, near Moscow, for debriefing and medical examinations.

They launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last Sept. 30 and docked with the station Oct. 3. During their increment they performed two spacewalks, continued station maintenance and did scientific experiments.

Before closing the last of the Soyuz-station hatches at 1:23 p.m. Saturday, McArthur and Tokarev said farewell to the Expedition 13 crew, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeffrey Williams. That crew launched with Pontes from Baikonur March 29 at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Back on the space station, the E13 crew began the solo portion of its six-month increment.

Vinogradov is a veteran of a 198-day mission aboard the Russian space station Mir, where he did five spacewalks. Williams, an Army colonel, flew on STS-101 in May 2000. He did one spacewalk during that flight to the station.

Joining them during their stay on the station will be Thomas Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut from Germany, also flying under a Roscosmos contract. He is scheduled to come to the station on Discovery's STS-121 mission, set for no earlier than July.

Reiter is to be the first non-Russian, non-U.S. long-duration crewmember on station. He will bring the station crew back to three for the first time since May 2003, in the wake of the Columbia accident.

Source: NASA - Space Station - Expeditions

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 12 Lands in Kazakhstan

Expedition 12 has returned to Earth and landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft touched down at 7:48 p.m. EDT. Returning with Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev was Brazil’s first astronaut, Marcos Pontes, who arrived at the station with Expedition 13 on April 1.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Glacies]

Fascinating. another great thread

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Progress M-56

Preperations are underway for the 24th April Launch of the Progress M-56 supply craft to the International Space Station (ISS). Confusingly NASA uses a different numbering system to the Russians and refers to the spacecraft as Progress-21.

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April 13, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The Technical Management meeting which made a decision to fuel Progress M-56 cargo vehicle with propellant components and compressed gases.

Progress M-56 cargo vehicle balancing and weighing:

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 13 Under Way

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams got in their first full working day alone aboard the International Space Station Tuesday. They did maintenance activities, talked with two news organizations and participants in a children's aerospace conference in Russia, and completed their regular 2½ hours of daily exercise. They also continued their familiarization with the station. After their March 30 launch and April 1 docking, they spent about eight days on handover activities with their Expedition 12 predecessors, then had off-duty days Sunday and Monday.

Image above: Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur waits

onboard a helicopter before transferring to an airplane for a flight back

to Moscow from Kustanay, Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Expedition 12's Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev remain in Star City, Russia, near Moscow. They are undergoing debriefing and physical rehabilitation after almost 190 days in space before their Saturday landing in Kazakhstan. With them is Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut. He launched with Expedition 13 and returned with Expedition 12 after performing a series of scientific experiments. Expedition 12 is scheduled to return to NASA's Johnson Space Center later this month.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Edited October 26, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 13 Completes First Full Week

Image above: Newly arrived Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams

checks out the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams got in their first full working day alone aboard the International Space Station Tuesday. They did maintenance activities, talked with two news organizations and participants in a children's aerospace conference in Russia, and completed their regular 2½ hours of daily exercise. They also continued their familiarization with the station. After their March 30 launch and April 1 docking, they spent about eight days on handover activities with their Expedition 12 predecessors, then had off-duty days Sunday and Monday.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Edited April 17, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Psychokinesis]

Hmm..you have a major interest in space exploration, don't you?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Hmm..you have a major interest in space exploration, don't you?

What gave you that idea.

Edited April 18, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 18, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Progress M-56 transport cargo vehicle was docked with the transfer compartment in the Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility.

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Station Reboost Scheduled for Wednesday

Image above: Newly arrived Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams

checks out the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, now into their second full work week alone aboard the orbital outpost, are continuing with station familiarization, routine maintenance and medical data collection. On Monday, the crew set up and activated EarthKAM for its first photographic data takes of the new increment.

The station's Zvezda Service Module engines will be fired Wednesday at 3:49 p.m. EDT for 10 seconds to boost the station to the correct altitude to dock with the ISS Progress 21 cargo craft. The Progress, carrying 2½ tons of fuel, oxygen and supplies, will launch next Monday and dock with the station on Wednesday, April 26.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 19, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Designers inspection of the Progress M-56 cargo vehicle was completed in the Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility.

Payload shroud roll on to the Progress M-56 spacecraft was performed.

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 13 in Second Week of Mission

Image above: Newly arrived Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams

checks out the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, now into their second full work week alone aboard the orbital outpost, are continuing with station familiarization, routine maintenance and medical data collection. On Monday, the crew set up and activated EarthKAM for its first photographic data takes of the new increment.

Wednesday's scheduled reboost of the station using the Zvezda Service Module engine did not occur. Neither engine fired, and the maneuver was aborted. Russian engineers are investigating. Since the reboost was primarily intended as a test of the engines and would have raised the station's altitude by approximately 1/3 of a statute mile, the planned docking of the ISS Progress 21 cargo craft is not affected. The Progress, carrying 2½ tons of fuel, oxygen and supplies, will launch next Monday and dock with the station on Wednesday, April 26.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 20, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Orbital module of the Soyuz launch vehicle, containing Progress M-56 spacecraft was transported from the spacecraft processing facility for the general integration with LV.

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 21, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The orbital module was integrated with the Soyuz launch vehicle in the processing facility.

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 13 Prepares for Progress Docking

Image above: Newly arrived Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams

checks out the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams this week focused on experiments, maintenance and preparations for the arrival of two and a half tons of food, supplies and equipment. The crew completed the first of three sessions with the Renal Stone experiment, set up and activated cameras for the EarthKAM experiment and operated the Capillary Flow Experiment.

The Expedition 13 crew also spent several hours practicing the use of a manual docking system for next week's arrival of the ISS Progress 21 cargo vehicle. The computer-based training will ensure they're ready to take control of the Progress if the automated system does not work properly. The 21st Progress to visit the station is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:03 p.m. EDT Monday, and dock with the space station at 1:40 p.m. Wednesday. NASA TV will provide live coverage of the docking beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 22, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

At 5:00 a.m. Moscow Time, the transporter with the Soyuz-U launch vehicle and the Progress M-56 spacecraft left the Assembly and Testing Facility and arrived to the launch pad for the final pre-launch processing. The Soyuz-U - Progress M-56 system was erected on the launcher. First launch day activities began.

(Continued below..)

[Waspie_Dwarf]

(...Continued from above)

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

European Columbus laboratory for ISS ready for delivery

Columbus laboratory during construction in Bremen

Credits: Euronews

24 April 2006
ESA PR 15-2006. The Columbus laboratory is Europe’s cornerstone contribution to the International Space Station. Final integration has been successfully completed in Bremen. Columbus will be shipped to Cape Canaveral at the end of May, from where it will be flown on a Space Shuttle to the ISS in the second half of 2007.


An artist's impression of Columbus - cutaway view - the European laboratory on the International Space Station.

Credits: ESA / D.Ducros

During its planned 10-year operational lifetime, scientific researchers in Europe, with the help of the astronauts onboard and a Europe-wide support infrastructure on the ground, will be able to conduct a vast programme of experiments in the areas of the life and physical sciences, materials science, fundamental physics and technology research.

Source: ESA - News

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Unpiloted Progress Bringing Life to Space Station

A new Progress will launch toward the International Space Station April 24. The unpiloted cargo carrier will have some life forms aboard.

The 21st Progress to visit the station will bring some small crustaceans for a Russian scientific experiment called Aquarium. That experiment looks at stability of closed ecological systems in microgravity. It could provide information useful for lengthy human spaceflights.

All in all, the Progress will have just over 2½ tons of equipment and supplies on board. Included in its 5,040 pounds of cargo will be more than 1,900 pounds of propellant, just over 100 pounds of air and oxygen, 661 pounds of water and almost 2,360 pounds of dry cargo.

Image above: An unpiloted ISS Progress cargo craft

approaches the station.

Credit: NASA

Its sister cargo carrier and predecessor at the station, Progress 20, will remain at the station until mid-June. P20, with its load of trash and surplus equipment from the station, will be deorbited and burn after entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

P21 is to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:03 p.m. EDT Monday. Docking to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module is scheduled for April 26 at 1:40 p.m. NASA Television will cover the docking live, beginning at 1 p.m.

The Progress is similar in appearance and some design elements to the Soyuz spacecraft, which brings three crewmembers to the station, serves as a lifeboat while they are there and returns them to Earth. The aft module, the instrumentation and propulsion module, is nearly identical.

But the second of the three Progress sections is a refueling module, and the third, uppermost as the Progress sits on the launch pad, is a cargo module. On the Soyuz, the descent module, where the crew is seated on launch and which returns them to Earth, is the middle module and the third is called the orbital module.

Source: NASA - Space Station - Expeditions

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Note: Progress 20 (P20) & Progress 21 (P21) are NASA's designations for these craft. The Russians refer to them as Progress M55 & Progress M56.

I rather wish NASA would adopt the Russian designations as Progress 20 & Progress 21 were cargo craft sent to the Salyut-7 space station in April & May 1984 respectively.

Edited April 24, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Expedition 13 Prepares for Progress Visit

Image above: Newly arrived Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams

checks out the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

The 21st Progress to visit the station launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:03 p.m. EDT Monday. The new cargo craft is scheduled to dock with the space station at 1:40 p.m. Wednesday. Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams are readying the International Space Station for the arrival of two and a half tons of food, supplies and equipment. NASA TV will provide live coverage of the docking beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Starsem press release is reproduced below:

Success of the 1707th launch of Soyuz

Evry, April 24, 2006

The 1707th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Monday, April 24, 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:03 p.m. Baikonur time (6:03 p.m., in Paris).

Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners report that the Progress spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit for another mission to the ISS.

This was the second Soyuz family mission in 2006. The next Starsem flight will be accomplished for the European Eumetsat Organization, launching the MetOp, the first European system in polar orbit dedicated to meteorology and climate observation.

With the introduction of the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), this famed Russian launch vehicle becomes an integral part of the European launcher fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight Vega. To be offered exclusively by Arianespace to the commercial market, the Soyuz at CSG is Europe's reference medium-class launch vehicle for governmental and commercial missions.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players involved in the production, operation and international commercial marketing of the world's most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are Arianespace, EADS, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Samara Space Center.

The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches for the European Space Agency, Eumetsat, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd and Globalstar LLC.

Source: Starsem Press Release

[Waspie_Dwarf]

April 24, 2006. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

According to the Russian Party liabilities under the International Space Station project the Progress M-56 transport cargo vehicle was launched from Baikonur launch site at 20:03:25 Moscow time

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Resupply Ship Docks to Space Station

Image above: The Progress 21 resupply ship is moments away from

docking with the International Space Station. The Zvezda Service

Module's solar array is clearly visible in this image captured from a

station video camera.

Credit: NASA

The Progress 21 resupply space ship has arrived at the International Space Station. The Russian cargo craft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 1:41 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. The new cargo ship brings with it science gear, propellant, air, oxygen, water and other cargo.

Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams were on standby as they watched the automatic docking of the new Progress. An older Progress 20 resupply space ship remains docked to the Russian side of the station. In mid-June, the older Progress is due to leave the orbiting research complex and burn up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Source: NASA - Space Station

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Progress With Equipment, Supplies Docks at Station

A new unpiloted Progress cargo carrier docked at the International Space Station at 1:41 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

The 21st Progress to visit the station has just over 2½ tons of equipment and supplies on board. Included in its 5,040 pounds of cargo are more than 1,900 pounds of propellant, just over 100 pounds of air and oxygen, 661 pounds of water and almost 2,360 pounds of dry cargo.

Image to right: The International Space Station as seen

from a video camera on the approaching Progress 21

spacecraft.

Credit: NASA TV

The new Progress also has on board some small crustaceans for a Russian scientific experiment called Aquarium. That experiment looks at stability of closed ecological systems in microgravity. It could provide information useful for lengthy human spaceflights.

Progress 21 docked at the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module. Station crewmembers, Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams, will open the new arrival's hatch later today. While they might sample some of the fresh food aboard the Progress, they will begin unloading the Progress on Thursday.

Its sister cargo carrier and predecessor at the station, Progress 20, will remain at the Pirs Docking Compartment until mid-June. P20, with its load of trash and surplus equipment from the station, will be deorbited and burn after entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

P21 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday at 12:03 p.m. EDT, 10:03 p.m. Baikonur time.

Image to left: The solar arrays of the newly arrived

Progress 21 spacecraft are behind the solar arrays of the

Zvezda Service Module. The Progress docked to the aft

port of the Zvezda.

Credit: NASA TV

The Progress is similar in appearance and some design elements to the Soyuz spacecraft, which brings three crewmembers to the station, serves as a lifeboat while they are there and returns them to Earth. The aft module, the instrumentation and propulsion module, is nearly identical.

But the second of the three Progress sections is a refueling module, and the third, uppermost as the Progress sits on the launch pad, is a cargo module. On the Soyuz, the descent module, where the crew is seated on launch and which returns them to Earth, is the middle module and the third is called the orbital module.

Source: NASA - Space Station - Expeditions