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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

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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..)

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(...Continued from above)

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

This post has been edited by Waspie_Dwarf: 24 April 2006 - 11:13 AM

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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.

This post has been edited by Waspie_Dwarf: 24 April 2006 - 02:12 PM

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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OFICCIAL PRESS RELEASE
about transport cargo vehicle Progress M-56 docking to the
International Space Station

April 26, 2006. Korolev, Moscow Region.

Russian cargo vehicle Progress M-56 launched on April 24, 2006 from Baikonur cosmodrome after an autonomous two-day flight in near-earth orbit docked to the International Space Station (ISS).
The vehicle rendezvous with the ISS Orbital Complex, fly-around and docking were performed in the automatic mode. The vehicle approached a free axial docking port of Russian Service Module Zvezda. At 21:41:31 Moscow time the vehicle came into contact with the docking port.
The ISS Expedition 13 crew (ISS-13) consisting of Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov (commander, test engineer of RSC Energia) and American astronaut Jeffry Williams (ISS-13 flight engineer, NASA) monitored the rendezvous and docking processes onboard the station.
The ISS Orbital Complex of about 192 t performs a near-orbit flight with the followingparameters: maximum altitude of 363.2 km, minimum altitude of 337.2 km, period of revolution of 91.3 min.
The vehicles and Station modules onboard systems operate in a design mode.
The final flight operations during the vehicle rendezvous and docking to the station were conducted under control of N.N. Sevastiyanov, President, General Designer of RSC Energia, General Director for manned space complexes and Technical Manager for flight tests, who worked at the Mission Control Center in Moscow (MCC-M).
During these operations MCC-M was attended by V.A. Grin, co-chairmen of the State Board, representatives of Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, allied enterprises and organizations participating in the manufacturing, processing and launch of the Progress vehicles, as well as control of the ISS RS.
The ISS Russian Segment flight control is provided by Lead Operational Control Team of MCC-M, Korolev, Moscow region. The flight is directed by V.A. Soloviev, Vice-President, Deputy General Designer of RSC Energia. The control is performed in interaction with the US Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-H).
Upon completion of the docking, N.N. Sevastyanov, President of RSC Energia, and Flight Director V.A. Soloviev answered the questions of journalists of the Russian and foreign information agencies pointing out the cargo vehicle docking features and perspectives of ISS program work progress, development of the new generation Russian transport space system with manned space vehicle Clipper and inter-orbital tug Parom.

For reference:
Progress M-56 delivered ~ 2.6 tons of various cargoes to the station. Among them 870 kg of fuel are within the propulsion system refuelling tanks, 46.5 kg of gases are in oxygen supply equipment bottles, 1009.4 kg of cargoes are within the pressurized module. The last includes potable water, food, medical equipment, personal hygiene means, equipment for American Segment (253.3 kg), onboard systems and science research, means of individual and fire protection, flight-data files, parcels for the crew.
The Russian Segment of ISS is made up of Functional Cargo Module Zarya, Service Module Zvezda, docking module Pirs, transport vehicles Soyuz TMA-8, Progress M-56.
The US On-Orbit Segment is made up of Modules Unity and Destiny, airlock Quest and a multi-link truss structure with deployed solar arrays.

Picture credits: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Source: S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - News

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Crew Unpacks New Progress, Prepares for Reboost


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

Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams have begun unloading supplies from the new Progress 21. The Russian cargo craft docked to the station Wednesday, April 26. An older Progress vehicle continues to supply the station with air as needed. That Progress is being loaded with trash and readied for undocking in mid-June to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

The station is scheduled for an engine firing, or reboost, which will raise its orbit on Thursday, May 4.

Source: NASA - Space Station

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NASA Announces 14th International Space Station Crew

The press release is reproduced below:

May 2, 2006

Joe Pally
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-7239

Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(281) 483-5111

RELEASE: 06-209

NASA Announces 14th International Space Station Crew

NASA astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin have been named as the 14th crew of the International Space Station. Expedition 14 is scheduled to begin this fall.

Lopez-Alegria, a veteran of three space flights, will command Expedition 14 and serve as the NASA station science officer for the six-month mission. He and Tyurin, a veteran station crew member from Expedition 3, are in training to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in September 2006. Tyurin will serve as flight engineer and Soyuz commander.

Williams will join Expedition 14 in progress and serve as a flight engineer, after traveling to the station on space shuttle mission STS-116. This will be Williams's first space flight.

Selected as an astronaut in 1992, Lopez-Alegria flew his first shuttle mission, STS-73, in 1995 and later visited the station on shuttle missions STS-92 in 2000 and STS-113 in 2002, conducting five spacewalks during the station assembly complex. He has logged more than 42 days in space, including 34 hours spacewalking. Lopez-Alegria is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and received a Master of Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Williams was selected as an astronaut in 1998. She also is a graduate of the Naval Academy and received a Master of Science degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. Williams was designated a Naval aviator in 1989 and graduated from the Naval Test Pilot School in 1993. She has logged more than 2,770 flight hours in 30 different types of aircraft. At NASA, Williams has served as a liaison in Moscow supporting Expedition 1 and has supported station robotics work.

Tyurin was selected as a cosmonaut in 1993 and was a flight engineer aboard the station for Expedition 3 in 2001. He has spent 125 days in space. Tyurin is a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson is the backup commander for Expedition 14. Astronaut Clay Anderson is backup flight engineer. Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko is the backup Soyuz commander and flight engineer.

For information about Expedition 14, the International Space Station and its missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home

- end -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: NASA Press Release 06-209

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Crew Unpacks New Progress, Prepares for Reboost


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

Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams continue unloading supplies from the new Progress 21. The Russian cargo craft docked to the station Wednesday, April 26. An older Progress vehicle continues to supply the station with air as needed. That Progress is being loaded with trash and readied for undocking in mid-June to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

The station is scheduled for an engine firing, or reboost, which will raise its orbit on Thursday, May 4.

NASA astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin have been named as the 14th crew of the International Space Station. Expedition 14 is scheduled to begin this fall.

Source: NASA - Space Station

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International Space Station Imagery

ISS013-E-10099 (26 April 2006) --- Backdropped by Earth’s horizon and airglow, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. The Progress 21 resupply craft launched at 11:03 a.m. (CDT) on April 24, 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, spare parts and other supplies to the Expedition 13 crewmembers onboard the station. Progress docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 12:41 p.m. (CDT) on April 26 as the spacecraft and the station flew approximately 219 miles above a point near Greece.

ISS013-E-10106 (26 April 2006) --- Backdropped by a blue and white Earth, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. The Progress 21 resupply craft launched at 11:03 a.m. (CDT) on April 24, 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, spare parts and other supplies to the Expedition 13 crewmembers onboard the station. Progress docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 12:41 p.m. (CDT) on April 26 as the spacecraft and the station flew approximately 219 miles above a point near Greece.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery - ISS - Crew 13

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Crew Works on Experiments, Station Completes Reboost


Image above: Commander Pavel Vinogradov uses a communication
system while working with equipment in the Zvezda Service Module of
the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA

Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams are working on various experiments inside the International Space Station. Both crewmembers also participated in an interactive televised educational event Thursday morning at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with NASA Explorer Schools.

Engines of the Progress cargo craft were fired early Thursday, raising the station's altitude about 1.6 miles.

NASA astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin have been named as the 14th crew of the International Space Station. Expedition 14 is scheduled to begin this fall.

Source: NASA - Space Station