Progress Cargo Transfers Continue


Image above: An Expedition 17 crew member took this photograph of the Island of Ischia,
Italy, and the neighboring island of Procida (top right).
Photo Credit: NASA

Aboard the International Space Station Monday, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko transferred cargo from the Progress 30 supply craft, stowing it aboard the station. The Progress 30 docked to the orbital outpost Wednesday carrying more than 2.6 tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Inside the Quest airlock, Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff performed standard spacesuit maintenance, which included a scrubbing process on the spacesuit’s cooling water loops.

All three crew members completed their daily exercise regimen, which helps reduce the physical effects of microgravity.

The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, which was the first European Space Agency (ESA) cargo craft to visit the space station, is slated to deorbit on Sept. 29 to burn up over the Pacific Ocean. ESA will conduct an imagery experiment with Jules Verne during its re-entry.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Crew Relocates Lab Rack; Transfers Progress Cargo


Image above: Sergei Volkov (left) and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff work in the Destiny
lab of the International Space Station.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Aboard the International Space Station Monday, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko transferred cargo from the Progress 30 supply craft, stowing it aboard the station. The Progress 30 docked to the orbital outpost Wednesday carrying more than 2.6 tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Inside the Quest airlock, Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff performed standard spacesuit maintenance, which included a scrubbing process on the spacesuit’s cooling water loops.

All three crew members completed their daily exercise regimen, which helps reduce the physical effects of microgravity.

The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, which was the first European Space Agency (ESA) cargo craft to visit the space station, is slated to deorbit on Sept. 29 to burn up over the Pacific Ocean. ESA will conduct an imagery experiment with Jules Verne during its re-entry.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Crew Works on Cargo Transfers, Computers and Science


Image above: Sergei Volkov (left), Oleg Kononenko (center) and Greg Chamitoff pose for a
photo in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Three Synchronized
Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) float freely in the
foreground.
Photo Credit: NASA

The Expedition 17 crew members focused on cargo transfers, computer upgrades and science activities aboard the International Space Station Wednesday.

Crew members continued the transfer and inventory of cargo that arrived on the Progress 30 supply craft. The Progress arrived at the station on Sept. 17 carrying more than 2.6 tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff replaced parts in some of the station’s laptop computer workstations. He also performed routine maintenance on the station’s resistive exercise equipment.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko continued his work with the Rastenia-2 (Plants) experiment. Rastenia is a four-phase investigation that evaluates the effects of microgravity on plant growth and tests cultivation techniques.

Throughout the day, crew members performed their daily exercise sessions to counteract the effects of long-term exposure to the microgravity environment of space.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Crew Works on Science and Computers


Image above: The city of Tunis, capital of Tunisia, is featured in this image photographed
by an Expedition 17 crew member on the International Space Station.
Photo Credit: NASA

On the International Space Station Thursday, the Expedition 17 crew concentrated on science and updating computer systems.

Commander Sergei Volkov worked with the Russian SONOCARD experiment. SONOCARD studies the feasibility of obtaining real-time crew health data by recording a crew member’s physiological functions during sleep.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko updated antivirus software on the station’s laptops. He also replaced hard drives and updated software in Portable Computer System computers aboard the orbital outpost.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff installed the Oxygen Uptake Measurement - Periodic Fitness Evaluation equipment. Its purpose is to measure a crew member’s aerobic capacity during exercise.

The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, which was the first European Space Agency (ESA) cargo craft to visit the space station, is slated to deorbit on Sept. 29 to burn over the Pacific Ocean. ESA will conduct an imagery experiment with Jules Verne during its re-entry.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Great pics Waspie! I wonder when the Company here in the U.S called Mapsco. will make a World Map from shots like that? I would buy one . It wouldnt be too hard to mozaicit together and say make it Ten by Ten feet in size A Great Wall peice I would say.

Waspie any plans to post the Chinese space missions in this section?

Yes, I've been a bit busy but I will post some updates (hopefully later tonight).

The problem is that, where possible, I like to post directly from the original source rather than have to link to copyrighted material. Unfortunately the English version of the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) is rarely updated. It is for that reason that there have been so few updates on the Chinese Chang'e unmanned lunar mission.

Station Crew Busy With Science; Expedition 18 Prepares for Launch


Image above: Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff works on an experiment in Japan’s Kibo
laboratory.
Photo Credit: NASA

The International Space Station's Expedition 17 crew is busy with scientific investigations. Research includes studying how the human body adapts in a microgravity environment. The international experiments Friday observe changes in an astronaut’s cardio-vascular system, immune system and sleep cycle.

While many experiments continue over several expeditions, new ones are being set up and old ones are being deactivated with the results being studied on the ground.

Crew members also continue their exercise regimen to counteract the effects of weightlessness. The station residents work out each day using equipment such as a treadmill and a resistive exercise device.

Meanwhile, the Expedition 18 crew prepares for its mission with a launch to the International Space Station planned for Oct. 12. Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott are relaxing in Star City outside Moscow. They will head to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.

Jules Verne, Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, is being readied for its deorbit and fiery re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on Monday. Two engine firings will be conducted early Monday. An imagery experiment will be conducted during deorbit.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Crew Does Science, Maintenance; Jules Verne Deorbits


Image above: Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff worked with SPHERES, a small
satellite experiment, on Saturday.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Aboard the International Space Station Monday, the Expedition 17 crew members continued their science and maintenance duties. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) re-entered the atmosphere.

Commander Sergei Volkov inspected and cleaned smoke detectors and bacteria filters associated with the station’s Fire Detection and Suppression system.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko performed maintenance on the cycle ergometer, which is part of the crew’s exercise equipment. He also worked with a Russian experiment known as Relaxation, which studies radiation patterns from Earth’s ionosphere and the Earth limb.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff made adjustments to the station’s Internal Thermal Control Systems Moderate Temperature Loop, which controls temperatures aboard the orbital outpost.

After completing its six-month mission to deliver supplies and provide reboost capability to the space station, the Jules Verne ATV, the first ESA cargo craft to visit the complex, performed two deorbit burns Monday morning and burned over the Pacific Ocean during re-entry.

Source: NASA - Space Station

September 29, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Primary (Yury Lonchakov (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia), Michael Fincke (NASA, USA), Richard Garriott (USA)) and backup (Gennady Padalka (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia), Reed Barratt (NASA, USA), Nik Halik (Australia)) crews of the Soyuz TMA-13 transportation spacecraft arrived to the Baikonur launch site. At the airport they were met by the first vice president, first deputy designer general of RSC Energia Nikolai Ivanovich Zelenshchikov and other managers of the Corporation.
Commanders of the crews reported on their readiness for pre-flight training and Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft acceptance.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Station Crew Focuses on Science


Image above: Commander Sergei Volkov (left) and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff work in the Destiny lab of the International Space Station on Tuesday.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Systems aboard the International Space Station continued performing well Tuesday as the Expedition 17 crew conducted a variety of science experiments and made preparations for the return home.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko worked with a Russian experiment that looks for leaks in the working compartments of the station.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff performed a final session with the Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment, investigating the effect of rotation on complex fluids stretched in microgravity. Understanding this effect is important for the development of containerless processing, which is an important operation for the fabrication of parts during long-duration space missions.

Commander Sergei Volkov continued preparations for the end of his crew’s stay aboard the station in October, gathering items to be loaded aboard space shuttle Endeavour when it docks with the station in November.

After completing its six-month mission to deliver supplies to the space station, the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle performed two deorbit burns Monday morning and burned over the Pacific Ocean during re-entry.

Source: NASA - Space Station

September 30, 2008. Baikonur launch site, S.P.Korolev RSC Energia branch office

The primary and backup crews of the ISS Expedition 18 and Taxi Mission 15 have entered into their final training phase in the processing facility. Yury Lonchakov (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia), Michael Fincke (NASA, USA), Richard Garriott (USA) have inspected the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, tried on Sokol-KV spacesuits and customized contoured couches, went through the on-board documentation and the launch manifest, checked their radio communications equipment, as well as conducted a training session for scientific experiments.
The Technical Management meeting took place, which made a decision to fuel Soyuz TMA-13 vehicle with propellant components and compressed gases.




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Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Expedition 18 Launch Preparations Continue


Image above: The Expedition 18 crew members sit in front of their Soyuz TMA-13 capsule
during a suited fit check Tuesday.
Photo Credit: NASA / Victor Zelentsov

The Expedition 17 crew members focused on maintenance activities and medical training aboard the International Space Station Wednesday while the Expedition 18 crew continued preparations for their launch a little after 3 a.m. EDT Oct. 12.

Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, Soyuz Commander and Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott participated in the ceremonial raising of the Russian, U.S. and Kazakh flags at the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile on the station, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff relocated the Human Research Facility Rack from the Destiny lab to the Columbus lab to accommodate European biomedical experiments.

Chamitoff also performed routine medical officer proficiency training to refresh the skills he would need for an emergency medical situation.

The engines of the Progress 30 cargo craft will fire for a second time Thursday at 7:33 a.m. EDT to reboost the station to the correct altitude for the launch of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft on Oct. 12. With the Expedition 18 crew aboard, the Soyuz TMA-13 will dock to the station's Zarya module on Oct. 14.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Station Reboost Rescheduled


Image above: Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff works on an experiment in the
Unity node of the International Space Station.
Photo Credit: NASA

Flight controllers postponed Thursday’s scheduled reboost of the International Space Station using the ISS Progress 30 cargo carrier’s engines due to a concern that the reboost would put the station too close to orbital debris. The reboost has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, and will bring the station to the correct altitude for the Oct. 12 launch of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 18 crew. The Soyuz and crew are scheduled to dock to the station's Zarya module on Oct. 14.

Meanwhile, the Expedition 17 crew members focused on cargo transfers and science activities aboard the station Thursday.

Working from a list uplinked by ground controllers, Commander Sergei Volkov transferred discarded hardware and unwanted materials to the Progress 30. Once the Progress is full of discards, it will undock and deorbit to burn in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko continued his work with the EXPERT experiment. EXPERT is a Russian experiment that measures and records the effects of corrosion in different environments and conditions on the station.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff relocated the Human Research Facility Rack from the Destiny laboratory to the Columbus laboratory and checked out its systems.

Throughout the day, crew members performed their daily exercise sessions to counteract the effects of long-term exposure to the microgravity environment of space.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Interviews and Crew Departure Activities for Expedition 17


Image above: The Expedition 17 crew members discuss voting from space and viewing Hurricane
Ike with journalists from CBS News and KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas.
Photo Credit: NASA

Journalists with CBS News and KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas, talked to the Expedition 17 crew members Friday morning. Commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineers Oleg Kononenko and Greg Chamitoff talked about their families, voting from space and viewing Hurricane Ike.

+ View Hurricane Ike imagery

Volkov spent some time preparing for the end of Expedition 17. The crew also is unpacking and stowing items from the docked Progress 30 cargo craft. Additionally, they are relocating and reconfiguring various station racks.

Friday was Greg Chamitoff’s 125th day in space. Chamitoff will join Expedition 18 after the new crew docks in its Soyuz TMA-13 on Oct. 14. Volkov and Kononenko will return home in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott who arrives with Expedition 18 will go home with Expedition 17.

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and Garriott are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station on Oct. 12. Their Soyuz launch vehicle will roll out to the pad on Oct. 10.

Source: NASA - Space Station

October 3, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Soyuz TMA-13 transport manned vehicle fuelled with propellant components and compressed gases was delivered to the Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility for final processing operations.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

October 3, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

At Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Soyuz TMA-13 transport manned spacecraft under the International Space Station program.
Soyuz TMA-13 transport manned vehicle was docked with the transfer compartment in the Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

October 5, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Designers inspection of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft was completed.




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Payload shroud roll on to the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft was performed.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Expedition 17 Does Science, Talks to Media


Image above: Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov (left) and Flight Engineer Greg
Chamitoff (right) work inside the International Space Station’s Harmony node.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Aboard the International Space Station Monday, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov worked with the Plasma Crystal-3 Plus experiment, which uses high frequency radio power to excite plasma particles inside an evacuated work chamber. The experiment’s main objective is to obtain a homogeneous plasma dust cloud at various pressures, power settings and quantities of particles.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko tested hardware to be used in the Plants-2 experiment. Plants-2 researches the growth and development of plants in the microgravity environment of space.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff installed a body mass meter, did control runs of body mass measurements and calibrated equipment for Sodium Loading in Microgravity (SOLO) experiment. This was the fourth day of his first session with SOLO, which studies the mechanisms of fluid and salt retention in the body during long-duration spaceflight.

Taking a break from their science and maintenance duties, the Expedition 17 crew members spoke with Gil Gross, a radio show host from KGO Radio in San Francisco and Tariq Malik of Space.com.

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott spent time exercising and relaxing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station on Sunday. Their Soyuz launch vehicle is slated to roll out to the pad on Friday.

Chamitoff will join Expedition 18 after the new crew docks in its Soyuz TMA-13 on Oct. 14. Volkov and Kononenko will be joined by Garriott when they return home in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23.

Source: NASA - Space Station

October 7, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

In the assembly/test building primary (Yury Lonchakov (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia), Michael Fincke (NASA, USA), Richard Garriott (USA)) and backup (Gennady Padalka (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia), Michael Barratt (NASA, USA), Nik Halik (Australia)) crews of the Soyuz TMA-13 transportation spacecraft made a check inspection of the spacecraft in the launch configuration and got acquainted with equipment to be delivered and returned to the ground.




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Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Station Crew Does Science, Departure Preparations


Image above: The Tifernine Dune Field in Algeria is featured in this image photographed by
an Expedition 17 crew member on the International Space Station.
Photo Credit: NASA

The Expedition 17 crew members focused on departure preparations and science activities aboard the International Space Station Tuesday.

Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko worked on pre-packing activities and the transfer of cargo to the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft for their departure from the station later this month.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff continued to work with the Sodium Loading in Microgravity (SOLO) experiment. SOLO studies the mechanisms of fluid and salt retention in the body during long-duration spaceflight. He also unloaded supplies from the Progress 30 cargo craft and conducted an amateur radio session with radio operators on Earth.

Throughout the day, crew members performed their daily exercise sessions to counteract the effects of long-term exposure to the microgravity environment of space.

Meanwhile, Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott performed their final unsuited fit check at the Baikonur Cosmodrome integration facility in Kazakhstan.

They also did a final check out of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft before the vehicle is mated to its booster rocket and rolled out to the launch pad on Friday. They are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on Sunday.

Chamitoff will join Expedition 18 after the new crew docks in its Soyuz TMA-13 on Oct. 14. Volkov and Kononenko will be joined by Garriott when they return home in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23.

Source: NASA - Space Station

October 8, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

Orbital module of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle, containing the Soyuz TMA-13 manned spacecraft was transported from the spacecraft processing facility for the general integration with LV.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Station Crew works on Science, Departure Preparations


Image above: Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, Expedition 18 flight engineer Yury
Lonchakov and Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke stand in front of their Soyuz rocket
after their final inspection of the vehicle Tuesday.
Photo Credit: NASA/ Victor Zelentsov

The Expedition 17 crew members focused on science activities and departure preparations aboard the International Space Station Wednesday.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff continued his work with the Sodium Loading in Microgravity (SOLO) experiment. SOLO studies the mechanisms of fluid and salt retention in the body during long-duration spaceflight. He also used the Microbiology Laboratory to collect samples of the station’s potable water and test its quality.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko worked with the DIATOMEA experiment that observes the world’s oceans.

Commander Sergei Volkov and Kononenko continued pre-packing activities and the transferring of cargo to the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft for their departure from the station later this month. Volkov also unloaded supplies from the Progress 30 cargo craft.

Meanwhile, Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott reviewed launch procedures at the Baikonur Cosmodrome integration facility in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft will be mated to its booster rocket Thursday before the rollout to the launch pad on Friday. The vehicle is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on Sunday.

Chamitoff will join Expedition 18 after the new crew docks in the Soyuz TMA-13 on Oct. 14. Volkov and Kononenko will be joined by Garriott when they return home in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Expedition 18 Crew To Launch from Baikonur
Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz TMA-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan about 3 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, will be spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.


Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott (left),
along with cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov (center),
Expedition 18 flight engineer; and astronaut Michael
Fincke, Expedition 18 commander, participate in a
flag raising ceremony near the Cosmonaut Hotel
at the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
Photo Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
› High-res Image

Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

Expedition 18 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff, after their docking to the orbiting laboratory, scheduled for Tuesday. Chamitoff launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.


From the left, spaceflight participant Richard
Garriott, along with cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov,
Expedition 18 flight engineer, and astronaut Michael
Fincke, Expedition 18 commander, walk to the
Soyuz TMA-13 capsule for their suited fit check at
the integration facility of the Baikonur launch complex
in Kazakhstan. The fit check was part of a busy
agenda for the trio leading up to a scheduled Oct. 12
launch aboard the Soyuz.
Photo Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
› High-res Image

Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.

He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.

Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002

Source: NASA - Space Station - Expeditions

October 9, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

In the LV Integration and Checkout Facility, the basic integration of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the upper composite has been completed.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

October 9, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

A meeting of the Technical management under the chairmanship of RSC Energia President and General Designer V.A. Lopota and State commission was held. A decision on rollout of the launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-13 transport manned spacecraft to the launch facility and its preparation for launch planned for October 12, 2008 was adopted.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Station Crew Preps for New Residents, Talks to Students


Image above: Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff chats with the Stevenson Elementary School
chess team in Bellevue, Wash.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

The Expedition 17 crew continued preparations Thursday for the arrival of the next resident crew aboard the International Space Station.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff spent much of the day relocating racks to make room for resupply stowage racks in the station’s U.S. Destiny laboratory. Commander Sergei Volkov assisted Chamitoff with moving the Zero-G Stowage Rack to the Japanese Kibo module.

Tagging up with Russian specialists on the ground, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko collected samples of surfaces throughout the station to test for biological activity.

Chamitoff took a break from his activities to chat with his opponents in the ongoing Earth vs. space chess match, the Stevenson Elementary School chess team in Bellevue, Wash.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian engineers meticulously mated the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to its booster rocket in preparation for its rollout to the launch pad Friday.

The Expedition 18 crew, Commander Mike Fincke and Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, will launch Sunday aboard the Soyuz to begin a six-month stay in space.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, will be spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Chamitoff will join Expedition 18 after the new crew docks in the Soyuz TMA-13 on Oct. 14. Volkov and Kononenko will be joined by Garriott when they return home in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Cupola, the Space Station’s Room with a View
Cupola might be considered the ultimate observation deck, and it's bound for the International Space Station. The module was built for the European Space Agency by Alenia Spazio in Turin, Italy, and then shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October 2004.


Image above: Artist's conception of Cupola mounted
on the International Space Station.
Image credit: NASA
› View larger image

The small, dome-shaped module has seven windows -- six around the sides and one on top -- that can be shuttered when not in use to protect them from micrometeoroids and the harsh space environment. The windows are made of fused silica and borosilicate glass panes, with temperature-sensing elements and window heaters.

When attached to the Node 3 module, Cupola will resemble a circular bay window that will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. Just under ten feet in diameter, the module will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects.

Astronauts are set to deliver both Cupola and Node 3 to the space station during mission STS-130, as construction of the International Space Station draws to a close.

For more information on Cupola and other space station components check out the Space Station Processing Facility's Observation Deck.

Cheryl L. Mansfield
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

Source: NASA - Kennedy - Station Payloads

October 10, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

A rollout of the Soyuz spacecraft from the assembly-test facility to the launch site was provided. The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-13 transport spacecraft was erected on the launch pad. Operations under the launch minus two days program began.
The launch of the Soyuz-FG integrated launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to the ISS Orbital Complex is planned for October 12, 2008 at 11:01 Moscow time.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Crew Does End of Mission Activities, Science


The Expedition 17 crew takes part in a press conference from in the Columbus laboratory.
From left are flight engineers Oleg Kononenko, Greg Chamitoff and Commander Sergei
Volkov.
Photo Credit: NASA
The Service Module toilet on the International Space Station failed late Thursday due to an apparent separator problem. Russian specialists are troubleshooting the problem which is the same one that occurred before STS-124 in June. In the meantime, the station crew members are using the toilet in the docked Soyuz spacecraft. A Russian telemetry system also failed Friday morning. The backup telemetry system took over as Russian analysts looked into the problem.

Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov continues crew departure activities. Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko have been readying the Soyuz TMA-12 for undocking and discussing end of mission procedures with Russian specialists.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff spent much of Friday on station science and maintenance tasks. Chamitoff along with his crewmates also continued their daily exercises on the treadmill and resistive exercise device.

On the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 18 crew members are preparing for their Oct. 12 launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft. The Soyuz rocket rolled out to the launch pad Friday morning.

Source: NASA - Space Station

Expedition 18 Soyuz TMA-13 Rollout

The Soyuz launch pad is seen prior to the rollout of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008.

The Soyuz is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station Oct. 12 with Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott. The three crew members will dock their Soyuz to the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24, 2008 with two of the Expedition 17 crewmembers currently on the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Source: NASA - Multimedia - Image of the Day Gallery

Soyuz Arrives at the Pad

The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft arrives at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008, for the Oct. 12 launch that will carry Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott to the International Space Station.

The three will dock their Soyuz to the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24, 2008, with two of the Expedition 17 crew currently on the station.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Source: NASA - Multimedia - Image of the Day Gallery

October 11, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

A session of the State Commission was held. The Head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center V.V.Tsibliev made a report on the crew readiness for the mission. The President and General Designer of the S.P.Korolev RSC Energia V.A.Lopota made a report on the readiness of the integrated launch vehicle/manned spacecraft system Soyuz-FG/Soyuz-TMA for further pre-launch processing. The State Commission confirmed the primary and backup crews of Soyuz TMA-13 and ISS-18, and also made a decision to proceed with the preparation of the integrated launch vehicle/spacecraft system Soyuz-FG/Soyuz TMA-13 for fueling and launch at the scheduled time - on October 12, 2008, at 11:01 Moscow Time.

The Prime Crew: the spacecraft commander, ISS-18 Flight Engineer 1, cosmonaut-tester of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russian Air Force Colonel Yuri Valentinovich Lonchakov; the spacecraft flight engineer, ISS-18 commander, NASA astronaut, US Air Force Colonel Michael Fincke; space flight participant of the ISS visiting mission, USA citizen Richard Garriott.

The Backup Crew: the spacecraft commander, ISS-18 commander, instructor-cosmonaut-tester of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russian Air Force Colonel Gennadi Ivanovich Padalka; the spacecraft flight engineer, ISS-18 flight engineer 1, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt; space flight participant of the ISS visiting mission, Australian citizen Nik Halik.



Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

October 12, 2008. Baikonur branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia - Baikonur launch site.
In accordance with the mission plan of the International Space Station (ISS) and Russian commitments under this project, a manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-13 was launched from Baikonur launch site at 11:01 Moscow Time.
The objective of the launch was to deliver to ISS the Expedition 18 crew (ISS-18): cosmonaut Yu. Lonchakov (Russia) and astronaut M. Fincke (USA), as well as a space flight participant R. Garriotte (USA) under the program of the Visiting Mission 15.

Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Expedition 18 Crew Launches from Baikonur


Image above: Expedition 18 launches aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.

Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit, and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

Expedition 18 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff, after their docking to the orbiting laboratory, scheduled for Tuesday. Chamitoff launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.

Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.

He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.

Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002

Source: NASA - Space Station

Expedition 18 Lifts Off!

The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, carrying Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, launched Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24, 2008, with two of the Expedition 17 crew currently aboard the International Space Statio.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Source: NASA - Multimedia - Image of the Day Gallery

The press release is reproduced below:

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-257

New Crew Blasts Off for International Space Station
HOUSTON -- A new crew that will live and work aboard the International Space Station rocketed into orbit early Sunday aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. U.S. astronaut E. Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and Richard Garriott, a U.S. computer game developer, lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:01 a.m. CDT.

Fincke, the only American to launch twice on a Soyuz, will serve as commander of the six-month Expedition 18 mission. The mission’s main focus will be preparing the station to house six crew members on long-duration missions.

The Expedition 18 crew is scheduled to arrive at the station Tuesday, with docking to the Zarya module scheduled for 3:33 a.m.
After the hatches are opened, Expedition 17 Commander Sergey Volkov and spaceflight participant Garriott will become the first children of previous space fliers to greet each other in orbit. Garriott is the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who was a member of the Skylab-3 crew in 1973. Volkov is the son of veteran cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, who flew three Soyuz missions.

Garriott will spend nine days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will return to Earth on Oct. 23 with Volkov and Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, who have worked aboard the station since April 10.

Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff, who arrived at the station in June, will be replaced in November by NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus. Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver Magnus and return Chamitoff to Earth.

Endeavour's November STS-126 mission also will deliver equipment to the station necessary for supporting a six-member crew, including a water recycling system, sleeping quarters, a new kitchen, a second toilet, and an advanced exercise device.

Although they will be in space on Election Day, Chamitoff and Fincke have arranged for the chance to cast their ballots from the station.

For more information about the space station and how to view it from Earth, visit:



For more information about upcoming space shuttle missions and their crews, visit:


Source: NASA Press Release 08-257

October 12, 2008, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia

In accordance with the mission plan of the International Space Station (ISS) and Russian commitments under this project, a manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-13 was launched from Baikonur launch site at 11:01 Moscow Time.
The objective of the launch was to deliver to ISS the Expedition 18 crew (ISS-18): cosmonaut Yu. Lonchakov (Russia) and astronaut M. Fincke (USA), as well as a space flight participant R. Garriotte (USA) under the program of the Visiting Mission 15.
The spacecraft was put into a parking low-Earth orbit with the following parameters: 51.65° inclination, 200.7 km minimal altitude, 259.89 km maximum altitude, 88.81 minutes orbital period.
The onboard systems of the spacecraft operate normally.
At the launch site, the spacecraft prelaunch processing and its launch were performed under the direction of the State Commission (chaired by the head of Roscosmos A.N.Perminov). The Commission was basing its decisions to proceed with each next step in processing and launching on the opinions of the Technical Management headed by the President of RSC Energia, Designer General V.A.Lopota.
According to the telemetry data and reports from the crew of ISS Expedition 17, the space station systems operate in normal mode. The station is ready for docking with the spacecraft.

For reference:

1. Currently working onboard ISS is the ISS-17 crew consisting of: Sergei Volkov (cosmonaut tester of Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, crew commander), Oleg Kononenko (cosmonaut tester of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia, flight engineer-1) and Gregory Chamitoff (NASA astronaut, flight engineer-2).
2. S.P. Korolev RSC Energia is a leading Russian rocket and space industrial enterprise in the area of manned space flight programs, responsible for development, integration and operation of the ISS Russian Segment, including development and operation of the main Russian modules (Zvezda, Pirs and others), manufacturing, launch and operation of Soyuz TMA, Progress M vehicles.
3. The vehicle is slated to dock to the ISS on October 14, 2008 at 12:38 Moscow time.

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Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Expedition 18 Crew Launches from Baikonur
Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.


Image above: Expedition 18 launches aboard a
Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.
Credit: NASA TV

Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit, and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

Expedition 18 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff, after their docking to the orbiting laboratory, scheduled for Tuesday. Chamitoff launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.

Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.


Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott (left),
along with cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov (center),
Expedition 18 flight engineer; and astronaut Michael
Fincke, Expedition 18 commander, participate in a
flag raising ceremony near the Cosmonaut Hotel
at the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
Photo Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
› High-res Image

He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.

Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002.

Source: NASA - Space Station - Expeditions

October 14, 2008. MCC-M – S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-13 manned space vehicle docked to the International Space Station. Following a two-day free flight in near-earth orbit, the vehicle approached the ISS. Berthing was executed automatically.

Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

Expedition 18 Crew Docks with Space Station


Image above: The crew members of Expeditions 17 and 18 participate in an interview aboard
the International Space Station
Photo Credit: NASA TV

Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew docked their Soyuz TMA-13 to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module at 4:26 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 5:55 a.m. A welcome ceremony and a safety briefing for the new arrivals followed.

The new crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

Aboard the station to welcome Expedition 18 crew members was the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff. He launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.

Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.

He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.

Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002.

Source: NASA - Space Station

October 14, 2008. S.P.Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev, Moscow region -
Mission Control Center, Korolev

The Russian manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-13 has docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft approached ISS after two days of free flight in low Earth orbit. The docking was performed in automatic mode.
The initial contact of the spacecraft docking unit with the docking port on the Functional and Cargo Module Zarya took place at 12:26 Moscow Time At that time ISS was within coverage area of Russian ground tracking stations.
The final flight operations in the course of the spacecraft rendezvous and docking with the space station were conducted from the Mission Control Center near Moscow (MCC-M) under the supervision of the State Commission and the Technical Management for the flight testing of manned space systems. The Chairman of the State Commission is the head of the Federal Space Agency A.N. Perminov. The Technical Manager is the RSC Energia Designer General V.A. Lopota.
After a leak test of the Soyuz TMA-13 compartments and the docking tunnel, and equalizing the pressure in the space station and the spacecraft, the transfer hatches were opened. The spacecraft crew transferred to the Russian segment of the space station. Working onboard ISS now is a joint international crew. It consists of three Russian cosmonauts, two US astronauts and a spaceflight participant, US citizen R. Garriott. The Russian part of the crew is represented by: RSC Energia cosmonaut tester O. Kononenko and two cosmonaut testers from Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center - O. Volkov and Yu. Lonchakov. The US part of the crew consists of NASA astronauts M. Fincke and G. Chamitoff.
The on-board systems of the ISS, transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-13, Soyuz TMA-12 and Progress M-65 operate normally.
Upon completion of the docking, a press conference was held for journalists of Russian and foreign information agencies and TV companies. The journalists' questions were answered by representatives of Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, RSC Energia and the Cosmonaut Training Center.
After the crew of Soyuz TMA-13 transferred to the ISS, a communications session was held between MCC-M and the space station.

For reference:

1. RSC Energia is the prime organization for developing and operating the ISS Russian segment, its modules (Zvezda, Pirs, etc.), as well as spacecraft of the Soyuz TMA and Progress type. Mission control for the ISS Russian Segment and the spacecraft is provided by the Lead Operations Control Team of MCC-M. The Flight Director is the RSC Energia first deputy general designer, pilot-cosmonaut V.A. Soloviev.
   
2. Operating at present as a part of the ISS Russian Segment are: Functional and cargo module Zarya, Service Module Zvezda, docking compartment/module Pirs, manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-13 and Soyuz TMA-12, cargo transportation spacecraft Progress M-65.
   
3. The space station orbital parameters at the moment of the docking were: apogee altitude of 368.4 km, perigee altitude of 351.2 km, orbital period of 91.5 min.

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Source: S.P. Korolev RSC Energia

More Power to Them
The International Space Station’s power generating capacity is set to get a boost early next year with the installation of the starboard 6, or S6, truss segment and solar arrays. The S6 is the final piece of the station's football-field-long backbone.

One of only a few station components fabricated in Houston, the pieces that make up the S6 arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard NASA's "Super Guppy" cargo aircraft in 2002. They were integrated inside the Space Station Processing Facility, and will be delivered to the station as one segment aboard space shuttle Discovery during mission STS-119.


Image above: From the floor of Kennedy’s Space
Station Processing Facility in Florida, astronauts
and technicians look at the mast canister for one
of the S6 integrated truss structure’s solar arrays.
Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
› View larger image

Discovery’s crew will attach the segment to the end of the S5 truss, completing the starboard side of the station's structure. The segment includes the fourth and final set of solar arrays and batteries for generation, storage, regulation and distribution of electrical power for the station.

Each set of solar arrays has a wingspan of 240 feet. Like the other three already installed on the station, the S6 solar array wing has two arrays with 32,800 solar cells. The solar panels convert sunlight to DC power, which is routed to the batteries and either sent on to power the station’s equipment or stored for use when the panels have no sunlight to generate power. Rotation joints steer the solar panels so that they can track the sun as the station moves in its orbit around Earth.

Photovoltaic radiator panels are attached at a right angle to the arrays to permit circulation of cooling fluid that reduces battery and electrical system temperatures.

Technicians at Kennedy’s processing facility will continue conducting inspections and verification tests on the segment as they ready t