 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Expedition 9 Prepare ISS For Its Next Residents
Houston (SPX) Sep 27, 2004 With less than a month remaining in their stay aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke are preparing the orbiting laboratory for its next residents. The crew's work last week (September 20-24) included taking inventory, performing maintenance on exercise equipment and continued troubleshooting of the primary onboard oxygen generator. Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, announced this week the next Station crew will launch at 12:17 a.m. EDT Oct. 11 aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The Expedition 10 crew commander is Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov is flight engineer. Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin will accompany them for launch and spend about a week aboard the Station. Padalka, Fincke and Shargin will return to Earth Oct. 19. Last week, additional troubleshooting work continued on the Elektron oxygen-generating unit. It produces breathing oxygen from wastewater. Intermittent operations of the device led the Russian flight control team to believe contamination was preventing proper pressurization in a hydrogen line. Padalka cleaned the line. Further work was planned for the weekend just gone. As oxygen is generated from water by the unit, hydrogen is dumped overboard. While the Elektron work continued, the Station's atmosphere was repressurized twice last week using oxygen from tanks on the Progress supply spacecraft docked to the Station. If needed, months of oxygen are available for the crew even without the use of the Elektron. Oxygen is stored in Progress tanks, Station tanks and oxygen-generating canisters. Padalka and Fincke also performed routine maintenance work last week on the Station's treadmill, which is done every six months. The treadmill provides cardiovascular training. The crew prepared for the trip home by taking food and hardware inventory. They also began stowing cargo containers and personal items for the return trip. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links ISS at NASA SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com
NASA Had No Choice But To Buy Soyuz Flights
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 09, 2006NASA's announcement last week that it will pay Roskosmos $43.6 million for a round-trip ride to the International Space Station this spring, and an equivalent figure for an as-yet-undetermined number of future flights to the station until 2012, represents the agency's acknowledgment that it had no alternative. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
