International Space Station Status Report #04-45 - 2004

International Space Station Status Report #04-45
12:30 a.m. CDT, Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Expedition 9 Crew

An unpiloted Russian cargo ship blasted off this morning from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a three-day journey to deliver almost three tons
of food, fuel, oxygen, water and supplies to the residents of the
International Space Station.

The ISS Progress 15 craft lifted off on time from the Central Asian launch
site at 12:03 a.m. CDT (503 GMT), and less than 10 minutes later settled
into orbit. Moments after that, automatic commands deployed its solar arrays
and navigational antennas.

As the Progress launched, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight
Engineer and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke were asleep. The Station was
flying just to the southwest of Baikonur at an altitude of 230 statute miles
at the time of launch.

Two engine firings were scheduled overnight to raise and refine the Progress
' orbit and its path to the ISS for an automated docking Saturday morning at
12:02 a.m. CDT (502 GMT) at the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module. The
Progress is loaded with 1521 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and
air to replenish the Station's atmosphere, 926 pounds of water and more than
3000 pounds of spare parts, life support system components and experiment
hardware.

Among the spare parts launched today to the Station are new pumps for the
U.S. spacesuits onboard that experienced cooling problems in early June
while being prepared for a spacewalk to repair a failed power controller.
The suits are undergoing troubleshooting in the hope they can be placed back
into service in the near future. The repair spacewalk was eventually
conducted in Russian Orlan spacesuits on June 30.

Also on the Progress are clothing articles for the next residents that will
occupy the Station. Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy
Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov are scheduled to launch Oct. 9
on the Soyuz TMA-5 vehicle from Baikonur to begin a six-month stay on the
complex, replacing Padalka and Fincke.

Information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future launch
dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,
is available on the Internet at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Details on Station science operations can be found on an Internet site
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/

The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, August 13, or earlier,
if events warrant.



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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info