International Space Station Status Report #43- 2003

International Space Station Status Report #03-43
11:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday, August 30, 2003
Expedition 7 Crew

An unpiloted Russian resupply craft successfully docked to the International
Space Station tonight, delivering nearly three tons of food, fuel, water,
supplies and scientific gear to the Expedition 7 crew aboard the complex and
for the next crew to launch in October.

The Progress 12 vehicle automatically linked up to the aft end of the Zvezda
Service Module at 10:40 p.m. CDT (0340 GMT), two days after its launch from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. As the Progress neared the Space
Station for docking, Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS
Science Officer Ed Lu were inside Zvezda, monitoring its approach. At the
time of contact and capture, the Station was flying over Central Asia at an
altitude of 240 statute miles. After conducting leak checks to insure a
tight seal between the Progress and the ISS, Malenchenko and Lu will open
the hatch to the ship and then begin unloading the supplies.

Stowed in the Progress are replacement parts for Station systems, tools, a
satellite telephone and Global Positioning System hardware, next generation
laptop computers, educational demonstrations, science experiment gear and
office supplies. The Progress also carried to the ISS science equipment for
European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain, who is set to
launch Oct. 18 from Baikonur on the Soyuz TMA-3 craft with Expedition 8
Commander Mike Foale and Expedition 8 Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer
Alexander Kaleri. Duque will spend eight days aboard the Space Station
conducting science experiments under a commercial contract between ESA and
the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Duque will return to Earth on Oct. 28
with Malenchenko and Lu.

The new Progress also carries personal items and hardware for Foale and
Kaleri, who are scheduled to spend almost 200 days aboard the ISS.

Another Progress vehicle currently docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment
will undock from the ISS on Sept. 4, to clear the way for the arrival of
Foale, Kaleri and Duque in the Soyuz TMA-3 on Oct. 20.

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, Sept. 5, or earlier, if
events warrant.


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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info

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