INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-11

March 20, 2006

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-3749

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(281) 483-5111

RELEASE: SS06-011

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-11

Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery
Tokarev took a short ride away from the International Space Station
today. They flew their Soyuz spacecraft from one docking port to
another to prepare for the arrival of the next station crew.

The crew left the station unoccupied for approximately 22 minutes, as
they relocated their Soyuz vehicle. Tokarev undocked the Soyuz at
1:49 a.m. EST from the Earth-facing port of Zarya, while the station
orbited 220 miles above the south Atlantic Ocean. He re-docked at the
aft of the Zvezda module at 2:11 a.m. EST, as the station was over
Libya.

Tokarev, in the center seat of the Soyuz, disengaged the hooks and
latches holding the craft to Zarya and backed it approximately 114
feet away from the complex. With McArthur seated to his left, Tokarev
piloted the Soyuz about 80 feet along the station and about 82 feet
behind the aft docking port, resulting in about a 213-foot total
distance traveled. Once behind Zvezda, Tokarev closed in on the
docking port. A few minutes after the Soyuz linked with Zvezda, hooks
and latches engaged, establishing a firm connection. The crew
re-entered the station at approximately 5:30 a.m. EST.

The Soyuz move clears the Zarya port for the March 31 arrival of the
Expedition 13 crew and a Brazilian Space Agency astronaut on another
Soyuz vehicle. When the Expedition 12 crew leaves after handover
activities on April 8, the Zvezda port will be available for the
April arrival of a Progress cargo vehicle. On Nov. 18, McArthur and
Tokarev relocated their Soyuz spacecraft from the Pirs docking port
to Zarya. That move eased operations out of Pirs for a Russian
spacewalk conducted on Feb. 3.

For information about crew activities, future launch dates and station
sighting opportunities, on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl