INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-031

June 30, 2006

Joe Pally
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-7239

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

STATUS REPORT: SS06-031

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-031

The Expedition 13 crew welcomed a Russian resupply ship this week and
prepared for the arrival of Space Shuttle Discovery.

Discovery's launch is scheduled for 3:49 p.m. EDT Saturday.
Discovery's STS-121 mission will return the station to three crew
members for the first time since 2003, when European Space Agency
astronaut Thomas Reiter joins crew members Jeff Williams, flight
engineer and Pavel Vinogradov, commander.

To get ready for STS-121 spacewalks, the crew flushed cooling loops in
the Quest airlock and U.S. spacesuits, configured airlock systems and
tools and reviewed robotic arm procedures. They checked out a
ship-to-ship communications system that will be used for
conversations with Discovery's crew during rendezvous and
disconnected the station's Common Cabin Air Assembly heat exchanger.
That device will be returned to Earth aboard Discovery along with
other equipment in the Italian-built Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics
Module. Discovery will use Leonardo to bring about 5,000 pounds of
supplies to the station.

The crew also completed a mid-mission session of the renal stone
experiment by collecting urine samples and logging all of the food
and drinks consumed over a three-day period. Each crewmember is
taking either potassium citrate, a drug found to be useful in
preventing kidney stone formation on Earth, or a placebo. Crews in
space are at risk for kidney stones because of their loss of bone
density.

ISS Progress 22, the unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft, brought 2.5
tons of fresh produce, other foodstuffs, food, fuel and supplies to
the station on June 26. After the cargo ship was fully connected with
station systems, flight controllers in Moscow completed a routine
thruster test, and Vinogradov removed its Kurs automated rendezvous
hardware.

The next station status report will be issued on Friday, July 7, or
after the STS-121 mission.

For more about the crew's activities and station sighting
opportunities, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home


-end-


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl

ISS Progress 22, the unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft, brought 2.5
tons of fresh produce, other foodstuffs, food, fuel and supplies to
the station on June 26.

International Space Station crews will have a little more space for the
clutter that is gradually filling their living spaces, now that Russian
Progress M-57--designated P22 by NASA--has arrived. The supply vehicle
docked automatically at 12:25 p.m. EDT June 26, delivering about 2,600
kg. (5,720 lb.) of cargo, including U.S. and Russian food containers
for crewmates Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams; batteries and
other spare parts; clothing; experiments; 1,900 lb. of propellant; a
little more than 100 lb. of air and oxygen; and almost 250 lb. of
water. It will remain attached to the Docking Compartment port on the
Zvezda service module to provide additional stowage space for supplies
scheduled for delivery by the space shuttle Discovery this month.
Another Progress--P21--will remain docked to the aft Zvezda port as an
orbiting trash dump until its scheduled deorbit Sept. 13. The crew had
to improvise some gear for their most recent spacewalk because they
couldn't locate the custom-built hardware they needed, even though it's
believed to be on board (AW&ST June 5, p. 19).