INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-019

April 24, 2006

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-4769

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

STATUS REPORT: SS06-019

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-019

A shipment of supplies is on its way to the International Space
Station. The ISS Progress 21 cargo spacecraft was launched today from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The new resupply ship lifted off at 12:03 p.m. EDT (10:03 p.m.
Baikonur time). Less than 10 minutes later, the cargo ship reached
orbit, and its solar arrays and navigational antennas were deployed
for its two-day trip to the orbital outpost.

Two pre-programmed firings of the Progress' main engine are scheduled
today to fine-tune the ship's path to the space station. Additional
rendezvous maneuvers are planned Tuesday and Wednesday.

When the Progress launched, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov
and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams were flying 219 miles over the
Earth off the northeast of Australia. This is their 26th day in space
and their 24th day on the complex.

Carrying 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, air, spare parts and
other supplies, the new Progress is scheduled to automatically dock
to the aft port of the station's Zvezda Service Module at 1:40 p.m.
EDT Wednesday. The older ISS Progress 20 supply ship, which arrived
at the station just before Christmas, will remain at the Pirs Docking
Compartment until mid-June. It will be used to stow trash, and its
supply of oxygen will help replenish the station's atmosphere.

Live coverage of the docking of ISS Progress 21 to the space station
begins 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday on NASA Television.

NASA TV's Public, Education and Media channels are available on an
MPEG-2 digital C-band signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72
degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical
polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, they're on AMC-7 at 137 degrees
west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal
polarization. For digital downlink information and links to streaming
video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more on the crew's activities aboard the station and opportunities
to see the station fly overhead from anywhere on the Earth, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

The next station status report will be issued on Wednesday, April 24,
after the ISS Progress 21 docking, or earlier, if events warrant.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl