International Space Station Status Report #04-28 - 2004

International Space Station Status Report #04-28
9:30 a.m. CDT, Thursday, May 27, 2004
Expedition 9 Crew

An unmanned Russian resupply ship smoothly linked up to the International
Space Station this morning, delivering two and a half tons of food, water,
fuel, spare parts and supplies to the two residents on board.

With Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA Science Officer and
Flight Engineer Mike Fincke looking on, the ISS Progress 14 docked to the
aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 8:55 a.m. CDT (1355 GMT) as the two
craft flew 230 statute miles above Central Asia.

Padalka and Fincke were in Zvezda, prepared to take over manual control of
the operation if it had been necessary, but the Progress craft automatically
docked to the module through pre-programmed computer command with no
problem.

The Progress was launched Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
and chased the Station for two days, using its engine to conduct rendezvous
maneuvers in fine-tuning its course for today's docking.

The Progress was the first ship to arrive at the ISS since Padalka and
Fincke took over Station operations last month. The next Progress is
scheduled to launch to the Station in late July.

After leak checks are completed to insure a tight seal between Progress and
Zvezda, Padalka will open up the ship's hatch later today so he and Fincke
can begin unloading its cargo Friday.

Next week, Padalka and Fincke will turn their attention to preparations for
a spacewalk no earlier than June 16, Moscow time, in Russian Orlan
spacesuits out of the Pirs Docking Compartment to replace a power controller
on the Station's truss that failed April 21, resulting in the temporary loss
of one of the four Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) that govern the orientation
of the complex.

On Wednesday, Fincke and Padalka took turns maneuvering the Station's
Canadarm2 robotic arm to a position along the S0 Truss for camera views of
the spacewalk worksite and downlink television of the spacewalk tasks as
they are conducted during the planned 4-½ hour excursion. The two
crewmembers will begin checking out their Orlan spacesuits next Thursday and
are expected to climb into the suits June 11 in a dress rehearsal of the
suit up and a thorough checkout of the suit systems that will clear the way
for the spacewalk.

The spacewalk will be under the control of both U.S. and Russian mission
personnel. Russian flight controllers will be directing Padalka and Fincke
as they exit the Pirs and climb onto the telescoping Russian Strela cargo
crane to be transported some 50 feet to the intersection of the U.S. and
Russian segments of the Station. Once they dismount from the Strela, Padalka
and Fincke will be under the direction of U.S. flight controllers as they
move to the S0 Truss via handrails and tethers to swap out the failed Remote
Power Control Module (RPCM) that rendered CMG 2 inoperable.

After power is restored to the CMG, the spacewalkers will make their way
back to the Strela crane and, under the direction of Russian flight
controllers once again, will swing back to the Pirs to reenter the Russian
airlock and end the spacewalk.

Padalka and Fincke also conducted biomedical experiments and routine
housekeeping tasks this week as they set their sights on the start of
spacewalk preparations.

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, June 4, or earlier, if
events warrant.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info