Cervantes mission concludes with Soyuz TMA-2 landing

Paris, 28 October 2003
Press Release
N° 70-2003


Cervantes mission concludes with Soyuz TMA-2 landing

ESA astronaut Pedro Duque from Spain landed in the command module of the
Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 08:40
local time, 03:40 Central European Time (CET), this morning, thus
concluding the successful 10-day Cervantes mission to the International
Space Station (ISS).

The mission proceeded flawlessly with the completion of the experiment
programme, the changeover of ISS Expedition crews and the exchange of the
Space Station's Soyuz TMA lifeboat.

The Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 00:17 (CET) today with
Duque as Flight Engineer, Yuri Malenchenko (Rosaviakosmos) as Commander
and Edward Lu (NASA) as 2nd Flight Engineer.

All phases of the re-entry went according to plan. After module separation
of Soyuz TMA-2, the crew entered the Earth's atmosphere in the command
module at 03:16 (CET), the main parachute opened at 03:25 (CET) and the
landing took place 15 minutes later.

During his 8-day stay on the ISS, Pedro Duque carried out an extensive
programme of scientific, technological and educational experiments as part
of the Cervantes mission, a majority of which were sponsored by the
Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.

"The experiment programme has been a complete success", said ESA Mission
Manager, Aldo Petrivelli, "and results have been obtained for all 22
experiments. These included two physical science experiments, which
utilised the European-built Microgravity Science Glovebox on the ISS, four
biological experiments, four human physiology experiments and a number of
educational experiments and technology demonstrations."

During the Cervantes mission Pedro Duque had numerous contacts with the
media from Spain and Germany. He talked via amateur radio with primary
schoolchildren, winners of the Habla ISS competition, who had the chance
to ask him questions. He also spoke live from the ISS to José María
Aznar.

"We are both delighted and proud of the success of all aspects of the
mission and thankful to our Russian partners", said Mr Jörg
Feustel-Büechl, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight. "This is the fourth
such Soyuz mission to the ISS with an ESA astronaut, which strengthens the
ties and experience we share with our colleagues at the Russian space
agency, Rosaviakosmos. We look forward to the continuation of this
cooperation. We are also pleased that the missions undertaken by ESA's
astronauts are not only productive for the scientific community as a whole
but for younger generations who will become Europe's scientists of
tomorrow. Furthermore, the completion of this mission provides ESA with an
increased level of experience for future short and long-term missions,
which will be useful in the operation and utilisation of Europe's Columbus
Laboratory when it is launched to the ISS."

In addition to the experiment programme, the Cervantes mission served to
relieve the ISS Expedition 7 crew. Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu had been
stationed on the ISS since 28 April 2003. They have now been replaced by
the ISS Expedition 8 crew, Michael Foale (NASA) and Alexander Kaleri
(Rosaviakosmos), who arrived with Pedro Duque at the ISS in the Soyuz
TMA-3 spacecraft on 20 October and are scheduled to return next April with
ESA astronaut André Kuipers, from the Netherlands. The Soyuz TMA
spacecraft are being used as crew changeover vehicles due to the grounding
of the Shuttle fleet following the Columbia accident in February.

The emergency return vehicle or lifeboat at the ISS has also been
replaced. Soyuz TMA-2, which brought Malenchenko and Lu to the ISS, had
been acting as their lifeboat during their stay. It has been succeeded in
this role by Soyuz TMA-3, for the next six months. Duque was Flight
Engineer on both the Soyuz TMA-2 and TMA-3 spacecraft, taking an active
role in piloting.

This was Duque's second spaceflight, as he was a Mission Specialist on the
Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-95 mission (29 October to 7 November 1998).

For further information, please contact:
ESA Media Relations Office
Tel: +33 (0)1.5369.7155
Fax: +33 (0)1.5369.7690



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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info