International Space Station Status Report, 26-11-2004

International Space Station Status Report #04-63
2:30 p.m. CST, Friday, Nov. 26, 2004
Expedition 10 Crew

Just like many Earth-bound travelers, the International Space Station crew
observed Thanksgiving this week and prepared for a short trip planned for
Monday.

Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Flight
Engineer Salizhan Sharipov will vacate the Station briefly on Monday. After
configuring Station systems for autonomous operation, they will fly their
Soyuz spacecraft from one parking spot to another on the complex. To prepare
for the Soyuz repositioning, Sharipov test-fired the Soyuz steering jets
Wednesday. Today, the crew reviewed their plans for the brief undocking and
redocking activities with ground controllers and closed the hatch between
the ISS Progress 15 resupply craft and the Zvezda Service Module. Other
hatches will be closed Sunday and early Monday prior to the Soyuz maneuver.

At 3:29 a.m. Central time Monday, Sharipov, the Soyuz commander, and Chiao
will undock the spacecraft from a port on the Station's Pirs Docking
Compartment. They will back away to a distance of about 30 meters (98 feet)
and then move laterally about 14 meters (45 feet) along the Station to
briefly hold position facing the nadir docking port on the complex's Zarya
module. The crew will then rotate the craft to align with the new docking
port, and will guide the Soyuz in for its redocking at Zarya at about 4 a.m.
Central time. The move will clear Pirs for use as an airlock from which
Chiao and Sharipov will conduct two Russian spacewalks early next year.

Monday's activities will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 3
a.m. CST.

A thruster test conducted on Wednesday showed all systems ready for the
move, although Russian flight controllers did see the same indication of a
possible reduction in pressure or fuel flow from one Soyuz thruster as had
been noted during the spacecraft's arrival at the complex in October. Since
the abnormal indication poses no problem for the safe operation of the Soyuz
on Monday or in the future, Station managers gave final approval Wednesday
for the 30-minute maneuver. A further test of the same thruster originally
planned during the repositioning Monday to gather more data for Russian
specialists monitoring the system was canceled today by Russian managers
since it involves a thruster that will not be used during Monday's
procedure.

Also this week, the crew began preparations for the undocking of the
Progress cargo craft attached to the Station. The crew reinstalled a docking
mechanism on the resupply vehicle, which will be undocked from the complex
and deorbited a few days before Christmas.

Russian managers have elected not to conduct another reboost of the Station
to make up for a slight shortfall in altitude resulting from last week's
firing of the Progress engines. As a result, Russian space officials are
expected to move the launch of the new ISS Progress 16 resupply craft one
day -- to December 24 (December 23, U.S. time) -- with a docking to the
Station on December 26 (Christmas Day, U.S. time) to meet the current
altitude of the complex. A final decision on the adjustment to the Progress
launch date is expected early next week.

The crew took the day off Thursday in observance of the Thanksgiving
holiday, enjoying packaged smoked turkey and potatoes. They also have
off-duty time planned for the weekend before getting an early start Sunday
evening to prepare for the Soyuz move in the wee hours Monday.

For information on the crew's activities, future launch dates, and Station
sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

The next Station status report will be issued following the Soyuz relocation
on Monday, Nov. 29, or earlier, if events warrant.



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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info