New Station Crew to Launch From Baikonur

New Station Crew to Launch From Baikonur

09.27.05


Commander William McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, the 12th
International Space Station crew, are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan a few minutes before midnight EDT Sept. 30 to begin
a 182-day stay in space.

With them will be American Greg Olsen, the third private citizen in space,
flying under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will spend
about eight days on the station.

Their Soyuz TMA spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the station at 1:32
a.m. EDT on Oct. 3.

Olsen will conduct scientific experiments on the station, and then return to
Earth with Expedition 11. That crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA
Science Officer John Phillips, has been on the orbiting laboratory since
October.

They will undock Oct. 10 in the Soyuz TMA that brought them to the station
April 16. Landing is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. EDT that day in the steppes of
Kazakhstan, winding up their 180-day increment.


McArthur, 54, a retired Army colonel, is a veteran of three shuttle flights,
including one to the station and one to the Russian space station Mir.
Tokarev, 52, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is a veteran of one
spaceflight, to the International Space Station aboard a space shuttle.

Just after they board the station, they will receive a safety briefing and
then begin extensive handover briefings from their Expedition 11
predecessors. They will get training on the station's Canadarm2 and on
systems and experiments on the station.

During their stay on the station McArthur and Tokarev will do two or three
spacewalks. The first, from the Quest airlock in U.S. spacesuits, is planned
for early November. Tasks include installation of a camera group and
retrieval of the station's floating potential probe.

That will be McArthur's third spacewalk and the first for Tokarev.

About two weeks later the crewmembers will board their Soyuz spacecraft and
move it from the Pirs docking compartment to a docking port on the Zarya
module. That will clear the Pirs for use of its airlock in a spacewalk using
Russian Orlan suits in December.

That spacewalk will focus on retrieving scientific experiments and
photography of a micrometeoroid monitoring system and the Soyuz descent
module's multilayer insulation.

A third spacewalk early next year in U.S. spacesuits is under consideration.

McArthur and Tokarev also are scheduled to welcome an unpiloted Progress
cargo craft to the station, just in time for Christmas. That Progress will
bring fuel, equipment, supplies, water, oxygen and air to the station.
Docking is planned for Dec. 23.

Station maintenance will occupy considerable time. They will continue
scientific investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory, as well as a
program of scientific education activities and Earth observations.

Their replacements, the 13th crew of the station, are scheduled to arrive in
March.


--
--------------

Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info

"Jacques van Oene" wrote in message
...
New Station Crew to Launch From Baikonur

09.27.05


Commander William McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, the 12th
International Space Station crew, are scheduled to launch from the
Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan a few minutes before midnight EDT Sept. 30 to
begin
a 182-day stay in space.

With them will be American Greg Olsen, the third private citizen in space,
flying under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will
spend
about eight days on the station.

Their Soyuz TMA spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the station at 1:32
a.m. EDT on Oct. 3.

Olsen will conduct scientific experiments on the station, and then return
to
Earth with Expedition 11. That crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA
Science Officer John Phillips, has been on the orbiting laboratory since
October.

They will undock Oct. 10 in the Soyuz TMA that brought them to the station
April 16. Landing is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. EDT that day in the steppes
of
Kazakhstan, winding up their 180-day increment.


McArthur, 54, a retired Army colonel, is a veteran of three shuttle
flights,
including one to the station and one to the Russian space station Mir.
Tokarev, 52, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is a veteran of one
spaceflight, to the International Space Station aboard a space shuttle.

Just after they board the station, they will receive a safety briefing and
then begin extensive handover briefings from their Expedition 11
predecessors. They will get training on the station's Canadarm2 and on
systems and experiments on the station.

During their stay on the station McArthur and Tokarev will do two or three
spacewalks. The first, from the Quest airlock in U.S. spacesuits, is
planned
for early November. Tasks include installation of a camera group and
retrieval of the station's floating potential probe.

That will be McArthur's third spacewalk and the first for Tokarev.

About two weeks later the crewmembers will board their Soyuz spacecraft
and
move it from the Pirs docking compartment to a docking port on the Zarya
module. That will clear the Pirs for use of its airlock in a spacewalk
using
Russian Orlan suits in December.

That spacewalk will focus on retrieving scientific experiments and
photography of a micrometeoroid monitoring system and the Soyuz descent
module's multilayer insulation.

A third spacewalk early next year in U.S. spacesuits is under
consideration.

McArthur and Tokarev also are scheduled to welcome an unpiloted Progress
cargo craft to the station, just in time for Christmas. That Progress will
bring fuel, equipment, supplies, water, oxygen and air to the station.
Docking is planned for Dec. 23.

Station maintenance will occupy considerable time. They will continue
scientific investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory, as well as a
program of scientific education activities and Earth observations.

Their replacements, the 13th crew of the station, are scheduled to arrive
in
March.


--
--------------

Jacques :-)


Do you think Krikalev would stay up on ISS for as long as he could? I mean
he was on Exp.1, then Exp.11, so at this rate he'd be on Exp. 21? or maybe
earlier if we can get crews of 3 going again? Just a thought? Are there so
few Cosmonauts that is was his turn again? Isn't there a rotation or
something?
Has there been any other Russian to fly twice on ISS??

"John H." wrote:
Do you think Krikalev would stay up on ISS for as long as he could? I mean
he was on Exp.1, then Exp.11, so at this rate he'd be on Exp. 21? or maybe
earlier if we can get crews of 3 going again? Just a thought? Are there so
few Cosmonauts that is was his turn again? Isn't there a rotation or
something?


Krikalev is one of the most experienced astronauts, if not the most. His
expedition was expected to become key in restarting construction of ISS.
(Remember that Shuttle was expected to start flying in March at a high
rate). Turns out Krikalev didn't do much during his expedition since
Shuttle didn't fly except for that one token flight. Remmber that
Krikalev had also flown on Mir.

My guess is that Krikalev worked to get this expedition. Remember that
for Exp 1, he was just a crewmember, but for 11, he is commander.

Another one which made it twice to ISS is Gidzenko (crewmember during
Expedition 1, and Soyuz commander during a taxi flight).