Jacques van Oene
April 25th 05, 02:38 PM
Report #22
6 p.m. CDT, Sunday, April 24, 2005
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
After traveling more than 78 million miles aboard the International Space
Station, Expedition 10 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Leroy Chiao
and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov returned to Earth today. With them was
European Space Agency Astronaut Roberto Vittori, who had spent eight days
aboard the orbiting complex doing research.
After a flawless descent by the ISS Soyuz 9 spacecraft, Chiao, Sharipov and
Vittori landed on target in north-central Kazakhstan, about 53 miles (85
kilometers) northeast of Arkalyk, at 5:08 p.m. CDT. Recovery forces arrived
at the site within minutes of the touchdown. The area was saturated from
recent rains and melting winter snow, so the first members of the recovery
team to reach the scene decided to fly the crew to Arkalyk to meet with
remaining members of the recovery team.
The crew's friends and families are expected to greet them upon their
arrival at Star City, Russia, about eight hours after landing. Chiao and
Sharipov will remain in Star City for a few weeks of post-flight debriefings
and medical exams before returning to Houston in mid-May.
Chiao and Sharipov spent 192 days, 19 hours and 2 minutes in space. They
launched on Oct. 13, on the same Soyuz spacecraft that brought them home.
For six months, the pair maintained systems and conducted scientific
research onboard the Station.
Among their accomplishments on the Station was replacing critical hardware
in the Joint Quest Airlock, repairing U.S. spacesuits, submitting a
scientific research paper on ultrasound use in space and voting for the
first time in an American Presidential election from space. They completed
two spacewalks, including experiment installation and tasks that prepared
the Station for the arrival of a new European cargo ship next year.
Aboard the Station, the Expedition 11 crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and
Flight Engineer and NASA Station Science Officer John Phillips, are
beginning a six-month mission that will include the resumption of Space
Shuttle flights and two spacewalks from the Station. Expedition 11 is
scheduled to return to Earth on Oct. 7, 2005.
Krikalev and Phillips will have light duty for the next three days as they
rest after completing a busy handover period. For the past week, they have
been learning about Station operations from the two men who called the ship
home since October. Chiao and Sharipov briefed Krikalev and Phillips on
day-to-day operations and gave them hands-on opportunities at Station
maintenance: Chiao and Phillips restored functionality of the Quest for
future spacewalks and practiced operating the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Information on the crew's activities aboard the Station, future launch
dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,
is available on the Internet at:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, April 29, or earlier if
events warrant.
###
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
6 p.m. CDT, Sunday, April 24, 2005
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
After traveling more than 78 million miles aboard the International Space
Station, Expedition 10 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Leroy Chiao
and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov returned to Earth today. With them was
European Space Agency Astronaut Roberto Vittori, who had spent eight days
aboard the orbiting complex doing research.
After a flawless descent by the ISS Soyuz 9 spacecraft, Chiao, Sharipov and
Vittori landed on target in north-central Kazakhstan, about 53 miles (85
kilometers) northeast of Arkalyk, at 5:08 p.m. CDT. Recovery forces arrived
at the site within minutes of the touchdown. The area was saturated from
recent rains and melting winter snow, so the first members of the recovery
team to reach the scene decided to fly the crew to Arkalyk to meet with
remaining members of the recovery team.
The crew's friends and families are expected to greet them upon their
arrival at Star City, Russia, about eight hours after landing. Chiao and
Sharipov will remain in Star City for a few weeks of post-flight debriefings
and medical exams before returning to Houston in mid-May.
Chiao and Sharipov spent 192 days, 19 hours and 2 minutes in space. They
launched on Oct. 13, on the same Soyuz spacecraft that brought them home.
For six months, the pair maintained systems and conducted scientific
research onboard the Station.
Among their accomplishments on the Station was replacing critical hardware
in the Joint Quest Airlock, repairing U.S. spacesuits, submitting a
scientific research paper on ultrasound use in space and voting for the
first time in an American Presidential election from space. They completed
two spacewalks, including experiment installation and tasks that prepared
the Station for the arrival of a new European cargo ship next year.
Aboard the Station, the Expedition 11 crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and
Flight Engineer and NASA Station Science Officer John Phillips, are
beginning a six-month mission that will include the resumption of Space
Shuttle flights and two spacewalks from the Station. Expedition 11 is
scheduled to return to Earth on Oct. 7, 2005.
Krikalev and Phillips will have light duty for the next three days as they
rest after completing a busy handover period. For the past week, they have
been learning about Station operations from the two men who called the ship
home since October. Chiao and Sharipov briefed Krikalev and Phillips on
day-to-day operations and gave them hands-on opportunities at Station
maintenance: Chiao and Phillips restored functionality of the Quest for
future spacewalks and practiced operating the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Information on the crew's activities aboard the Station, future launch
dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,
is available on the Internet at:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, April 29, or earlier if
events warrant.
###
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info