[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #04-17a

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

  Submitted by Arthur - Ni1ORC - Amsat #31468


*International Space Station Status Report #04-17*
*2 p.m. CST, Friday, April 2, 2004*
*Expedition 8 Crew*

Plans for the next crew rotation on the International Space Station are 
on schedule this week, as the Expedition 8 crew members moved into their 
final month on orbit and their successors to within weeks of their 
scheduled launch.

On Thursday, Station managers conducted a Stage Operations Readiness 
Review and found no constraints to the planned April 19 launch of the 
ISS Soyuz 8 carrying Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight 
Engineer Mike Fincke, along with European Space Agency astronaut André 
Kuipers of the Netherlands. Kuipers will be aboard the Station for nine 
days performing scientific experiments under a commercial contract 
between ESA and the Federal Space Agency (of Russia) during the handover 
to the new permanent crew.

Preparations for the Expedition 9 flight will be further evaluated next 
week during a Flight Readiness Review. Meanwhile, the crew received its 
final certification for flight from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training 
Center in Star City, Russia, this week.

Aboard the Station, Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander 
Kaleri successfully completed the initial maintenance and some 
functional testing of two new Russian Orlan spacesuits delivered in 
January aboard the most recent Progress supply ship. Those suits replace 
three older Orlan units on the complex. Padalka and Fincke plant to use 
them on the first spacewalk of Expedition 9.

Foale also completed an external survey of the Station using cameras on 
the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Foale was conducting his final proficiency 
training operating the arm. During the survey, Foale solved a mystery, 
reporting to Mission Control that a sound he has heard from outside of 
the Destiny laboratory module was being caused each time he commanded 
the Lab’s external camera to tilt up and down.

On Friday morning, Kaleri reported another noise to Mission Control in 
Moscow. He and Foale heard a metallic sound from Zvezda's Instrument 
Compartment, a sound they said was very similar to a noise they reported 
on Nov. 26, 2003, coming from the same area. Russian controllers told 
the crew that the fact that the noise has apparently repeated itself 
would likely indicate the cause is the operation of a system on the 
station or some other activity. Russia and U.S. controllers will 
continue to evaluate the report. All systems on the complex continue to 
operate normally.

Russian specialists are reviewing plans to replace a cooling fan motor 
in the Soyuz spacecraft’s descent module. The fan, which stopped 
functioning during the trip to the Station last October, helps maintain 
a proper level of humidity inside the Soyuz.

Mission Control completed a successful test of software that will 
operate the Thermal Rotary Radiator Joints on the Station’s truss. The 
large rotating joints will be used to position the Station's radiators 
as they dissipate heat from the complex. Ground controllers ran the 
check of programs that will automate the positioning of the Station’s 
radiators as they dissipate heat in the future when the Station's full 
cooling system is activated.

Foale and Kaleri took time to discuss the progress of their mission with 
students twice during the week. The crew answered questions from a group 
of Houston-area middle school students affiliated with the Aerospace 
Academy for Engineering and Teacher Education. They also demonstrated 
how some common tools, such as a wrench and hammer, function in space 
during a talk with elementary school students from the Center for 
Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio.

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 at:

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/

The next ISS status report will be issued April 9, or earlier if events 
warrant.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington                       April 2, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-4769)

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-051

NASA TAKES QUESTIONS ON SPACE STATION CREW TRANSITION

     A new crew of explorers is packing its bags for a busy 
six-month stint living and working aboard the International 
Space Station. Another is preparing for a homecoming to Earth 
after a successful stay.

NASA officials will discuss the Expedition 8 and Expedition 9 
International Space Station missions during a series of 
briefings on Friday, April 9 at NASA's Johnson Space Center 
in Houston. The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA 
Television with question-and-answer capability for reporters 
at participating NASA centers.

The Expedition 9 Commander, Russian cosmonaut Gennady 
Padalka, and NASA Station Science Officer Mike Fincke are 
scheduled to launch on April 18 EDT from the Baikonur 
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. 
They'll arrive at the orbiting laboratory two days later.

Launching with Padalka and Fincke will be European Space 
Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands. 
He'll spend nine days on the Station performing scientific 
experiments under a contract between ESA and the Russian 
Federal Space Agency.

Kuipers will return to Earth April 29 EDT with the current 
Space Station crew. Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Station 
Science Officer Mike Foale and a Russian cosmonaut, Flight 
Engineer Alexander Kaleri, have been on the Station since 
last October.

The briefings scheduled for April 9 include:

9 - 10 a.m. EDT: Briefing on the International Space
                 Station/Soyuz Flight Readiness Review.
* William Gerstenmaier, ISS Program Manager

10 - 11:30 a.m. EDT: Preflight briefing on Expedition 9
*Mike Suffredini, International Space Station Manager for
                  Integration and Operations
* Melissa Owens, Expedition 9 Increment Manager
* Matt Abbott, Expedition 9 Lead Flight Director
* Dr. Janice Voss, Expedition 9 Increment Scientist

1 - 2 p.m. EDT:  Recap of Expedition 8 
* Joel Montalbano, Expedition 8 Lead Flight Director
* Pete Hasbrook, Expedition 8 Increment Manager
* Dr. Terry Taddeo, Expedition 8 Lead Flight Surgeon
* Dr. Janice Voss, Expedition 8 Increment Scientist

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-
Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 
3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural 
at 6.80 MHz. For information about NASA TV on the Internet, 
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the International Space Station 
and its crews on the Internet, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-






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