[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT SS04-007 (2)

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC - Amsat #31468


Melissa Mathews

Headquarters, Washington                     April 29, 2004

(Phone: 202/358-1272)



INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS04-007



     After more than six months in space, the International 

Space Station Expedition 8 crew, Commander Mike Foale and 

Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, returned safely to Earth 

today. With them was European Space Agency Astronaut Andre 

Kuipers of the Netherlands, who had spent nine days conducting 

research aboard the Station.



After a flawless descent aboard their Soyuz spacecraft, Foale, 

Kaleri and Kuipers landed on target in north-central 

Kazakhstan. They landed about 70 kilometers (43 miles) 

northwest of Arkalyk, at 8:12 p.m. EDT. Recovery forces arrived 

within moments of touchdown.



Foale and Kaleri spent 194 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes in 

space, the second longest expedition completed aboard the 

Station. They launched on Oct. 18, 2003, on the same Soyuz 

spacecraft that brought them home. They conducted scientific 

experiments aboard the Station. In February Foale and Kaleri 

conducted the first spacewalk ever performed from the complex 

by a two-person crew.



With the completion of this flight, Foale has accumulated more 

time in space than any U.S. astronaut. After this mission, a 

1997 flight to the Russian Mir Space Station, and four Space 

Shuttle missions, he has 374 days, 11 hours and 19 minutes in 

space.



Foale, Kaleri and Kuipers will travel to Star City, Russia, 

where they will remain for mission debriefings and medical 

activities. Foale is expected to return to Houston in mid-May. 



board the Station, the Expedition 9 crew, Commander Gennady 

Padalka and NASA Station Science Officer Mike Fincke, are 

beginning a six-month mission that will include three 

spacewalks. Expedition 9 is scheduled to return to Earth Oct. 

21, 2004. Padalka and Fincke will have light duty for the next 

three days, as they rest after completing the busy hand over 

period of joint operations between the two crews.



Information about the crew's activities aboard the Space 

Station, future launch dates and Station sighting opportunities 

is available on the Internet at:



http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/



Details about Station science operations is an Internet site 

administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's 

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:



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



For information about NASA, agency missions and programs on the 

Internet, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov



-end-






 



----
Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe sarex" to Majordomo@amsat.org