[sarex] ISS REPORT #05-18

["ARTHUR Z. ROWE" <N1ORC@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - Amsat A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-18*
*3 p.m. CDT, Friday, April 8, 2005*
*Expedition 10 Crew*

The current International Space Station crew began packing for home this 
week while the next Station crew completed a final review of plans 
before heading to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to prepare for 
launch.

On Monday Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer 
Salizhan Sharipov held a news conference with reporters at NASA centers 
and discussed Station systems, lessons learned from two-man crew 
operations on the Station and the return of the Space Shuttle to flight. 
Chiao and Sharipov performed some maintenance work this week as well, 
including re-pressurizing the Station atmosphere with oxygen from the 
Progress supply ship’s tank. They discharged two carbon dioxide-removing 
lithium hydroxide canisters that were nearing their expiration dates 
while ground specialists monitored the Station’s environment to gauge 
the efficiency of the Russian canisters for possible future use.

Flight controllers and engineers are continuing to analyze several 
spikes in vibration and electrical current that have been noted in one 
of the Control Moment Gyroscopes. The two functional gyroscopes are 
operating well and continuing to control the Station's orientation. 
While the analysis continues, the Station is in an orientation that 
minimizes demands on the gyroscopes. Remaining in that orientation does 
not change other Station operations. The ongoing analysis focuses on 
attempts to correlate the events with activity aboard the Station.

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, 
Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John 
Phillips, along with European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Roberto 
Vittori, who will travel to the Station for eight days under a 
commercial agreement between Russia and ESA, spent the week reviewing 
flight plans. They will travel to Kazakhstan Saturday. Their launch on 
ISS Soyuz 10 is set for 7:46 p.m. CDT Thursday, April 14. They will dock 
at the Station’s Pirs docking compartment at 9:19 p.m. CDT April 16. 
Vittori will join Chiao and Soyuz Commander Sharipov for the trip back 
to Earth, departing the Station and landing in Kazakhstan on April 24. 
Video of launch preparations at Baikonur will air on NASA TV daily, 
beginning Monday. NASA TV will broadcast the launch live starting at 7 
p.m. CDT April 14.

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/

The next ISS status report will be issued April 14 after the launch of 
Expedition 11, or sooner if events warrant.
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