[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #05-20

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

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-20*
*11:55 p.m. CDT, Saturday, April 16, 2005*
*Expedition 10 Crew*

New residents arrived at the International Space Station tonight to 
begin a six-month mission and to prepare for the arrival of the first 
Space Shuttle crew to visit the complex since November 2002.

With Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev at the controls, the Soyuz 
TMA-6 spacecraft automatically linked up to the Pirs Docking Compartment 
at 9:20 p.m. CDT as the Soyuz and the Station flew over eastern Asia. 
Within minutes, hooks and latches between the two vehicles joined 
together to form a tight seal.

Aboard the Soyuz with Krikalev were NASA Expedition 11 Flight Engineer 
and Science Officer John Phillips and European Space Agency (ESA) 
Astronaut Roberto Vittori of Italy.

Hatches between the Soyuz and the Station were opened at 11:45 p.m. 
Saturday. The two crews greeted one another with handshakes and hugs. 
The first activity scheduled for the five crewmembers was a safety 
briefing to familiarize the newly arrived trio with emergency escape 
procedures.

Krikalev and Phillips will remain on board the Station until October. 
Vittori will return to Earth next week after eight days of scientific 
experiments on the complex under a commercial agreement between ESA and 
the Russian Federal Space Agency. The trio launched at dawn Friday from 
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for their two-day journey to the 
outpost.

Aboard the Station at the time of docking were Expedition 10 Commander 
and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan 
Sharipov, who are wrapping up their six-month mission and who will ride 
home on their Soyuz TMA-5 capsule with Vittori on April 25 for a 
pre-dawn landing in central Kazakhstan. Saturday marked the 185th day in 
space for Chiao and Sharipov and their 183rd day on the Station.

Krikalev and Phillips will relocate the new Soyuz from Pirs to the Zarya 
module docking port this summer.

On hand for the docking activities at the Russian Mission Control Center 
outside Moscow were NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, NASA Deputy 
Associate Administrator for Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs 
Michael Kostelnik, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration 
Systems Craig Steidle and ISS Program Manager William Gerstenmaier along 
with Russian and European space officials.

On Sunday before they begin an extended sleep period, the new crew will 
transfer their custom-made Soyuz seatliners as well as cargo carried 
aloft on the Soyuz for the complex. Later in the day, initial briefings 
on the handover from the current residents to their replacements will be 
conducted and the new Soyuz’ systems will be deactivated.

Over the next week, Krikalev and Phillips will familiarize themselves 
with Station systems and stowed equipment, conduct robotics training 
with the Canadarm2 robot arm, and receive detailed briefings on 
scientific payloads. Phillips and Chiao will also continue the 
maintenance and repair work on the cooling systems in the U.S. airlock 
Quest for the resumption of spacewalk capability from the Station this 
summer.

In addition, they will pack discarded gear and equipment for return to 
Earth on the Raffaello cargo module that will be brought to the Station 
on the Space Shuttle’s Return to Flight mission, STS-114, targeted to 
arrive next month on the Shuttle Discovery.

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 on Friday, April 22, or 
earlier if events warrant.
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