[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #05-21

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

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-21*
*4 p.m. CDT, Friday, April 22, 2005*
*Expedition 10 Crew*

Aboard the International Space Station this week, one crew counted down 
its final days in space, headed toward a return to Earth on Sunday, 
while another crew began a six-month journey in orbit.

The five crewmembers aboard the Station had a busy week of briefings for 
the new crew, preparations for the old crew’s departure and preparations 
for the arrival of the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-114, the Shuttle's 
Return to Flight targeted for next month.

The 11th Station crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA ISS Science 
Officer John Phillips, docked to the Station at 9:20 p.m. CDT Saturday. 
With them was European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Roberto Vittori of 
Italy. He is spending almost eight days on the Station working through 
22 scientific experiments and activities.

Vittori is to return to Earth on Sunday with the two members of the 
Expedition 10 crew, Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Leroy Chiao 
and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov. They are scheduled to leave the 
Station at 1:41 p.m. CDT Sunday and to land in Kazakhstan at 5:08 p.m. 
Chiao and Sharipov will then travel to Kustanai, Kazakhstan, and on to 
Star City, Russia, about eight hours after their return to Earth, where 
they will be reunited with family.

The landing is about two hours before local sunrise. The area weather 
forecast calls for a chance of rain with near-freezing temperatures.

Sharipov will undock the Soyuz manually as a precautionary measure to 
conserve energy. Although the Soyuz' backup battery charge is thought to 
be adequate if it were required for the undocking, that battery has 
shown signs of a reduced charge since the Soyuz was relocated among 
Station docking ports in November 2004. The primary battery is healthy.

The manual undocking is a practiced backup procedure for Soyuz 
operations, and is being done to ensure adequate backup battery power is 
available if it were needed for deorbit and landing. The manual 
procedures allow Sharipov to reduce the amount of time the Soyuz is on 
internal power before undocking. The undocking is routinely performed 
automatically by the onboard computer. Landing will occur as is normal 
on the second orbit after undocking.

Extensive briefings by Chiao and Sharipov helped settle Krikalev, who 
was a member of the first station crew launched in late 2000, and 
Phillips, who visited the Station as a Shuttle crewmember in April 2001, 
in their new home. They also trained on the Canadarm2, the Station’s 
robotic arm, and were briefed on science activities as well as locations 
of equipment and supplies.

On Monday, Phillips trained with the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in 
Microgravity experiment. He conducted his first experiment with the 
equipment on Thursday.

Tuesday the crew activated the Microgravity Science Glovebox and later 
in the week certified its readiness for use. Wednesday’s focus was the 
U.S. airlock Quest, with crewmembers flushing a cooling system and 
replacing a service and cooling umbilical, restoring the airlock to 
usable condition. Chiao and Phillips were back in the airlock on 
Thursday, resizing spacesuits to make sure the right equipment will 
remain aboard the Station after Discovery’s departure from its future 
mission.

A three-hour Soyuz descent training session kept Chiao, Sharipov and 
Vittori busy on Friday. All five crewmembers later participated in a 
change of command ceremony that formally passed command of the outpost 
from Chiao to Krikalev.

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://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

The next ISS status report will be issued on Sunday, April 24, after the 
Expedition 10 crew's landing or earlier if events warrant.

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