[sarex] EXP 12 ALMOST READY FOR LAUNCHING

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

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

Next Station Crew Prepares for Launch

Commander William McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, the 12th 
space station crew, are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome 
in Kazakhstan a few minutes before midnight EDT Sept. 30 to begin a 
182-day stay in space. With them will be American Greg Olsen, the third 
private citizen in space, flying under a contract with the Russian 
Federal Space Agency. He will spend about eight days on the station.

After weathering Hurricane Rita, Mission Control Center in Houston 
reestablished communications with the space station. Full handover of 
operational control and support duties from flight controllers in 
Russian mission control took place Monday at 10 a.m. EDT. Control of the 
station had been transferred to Russian mission control on Sept. 21 when 
Johnson Space Center was evacuated before Rita made landfall.

As they begin their 23rd week aboard the station, Commander Sergei 
Krikalev and NASA Science Officer and Flight Engineer John Phillips are 
preparing for arrival of the Expedition 12 crew by stowing items for 
return to Earth and reviewing the timeline of joint handover activities 
scheduled for next week. The Expedition 11 crewmembers also spent some 
time familiarizing themselves with the complement of work that 
Spaceflight Participant Greg Olsen will be conducting during his stay 
aboard the station.
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