ISS status report
Igor Buslayev
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From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : SPACE@WW
*International Space Station Status Report #04-42*
*2:30 p.m. CDT, Friday, July 30, 2004*
*Expedition 9 Crew*
Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke
this week marked their 100th day in orbit, oversaw the undocking of a
resupply craft and prepared for their third spacewalk.
The ISS Progress 14 automated resupply craft undocked at 1:05 a.m. CDT
today. Fincke filmed its departure, and Station exterior cameras
captured rare footage of the Progress' fiery re-entry into Earth's
atmosphere. It had been filled with about a ton of trash and equipment
no longer needed aboard the orbiting outpost. It was undocked to clear
the area for the upcoming spacewalk and to make room for the next supply
vehicle, Progress 15, planned to launch Aug. 11 and dock with the
Station on Aug. 14.
Throughout the week, Padalka and Fincke prepared for their Aug. 3
spacewalk. Using Russian spacesuits and the Russian Pirs airlock, they
will replace several materials exposure experiment packages and a
thruster contamination monitor. They also will install reflectors and
communications equipment needed for the docking of a new European Space
Agency cargo ship, called the Automated Transfer Vehicle, to fly for the
first time next year. NASA Television will broadcast the spacewalk live
beginning at 1 a.m. CDT Aug. 3. Padalka and Fincke are set to exit the
hatch and begin up to six hours of work outside at about 2:10 a.m. CDT.
This will be the 55th spacewalk in support of Space Station assembly and
maintenance, the 30th from the Station and the 12th from the Russian
airlock. Padalka will be making his fifth spacewalk, and Fincke his
third. The Expedition 9 crew, which launched April 19, has a fourth
spacewalk scheduled later in the year.
The Progress 15 cargo will include two spare water pumps that engineers
hope to use in repairing two U.S. spacesuits with cooling system
problems. Engineers are continuing to review detailed photographs
downlinked by the crew during last week's troubleshooting.
Fincke spent part of his weekend working with the In Space Soldering
Investigation. He used a soldering iron to melt solder on 18 experiment
samples, documenting differences in the way the solder melted and
solidified in weightlessness. Scientists hope to learn how such
materials behave in orbit. The tests may help to verify in-flight repair
procedures for electronics on the Station and for future space
exploration vehicles and outposts.
Thursday, the crew answered questions from teachers gathered for a NASA
Explorer School Workshop at the Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md.
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:
Details on Station science operations can be found on an Internet site
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:
The next ISS status report will be issued following the Aug. 3 spacewalk
or sooner if events warrant.
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC IP :zl2...@qsl.net
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
Wackiest Warning Labels Ever
-+--------------------------
* A 13-inch wheel on a wheelbarrow warns:
"Not intended for highway use."
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*73! С уважением: Igor*
*Nizhny Novgorod (RA3TW Amateur Radio Station)*