Expedition 10 Opens Hatches to Progress

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao
and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov reopened the hatches Wednesday to the
ISS Progress 15 cargo ship. The hatches were closed prior to Monday’s Soyuz
relocation maneuver. They also enjoyed more off-duty time Wednesday. They
are scheduled to return to a full workload Thursday.

During Monday’s relocation, the Expedition 10 crew, undocked the Russian ISS
Soyuz 9 spacecraft from the Station’s Pirs Docking Compartment and redocked
the Soyuz to the Earthward-facing port on the Zarya Control Module. The
relocation of the Soyuz allows Chiao and Sharipov to use Pirs as the airlock
for their two spacewalks. They will install science experiments and hardware
on the outside of the ISS. They will also prepare the Space Station for the
arrival of the Automated Transfer Vehicle.

Also this week, Russian officials announced new dates for the launch and
docking of the ISS Progress 16 spacecraft. The Progress will launch from
Kazakhstan on Dec. 23 at 4:19 p.m. CST (2219 GMT) and arrive at the ISS at
6:05 p.m. CST Dec. 25 (0005 GMT Dec. 26). The cargo ship currently attached
the Station, Progress 15, is slated to undock Dec. 22 at 1:34 p.m. CST (1934
GMT).