ISS Expedition 8 CRew’s Week Filled with Departure Preparations

With less than a month left in their tour of duty aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 7 crewmembers spent time during the workweek preparing for their departure and the arrival of the Expedition 8 crew.

Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu conducted a fit check of the custom-made seatliners that they will sit in as they travel back to Earth aboard the ISS Soyuz 6 spacecraft. Malenchenko and Lu are slated to undock from the Station at 5:20 p.m. CST (2320 GMT) Oct. 27 and land in Kazakhstan at 8:36 p.m. CST Oct. 27 (0236 GMT Oct. 28).

At Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Expedition 8 crew — Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineeer Alexander Kaleri — and European Space Agency Astronaut Pedro Duque also conducted seatliner checks for their trip to the Station, which is scheduled to begin at 12:37 a.m. CDT (0537 GMT) Oct. 18. They will arrive at the orbital outpost Oct. 20 at 2:20 a.m. CDT (0720 GMT). Foale and Kaleri will remain on the Station for about six months, and Duque will return to Earth with Expedition 7.

Also, the two crews had a teleconference Friday to discuss upcoming handover activities and joint operations.