ISS Status Report #40 – 23 Oct 2001
Two Russian cosmonauts and a French researcher arrived at the
International Space Station (ISS) this morning, delivering a fresh
Soyuz return vehicle for the residents on board to begin eight days of
joint operations and research.
Russian "taxi" crew Commander Victor Afanasyev, rookie
Flight Engineer Konstantin Kozeev and European Space Agency Flight
Engineer Claudie Haignere docked the Soyuz TM-33 craft to the nadir
docking port of the Zarya Control Module at 5:44 a.m. CDT (10:44 GMT)
as the Soyuz and the ISS sailed 240 statute miles over Eastern Asia.
The successful docking came two days after the crew was launched from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
In the ISS, Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot
Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin monitored the
docking and prepared for the opening of hatches between the Soyuz and
Zarya after leak checks are completed to greet their first visitors
since they took over station operations back in August.
Afanasyev, making his fourth flight into space, and Haignere, who is
in her second flight, are veterans of previous flights on the Mir
Space Station. This is Kozeev’s first flight in space.
Haignere is flying for ESA, but representing CNES, the French Space
Agency, under a commercial contract with the Russian Aviation and
Space Agency. In addition to helping deliver the new Soyuz to
Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin, she will be conducting a host of
scientific experiments while she and her crewmates spend eight days
aboard the ISS.
Within hours after the docking, the visiting crewmembers were
scheduled to receive a safety briefing on station systems from
Culbertson, before Haignere begins to activate and conduct initial
experiments in materials research, life sciences and meteorological
phenomena.
The "taxi" trio is scheduled to depart the station next
Tuesday night at 7:41 p.m. CDT (1:41 GMT on October 31) in the Soyuz
TM-32 craft which arrived at the ISS in April and which is now docked
to the new Pirs Docking Compartment. The "taxi" crew will
land in the steppes of Kazakhstan several hours later.
The Expedition Three crewmembers are scheduled to return to Earth in
December after their Expedition Four replacements arrive on board
during the STS-108 mission aboard the Shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle
is targeted for launch November 29.
With systems operating normally, the station is orbiting at an average
altitude of 247 statute miles (395 km). For additional information,
including sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, visit:
The Expedition Three crew will continue its scientific investigations
this coming week in concert with the work being performed on board the
ISS by the "taxi" crew.
Oversight of science investigations on the station from the ground is
by the Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, AL. The Human Research Facility is managed by
the Johnson Space Center. Details on ISS science operations can be
found at the center’s web site:
http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov
The next ISS status report will be issued on Tuesday, Oct. 30, after
the Soyuz "taxi" crew departs the station, or earlier, if
events warrant.
