NASA International Space Station Status Report August 28, 2003
An unmanned Russian Progress vehicle successfully blasted off from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight to deliver almost three tons of
food, fuel, water, and supplies to the residents of the International Space
Station.
The Progress 12 craft lifted off right on time from its Central Asian launch
pad at 8:48 p.m. CDT (148 GMT Aug. 29) as the ISS sailed over the south
Atlantic Ocean east of South America at an altitude of 240 statute miles.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Progress settled into its preliminary orbit
and its solar arrays and navigational antennas were successfully deployed.
Aboard the ISS, Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science
Officer Ed Lu were already in their sleep period as the Progress climbed to
orbit.
The new Progress is scheduled to dock to the aft port of the Zvezda Service
Module on Saturday night at 10:45 p.m. CDT (345 GMT Aug. 31). Another
Progress ship that arrived at the ISS in February filled with discarded
items and trash was undocked yesterday and commanded to deorbit, burning up
in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Progress 12 is loaded with supplies for Malenchenko and Lu and science gear
for European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain, who is set to
launch October 18 from Baikonur on the Soyuz TMA-3 craft with Expedition 8
Commander Mike Foale and Expedition 8 Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer
Alexander Kaleri. Duque will spend eight days aboard the ISS conducting
science experiments under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian
Aviation and Space Agency. Duque will return to Earth on Oct. 28 with
Malenchenko and Lu.
Among the supplies aboard the Progress is a satellite phone and Global
Positioning System locator hardware which Malenchenko, Lu and Duque would
use in the unlikely event they land off-course, as did the Expedition Six
crew back in May.
The new Progress also carries personal items and hardware for Foale and
Kaleri, who are scheduled to spend almost 200 days aboard the ISS.
Another Progress vehicle currently docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment
will undock from the ISS on September 4 to clear the way for the arrival of
Foale, Kaleri and Duque in the Soyuz TMA-3 on October 20.
Information on the crew’s continuing activities on the Space Station, future
launch dates and Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on Earth is
available 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 on Saturday, August 30 following
the Progress 12 docking, or sooner if events warrant.
