NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 26 November 2010

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.

* Crew rest day. Sleep: 12:30am EST this morning; Wake: 1:00am tomorrow morning.

Yest posadka! (We have Landing!) Welcome back home, Shannon, Wheels & Fyodor! After 163 days in space (161d docked to ISS), Soyuz TMA-19/23S, carrying Exp-25 crewmembers Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russia), Douglas Wheelock (USA) and Shannon Walker (USA), landed successfully at 11:46pm EST last night (local time: 10:46am today) in central Kazakhstan, about 84 km northeast of the city of Arkalyk. The crew was in excellent condition. The descent capsule tipped on its side. The crew was flown to Kustanai. [TMA-19 (#229) undocked from the MRM1 (Mini Research Module 1) Rassvet port last evening at 8:23pm, after the crew had performed leak checks of the vestibule area between the MRM1 and the Soyuz spacecraft, of their Sokol suits and of the hatch between the Descent Module (SA) and Orbital Module (BO). Three minutes after physical undocking, Soyuz performed a 15 sec separation burn. The actual de-orbit burn of 4 min 24 sec duration came at 10:54:30pm, resulting in a 115.2 m/sec deceleration. Tri-module separation occurred at 11:20pm. 16 sec after the separation command, software pitched the Instrumentation/Propulsion Module (PAO) in the rear to a specific angle (-78.5 deg from reference axis) which, if the PAO would have remained connected to the SA/Descent Module, would have resulted in enough heating on the connecting truss to melt it, thus ensuring separation. Atmospheric entry followed at 11:23pm and nominal parachute deployment at 11:31pm. Following initial “on chute” observation by Russian SAR (Search & Recovery) personnel, the Soyuz vehicle landed at 11:46pm. The crew was flown by helicopter to Kustanai where Shannon and Wheels boarded the waiting NASA Gulfstream-III airplane which today is bringing the crewmember back to Houston (with 2 refueling stops),- the third direct return for USOS crewmembers. Fyodor Yurchikhin meanwhile was flown on the GCTC Tu-154 back to Chkalovsky airfield of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Zvesdniy Gorodok (Star City). During their mission, the Exp-24 and -25 crewmembers worked on more than 120 microgravity experiments in human research; biology and biotechnology; physical and materials sciences; technology development; and Earth and space sciences. They also responded to an emergency shutdown of half of the station’s external cooling system and supported three unplanned EVAs by Wheelock & Exp-24 FE Tracy Caldwell-Dyson to replace the faulty pump module that caused the shutdown. Their efforts restored the station’s critical cooling system to full function. Yurchikhin has logged 371 total days in space, Wheelock 178 days and Walker 163 days.]

Remaining on board for Increment 26 are CDR Scott Kelly (USA), FE-1 Alexander (Sasha) Kaleri (Russia) & FE-2 Oleg Skripochka (Russia). They are having a free day today, getting back on regular wake/sleep cycle tomorrow (Saturday, 11/27). A new trio of Exp-26/27 flight engineers, NASA Astronaut Catherine Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency (ESA), will launch from Baikonur on 12/15. They will dock with the station and join its crew on 12/17. [To send holiday greetings to the crew and get more information about the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.]

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:41am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 351.6 km
Apogee height – 356.8 km
Perigee height – 346.5 km
Period — 91.57 min.8
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0007581
Solar Beta Angle — -56.4 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours – 10 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 68,901.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli (2:09pm)
12/17/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S docking (MRM1) (~3:09pm)
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/17/10 — STS-133/Discovery launch – NET (not earlier than)
01/20/11 — HTV2 launch
01/24/11 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
01/27/11 — HTV2 berthing (Node-2 nadir)
01/28/11 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
01/31/11 — Progress M-09M/41P docking (DC1)
02/xx/11 — Russian EVA-28
02/15/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” launch
02/19/11 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
02/24/11 — HTV2 unberthing (Node-2 nadir)
02/26/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” docking (SM aft)
02/27/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) launch
03/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) docking
03/11/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) undock
03/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-01M/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/20/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R.Garan/A.Samokutayev
03/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/26/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking (DC1)
05/xx/11 — Russian EVA-29
05/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/04/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” undock (SM aft)
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking (SM aft)
08/29/11 — Progress M-11M/43P undocking
08/30/11 — Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 — Progress M-12M/44P docking (SM aft)
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-21/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-23/28S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/25/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/28/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking (DC-1)
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
12/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P undock
12/27/11 — Progress M-14M/46P launch
12/29/11 — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
03/05/12 — Progress M-12M/44P undock
03/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-23/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Valkov
04/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/09/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/23/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O. Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
09/25/12 – Soyuz TMA-27/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-26/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-28/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
11/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-28/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S launch.
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-