NASA Space Station Status Report 22 September 2006
A handover continues aboard the International Space Station, with the 13th crew ending six months aboard and the 14th crew starting six months in orbit.
Joint crew operations continue through next week, until Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams, and Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari undock and land their Soyuz spacecraft on Thursday, Sept. 28.
The new crew, Expedition 14 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, docked to the complex with Ansari on Wednesday. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who arrived at the station aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in July and has served as flight engineer for Expedition 13, will remain on the station and join Expedition 14. Ansari is a U.S. businesswoman spending eight days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
During the weekend, Vinogradov and Tyurin may work with the Elektron oxygen-generating system to install a new liquids unit, a component that overheated early this week.
Several crew events will be broadcast live on NASA TV next week. On Monday, Sept. 25, at 5:40 a.m. EDT, all crew members will participate in a news conference with Russian media. At 12:17 p.m. EDT Monday, Williams and Lopez-Alegria will be interviewed by CBS News and AP TV.
On Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 12:04 p.m. EDT, Williams and Lopez-Alegria will be interviewed by CNN Espanol and the Houston Chronicle. On Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 12:28 p.m. EDT the crews will hold a station change of command ceremony.
On Thursday, Sept. 28, at 2:35 p.m. EDT, NASA TV will begin coverage of a farewell ceremony and closing of the hatches as the Expedition 13 crew and Ansari prepare to depart. The hatches between the station and the departing Soyuz will be closed about 2:45 p.m. EDT. NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz undocking will begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
Coverage of the Soyuz deorbit and landing will begin at 8 p.m. EDT. The Soyuz will fire its engines at 8:20 pm. EDT to begin its descent. Landing is at 9:10 p.m. EDT in Kazakhstan.
The next station status report will be issued after the Expedition 13 crew and Ansari land. For information about the crew’s activities and station sighting opportunities, visit:
