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Station crew moves its Russian Soyuz capsule BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: March 29, 2007 The three International Space Station residents left their orbital home Thursday, taking a brief excursion aboard the Russian Soyuz capsule to clear a docking port for the arrival of the next crew in April.
All three had to go on the trip in case the Soyuz, which serves as the crew's only means of leaving the station in an emergency, couldn't redock and had to return to Earth. And although being forced to land was an unlikely scenario, the crew had prepared the station for flying unmanned for an extended period by turning off systems and shutting hatches between the various modules. But the precautions won't be needed. The Soyuz flew to its new docking port and successfully linked up in just 24 minutes. With Tyurin at the controls, the Soyuz slowly backed away from the station at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Hooks and latches holding the capsule to the Zarya control module's downward-facing docking port were opened and the Soyuz sprung free with a gentle push while flying 210 miles above the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The craft moved about 100 feet downward from the station. A television camera on the Soyuz allowed the crew to inspect the docking port as they backed away. "We don't have any issues. The docking mechanism is looking good. There are no extraneous items there that we can see," the crew radioed Russian mission control. The capsule then traveled parallel down the length of the Russian segment of the outpost before flipping around the backside of the complex to face the aft docking port of the Zvezda service module. With about 65 feet separating the capsule from the station, the Soyuz did a roll maneuver and aligned with its docking target. The final approach began just after the two spacecraft entered into orbital night. Docking occurred at 6:54 p.m. EDT over the south Atlantic, just off the South American coastline. The Soyuz had arrived at its new parking spot some 80 feet from the old one. "Nice and smooth. Good job. Nice landing. Any landing you can float away from is a good landing," Williams could be heard telling Tyurin as the crew chuckled. The relocation allows the Expedition 15 crewmembers to fly directly to Zarya when they arrive April 9. Zarya is centrally located along the station complex, making it the ideal location for the escape capsule. Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer Oleg Kotov and tourist Charles Simonyi are slated for blastoff at 1:31 p.m. EDT April 7 aboard the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule. They are participating in the final days of pre-flight training at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan. Highlights this week have included inspecting the spacecraft, trying on their spacesuits, checking communications equipment and undergoing a training session on scientific experiments. On Thursday, technicians started loading the Soyuz with storable propellants and compressed gases. Lopez-Alegria, Tyurin and Simonyi will return to Earth in the Soyuz TMA-9, departing from Zvezda, at 6:21 a.m. EDT April 20. Landing in Kazakhstan is expected at 9:37 a.m. Williams will remain aboard the station and become a member of the Expedition 15 crew. Her ride home is shuttle Endeavour later this summer.
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In advance of launching the Expedition 15 mission to the International Space Station, NASA officials preview the flight's objectives and challenges in this news briefing held March 27 at Johnson Space Center.
As the International Space Station's Expedition 14 winds down, officials managing the flight from Mission Control in Houston hold this retrospective briefing to talk about the mission.
The 50th flight of the space shuttle took place in September 1992. Endeavour's mission featured the Spacelab-J research module for Japan, as well as the first black female astronaut and the first married couple to fly together in space. The crew narrates the highlights in their post-flight film.
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The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with the U.S. military's Space Test Program 1 payload launches Cape Canaveral.
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Atlantis made a week-long visit to the International Space Station in October 2002 that began the outward expansion of the outpost's truss backbone. Attachment of the 14.5-ton Starboard 1 segment was primary objective of the STS-112 mission. The astronauts tell the story of the flight in this post-flight movie.
VIDEO:
WATCH THE SOYUZ RELOCATION TRIP 