The Soyuz TMA-09M under the command of Expedition
37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin backs away from the International Space Station's
Rassvet module for a flyaround to the aft port of the Zvezda service module.
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Image Credit: NASA TV
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The Russian Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft, with
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano
aboard, changes parking spaces at the International Space Station Nov. 1.
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International Space Station crew members took their Soyuz for a spin around the
block Friday as they prepare for the extremely busy final week of Expedition 37.
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg and Luca
Parmitano undocked their Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft from the Rassvet module on the
Earth-facing side of the station at 4:33 a.m. EDT Friday. After backing the
vehicle a safe distance away, Soyuz Commander Yurchikhin rotated the Soyuz and
began the flyaround to the rear of the station. Carefully aligning the
spacecraft with the docking port on the aft end of the Zvezda service module,
which was vacated by the European Space Agency’s fourth Automated Transfer
Vehicle (ATV) on Monday, Yurchikhin guided the spacecraft in for its docking at
4:54 a.m.
Coincidentally, Yurchikhin was at the helm for the last Soyuz relocation at
the station in June 2010 when he piloted the Expedition 24 crew’s Soyuz TMA-19
vehicle from Zvezda to the then newly installed Rassvet module.
Friday’s Soyuz move sets the stage for the launch and arrival of a trio of
new station crew members -- NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of
the Russian Federal Space Agency – who will dock their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft
to Rassvet on Nov. 7 about six hours after their launch from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The arrival of Mastracchio, Wakata and Tyurin will mark the first time since
October 2009 that nine people have served together aboard the station without
the presence of a space shuttle.
Also arriving to the station aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M will be the Olympic
torch, which is making the longest leg of its relay leading up to the 2014
Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian. Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Sergey
Ryazanskiy will take the Olympic torch outside the station during a symbolic
spacewalk.
While their crewmates relocated the Soyuz spacecraft Friday, Kotov and
Ryazanskiy consolidated their tool caddies for the upcoming spacewalk. Their
excursion, which is slated to begin on Nov. 9 at 9:30 a.m. EST, will air live on
NASA TV.
The torch will return to Earth along with Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano on
Nov. 10 when they board their Soyuz for the journey home after more than five
months in space.
The final departure of Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano will free the Zvezda
port for the docking of a new Progress resupply vehicle in late November.
Program managers prefer to have a Progress or ATV cargo ship docked at Zvezda so
it can help reboost the station and adjust its attitude.
NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, Expedition 37
flight engineer, enters data in a computer in the Harmony node of the
International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA
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Flight Engineer
Mike Hopkins meanwhile spent much of his Friday morning setting up the Advanced
Biological Research System (ABRS). The NASA astronaut assembled a reference
grid, flushed the system’s cooling loop, installed two new memory cards and
powered up the system for a ground-based checkout of telemetry. The ABRS
contains two temperature-controlled chambers that can be used to grow plants,
microorganisms and small arthropods, such as insects or spiders.
Hopkins also recharged batteries for an upcoming session with a set of
soccer-ball-sized, free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold,
Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. Surrounding each SPHERES
mini-satellite for this next test will be ring-shaped hardware known as the
Resonant Inductive Near-field Generation System, or RINGS, which will be used to
demonstrate how power can be transferred between satellites without physical
contact.
Over the weekend, all six station residents will get a chance to recharge
their own batteries as they enjoy some free time, take care of housekeeping
tasks throughout the station and get ready for the final week of Expedition 37.
Three Space Station Crews Answer Media Questions from
Orbit
Nine International Space Station crew members will discuss their mission with
reporters from around the world during a joint crew news conference to be
broadcast live on NASA Television at 8:50 a.m. EST Friday, Nov. 8.
This is the first time since October 2009 that nine people will be aboard the
space station at the same time without a space shuttle present. The crew members
are together for only four days as one expedition ends and another begins.
The nine crew members represent three space station expeditions:
• Expedition 36/37: Karen Nyberg of NASA, Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency;
• Expedition 37/38: Michael Hopkins of NASA and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos; and
• Expedition 37/38/39: Rick Mastracchio of NASA, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos.
The joint news conference, which was arranged in coordination with NASA's international partner agencies, will last 40 minutes and will feature questions from U.S., Russian, European and Japanese media. Each partner agency will have 10 minutes for questions. Because of the limited time available, all U.S. media will be required to ask their questions via a phone bridge managed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. To use the phone bridge, journalists must call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 8:30 a.m. EST Nov. 8.
Topics for discussion include the upcoming 15th anniversary of space station construction, the crew members' support for research inside the orbiting laboratory, and plans for a Nov. 9 spacewalk with the Olympic torch that will light the flame at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Mastracchio, Tyurin and Wakata will launch aboard a Soyuz rocket Nov. 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the torch stowed aboard and dock their Soyuz capsule to the space station that same day, bringing the onboard complement to nine.
Kotov and Ryazanskiy will venture outside the space station with the torch as part of a 6-hour spacewalk before the torch's scheduled Nov. 10 return to Earth with Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano.
All the times of International Space Station programming, key Soyuz event coverage and other NASA Television programming are available at:
For more information about the space station, onboard research and crew members, visit:
The nine crew members represent three space station expeditions:
• Expedition 36/37: Karen Nyberg of NASA, Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency;
• Expedition 37/38: Michael Hopkins of NASA and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos; and
• Expedition 37/38/39: Rick Mastracchio of NASA, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos.
The joint news conference, which was arranged in coordination with NASA's international partner agencies, will last 40 minutes and will feature questions from U.S., Russian, European and Japanese media. Each partner agency will have 10 minutes for questions. Because of the limited time available, all U.S. media will be required to ask their questions via a phone bridge managed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. To use the phone bridge, journalists must call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 8:30 a.m. EST Nov. 8.
Topics for discussion include the upcoming 15th anniversary of space station construction, the crew members' support for research inside the orbiting laboratory, and plans for a Nov. 9 spacewalk with the Olympic torch that will light the flame at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Mastracchio, Tyurin and Wakata will launch aboard a Soyuz rocket Nov. 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the torch stowed aboard and dock their Soyuz capsule to the space station that same day, bringing the onboard complement to nine.
Kotov and Ryazanskiy will venture outside the space station with the torch as part of a 6-hour spacewalk before the torch's scheduled Nov. 10 return to Earth with Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano.
All the times of International Space Station programming, key Soyuz event coverage and other NASA Television programming are available at:
For more information about the space station, onboard research and crew members, visit:
NASA
GuillermoGonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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