Two-Ham Crew Set to Fly to International Space Station
 Expedition
7 commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP (left), and NASA ISS Science Officer and
Flight Engineer Ed Lu, KC5WKY, take time out from practicing launch procedures
in a Soyuz
simulator during training in Russia. Malenchenko and Lu will spend six months
aboard the ISS. [NASA Photo]
|
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 24, 2003--Space veterans Russian cosmonaut Yuri
Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and NASA astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, head into space this
weekend to assume the reins of the International Space Station (ISS) as its
Expedition 7 crew. Crew commander Malenchenko, 41, and NASA ISS Science Officer
Lu, 39, will be the first two-person ISS crew increment and the first primary
crew to travel to the space station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Their Soyuz TMA-2 vehicle is scheduled to launch
April 26, at approximately 0354 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
They'll arrive aboard the ISS April 28. The crews will spend six days together on the
ISS.
NASA has scheduled a joint news conference
for the incoming and outgoing crews on April 29, and US and Russian reporters
will get a chance to question the astronauts and cosmonauts. NASA Television--which is available on some cable
systems--will broadcast the event live. NASA TV also will cover the Expedition
7 launch and docking activities.
Originally scheduled to return in March
aboard the space shuttle Atlantis STS-114 mission, Expedition 6
Commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB, and
NASA Space Station Science Officer Don Pettit, KD5MDT, will return to Earth
aboard the Soyuz
TMA-1 craft that's now attached to the space station. They're scheduled to land
on May 3 in Kazakhstan. Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit have been in space since
November 23.
 The
Soyuz
TMA-1 spacecraft that's now attached to the International Space Station. This
vehicle will return the Expedition 6 crew to Russia on May 3. [NASA Photo] |
NASA says that with the arrival of the
Expedition 7 crew just days away, the Expedition 6 crew has been preparing for
"handover" activities this week. On April 23, the crew conducted a motion
control system test in the Soyuz TMA-1 that Expedition 6 crew will
use to return to Earth.
Malenchenko and Lu will remain in space until
October, when a new crew will be sent up. NASA has said that until the space
shuttle returns to flight-ready status pending the outcome of the Columbia
accident investigation, Russian Soyuz vehicles will handle ISS crew
rotations. NASA Chief Sean O'Keefe said this week, however, that he expects the
shuttle fleet to be space-ready by year's end.
NASA continues to investigate the February 1
shuttle Columbia
tragedy that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, three of them Amateur Radio
licensees.
Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says NASA has okayed a schedule
of one or two ARISS school group contacts per week, despite the reduction in
crew size. The grounding of the shuttle fleet could put a crimp in plans to
deliver new ham radio gear to the ISS this year, however.
Page last modified: 03:34 PM, 24 Apr 2003 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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