The Expedition 32 crew members living and working aboard the International Space Station Thursday focused on a variety of science experiments and maintenance activities. 

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba worked with the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment, which examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The BASS experiment will help to develop procedures and methods for extinguishing accidental fires in microgravity, and it will contribute to the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth. 

Acaba also worked in the Kibo module on the SAIBO rack’s clean bench, performing some maintenance on its chambers and checking out its relief valves. 

Flight Engineer Sergei Revin started his day collecting blood and saliva samples for the Immuno experiment. That study seeks to determine changes in stress and immune responses during long duration microgravity missions. 

Revin also worked with an experiment known as Relaxation, which examines chemical luminescent reactions from jet engine exhaust in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the Seiner Earth-observation experiment. 

Commander Gennady Padalka worked with Acaba and Revin throughout the day on the installation of stowage racks in the European Space Agency’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 cargo craft. The racks will make additional room for stowage in the vehicle, which will help to accommodate the new cargo being delivered aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s third H-II Transfer Vehicle set to launch to the station on July 20. 

Meanwhile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft that will carry three additional Expedition 32 crew members to the station was rolled out to the launch pad. Flight Engineers Suni Williams, Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz on Saturday at 10:40 p.m. EDT (8:40 a.m. Kazakhstan time Sunday), beginning a two-day journey to the orbiting laboratory. 

Quelle+Foto: NASA

Update: 13.07.2012 / 12.00 MESZ

A Russian state commission on Friday gave the final approval for the main and backup crews of a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) ahead of their launch on July 15.

The new crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan’s Space Agency (JASA) astronaut Akihito Hoshide.

The backup crew includes Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn.

The crews have trained in Russia, as Russian Soyuz-family spacecraft remain the only means of transportation for crew members to and from the orbital station until at least 2015, and successfully passed all of the exams.

Russia's Soyuz-FG rocket with Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft carrying the new crew has been scheduled to lift off at 6.40 a.m. Moscow time (02:40 GMT) on Sunday from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA-05M is expected to dock with the orbital station on July 17.

For Malenchenko, it will be his fifth long-duration spaceflight. Williams and Hoshide visited the ISS once each traveling on board a U.S. space shuttle. It will be their first flight experience with the Soyuz spacecraft.

The new crew members will join the current ISS crew, which includes Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who have been in orbit since mid-May.

Vitaly Lopota, the head of the Russian space corporation Energia, told the commission on Friday that the spacecraft and ground control services were ready to carry out the launch.

“All systems are in good shape…we are ready for launch,” Lopota said.

 

 

Update: 14.07.2012 / 9.30 MESZ

 

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz rocket that will carry Flight Engineers Suni Williams, Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide into orbit aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft sat atop the launch pad Friday in preparation for its scheduled launch on Saturday at 10:40 p.m. EDT (8:40 a.m. Kazakhstan time Sunday). The three new crew members will join the Expedition 32 crew aboard the International Space Station when their Soyuz docks to the orbiting complex on Tuesday. NASA Television begins launch coverage at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.

 

 

Update: 15.07.2012 / 10.00 MESZ

 

Three new crewmembers departed on Sunday on a two-day voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The new crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan’s Space Agency (JASA) astronaut Akihito Hoshide.

Russia's Soyuz-FG rocket with Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft carrying the new crew blasted off at 6.40 a.m. Moscow time (02:40 GMT) from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA is due to dock with the ISS's Zvezda service module at 08.52 Moscow time (04:52 GMT) on Tuesday.

The fresh crew will join the current ISS residents - Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who have been in orbit since mid-May.

The new crew members are expected to conduct over 30 scientific missions during their stay on board the ISS.

For Malenchenko, it is his fifth long-duration spaceflight. Williams and Hoshide visited the ISS once each, traveling on board a U.S. space shuttle. It is their first flight experience with the Soyuz spacecraft.

Russian Soyuz-family spacecraft remain the only means of transportation for crew members to and from the orbital station until at least 2015.

 

Fotos: Roscosmos

 

Update: 17.07.2012 /8.30 MESZ

Russia’s Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft is set to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday morning at 8:52 a.m. Moscow time (4:52 GMT), the Mission Control center said.

Nach zweitägigem Flug hat eine bemannte Sojus-Rakete an der Internationalen Raumstation ISS angedockt. Der Transporter mit dem russischen Kosmonauten Juri Malentschenko, der US-Astronautin Sunita Williams und dem Japaner Akihiko Hoshide habe in rund 350 Kilometern Höhe festgemacht, wie das Kontrollzentrum bei Moskau nach Angaben der Agentur Interfax mitteilte. Die Neuankömmlinge sollen während ihres mehrmonatigen Aufenthalts gemeinsam mit den bereits drei Crew-Mitgliedern auf der ISS Experimente durchführen. Das russische Sojus-Raumschiff war am Sonntag vom Kosmodrom Baikonur in Kasachstan gestartet.

Foto:NASA

 

 

 

 

Update: Andock-Manöver an ISS : Frams-NASA-TV