Astronauts Scott Kelly (left) and Kjell Lindgren are in the Quest airlock servicing a U.S. spacesuit. Credit: NASA TV
Two cosmonauts are getting ready for the first spacewalk from the International Space Station since March. Two NASA astronauts are also working to bring a U.S. spacesuit back to service.
The three newest Expedition 44 crew members joined Commander Gennady Padalka during their afternoon for a familiarization session with emergency equipment inside the orbital lab. Having arrived just last week, new flight engineers Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui are still getting used to their new home in space.
Padalka and One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko checked out Russian spacesuit gear ahead of an Aug. 10 spacewalk. The duo will replace external experiments and photograph the exterior condition of the space station’s Russian segment.
Lindgren and One-Year crew member Scott Kelly worked on a U.S. spacesuit replacing internal parts to return the unit to service. Kelly also continued more research for the Twins study comparing him to his Earth-bound twin brother and ex-astronaut Mark Kelly.
The new Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft is pictured docked to the Rassvet module.
The International Space Station moved out of the way of a piece of satellite debris late Saturday night. There were no impacts to crew safety or operations. The maneuver may replace one of three reboosts planned for the orbital laboratory ahead of the Sept. 2 launch of the Expedition 45/Visiting Taxi Crew.
Commander Gennady Padalka and One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko are getting ready for an Aug. 10 spacewalk. They will work outside for six hours replacing experiments and equipment and photographing the condition of the station’s Russian segment.
The six-member Expedition 44 crew also moved full speed ahead with more science and maintenance work. One-Year crew member Scott Kelly worked on the Twins experiment that compares his adaptation in space with his Earth-bound brother and ex-astronaut Mark Kelly. NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren tended to lettuce plants being grown for the Veggie study then moved on to U.S. spacesuit maintenance.
Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui looked at how microorganisms can affect a crew member’s immune system in space for the Microbiome study. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko worked on unpacking gear from the new Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft, stowing discarded gear in the ISS Progress 58 space freighter and updating the station’s inventory management system.
NASA astronaut and new Expedition 44 crew member Kjell Lindgren works inside the Destiny laboratory module. Credit: NASA TV
The International Space Station is at full strength now with six crew members from Japan, Russia and the United States. The newly-expanded orbital team got together today to review their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency in space.
New station residents Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui will be familiarizing themselves with their new home in space over the next few days. While they adapt to their new workplace the trio will also be getting up to speed with daily science research and orbital maintenance tasks.
Lindgren spent some time with the Veggie botany experiment before working on a spacesuit battery. Yui explored protein crystal growth with the potential to help scientists create advanced drugs on Earth then moved on to cargo transfers from the brand new Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft. Kononenko looked at the effect of space radiation on viruses, researched protein crystals and checked out Russian space hardware.
The International Space Station configuration with the new Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module. Credit: NASA
The Soyuz TMA-17M vehicle docked to the International Space Station at 10:45 p.m. EDT, over the ocean near Ecuador.
Aboard the space station, Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos, as well as Flight Engineers Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos will welcome Soyuz crew members Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) when the hatches between the two spacecraft are opened.
Watch the hatch opening and welcome ceremony live on NASA TV beginning at 11:45 p.m.: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
The Soyuz spacecraft port solar array did not deploy after reaching space. Docking is still set for 10:46 p.m. EDT. Credit: NASA TV
Aboard their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft, Kjell Lindgren, Kimiya Yui and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko are scheduled to dock at 10:46 p.m. EDT to the International Space Station’s Rassvet module. NASA Television coverage of the docking will begin at 10 p.m. and can also be seen online at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
NASA TV will then resume at 11:45 p.m. to cover hatch opening between the two spacecraft as well as the welcome ceremony.
The Soyuz crew will join Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos, as well as Flight Engineers Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos. Padalka, Kelly and Kornienko have lived aboard the space station since March.
To join the online conversation about the International Space Station on Twitter, follow the hashtag #ISS.
The Soyuz spacecraft is composed of three modules. Credit: NASA
During the launch of the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft at 5:02 p.m. EDT (3:02 a.m. on July 23 Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the port solar array on the vehicle did not deploy as planned. The starboard solar array did deploy along with all navigational antennas, is functioning normally, and is fully providing power to the spacecraft. The flight of the Expedition 44 crew to the International Space Station is proceeding nominally and the crew is in excellent condition. The Soyuz vehicle will dock to the station as planned after a 4-orbit rendezvous at 10:46 p.m. EDT (02:46 GMT).
The Soyuz spacecraft is composed of three modules: the Orbital Module, the Descent Module and the Instrumentation and Service Module. Credit: NASA TV
The Soyuz 43S vehicle has achieved a stable orbit after a nominal ascent, and all antennas have deployed. The Soyuz will now close the distance to the ISS in preparation for docking, scheduled for 10:46 p.m. EDT. NASA Television coverage of the docking will begin at 10 p.m. and can also be seen online at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
The Soyuz TMA-17M rocket launches on time from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Credit: NASATV
The Soyuz TMA-17M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 5:02 p.m. EDT (3:02 a.m. on July 23 Baikonur time). Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) now are safely in orbit.
Lindgren, Kononenko and Yui will dock with the station’s Rassvet module at 10:46 p.m. NASA Television coverage of the docking will begin at 10 p.m. Welcoming them aboard will be the current station residents, Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos, as well as Flight Engineers Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos. NASA TV coverage of the hatch opening and welcome ceremony begins at 11:45 p.m.
Padalka, Kelly and Kornienko arrived at the space station in March aboard their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren waves from inside the Soyuz rocket during ascent. An R2D2 doll is seen hanging from inside the spacecraft. Credit: NASA TV
Some of the cargo flown aboard the Soyuz will be used in research investigations that are either ongoing or planned aboard the International Space Station. Items such as questionnaires will be delivered to obtain data about crew member characteristics, such as day-to-day changes in health or incidence of pain or pressure in microgravity. One such investigation is Space Headaches which uses questionnaires to collect information about the prevalence and characteristics of crew members’ headaches in microgravity. This information is used to develop future countermeasures for headaches often caused by intracranial pressure change.
Researchers will also use biological sample kits delivered by the Soyuz spacecraft to obtain samples of blood, saliva or urine. The ongoing collection of biological samples from crew members help scientists determine if immune system impairment caused by spaceflight increases the possibility for infection or poses a significant health risk during life aboard the space station.
In addition to these studies, seven categories of human health research are ongoing during the One-Year mission of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko. Researchers expect these investigations to yield beneficial knowledge on the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by astronauts during long-duration spaceflight.
JSC2015E053687 (04/30/2015) — Expedition 44 crew members NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren (left), Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko (center) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui.
The Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will carry three additional crew members to the International Space Station stands ready for its 5:02 p.m. EDT liftoff. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 4 p.m. Watch on NASA TV or at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will launch aboard their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
(From left) Expedition 44 crew members Kjell Lindgren, Oleg Kononenko and Kimiya Yui announce their mission readiness at the State Commission at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Three new International Space Station crew members are making final preparations a day before their launch to the orbital laboratory. They will join the orbiting Expedition 44 trio which is busy today with a variety of advanced microgravity experiments to benefit life on Earth and future space crews.
An international crew from Russia, Japan and the United States is in Kazakhstan as their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft rests on its launch pad counting down to a 5:02 p.m. EDT launch on Wednesday (3:02 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday). Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren will take a six-hour ride to the space station and dock to the Rassvet mini-research module. They will stay on orbit until December.
Waiting for their new crewmates are One-Year crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko and Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka. Kelly was assisted early Tuesday by Padalka as he conducted ultrasound scans on his leg for the Sprint exercise study. Kelly later watered plants for the Veg-01 botany study then worked on the MERLIN science freezer/incubator.
Padalka worked on Progress resupply ship cargo transfers and inventory updates. Kornienko studied cell cultivation for the Kaskad biology study before moving on to radiation research for the Matryeshka-R BUBBLE experiment.
