In the first manned space mission since the Columbia shuttle crash; The shuttle was launched on Saturday at 06:53 Israel time * The water, food and spare parts could reach a dangerous level if the three remaining shuttles do not return to flight soon says Michael Kostelnik, who manages the shuttle program and the space station
Avi Blizovsky
Crew No. 7 of the International Space Station prepares for launch - on the right, Yuri Melchenko and Edward Lu
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/colombia087.html
The Russian spacecraft successfully docked with the space station
Monday, April 28, 2003 12:16 PM By: Walla system!
The astronauts meet. will stay at the station for 165 days (Photo: Reuters) A Russian and an American will replace the staff staying at the international station; Soyuz flight - the first since the Columbia crash; The two took off with black ribbons on their arms in memory of the Columbia team
The Russian Soyuz spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Melanchenko and American astronaut Edward Lu are scheduled to stay on the space station for 165 days. They are replacing the crew of the space station - two Americans and a Russian, who are supposed to return to Earth on Saturday. The Soyuz flight is the first manned flight into space since the Columbia crash about three months ago.
"Soyuz" was launched on Saturday from the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan on its way to the International Space Station. The two astronauts took off with black ribbons on their arms, in memory of the Columbia crew. The American astronaut said yesterday that he will sew the shoulder badge of the crew of the shuttle Columbia to his sleeve to honor their memory. "We will think about them when we take off and when we land," he said.
The ferry left on Saturday. After docking at the station, the ferry must remain sealed for about an hour and a half, for the purpose of inspections. The shuttle will then open and the teams will greet each other. This is what the NASA spokesman said.
The Soyuz crew brought with them gifts for Pettit, the American astronaut who has been staying at the station for several months, and celebrated his 48th birthday about a week ago, as well as for Budrin, who will celebrate his 50th this week. But they will not have much time for celebrations, since the teams have to share a lot of information, and undergo an "overlap" at the International Space Station and alternatively - on the shuttle, which is supposed to return to Earth on May 3.
The team of astronauts returning to Israel will make their way in an older Soyuz shuttle, which has already docked at the International Station, while the Soyuz in which the astronauts arrived today will remain at the station in case of an emergency, if they have to quickly leave the place.
The Russian shuttle is in fact the only shuttle capable of carrying crews to and from space, thus enabling constant manning of the International Space Station. The team that arrived at the station today, will stay there according to the plan until the month of October.
The Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft took off to the space station with two astronauts on board
26/4/03
The Russian space shuttle "Soyuz" was successfully launched this morning (Saturday) from the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan on its way to the International Space Station, with two astronauts on board, an American and a Russian, in the first manned space mission since the crash of the shuttle "Columbia" three months ago. The spacecraft took off at 06:53 local time Israel.
The two astronauts, Yuri Melanchenko and Edward Lu, will replace the crew currently manning the space station, and will stay there for 165 days. Yesterday, the Russian Space Commission announced that all preparations have been completed for the launch of the Russian shuttle. "Everything is done to ensure the success of the flight," said the director of the Russian company that builds and maintains the Soyuz. The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the space station on Monday.
Both astronauts took off with black bands on their arms, in memory of the Columbia crew. The American astronaut said yesterday that he will sew the shoulder badge of the crew of the shuttle Columbia to his sleeve to honor their memory. "We will think about them when we take off and when we land," he said.
An American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will take off this morning (Saturday) to the space station for the first time since the disaster
(Update Friday evening, 25/4)
The Russian-American team will take off this morning (Saturday, 26/4) to the International Space Station. This is the first manned flight since the Columbia disaster.
An American astronaut is about to be the first to go into space since the Columbia disaster in February in a joint team with a Russian cosmonaut. In Russia they say that they will "continue the work of the astronauts who perished", although one should not get carried away because due to the reduction in the size of the crew from three people to two, they will spend all their time maintaining the station and will have no time at all to conduct experiments.
The American pilot engineer, Edward Lu will take off on Saturday together with Commander Yuri Melchenko in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He promised to wear a special pin on his space suit in memory of the Columbia crew members.
"One of the things we talked about before the launch is that they failed to complete their mission," he told him at the last press conference before the launch from Baikonur, which was hired from the neighboring ex-Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. The Columbia disaster and the grounding of the other three shuttles left Russia solely responsible for transporting crew members, technical supplies and food to the $95 billion station.
Lu said that the flight and continued manning of the International Space Station is also a tribute to the families of the Columbia disaster.
"We are doing what they wanted and what their families want most - for manned space exploration to continue," he said.
Melchenko said some of the planned experiments were canceled due to the reduction in crew size, which was essential to maintain sufficient reserves of food and water at the space station, where traffic remained at too low a capacity.
"Still, we have an intensive program and a lot of work ahead of us. We won't have time to get bored," said Mal'Tsenko.
The Soyuz crew will replace the three crew members who were scheduled to return in early March and whose return was delayed by the disaster. These are the station commander Ken Bowersox, the flight engineer Donald Pettit and the Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin who, by the way, due to a long illness that took hold, a planned spacewalk was canceled at the beginning of January.
While the shuttle can carry seven people and 25 tons of cargo, the unmanned Russian Progress and manned Soyuz spacecraft can carry a maximum of three passengers and 2.5 tons of supplies.
NASA: The shuttles will only be able to fly in a year
24/4/2003
The space shuttle fleet grounded after the Columbia disaster will be able to fly again within about a year, to avoid a shortage of supplies to the International Space Station. They say in NASA.
Water, food and spare parts could reach dangerous levels if the remaining three shuttles don't return to flight soon, says Michael Kostelnik, who manages the shuttle and space station program. "We have enough water, food and spare parts for the summer and fall, but we will reach the margins in the months of November-December," Kostelnik said.
"Is a flight within a year possible? I think so" Kostelnik said. Whether it will happen or not, we will wait and see.
While NASA is waiting for the final report of the team investigating the Columbia disaster, the space station is receiving supplies from Russian spacecraft and the crew of three astronauts is waiting to be replaced by a smaller crew of two people at the end of April.
Kostelnik says that the Soyuz scheduled for launch this Saturday will up the ante and transport back the three crew members who have been staying at the station since November 25.
Russian robotic Progress spacecraft are scheduled to deliver supplies to the station in June, September and January, although Kostelnik says advanced negotiations are underway to advance the construction of the spacecraft and advance the January delivery. The construction of such a spacecraft takes many months.
"If we can launch the shuttle again in January, February or even March, which I hope is possible, that will take a lot of pressure off the other spacecraft," Kostelnik says, referring to the Soyuz and the ESA launch vehicle scheduled for launch in September 2004.
In the meantime, as you remember, the investigative committee issued an interim report. Ron Ditmore, NASA's shuttle program manager who has made many public appearances since the first day of the disaster, announced Wednesday that he is retiring from NASA but would be willing to stay on to ease the transition for his successor.
"To the members of the shuttle team at NASA, to my colleagues and friends, I am announcing my intention to step aside from my position as director of the shuttle program, immediately after the investigation team delivers its final conclusions and after a route has been built to return to flights." Ditmore wrote.
For information on Yahoo
They knew the Columbia disaster
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~505934943~~~88&SiteName=hayadan
