However, the continued flight of NASA astronauts in Russian spacecraft is in doubt due to the prohibition on NASA paying the Russians money, due to the sale of weapons to Iran by Russia
Avi Blizovsky
Update 3 / 10 / 2005
The Russian spaceship "Soyuz" successfully docked at the International Space Station. On board the spaceship is American millionaire Gregory Olsen and two crew members.
The 12th crew and the third space tourist took off for the space station
1/10/2005
This morning at 06:55 Israel time, a Soyuz rocket carrying a Soyuz TMA spacecraft took off to the International Space Station, from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft passengers were the 12th crew members of the International Space Station, and the third space tourist - Gregory Olsen. Olsen paid $20 million for the trip to Space Adventures.
Commander William MacArthur and flight engineer Valari Tokarev, who also serves as Soyuz commander, will stay on the station for about six months. Olsen will return in 10 days to Earth together with the members of the 11th team.
Today a new crew will take off to the space station and with it the third space tourist
Commander William MacArthur and flight engineer Larry Tokarev, the space station's 12th crew are scheduled to lift off on Saturday morning (just before seven Israel time) from Baikonur to the International Space Station for the start of a 182-day period in space.
Pictured: Crew 12 members: Commander William MacArthur (right), flight engineer and Soyuz commander Valery Tokarev (center) and third space tourist (flight specialist) Gregory Olsen shake hands at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Bikaner, Kazakhstan on September 10. Photo: NASA
Together with them, the American Greg Olsen, the third private citizen in space, will fly thanks to a contract with the Russian space agency. He will stay at the station for about eight days. Their spacecraft, a Soyuz TMA model, is scheduled to dock with the station on October 3 at 8:32 am Israel time.
Olsen will conduct scientific experiments on the station, then return to Earth with the 11th crew - Commander Sergey Kryklav and Science Officer John Phillips, who have been in orbit since April.
They will leave the station on October 10 in the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft that brought them to the station on April 16. They are supposed to land on April 16 in the steppes of Kazakhstan, at the end of 180 days of stay at the station.
On the right: MacArthur, in the middle Tokarev and on the left Olsen complete the tests of the Soyuz TMA-7 capsule at the Energia assembly facility in Baikonur. Photo: NASA
MacArthur, 54, a retired colonel, is a veteran of three shuttle flights, including one to the space station and one to the retired Russian space station Mir. Tokarev, 52, a colonel in the Russian Air Force is a graduate of one space flight to the International Space Station, also aboard an American space shuttle.
Immediately after arriving at the station, they will receive a safety briefing from the members of the 11th crew and begin transfer operations. They will train on the Canada Arm 2 robotic arm and the systems and experiments on the station.
During their stay on the station, MacArthur and Tokarev will perform three spacewalks. The first, from the Quest airlock in American spacesuits is planned for early November. The tasks include assembling a group of cameras and recovering a small floating spacecraft.
This will be MacArthur's third spacewalk and Tokarev's first.
Two weeks later, the two will enter the Soyuz spacecraft and transfer it from the Pierce docking facility to the docking bay of the Zarya module. This will allow Pierce to be used as an airlock for a space exit with the Russian Orlan suits in December.
In the photo: the three (McArthur above, Tokarev in the middle and Olsen below) are standing on the grass of the launch pad in Bikaner. Photo: NASA.
The second spacewalk will deal with the return of scientific experiment equipment and photography of the micrometeorite monitoring system, as well as the insulation layer of the Soyuz, which is also used for them as an escape vehicle. A third spacewalk is planned for the beginning of 2006 in the American suits, but it has not yet been definitively announced if it will take place and what will be done in it.
MacArthur and Tokarev are also scheduled to receive an unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft to the station shortly before Christmas. The spacecraft will bring them fuel, equipment, supplies, water, oxygen and air. Docking is planned for December 2.
Maintaining the station will require a lot of their time. They will continue the scientific investigations as well as a program of scientific education and Earth observations. In March they will be replaced by the members of the 13th staff.
Stop raising American astronauts
NASA hopes that by then the problem will be resolved - according to which with the launch of the spacecraft today, the agreement that NASA signed with the Russian space agency after the Columbia disaster regarding the transportation of American astronauts to the International Space Station will expire. If not finished, Russia may refuse to return MacArthur and nominate his replacement.
The head of NASA, Michael Griffin, says on Friday that the planned participation of the US in Russian space flights is in doubt. According to him, it was possible to reach an agreement that was acceptable to both sides, but an American law from 2000 sets restrictions on countries that sell unconventional weapons and missile technology to Iran, including Russia.
Yadan International Space Station
For information on the NASA website
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~280933075~~~88&SiteName=hayadan
