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Crew Continues Preparing for Discovery; Unloading Progress 29

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Image above: Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman works with spacesuits aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: NASA TV

On Tuesday, the Expedition 17 crew members aboard the International Space Station continued their preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Discovery during the STS-124 mission scheduled to launch May 31 at 5:02 p.m. EDT.

Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman spent time configuring spacesuits and other tools that will be used during the planned spacewalks of the upcoming mission.

Reisman also conducted refresher training with Commander Sergei Volkov on the Canadarm2 robotic arm in advance of Discovery's arrival.

During STS-124, Discovery will deliver Kibo -- the Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module -- and its robotic arm system to the orbiting complex.

+ Read more about the STS-124 mission

The crew also continued unloading supplies from the Progress 29 cargo ship. The new Progress cargo carrier docked to the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module at 5:39 p.m. Friday with more than 2.3 tons of fuel, oxygen, air, water, propellant and other supplies and equipment aboard.
 

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Crew Continues Preparations for Discovery

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Image above: Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman participates in an in-flight interview aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 17 crew members aboard the International Space Station Thursday continued preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Discovery during the STS-124 mission.

Discovery is scheduled to launch May 31 at 5:02 p.m. EDT and will deliver the second section of Kibo -- the Japanese Experiment Module -- and its robotic arm system to the orbiting complex.

+ Read more about the STS-124 mission

Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman reviewed Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver photography techniques with ground controllers. As Discovery approaches for docking, it will perform a “back-flip” allowing crew members on the station to take hundreds of detailed photos of Discovery’s heat shield for analysis by specialists on the ground.

Reisman also performed routine scrubbing of the U.S. spacesuit cooling loops to be used during the spacewalks of the upcoming mission.

Additionally, Reisman took time to participate in an in-flight interview with the Discovery Home Network's "G Word" television program dedicated to eco-consciousness.
 

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Science, Maintenance and STS-124 Preps Keep Station Crew Busy

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Image above: The International Space Station is pictured in its configuration after space shuttle Discovery ends its STS-124 mission in June. Credit: NASA

The Expedition 17 crew continues pressing ahead with science, station maintenance and preparations for the upcoming STS-124 mission.

Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman worked on a science experiment in the Columbus module using the Microgravity Science Glovebox. The experiment, Cell Wall/Resist Wall, studies the microscopic effects of plant growth in space. Plant samples were collected and stored in a freezer for return to Earth when space shuttle Discovery completes its STS-124 mission in mid-June.

Reisman also continued checking the U.S. spacesuits that will be used during the three spacewalks planned while Discovery is at the station. Shuttle astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum will work on the station’s truss structure and outfit Japan’s Kibo laboratory.

Reisman along with fellow flight engineer Oleg Kononenko and Commander Sergei Volkov spent an hour Friday morning measuring their body mass. The measurements are recorded and downlinked to specialists on the ground for analysis.

The two cosmonauts also were in the Zvezda service module checking on a coolant leak in the dehumidifiers and working on the toilet. They succeeded in repairing the toilet by replacing a micro-processor valve.
 

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Zvezda Bathroom Repairs and Shuttle Preps for Crew

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Image above: The station crew reviews the STS-124 timeline during a conference with U.S. planners. Inside the Destiny laboratory are (from left), Commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineers Garrett Reisman and Oleg Kononenko. Credit: NASA TV

After repair attempts over the weekend, the Zvezda service module toilet experienced additional difficulties Tuesday morning. A toilet malfunction last week was initially repaired by replacing a micro-processor valve. The station crew members were directed to use Soyuz toilet facilities at first and are now using the main toilet again after rigging a urine bypass. Several other backup solutions are available. Ground specialists continue to troubleshoot the problem. Russian engineers are working with NASA to add spare toilet parts to space shuttle Discovery’s manifest before the May 31 launch.

Meanwhile, the station crew continues preparations for the upcoming STS-124 mission. Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman practiced photography techniques they will use when Discovery performs a Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver – a back-flip – before docking with the station on Monday, June 2. Photos of the shuttle’s thermal heat shield will be downlinked to specialists for detailed analysis. The crew also reviewed the mission timeline during a conference with U.S. planners on Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, the crew members had an off-duty day on Sunday, performed their normal maintenance tasks and worked with ongoing science experiments.
 

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As the launch countdown began for Saturday’s STS-124 launch, the station crew started preparing video cameras for installation on Kibo, the Japanese laboratory. The cameras will be installed during a spacewalk by shuttle astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan. The U.S. spacesuits on the International Space Station are also being readied for the shuttle visitors to use during STS-124's three planned spacewalks.

The Japanese experiment module – the largest station laboratory – will be installed on the Harmony Node’s port side after STS-124’s first spacewalk ends. A Japanese logistics module that was installed on Harmony during STS-123 will be relocated on top of the new laboratory.

With the crew members experiencing difficulties with Zvezda’s toilet over the last several days, mission managers have decided to add spare parts for launch aboard space shuttle Discovery. Meanwhile, procedures have been uplinked to the station as the crew attempts to return the toilet to full functionality.

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin its mission to the International Space Station at 5:02 p.m. EDT Saturday. Discovery is delivering the Japanese lab, a robotic arm and a new station crew member, Gregory Chamitoff. Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman will switch places with Chamitoff and return home with Discovery ending his stay as Expedition 17 flight engineer.
 

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Station Activities Continue While Crew Waits for Discovery

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Image above: The Expedition 17 crew members. From left: Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman. Credit: NASA

Onboard the International Space Station the Expedition 17 crew is busy with maintenance and STS-124 preparations.

Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman has been checking out television cameras that will be installed on the Japanese laboratory, Kibo, during the STS-124 mission. Kibo will be delivered aboard Discovery and attached to the Harmony Node’s port side.

A new station crew member, Greg Chamitoff, will arrive at the orbiting complex with the STS-124 crew. He will switch places with Reisman who is ending his stay as Expedition 17 flight engineer. Reisman will return home when STS-124 leaves the station and completes its mission.

On the station, the toilet in the Zvezda service module is working, though not at full functionality. The crew members are monitoring the toilet's condition and continuously make adjustments. Russian ground specialists along with the crew are troubleshooting the problem.

+ View hi-resolution image of the Zvezda service module toilet (934 Kb)

Spare parts from Russia for the toilet were installed in space shuttle Discovery’s middeck. Parts include a gas/liquid separator, urine collector bags, filters and other hardware. Discovery is scheduled to begin the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station at 5:02 p.m. EDT Saturday.
 

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Expedition 17 Awaits Arrival of Discovery, New Crew Member

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Image above: A view of Expedition 17 crew members watching the launch of space shuttle Discovery on a television feed uplinked to the station. Credit: NASA TV

Space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.’s Launch Pad 39A at 5:02 p.m. EDT Saturday, beginning STS-124, the 26th shuttle flight to the International Space Station.

Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Garrett Reisman are making final preparations for STS-124’s arrival, set for 1:54 p.m. Monday.

Discovery is carrying the Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM), the second pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. The 37-foot, 32,000-pound JPM will be attached to the left side of the Harmony connecting node by shuttle and station crew members during a series of three spacewalks.

Also traveling with STS-124 is a new Expedition 17 crew member, astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who will replace Reisman. Reisman launched to the station on the STS-123 mission of Endeavour March 11.

For the latest news and information on the STS-124 mission, visit the main shuttle page.
 

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Discovery Crew Welcomed Aboard Space Station

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Image above: Expedition 17 welcomes the STS-124 crew aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

Space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station at 2:03 p.m. EDT Monday, delivering the STS-124 crew, a new Japanese module and a new crew member to the orbital outpost.

Discovery carries with it the second component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, the Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM). The 37-foot, 32,000-pound JPM will be attached to the left side of the Harmony connecting node by shuttle and station crew members during a series of three spacewalks. The JPM will join the first component of Kibo, the Japanese Logistics Module, which was launched on the last shuttle flight, STS-123, in March.

Also traveling with STS-124 was a new Expedition 17 crew member, astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who replaced Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman.

The STS-124 and Expedition 17 crews conducted pressure and leak checks before opening the hatches between the two spacecraft at 3:36 p.m. They then greeted each other to begin nine days of joint operations.
 

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Crews Conduct Second Spacewalk

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Image above: STS-124 Mission Specialist Ron Garan works outside the International Space Station's Kibo module. Credit: NASA TV

The crews of space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station are conducting the second spacewalk of the STS-124 mission.

During the 6.5-hour spacewalk, Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will perform a number of tasks to continue outfitting the exterior of the Kibo laboratory. Among their duties, they will install front and rear television cameras on the outside of the Kibo Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, remove thermal covers from the Kibo robotic arm system, and prepare a JPM upper docking port where the Kibo logistics module will be attached on Friday. They also will prepare an external storage platform for the removal and replacement of a nitrogen tank assembly, a task they will perform on Sunday's third spacewalk.

Meanwhile, astronauts inside the space station will activate the second of the two Kibo JPM power channels and continue outfitting the inside of the JPM.
 

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Crews Complete Spacewalk

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Image above: STS-124 Commander Mark Kelly (center) and Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff (top) help Mission Specialists Ron Garan (far left) and Mike Fossum remove their spacesuits after a successful second spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV

Astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan completed their second STS-124 spacewalk at 6:15 p.m. EDT Thursday, when the Quest airlock was repressurized. The spacewalk lasted seven hours, eleven minutes.

The astronauts completed a number of tasks to outfit the Kibo Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM. They installed television cameras on the front and rear of the JPM to assist Kibo robotic arm operations, removed thermal covers from the Kibo robotic arm, prepared an upper JPM docking port for Friday's attachment of the Kibo logistics module, readied a spare nitrogen tank assembly for its installation during Sunday's third spacewalk, and retrieved a failed television camera from the Port 1 truss.

At the end of the spacewalk, Fossum inspected the port solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ. He described and photographed some features that appeared to be lines of grease.

Inside the space station, astronauts moved all the racks from the Japanese logistics module into the Kibo JPM, and closed the logistics module's hatch. The logistics module is ready to be relocated Friday from its current location on top of the Harmony node to its permanent location on top of the JPM. Both Kibo JPM power channels have been activated and are functioning normally.
 

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Crews Continue Work on Kibo, Robotics

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Image above: The STS-124 and Expedition 17 crews in the International Space Station's Kibo module answer questions from the media. Credit: NASA TV

The STS-124 and Expedition 17 crew members spent most of the day outfitting the Japanese Logistics Module (JLM) and preparing Kibo’s robotic systems for initial deployment.

The crew members took a break from today’s activities to speak with Japanese officials and participate in interviews with U.S. media.

Crew members also reviewed procedures and prepared for the third and final spacewalk of the mission which will take place Sunday.

For the latest news and information on the STS-124 mission, visit the main shuttle page.
+ Read more
 

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Spacewalkers Complete Work Outside Station

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Image above: Crew members gather for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory. From left are Expedition 17 flight engineers Oleg Kononenko, Greg Chamitoff, former flight engineer Garret Reisman and Commander Sergei Volkov. Chamitoff replaces Reisman who has joined the shuttle crew as a mission specialist and will go home on Discovery. Credit: NASA TV

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan completed the third STS-124 spacewalk at 4:28 p.m. EDT Sunday. Their excursion lasted six hours and 33 minutes.

Fossum and Garan accomplished all planned activities and several "get-ahead" tasks. They exchanged a depleted nitrogen tank assembly for a new one, removed thermal covers and launch locks from the Kibo laboratory, and reinstalled a repaired television camera. Fossum also retrieved samples of a dust-like substance from the left solar alpha rotary joint for analysis by experts on the ground.

The spacewalk was Fossum's sixth, Garan's third, the 112th spacewalk devoted to space station assembly and maintenance, and the 197th by U.S. astronauts.
 

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Shuttle Undocks from Station

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Image above: The International Space Station with the newly installed Kibo laboratory is pictured from a camera in space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. Credit: NASA TV

Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 7:42 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The STS-124 and Expedition 17 crews bid one another farewell, and the hatch between the two spacecraft closed Tuesday afternoon.

The STS-124 crew arrived at the station June 2, delivering the Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM), the second pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the station.

For the latest news and information on the STS-124 mission, visit the main shuttle page.
+ Read more
 

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Station Reboosted; Crew Continues Spacesuit Maintenance

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Image above: The International Space Station as seen from space shuttle Discovery June 11, 2008. The European Space Agency’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle is seen at the bottom of the image. Credit: NASA

The engines on the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle were fired Thursday morning in the first of four planned reboosts of the International Space Station. The reboosts will adjust the orbit of the station to prepare for the docking of the ISS Progress 30 cargo ship in September.

The Expedition 17 crew members also continued with their spacesuit maintenance. Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko performed leak checks and sized the arms and legs of the Russian Orlan spacesuits they will wear during a July spacewalk. During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts will inspect the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft. Volkov and Kononenko will use the Soyuz as their ride home from the orbital outpost in October.

The crew members also conducted a regularly scheduled fire drill exercise with a flight control team on the ground.

The crew, including Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff, participated in regular exercise activities to counteract the effects of long-term exposure to the station’s microgravity environment.
 

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wow the Iss looks a lot bigger now :)
 

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Crew Prepares for Spacewalk, Maintains Station

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Image above: A station crew member photographed NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. Credit: NASA

Station Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko continue preparing Russian spacesuits for next month’s spacewalk. The cosmonauts are testing suit communication links with Russian Mission Control outside of Moscow. The spacewalkers will leave the Pirs Docking Compartment July 10 to start the first spacewalk of Expedition 17.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff along with his crewmates are reviewing procedures they would follow in the unlikely event the Pirs failed to repressurize following a spacewalk. The spacewalkers would enter the docked Soyuz and move it to another port to re-enter the space station.

The Expedition 17 crew members continue with their daily exercise routines and normal station maintenance tasks. Earth photography sessions and private family conferences also have been scheduled for the station crew this weekend.
 

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Crew Continues Spacewalk Preparations

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Image above: Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff works in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

The Expedition 17 crew members aboard the International Space Station continued spacewalk preparations Wednesday as they test their ability to enter the Soyuz spacecraft in spacesuits.

Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko practiced movements needed if the Pirs docking compartment airlock fails to repressurize after their July 10 spacewalk and they are forced to retreat to the orbital compartment of their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft. On Thursday, they will again conduct a test of these movements, this time wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits.

Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff conducted a HAM radio session with students from Robinson Elementary School in Robinson, Texas.

The crew members also completed their daily physical exercise routines to counteract the effects of long-term exposure to weightlessness in space.
 

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This spacewalk has two aims:

1) Inspect and mechanically disconnect the lock 11F732 0101-0A1 in the first lateral section place of the Soyuz TMA-12 spaceship by removing one of the 8x55 explosive bolts from the lock's case. The bolt will then be brought to Earth for inspection. The PAO/SA connection of the TMA-12 will then remain connected by four explosive locks instead of five.

2) Install a docking target on the fourth docking compartment of the Zvezda module for the next year's Russian MIM-2 module arrival.

The cosmonauts will also cut the thermal insulation over Soyuz capsule and take pictures of the wiring and mechanical connections. Insulation mates will then be put back in place.
 

Woo482

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whats the MIM-2 ?
 
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