Progress 35 Docks to ISS after Glitch

Progress Capsule on approach to ISS, from a previous mission.

On late Friday November 30, the Progress M-21M (NASA designation Progress 53) robotic space cargo delivery spacecraft was finally docked to the Russian-built Zvesda module on the ISS. After it first reached rendezvous with the station, ground controllers had the ship perform a 1-mile flyby of the station to check out the Kurs automated docking system. All systems seemed ready, and the approach was initiated, but the craft suddenly went into station-keeping mode about 60 meters from the docking port.

Expedition 38 commander Oleg Kotov practicing the maneuvers for manual docking of a Progress vehicle. This practice would come in handy just a couple of days later.

Not to worry: Oleg was there. Oleg Kotov is the Expedition 38 commander, having recently taken command from Expedition 37 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin just last month. Just as recently as Nov. 22nd, he and fellow cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin practiced the techniques required to manually dock the Progress in case of a system glitch. Manually in this case means, remote-control from the station, as opposed to allowing the Progress auto-docking Kurs system to perfrom the maneuvers under supervision from Ground COntrollers. On Friday, Commander Kotov took to the laptop-controlled ISS system to pass radio controls to the Progress 53 craft, and docking was completed successfully. 

Progress capsules are launched on the Soyuz family of rockets.

This Progress mission lifted off from Baikonur on Monday November 25, and took the normally longer orbital route to the station in order to test upgrades to the automated systems. It carries about 3 tons of neeeded supplies to the station, including water, propellant, atmosphere, and parts. The docking hatches were opened Saturday and the crew will take out supplies as schedule permits. Eventually the capsule will be filled with disposables and trash and then burned up over the ocean next year.

International Push to the Planets

India's Mangalyaan Mars mission lifts off from Sriharikota.

India and China have set their sights on missions to far off worlds. On November 5, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched a PSLV-C25 rocket carrying the Mangalyaan mission on its way to the Red Planet. Without many of the resources the US includes in NASA, India is trying to achieve it's mission at a very low cost - only about $73 million. After six orbits of the Earth, the craft launched itself on a slingshot orbit around the Sun (to gain speed from the gravity assist). The MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) is expected to arrive at Mars next September, and the challenge will be to get the craft into Mars' orbit. After arriving, it will makes studies of the ground composition and analyze elements of the atmosphere.

Long March 3B liftoff from Xichang launch facilities in Sichuan. Xinhua credit.

Early Sunday morning China sent its Yutu rover on its way to the Moon atop a Long March rocket. Lifting off from Sichuan, China, the Long March successfully placed the lunar craft on a trajectory to the Moon. Solar panels have deployed and are powering the spacecraft during its journey. The robotic rover, Yutu, has a plutonium-powered motor for its exploration of the lunar surface. The attempt to land the rover on its surface-lander craft will be made on December 14. If all goes well, it should arrive in the Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridum) and begin exploring shortly after. The Chang'e 3 mission is a testbed of topographic recognition systems, chemical analysis, and lunar dust radar penetrator instruments. By 202, China hopes to launch a sample-return mission.

China's Yutu lunar rover. AFP credit.

Expedition 38 Begins with Torch return to Earth

Change of Command. Fyodor Yurchikhn (L) shakes hands with Oleg Kotov (R). NASA TV.

The command crew of Expedition 37 has left the station. In a Change of Command Ceremony on Sunday, Fyodor Yurchikhini handed over responsibility of the ISS to new Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov, who just on Saturday completed the 5-hour EVA including the Olympic Torch ceremony. Following the command ceremony, the Expedition 37 crew entered their Soyuz spacecraft and closed hatches about 3 pm. EST. 

TMA-09M backs away from the ISS.

At about 6:30 the spacecraft undocked and maneuvered for a re-entry back to Earth.  The flight plan worked flawlessly and the crew separated the return module from the rest of the spacecraft (which would burn up in re-entry). A little more than three hours after undocking, the capsule was spotted with parachute open coming in for a landing.

Landing in Kazakhstan.

As usual the Soyuz return capsule landed after firing its last thrusters, slowing descent for a safe but jarring bump onto Kazakhstan soil. The recovery team was landed by helicopter who helped the Expedition 37 crewmembers out of the capsule and onto chairs for their first taste of gravity in over 166 days in zero-G.

The Torch is Back On Earth!

Crew of Expedition 37: Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg, Lucca Parmitano.

Although not discussed much in the media, there was another piece of equipment brought back to Earth, whcih engineers very much wanted to get their hands on. That would be part of the space EVA suit that malfunctioned, leaking water into the suit and nearly drowning Lucca Parmitano. Engineers will analyze the equipment and seek to ensure this type of accident does not happen again. No doubt astronaut Parmitano is now VERY glad to be back on Earth.

Olympic Torch part of ISS History

The new Olympic Torch . TMA-11M crew. NASA Credit.

Expedition 38 Crewmembers (L-R): FLight Engineer Koichi Wakata (Japan), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin (Russia), Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio (USA).

In preparation for the Summer Olympic games of 2014, to be held in Russia, The Russian SPace Agency has sent a famous piece of equipment into space. The Olympic Torch, which will ignite the fires at the Games in 2014, accompanied the crew of Soyuz TMA-11M to the ISS for a magic moment.

Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov holds up the Olympic Torch during Saturday's Spacewalk.

On Saturday, cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy performed a 5-hour EVA to complete some maintenance items outside the stage. They also took the Olympic Torch outside into space for a brief ceremony outside the Russian-built Pirs module. Once completed, they placed the torch back into the airlock and began to work on the maintenance tasks. The 8th spacewalk of the year, this was the 4th EVA for Kotov and the first for Ryazanskiy. It was the 178th EVA performed on the station.

After completion of the spacewalk, the torch was placed in the Soyuz TMA-09M which would bring the torch back to Earth on the weekend.

Big Crew on ISS

Soyuz rocket lifts off from Baikonur spaceport. Credit: RiaNovosti.

The ISS just got a little crowded. There are now 9 astronauts and cosmonauts on the station, pending the departure of the Expedition 37 crew. Last night the Russian Soyuz rocket blasted spacecraft TMA-11M into a short trajectory orbit to rendezvous with the ISS. After a six hour journey, the Soyuz docked with the station and shortly after the crew joined the team on the station.

The new crew poses with the old crew. NASA TV.

The last time there were nine persons on the station was back in October of 2009. That is, without a Space Shuttle docked somewhere. In the photo above are posed the three groups of astronauts linking Expedition 36 to Expedition 38. Sometimes that gets confusing. In the front row are flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin (C), Koichi Wakata (L) and Rick Mastraccio (R), just arriving from Earth. They will be the second shift of the New Expedition 38. In the gray flight suits are Oleg Kotov, Mike Hopkins, and Sergey Ryazanskiy. They were the second half of Expedition 37 and become the lead team for Expedition 38. Behind them is the second half of Expedition 36, which became the lead team for Expedition 37: Karen Nyberg, Fyodor Yurchikhin, and Luca Parmitano. They are scheduled to leave the station on Sunday to return home to Earth in Soyuz TMA-09M.

Easy... easy... a little to the left... now forward... Soyuz TMA-11M prepares to dock early Thursday morning at the Russian Rassvet docking module. NASA TV.

Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov will officially begin command of Expedition 38 on Sunday when the TMA-09M undocks from the ISS. Of the new expedition crew, only Sergey Ryazanskiy and Mike Hopkins are on their first flights. Astronaut Koichi Wakata (Japan) has been on shuttle flights and a previous stay on board the ISS. COming up this week on Friday is a news conference to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the beginning of construction for ISS. On Saturday Kotov and Ryazanskiy will perform an EVA to take the Olympic Torch (just brought up) outside the station. This torch will return to Earth with the TMA-09M flight and will be used in the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Russia in 2014.

ATV-4 undocks from ISS

ISS docking port view of the ATV-4 slowly backing away from the station. Credit: NASA TV.

The European Space Agency ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" has completed its mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Early Monday morning astronauts of the Expedition 37 team were on standby as mission controllers from the ground operated the spacecraft undocking.  The craft had arrived on June 15 bringing a total of 7 tons' worth of food, fuel, and life support supplies to the ISS. Now filled with garbage, it will be slowly moved away from the station until Saturday. Then, mission controllers in Europe will fire the engine and direct the craft to a fiery re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

For Expedition 37, this is a busy time of spacecraft shuffle. The Cygnus cargo ship was undocked last week, the ATV-4 removed this week, and next the astronauts will move the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft to a new port on the Zvesda module on Friday. This will clear the way for the arrival of Soyuz TMA-11M with three new crewmen on November 7. Following that arrival, crewmembers Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano will depart on Soyuz TMA-09M on November 10, ending Expedition 37.

Usually NASA posts high-resolution pictures of the comings-and-goings of spacecraft, but I haven't seen them post the pics from the ATV-4 undocking yet. I'll keep an eye out for that.

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft departs ISS

Astronauts on ISS release the Cygnus spacecraft from the robotic arm, before ground engineers check out systems to move it away from the station. 

The first Orbital Sciences Cygnus mission nears its end as the Cygnus cargo spacecraft was removed from its docking port on the International Space Station. According to schedule, Cygnus will activate its engine Wednesday afternoon for a de-orbital burn that will direct the craft to burn up in the atmosphere somewhere far above the Pacific Ocean. Astronauts Parmitano and Nyberg were at the controls of the CanadArm2 robotic manipulator for the undocking.

Cygnus had been docked at the Harmony module since September 29, bringing 1,300 pounds of cargo and supplies to the ISS. After unloading the supplies, astronauts from Expedition 37 filled the empty space with trash and expendables which are no longer needed aboard the station. The Cygnus is not designed for re-entry, unlike the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft which remains the only way to bring cargo safely back to Earth.

This first demonstration mission has been a success, with engineers able to correct a computer glitch prior to docking in September. The next, operational, mission for a Cygnus cargo spacecraft is expected to take place in December as Orbital Sciences begins regular delivery service to the ISS. This mission has definitely helped propel the commercial side of space operations closer to NASA's goal of letting non-government operators handle the delivery of supplies, and eventually astronauts, to the outposts in space.