Station Trio Running Science; New Crew Waits to Launch
The three Expedition 35 crew members currently aboard the station shifted their work schedule today as they await the arrival of three additional crew members tonight.
They first conducted routine station maintenance and science work after waking up late. The trio then took a nap before getting right back to work again, and preparing for the docking of the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft carrying Flight Engineers Pavel Vinogradov, Chris Cassidy and Alexander Misurkin.
Commander Chris Hadfield started his day by activating the Space Acceleration Measurement System-II (SAMS-II). The SAMS-II measures the vibrations on the space station as a result of events such as spacecraft dockings, crew motion or equipment operations.
He and Flight Engineer Marshburn reviewed procedures for installing Ku communications units as part of the station’s High-Rate Communications System and took part in a ground conference to discuss any items of concern.
Marshburn also worked with the Combustion Integrated Rack to prepare it for future experiments. Located inside the Fluids and Combustion Facility the rack allows the study and observations of combustion experiments in microgravity.
The duo also spent a five minutes after waking up on the Reaction Self-Test. The test allows a crew member to monitor the effects of fatigue on their performance.
Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko worked on cargo transfers with the docked Progress 50 resupply craft. He then collected blood and saliva samples for the Russian Khromatomass experiment then conducted a hearing test.
Expedition 35 Flight Engineers (from left) Alexander Misurkin, Pavel Vinogradov and Chris Cassidy. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft rolls out to its launch pad in Baikonur Cosmodrome. Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
At 10 am, the trio took a four-hour nap before then took part in a conference with the ground to discuss the launch and docking activities. They also went back to work on more science and maintenance activities.
Meanwhile three additional Expedition 35 crew members are making their final preparations for a six-hour flight from their launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the station Thursday.
Chris Cassidy of NASA, along with Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:43 p.m. EDT, Thursday (2:43 a.m. Friday, Baikonur time). Live coverage on NASA Television begins at 3:30 p.m.
