NASA News: Space Station Trio Lands Safely In Kazakhstan
HOUSTON -- Three International Space Station crew members safelyreturned to Earth Friday, Sept. 16, wrapping up a six-month mission
of research and exploration.
NASA's Ron Garan, Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and flight
engineer Alexander Samokutyaev, both of the Russian Federal Space
Agency, landed their Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan at midnight EDT
(10 a.m. in Kazakhstan). The trio, which arrived at the station on
April 6, had been scheduled to land on Sept. 8, but that was
postponed because of the Aug. 24 loss of the Progress 44 cargo ship.
Before leaving the station, Borisenko handed over command to NASA's
Mike Fossum, who leads Expedition 29. He and Flight Engineers Satoshi
Furukawa of Japan and Sergei Volkov of Russia are conducting research
and maintenance aboard the station. The launch date for the remaining
Expedition 29 crew members, NASA's Dan Burbank, and Russia's Anatoly
Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov, is under review.
Fossum is blogging about his experiences aboard the space station at:
http://blogs.nasa.gov
For more information about Expedition 29 and the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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NASA Team Honored For Assisting Chilean Miner Rescue
WASHINGTON -- The NASA team, who provided medical, survival andengineering expertise to help the miners trapped underground in Chile
last year, received the National Security and International Affairs
Medal from the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
The team -- led by Michael Duncan, former deputy chief medical officer
at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston -- was recognized at the
Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, or Sammies, gala in
Washington on Thursday.
"We are very proud of the NASA team for its contribution that earned
this prestigious award," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "The
help provided to the Chilean government is a testament to the
research and technology development we do at NASA. This was a
practical example of how science and engineering for the space
program has direct benefits to people on Earth."
After the Chilean government requested technical advice in August
2010, the NASA team spent three days at the rescue site in Copiapo,
Chile. Duncan was joined by J.D. Polk, also a medical doctor, Albert
Holland, and Clinton Cragg. Duncan works in the Office of
International and Interagency Relations at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. Polk is the chief of the Space Medicine Division at Johnson.
Holland is a senior operational psychologist with the NASA Behavioral
Health and Performance Group at Johnson. Cragg is a principal
engineer in the NASA Engineering and Safety Center located at the
agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
More than 400 nominations were submitted for the 2011 medals. A
committee of leaders in government, academia, the private sector,
media and philanthropy selected the winners. The gala was hosted by
Bob Schieffer, CBS News chief Washington correspondent and moderator
of "Face the Nation."
For more information about NASA's participation in the mine rescue, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/news/
For more information about Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, visit:
http://www.
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International Space Station Partners Set Tentative Launch Schedule
HOUSTON -- NASA and its international partners have agreed to atentative launch schedule with crew flights to the International
Space Station resuming on Nov. 14.
The Space Station Control Board, with representation from all partner
agencies, set the schedule after hearing the Russian Federal Space
Agency's findings on the Aug. 24 loss of the Progress 44 cargo craft.
The dates may be adjusted to reflect minor changes in vehicle
processing timelines.
"Our top priority is the safety of our crew members. The plan approved
today, coupled with the conditions on orbit, allow the partnership to
support this priority while ensuring astronauts will continue to live
and work on the station uninterrupted," said International Space
Station Program Manager Michael Suffredini. "Our Russian colleagues
have completed an amazing amount of work in a very short time to
determine root cause and develop a recovery plan that allows for a
safe return to flight. We'll have a longer period of three-person
operations and a shorter than usual handover between the next two
crews, but we are confident that the crews will be able to continue
valuable research and execute a smooth crew transition."
The updated space station traffic plan includes Thursday's undocking
and landing of three Expedition 28 crew members: NASA's Ron Garan and
Russia's Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev. Expedition 29
Commander Mike Fossum of NASA, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Sergei
Volkov of Russia will remain aboard the station to continue research
and maintenance for 61 days until the remainder of the Expedition 29
crew arrives.
According to the current plan, the Soyuz 28 spacecraft, carrying
NASA's Dan Burbank and Russia's Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton
Shkaplerov, will launch Nov. 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan and arrive at the station on Nov.16.
On Nov. 22, Fossum, Furukawa and Volkov will undock their Soyuz 26
spacecraft and land in the northern Kazakhstan landing zone.
Expedition 30 Commander Burbank, Ivanishin and Shkaplerov will work
as a three-person crew for 36 days. The remainder of the Expedition
30 crew -- NASA's Don Pettit, Russia's Oleg Kononenko and Europe's
Andre Kuipers -- will launch to the station aboard the Soyuz 29
spacecraft on or about Dec. 26 and dock to the station two days
later. The exact launch date is under review.
The control board also received a report on the status of supplies and
spare parts aboard the station. The report shows there is sufficient
logistical supplies to support crews through the summer of 2012
without deliveries from the scheduled cargo flights.
For the new tentative Soyuz and Progress launch dates in 2011, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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