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| Image above: Astronaut Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, Expedition
15 flight engineer, waves to the camera while participating in a session
of extravehicular activity as construction continues on the International
Space Station. Image credit: NASA |
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Crew prepares for Shuttle arrival
The Expedition 15 crew aboard the International Space Station continued
Wednesday with post-spacewalk activities and preparations for the arrival
of space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-118 in August.
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, conducted a scrub
of the spacesuit cooling loops in the Quest airlock. He also reconfigured
spacewalking tools for use during the STS-118 mission.
Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, practiced techniques
that he will use to photograph Endeavour's thermal protection system as
it performs a rendezvous pitch maneuver or back flip as it approaches
the station.
On Monday, Anderson and Yurchikhin conducted a 7-hour, 41 minute spacewalk.
Anderson jettisoned a 1,400 pound, refrigerator-size ammonia reservoir
known as the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) by pushing it opposite of the
station's direction of travel. Anderson and Yurchikhin also installed
a television camera support or stanchion, reconfigured a power supply
for an antenna assembly, and performed several get-ahead tasks.
The Progress 24 cargo craft will undock from the Pirs docking compartment
on Aug. 1, burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere as it deorbits.
Progress 26 is scheduled for launch on Aug. 2 and will reach the station
on Aug. 5.
Two days later on Aug. 7, space shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch
with a station rendezvous and docking planned for Aug. 9.
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