 |
| Image above: This photograph of the Progress 23
cargo craft taken by Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter highlights the
Kurs Antenna that concerned flight directors prior to final latching.
Photo credit: NASA. |
•
Watch NASA TV
International Space Station - Latest
New supplies arrived at the International Space Station Thursday as an
unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda
Service Module.
With almost 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station's Expedition
14 crew, the ISS Progress 23 automatically docked to Zvezda at 10:29 a.m.
EDT as the spacecraft and the station flew 220 miles above Italy. The
23rd Progress to visit the station was launched Monday from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Following the initial docking, the final latching of the Progress craft
to the station was delayed by about three and a half hours as Russian
flight controllers evaluated potential interference by an antenna on the
spacecraft.
At the time of docking, flight controllers could not confirm that the
antenna used by the Progress' Kurs automated docking system had retracted
as commanded. If the antenna had remained extended, it could have interfered
with the final latching of the supply ship to the station.
After reviewing data, Mission Control Moscow commanded the Progress'
docking probe to slowly retract, pulling the ship firmly into the port
and aligning the hooks and latches that hold it secure.
Latches for the craft on the station were secured at about 2 p.m. EDT.
Flight controllers will command additional latches on the Progress to
close Friday. This allows the operation to be completed in a normal manner
over Russian communications sites.
During the hours between initial docking and final latching, the station's
orientation was allowed to drift to avoid any disturbance of the softly
docked cargo ship. The station's drift resulted in lower power generation
by the solar arrays.
The crew then powered off several pieces of non-critical equipment as
outlined in a standard procedure that reduces power consumption. Soon
after the latches were closed, however, the station's attitude control
was restored and
power generation was returned to normal.
Due to the long operations Thursday, Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria
and flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter will open the hatch
to the supply ship on Friday. Supplies on the Progress include food, fuel,
oxygen and air, clothing, experiment hardware and spare parts, as well
as personal items from the crew's families.
The new Progress joins an older Progress supply ship that
arrived at the station's Pirs Docking Compartment in June. Progress 22
will remain docked until mid-January. It will be used to stow trash, and
its supply of oxygen will help replenish the station's atmosphere when
required.
ISS Progress 23 holds 1,918 pounds of propellant for the Russian thrusters,
110 pounds of oxygen and almost 2,800 pounds of spare parts, experiment
hardware and life support components, including parts for the Russian
Elektron oxygen-generation system. The system has been inoperable since
last month, and Tyurin is expected to resume repairs on the unit next
week.
Engineers continue to review data from the station's S-band
communications system, which experienced dropouts late last week in the
transmission link of one of two redundant channels used for voice and
commanding capability. After collecting data last weekend from "string
1" of the S-band system, its transmitter was reactivated Wednesday,
but the communications problem occurred once again.
"String 2" of the system is being used for voice and commanding
with no impact to station activities. Flight controllers are analyzing
the problem to determine if any procedural adjustments must be made for
the upcoming flight of Discovery to the station on the STS-116
mission.
In other activities, the crew conducted sound level measurements in the
station's modules and installed cables in the Russian segment of the station.
They performed regular station maintenance and took time to chat with
a reporter from the Orange County Register in California
on Tuesday. Reiter continued his work with European plant growth experiments
while throughout the week Lopez-Alegria did log entries for a sleep experiment.
In two weeks, the crew will begin preparations for a spacewalk Nov. 22
by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria in Russian Orlan suits from the Pirs Docking
Compartment to replace and retrieve several science experiments from the
hull of the Zvezda Service Module. Tyurin also plans to hit a golf ball
from a bracket on Pirs as part of a Russian commercial activity.
For more about the crew's activities and station sighting opportunities,
visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
|
