[sarex] ISS Crew Prepares for Soyuz Move

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
25 September 2007

*Crew Prepares for Soyuz Move*

Docked Soyuz and Progress spacecraftsImage above: The Soyuz TMA-10 
spacecraft docked to the International Space Station can be seen in the 
foreground. A Progress cargo craft is visible behind the Soyuz. Credit: 
NASA TV
TO VIEW IMAGE GO 
TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

The Expedition 15 crew aboard the International Space Station is busy 
preparing for numerous arrivals and departures in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the crew members tagged up with Russian flight controllers 
to review the relocation of the docked Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft Thursday. 
The crew will move the Soyuz to the aft port of the Zvezda service 
module, freeing up the Zarya nadir, or Earth-facing, port for the 
arrival of Expedition 16 on Oct. 12.

+ Read more about the Soyuz move 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/soyuzmove.html> 


Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov conducted a 
motion control system test on the Soyuz Tuesday. Flight Engineer Clay 
Anderson checked the seals on the hatches of the U.S. segment of the 
station. The hatches will be closed during Thursday's Soyuz move to 
protect against depressurization.

Later, Kotov and Anderson moved the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, 
into position to view the retraction of the Zarya module's starboard and 
port solar array wings on Friday and Saturday. While space shuttle 
Discovery is docked to the station during the STS-120 mission in 
October, the station's starboard radiators will be deployed, followed by 
the port radiators shortly after Discovery departs. To avoid contact 
with the radiators, the Zarya arrays must be completely retracted.

On Monday afternoon, the Zvezda service module's engines were fired for 
about two minutes to raise the space station's altitude by an average of 
about 5.3 nautical miles. This brings the station into the correct 
position for the upcoming Soyuz TMA-11 and Discovery dockings in October.

+ View crew daily timelines 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>
+ Read more about Expedition 15 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html>
+ Read more about Expedition 16 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/index.html>