[sarex] ISS Crew Prepares for New Arrivals

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Crew Prepares for New Arrivals*
5 October 2007

ISS015-E-29049 : Astronaut Clay Anderson Image above: Expedition 15 
Flight Engineer Clay Anderson smiles for a photo while floating in the 
Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
TO VIEW IMAGE GO 
TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

As the clock counts down to a crew change aboard the International Space 
Station and a visit by space shuttle Discovery, the Expedition 15 crew 
wrapped up a busy week of preparations.

Flight Engineer Clay Anderson installed the centerline camera in a hatch 
window in the Unity node Friday. The camera will serve as an alignment 
aid when astronauts use a robotic arm to guide the Harmony node into 
place. Harmony is being delivered to the station aboard space shuttle 
Discovery, set to launch Oct. 23.

Also on Friday, the crew members conducted medical evaluations, an 
activity performed regularly by long-duration crews to assess physical 
condition.

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and Anderson 
continue to pack items for return to Earth as they prepare for their 
departure and the arrival of the next crew. The Expedition 16 crew, 
Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko, will 
launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 10 and arrive 
at the station on Oct. 12.

Accompanying Expedition 16 is Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh 
Muszaphar Shukor, who will return to Earth on Oct. 21 with Yurchikhin 
and Kotov. Anderson will remain on the station with Expedition 16 until 
his replacement, Flight Engineer Dan Tani, arrives on Discovery later 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>