[sarex] Crews Prepare for Arrivals and Departures

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
18 October 2007

*Crews Prepare for Arrivals and Departures*

Peggy Whitson and Yuri Malenchenko with SAFERImage above: Commander 
Peggy Whitson (foreground) and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko work 
with a Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) unit Wednesday in the Quest 
airlock of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
TO VIEW IMAGE GO 
TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

As the Expedition 15 crew prepares for departure on Sunday, the 
Expedition 16 crew is getting ready for the arrival of space shuttle 
Discovery next week.

The Expedition 15 crew, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer 
Oleg Kotov, conducted Soyuz descent training Wednesday. Joining them was 
Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who arrived 
on the station Friday, Oct. 12, with the Expedition 16 crew, Commander 
Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko.

Yurchikhin, Kotov and Shukor will depart aboard their Soyuz TMA-10 
spacecraft Sunday. Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, who joined Expedition 
15 in June, will remain onboard as a member of Expedition 16, until his 
replacement, astronaut Dan Tani, arrives on the STS-120 shuttle mission 
later this month.

The two crews will participate in a change of command ceremony on 
Friday, as Expedition 15 formally hands over command of the station to 
Expedition 16.

Throughout the week, Whitson and her crewmates have been preparing the 
spacesuits and hardware for use during U.S. spacewalks scheduled for the 
STS-120 mission and afterwards. On Wednesday, Whitson and Malenchenko 
checked out the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) hardware. 
Essentially a “life jacket” for spacewalks, SAFER is a self-contained 
maneuvering unit worn by astronauts like a backpack.

+ Read more about the docking 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/exp16_adv.html>
+ 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>