By TonyF on 24 October 2008 at 9:43AM
Three space voyagers have landed safely in Kazakhstan this morning. Two of the Expedition 17 crew of the International Space Station, along with "space tourist" Richard Gariott, returned to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft. No ballistic re-entry this time! Greg Chamitoff remains aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 18. He will come home in November aboard Endeavour. NASA reports:
Image above: Sergei Volkov, Expedition 17 commander, relaxes outside the Soyuz TMA-12 capsule after landing in Kazakhstan. Image credit: NASA TV
Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko of the 17th International Space Station crew landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 11:37 p.m. EDT Thursday after more than six months days in space.
All three people aboard the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft were reported to be in good condition after their re-entry and landing.
A Russian recovery team and NASA personnel reached the landing site by helicopter shortly after the Soyuz touched down. They helped the crew members into reclining chairs for medical tests and set up a medical tent nearby.
With Volkov and Kononenko was spaceflight participant Richard Garriott. He launched to the station Oct. 12 with the Expedition 18 crew, Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff came to the station aboard Discovery on its STS-124 mission, launched May 31. He served for the last part of Expedition 17 as a flight engineer. He remains aboard the station as a member of the Expedition 18 crew.
Expedition 17 crew members undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from the station at 8:16 p.m. Thursday. The deorbit burn to slow the Soyuz and begin its descent toward the Earth took place at 10:45 a.m.
When they landed, Volkov and Kononenko had spent 199 days in space on their Expedition 17 flight, 197 of them on the station.
Volkov, 35, a lieutenant in the Russian air force, returned from his first spaceflight. Kononenko, a spacecraft design engineer, also completed his first spaceflight.
+ Read more about Expedition 18
+ Read more about Expedition 17
+ View crew timelines
News video here. Expedition 17 pics are up at the JSC Gallery. Video clips here. Discussion here. News resources here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 14 October 2008 at 10:58PM
The Russian Soyuz spacecraft, with the next Space Station crew aboard, has docked with the ISS. Joining them is computer game mogul Richard Garriott, who will be returning home next week with the departing Expedition 17 crew. His dad is Skylab and Shuttle veteran Owen Garriott. Richard isn't the first guy to follow his father's footsteps into space, though - that would be Sergei Volkov (son of Alexander) who is in charge of the ISS now. NASA reports:
Image above: The crew members of Expeditions 17 and 18 participate in an interview aboard the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TV
Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew docked their Soyuz TMA-13 to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module at 4:26 a.m. EDT Tuesday.
Hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 5:55 a.m. A welcome ceremony and a safety briefing for the new arrivals followed.
The new crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.
With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.
Aboard the station to welcome Expedition 18 crew members was the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff. He launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.
Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.
He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.
Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.
He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.
Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.
She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002.
News video here. Expedition 18 pics are up at the JSC Gallery. Video clips here. Discussion here. News resources here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
By TonyF on 12 October 2008 at 9:31AM
The next crew of the ISS, along with "space tourist" Richard Garriott, has launched aboard Soyuz TMA-13. They are chasing the Station now, and will dock on Tuesday. NASA reports:
Image above: Expedition 18 launches aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA TV
Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.
Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit, and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward.
With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.
Expedition 18 crew members will be welcomed by the Expedition 17 crew, including astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff, after their docking to the orbiting laboratory, scheduled for Tuesday. Chamitoff launched to the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery May 31. He joined Expedition 17 in progress and will provide Expedition 18 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.
Fincke, 41, is making his second long-duration flight on the station. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master's degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston, Clear Lake.
He served as an Air Force flight test engineer. He was selected by NASA in 1996. He was commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 2), working seven days on the seafloor off Florida in May 2002. He served as a flight engineer on station Expedition 9 from April to October 2004.
Lonchakov, 43, is a graduate of the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School and the Zhukovski Air Force Academy. He is a class 1 air force pilot. He has more than 1,400 hours of flight time. He also is a paratroop training instructor with 526 jumps.
He was selected as a test cosmonaut candidate in late 1997. He has flown two previous space missions, STS-100 to the station in April 2001 and a Soyuz delivery flight to the station in October and November 2002.
Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus is scheduled to fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff as a flight engineer on E18. Magnus, 43, will be replaced near the end of Expedition 18 by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will launch on Discovery on the STS-119 mission. Magnus holds bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology.
She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Magnus will be making her second spaceflight. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-112 in October 2002.
+ Read more about Expedition 18
+ Read more about Expedition 17
+ View crew timelines
Launch replays here. Launch pics here and here. News clip here. Expedition 18 pics are up at the JSC Gallery. Video clips here. Discussion here. News resources here. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
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