New Crew Blasts Off for International Space Station
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:09:58 -0700 (PDT)
Oct. 12, 2008
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749
katherine.trinidad@xxxxxxxx
Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@xxxxxxxx
RELEASE: 08-257
NEW CREW BLASTS OFF FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
HOUSTON -- A new crew that will live and work aboard the
International
Space Station rocketed into orbit early Sunday aboard a Soyuz
spacecraft. U.S. astronaut E. Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury
Lonchakov and Richard Garriott, a U.S. computer game developer,
lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:01 a.m.
CDT.
Fincke, the only American to launch twice on a Soyuz, will serve as
commander of the six-month Expedition 18 mission. The mission's main
focus will be preparing the station to house six crew members on
long-duration missions.
The Expedition 18 crew is scheduled to arrive at the station Tuesday,
with docking to the Zarya module scheduled for 3:33 a.m.
After the hatches are opened, Expedition 17 Commander Sergey Volkov
and spaceflight participant Garriott will become the first children
of previous space fliers to greet each other in orbit. Garriott is
the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who was a member of
the Skylab-3 crew in 1973. Volkov is the son of veteran cosmonaut
Alexander Volkov, who flew three Soyuz missions.
Garriott will spend nine days on the station under a commercial
agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will return to
Earth on Oct. 23 with Volkov and Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Oleg
Kononenko, who have worked aboard the station since April 10.
Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff, who arrived at the
station in June, will be replaced in November by NASA astronaut
Sandra Magnus. Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver Magnus and return
Chamitoff to Earth.
Endeavour's November STS-126 mission also will deliver equipment to
the station necessary for supporting a six-member crew, including a
water recycling system, sleeping quarters, a new kitchen, a second
toilet, and an advanced exercise device.
Although they will be in space on Election Day, Chamitoff and Fincke
have arranged for the chance to cast their ballots from the station.
For more information about the space station and how to view it from
Earth, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For more information about upcoming space shuttle missions and their
crews, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
-end-
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