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  ISS 16: Soyuz TMA-11 Oct. 10 launch

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Author Topic:   ISS 16: Soyuz TMA-11 Oct. 10 launch
Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-09-2007 06:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA: Expedition 16 Ready for Launch

quote:
The Soyuz rocket that will launch Expedition 16 to the International Space Station was placed at its launch pad over the weekend.

Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday at 9:22 a.m. EDT.

Two days later the Soyuz TMA-11 vehicle carrying the new crew will dock to the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module.


Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-09-2007 06:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Expedition 16's Soyuz rocket fairing includes a tribute to Sputnik's 50th anniversary.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-10-2007 08:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Expedition 16 in Orbit, Heads to Station

Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor are in orbit and on their way to the International Space Station.

Their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 9:22 a.m. EDT today and entered orbit less than 10 minutes later. They will dock to the ISS on Friday at about 10:52 a.m.

Jay Chladek
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From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 10-10-2007 08:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jay Chladek   Click Here to Email Jay Chladek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just watched the launch of Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew onboard via the NASA TV feed over the web. Quite a pretty sight actually and I'm glad to see they got up safely. Man I wish I could do that!

Robert Pearlman
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posted 10-10-2007 09:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

ejectr
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From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 10-10-2007 02:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ejectr   Click Here to Email ejectr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Do they ever have weather delays there? It seems like they launch pretty much when they say they will.

mjanovec
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posted 10-10-2007 02:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ejectr:
Do they ever have weather delays there? It seems like they launch pretty much when they say they will.

I can't really answer your question with regards to weather delays being an issue with Russian launches. But if comparing their program to the US shuttle program, keep in mind that the shuttle needs to have weather clearance at several sites for abort scenarios where emergency landings may be necessary. With the Russian craft, perfect visibility isn't likely as necessary in the event of an abort. So my guess is that weather isn't nearly as big of a consideration for Russian launches.

Jay Chladek
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From: Bellevue, NE, USA
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posted 10-10-2007 05:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jay Chladek   Click Here to Email Jay Chladek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Another thing too is that KSC is in the middle of a tropical region and Florida is practically the lightning capitol of the world. Baikonur on the otherhand is practically in the middle of a temporate desert area with much more stable weather.

But at the same time, the Russians don't seem to have the same weather constraints. Remember when they launched the Buran in 1988? That was done practically in the middle of a snow storm (but it was also unmanned).

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-12-2007 05:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
quote:
First Woman Station Commander Arrives for Historic Spaceflight

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson arrived at the International Space Station Friday to begin her tenure as the first woman to command a station mission.

Whitson, Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysian Spaceflight Participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor docked their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft to the station at 10:50 a.m. EDT. The crew launched on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Whitson officially will become the station commander after a ceremony Friday, Oct. 19, at approximately 3:15 p.m. EDT. This change of command event will mark the formal handover of the station to Whitson and Malenchenko, just days before the Expedition 15 crew members and Shukor depart.

"I think it's special that I get the opportunity to play that role," Whitson said when asked about being the first woman station commander. "But I think it's also special to have an opportunity to demonstrate how many other women also work at NASA."

Another female astronaut, space shuttle Discovery Commander Pam Melroy, will reach another milestone in late October when she and her crew arrive at the station. It will mark the first time two women have led space missions at the same time.

To familiarize themselves with station systems and procedures, Expedition 16's Whitson and Malenchenko will conduct more than a week of handover activities with Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and Expedition 15 and 16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. Whitson and two other crew members will perform three spacewalks during Expedition 16 to prepare the station for the activation of the Harmony node. The Expedition 16 spacewalks also will prepare for the relocations of Harmony and Pressurized Mating Adapter-2, a docking port.

This is Whitson's second six-month rotation aboard the orbiting complex. She previously served as a flight engineer on Expedition 5 in 2002, when she became NASA's first station science officer, conducting 21 investigations in human and life sciences. During that mission, she also used the station's robotic arm to help add two truss segments to the station's backbone and performed a spacewalk to install debris shielding.

Whitson was born and raised in Iowa, where at an early age she was inspired by the men who walked on the moon. "I thought 'what a cool job!"

She decided she wanted to fly in space after graduating from high school, which was the same year they picked the first set of female astronauts. Whitson knew she wanted to work for NASA, if not as an astronaut, then as a scientist.

Whitson received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981 and a doctorate in biochemistry from Rice University in 1985. From 1989 to 1993, Whitson worked as a research biochemist in the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. For the next several years, she held a number of senior positions within NASA until her selection as an astronaut in 1996.

When Whitson returns home in April 2008, she will hold yet another distinction, that of having spent more time in space than any other woman.


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