posted 11-21-2011 05:16 PM               

The reins of the International Space Station (ISS) were passed from Expedition 29 commander Michael Fossum to his NASA colleague, newly-arrived Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank in a ceremony on the complex on Nov. 20, 2011.

Burbank and Roscosmos flight engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin arrived on the station on Nov. 16 for an expedited handover with Fossum, Roscosmos flight engineer Sergei Volkov and JAXA flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa, who are returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-02M.

posted 11-22-2011 03:05 PM               

Mission Control notifies station crew of possible conjunction

Mission Control notified the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station that they may have to take shelter early Wednesday (Nov. 23) because of a possible close call with a piece of space junk.

The object is a piece of debris about 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter from the Chinese Fengyun 1C weather satellite that was destroyed in 2007.

Commander Dan Burbank and flight engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin received a radio call [Listen to the call (1.74 MB mp3)] at 1:06 p.m. CST (1906 GMT) from flight director Ginger Kerrick, alerting them to the possibility. Kerrick was leading a small team in Mission Control, Houston while the crew was in an extended sleep shift following the overnight work associated with the departure of the Expedition 29 crew.

Predictions indicate the object may come within 2,800 feet (850 meters) of the station. If tracking continues to show the closest approach within a predetermined "pizza box" around the station, the crew will be directed to take precautions that include closing hatches between station modules and getting into their Soyuz spacecraft about 30 minutes before the time of closest approach, or no later than 3:30 a.m. CST (0930 GMT).

Standard procedure for such encounters is to maneuver the space station out of the way of the predicted path of the debris if there is enough time to coordinate the move. However, preparations for yesterday's undocking of the Soyuz bringing Mike Fossum, Satoshi Furukawa and Sergei Volkov home slightly changed the station's orbit, resulting in a closer approach. The object had been monitored earlier but was not then a threat.

Mission Control will continue to track the object, and inform the crew whether it will need to take shelter. If the crew does take shelter, NASA TV will provide live coverage of the activities on orbit starting at 3:35 a.m. CST.

posted 11-23-2011 02:46 AM               

Space debris no threat to station crew

Flight director Brian Smith called off planning to shelter the Expedition 30 crew in their Soyuz spacecraft after flight controllers evaluated tracking data on the Fengyun 1C satellite debris and concluded it poses no threat to the International Space Station.

Consideration was given for sheltering the crew in their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft after initial tracking information indicated a high probability of the debris colliding with the station. But further tracking data confirmed that the debris poses no threat to the station or the crew.

Commander Dan Burbank and flight engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, who were informed Tuesday of the possibility they would have to shelter in their Soyuz craft, were told when they woke up around midnight CST Wednesday that no such sheltering was required.

posted 12-02-2011 03:37 PM               

Expedition 30 Ask the Crew

NASA has announced a unique opportunity to ask the commander of the International Space Station a question about his role on the orbiting outpost.

Commander Dan Burbank will answer videotaped questions from the public during a live event tentatively set for Friday, Jan. 20 on NASA Television.

The video queries must be less than 30 seconds. Submitters should introduce themselves and mention their location. Questions must be posted as responses to a video Burbank recorded on YouTube.

posted 12-22-2011 08:09 PM               

Space Station Commander Captures Unprecedented View Of Comet

ISS Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy, viewed from about 240 miles above the Earth's horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Burbank described seeing the comet as "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space," in an interview with WDIV-TV in Detroit. Burbank took hundreds of still images of the comet.

posted 01-13-2012 06:14 AM               

Station to perform debris avoidance maneuver

Late Wednesday (Jan. 11) evening, U.S. Space Command informed the space station flight control team that it was tracking a piece of Iridium satellite debris that had a trajectory that would bring it close to the station.

Thursday afternoon (Jan. 12) International Space Station ballistics officers informed station flight director Emily Nelson that U.S. Space Command has confirmed the debris has the potential of a collision with the station.

As a result, Nelson gave the go to proceed with a debris avoidance maneuver for the station on Friday, with a firing of the Zvezda service module engines planned at 10:10 a.m. CST (1610 GMT).

The size of the piece of debris is about 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) in diameter. Without the maneuver, the object would have made two approaches to the station on consecutive orbits on Friday, passing with an overall miss distance of between one and 24 kilometers (0.62 and 14.9 miles).

The debris avoidance maneuver will eliminate the need for a reboost of the station next week. The reboost had been planned to put the station at the proper altitude for the launch and docking later this month of the Progress M-14M cargo ship.

posted 02-16-2012 08:28 AM               

Cosmonauts to conduct spacewalk

Two cosmonauts will conduct a six-hour spacewalk Thursday (Feb. 16) to continue outfitting the International Space Station.

Flight engineers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov will move one of the two Strela cranes from the Pirs docking compartment to begin preparing for its replacement next year with a new laboratory and docking module. The 46-foot crane will be relocated to the Poisk module for future assembly and maintenance work.

The duo also will install five debris shields on the Zvezda service module and, should time permit, a small experiment on the forward section of the module, an experiment sample pack on Poisk, and support struts on the Pirs ladder.

Both spacewalkers will wear Russian Orlan suits bearing blue stripes and equipped with NASA helmet cameras.

This spacewalk is the 162nd in support of space station assembly and maintenance. The last spacewalk occurred Aug. 3, 2011.

For Kononenko, it will be his third spacewalk following two in July 2008 during ISS Expedition 17. His two previous spacewalks lasted a total of 12 hours and 12 minutes.

It will be Shkaplerov's first spacewalk and the only one scheduled during Expedition 30.

Because of the location of the activities, Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank and flight engineer Anatoly Ivanishin will be isolated in Soyuz TMA-22, which is docked to the Poisk module, for the duration of the spacewalk.

Flight engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers will be free to move about the U.S. segment of the complex. Their Soyuz TMA-03M is attached to the Rassvet module.

posted 02-16-2012 06:15 PM               

Station cosmonauts complete spacewalk

Flight engineers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov wrapped up a six hour, 15 minute spacewalk at 2:46 p.m. CST (2046 GMT) on Thursday (Feb. 16).

The spacewalkers moved the Strela-1 crane from the Pirs docking compartment to begin preparing the Pirs for its replacement next year with a new laboratory and docking module.

Kononenko and Shkaplerov used another boom, the Strela-2, to move the hand operated crane to the Poisk module. Both telescoping booms extend like fishing rods and are used to move components outside the station.

This task was originally scheduled during an Expedition 28 spacewalk on Aug. 3, 2011, but was called off due to time constraints.

While Kononenko and Shkaplerov were on the exterior of Poisk, they also installed the Vinoslivost Materials Sample Experiment, which will investigate the influence of space on the mechanical properties of the materials.

The duo also collected a test sample from underneath the insulation on the Zvezda service module to look for signs of living organisms.

The two were unable to finish all the tasks planned for them, including the installation of five debris shields on Zvezda.

posted 03-02-2012 12:19 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by music_space:
Don Pettit has been writing a "Blog to Earth" for Air & Space magazine since 15 December.

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Editor's note: An attempt finally succeeded on March 4.

posted 03-23-2012 12:33 PM               

Possible debris flyby early Saturday

Mission Control informed Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank at 11:01 a.m. CDT of a possible close flyby with a piece of space debris from a spent Russian rocket body early Saturday, March 24.

Since it is too late to conduct a debris avoidance maneuver to steer the station clear of the object, the crew could be asked to take shelter in its respective Soyuz vehicles after it wakes up late Friday. Early tracking showed it is unlikely the space junk will come close enough to the station to require action by the crew, but Mission Control will remain vigilant and inform the crew if anything changes later today.

The piece of a Russian satellite is expected to make its closest approach about 1:38 a.m. CDT Saturday.

posted 03-23-2012 09:26 PM               

Crew to take shelter from debris early Saturday

Update: The debris passed safely in front of the space station. The crew was given the all clear to exit their Soyuz vehicles and return to their normal schedule.

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International Space Station flight director Jerry Jason decided Friday night (March 23) to direct the crew to take shelter in their respective Soyuz vehicles early Saturday. The decision was made after ballistics specialists received data showing a small possibility of a conjunction with a piece of debris from a Russian Cosmos satellite.

Although the data will likely prove that the debris is no threat to the station and the crew, so few tracking passes have been received so as to require a cautionary and prudent approach.

Jason notified the crew of the need for them to take shelter in their Soyuz as a precautionary measure. They will be awakened at 10:30 p.m. CDT to begin preparations.

The debris was first tracked Friday morning, but the late notification to the flight control team precluded planning for a maneuver to steer clear of the object. The debris is predicted to pass about 14 miles (23 kilometers) from the complex at its closest approach Saturday at 1:38 a.m. CDT.

Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin will enter Soyuz TMA-22 docked to the Poisk module on the space-facing side of the Zvezda service module.

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency will settle into Soyuz TMA-03M on the Earth-facing side of the Zarya module to wait for the debris to pass.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of the sheltering operation, beginning at 1:15 a.m.

It is the third time in station history that a crew has had to shelter in their Soyuz return craft due to the possibility of a conjunction with orbital debris and the first since June 2011.