Move Soyuz Capsule To Zvezda Docking Port

In a brief "field trip" away from the International Space Station, ISS Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Sunita Williams moved their Soyuz TMA spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module to the aft port of the Zvezda module Thursday.

NASA reports the Soyuz docked at the Zvezda port at 1854 EDT, almost 30 minutes after the undock command. During that time, the crew traveled about a third of the way around the world -- but the Soyuz only moved along the station about 80 feet from where it started.

The move, with Tyurin at the controls, was made to clear the Zarya port for the arrival of Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, along with spaceflight participant (NASA's somewhat 'through-gritted-teeth' term for space tourists) Charles Simonyi.

Docking the Expedition 15 Soyuz to the now-vacant Zarya port after that crew's scheduled April 7 launch will allow them to avoid a relocation move later in their expedition.

In preparation for Thursday's activities, the unpiloted Progress 23 cargo craft was undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda service module on Tuesday. The cargo craft, filled with trash and unneeded items from the station, was commanded several hours after undocking to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/station