Sun, May 11, 2003
Malenchenko And Lu Setting Up Shop
Just the two of us
We can make it if we try
Just the two of us
Just the two of us
Building castles in the sky
Just the two of us
You and I
--Bill Withers, "Just The Two Of Us"
ISS Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science
Officer Ed Lu are wrapping up their first week of independent
operations aboard the International Space Station after departure
of their Expedition 6 predecessors on May 3. A Russian holiday gave
them some time off Saturday.
The week began with Sunday and Monday off for Malenchenko and Lu
to help them become accustomed to their home for the next six
months. An hour of ISS familiarization followed on Tuesday, along
with standard maintenance and inspection activities.
Does Rotor-Rooter Make ISS Calls?
The station's toilet system underwent three hours of periodic
maintenance on Wednesday, with Malenchenko changing out elements,
including hoses and filter inserts. Lu also had a three-hour
project, inspecting emergency lighting power sources in the
station's US segment.
The first medical tests for the new crew were a Thursday
highlight. The experiments looked at crew body mass, red blood cell
count and heart activity. The Resistive Exercise Device (RED) was
out of kilter, showing higher than normal resistance and making
unusual sounds.
Saturday was a Russian holiday, Victory Day, marking the end of
World War II in Europe. The crew had the day off, but they did
perform scheduled maintenance and two sessions each of physical
exercise. Lu changed out canisters on the RED. The device is
functioning well after the canister exchange.
Meanwhile, the Expedition 6 crew remains at Star City, the
Russian cosmonaut training center near Moscow, after its landing in
Kazakhstan on May 3. E6 Commander Ken Bowersox, Cosmonaut Nikolai
Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit are undergoing
debriefings and physical rehabilitation. Bowersox and Pettit are
scheduled to return to Johnson Space Center a little over a week
from now.
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