Important Space Event's Coverage Went East Last Week

NASA tells us that things were going as planned aboard the International Space Station, now abuzz with the sounds of voices other than those of Malenchenko and Lu (L, R, in front, below), who have for months been the two loneliest guys in the world... or out of the world, as the case may be.

The International Space Station's newest crew of Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri officially boarded the complex when hatches between its Soyuz spacecraft swung open Monday at 5:19 a.m. CDT ( 1019 GMT, 2:19 p.m. Moscow time). They were joined by visiting researcher, European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque.

Greeting them on the station were Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, who are 177 days into their six months in space. The two crews are conducting eight days of joint operations and research before Expedition 7 and Duque return home on October 27.

Among those observing the on orbit arrival of Expedition 8 to the station were NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy and International Space Station Program Manager William Gerstenmaier. Both talked to the five station crew members delivering best wishes for the mission.

The plan for the two crews includes eight days of handover activities and scientific experiments carried out by Duque for Spanish and other European scientists under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

After lunch Monday, the new crewmembers received a safety briefing from Malenchenko and Lu and installed a seat liner for Duque in the Soyuz that is earmarked for landing October 27 (U.S. time); then they began setting up a host of Duque's equipment previously launched on Russian Progress resupply spacecraft.

The crews went to bed about 3 p.m. CDT Monday and woke up at midnight this morning to begin their first full day of joint operations. Expedition 8 officially will take control of Station operations October 27 when Malenchenko, Lu and Duque close the hatches between their returning Soyuz and the station. Foale and Kaleri will remain on board until late April 2004.

FMI: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/; http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/