Wed, Apr 06, 2011
TMA-21 Lifts Off Just Shy Of 50th Anniversary Of First Manned
Spaceflight
One week shy of the 50th anniversary of the first human
spaceflight, NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Andrey
Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev launched to the International
Space Station at 1818 EDT Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. The Soyuz rocket that lifted Garan, Borisenko and
Samokutyaev into orbit was decorated with Yuri Gagarin's name. The
mission lifted off from the same launch pad used April 12, 1961,
when Gagarin became the first human to journey into space.
The crew is scheduled to dock its Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft to the
station's Poisk port at 1918 on Wednesday, April 6. The crew
members will join Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and
Flight Engineers Cady Coleman of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the
European Space Agency, who have been aboard the orbiting laboratory
since December 2010.
During Expedition 27, the six-person crew will continue
scientific research, perform station maintenance and welcome two
visiting vehicles. In addition to space shuttle Endeavour's planned
visit during the STS-134 mission, the Expedition 27 crew is
expecting the arrival of the 42nd Russian Progress cargo ship near
the end of April.
Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli are scheduled to depart the
station May 16. NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Russian cosmonaut
Sergei Volkov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut
Satoshi Furukawa are scheduled to join Garan, Borisenko and
Samokutyaev aboard the station to complete the Expedition 28 crew.
Their launch is set for May 30.
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