Sun, Sep 26, 2004
Padalka and Fincke have less than 30 days before return to
earth
With less than a month remaining in their stay aboard the
International Space Station, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka
and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke are preparing the orbiting
complex for its next residents. The crew's work this week included
taking inventory, performing maintenance on exercise equipment and
continued troubleshooting of the onboard oxygen generator.
Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, announced this week
the next Station crew will launch at 11:17 p.m. CDT Oct. 10 aboard
a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The
Expedition 10 crew commander is Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov
is flight engineer. Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri
Shargin will accompany them for launch and spend about a week
aboard the Station. Padalka, Fincke and Shargin will return to
Earth Oct. 19.
This week, Padalka and Fincke performed routine maintenance work
on the station's treadmill, a job done every six months. The
treadmill provides cardiovascular training.
Additional troubleshooting work continued on the Elektron
oxygen-generating unit. It produces breathing oxygen from
wastewater. Sporadic operations of the unit led the Russian flight
control team to believe contamination was preventing proper
pressurization in a hydrogen line. Padalka cleaned the line.
Further work is planned this weekend. As oxygen is generated from
water by the unit, hydrogen is dumped overboard.
While the Elektron work continued, the Station's atmosphere was
repressurized twice this week using oxygen from tanks on the
Progress supply craft docked to the Station. If needed, many
months' supply of oxygen is available for the crew even without the
use of the Elektron. Oxygen is available on the Station in Progress
tanks, Station tanks and oxygen-generating canisters.
The crew also continued to prepare for its trip home by taking
food and hardware inventory. They also began stowing cargo
containers and personal items for the return trip.
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