New
supplies arrived at the International Space Station Thursday as an unpiloted
Russian cargo spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module.
With
almost 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station's Expedition 14
crew, the ISS Progress 23 automatically docked to Zvezda at 9:29 a.m. CDT as
the spacecraft and the station flew 220 miles above Italy. The 23rd Progress to
visit the station was launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.
Following
the initial docking, the final latching of the Progress craft to the station
was delayed by about three and a half hours as Russian flight controllers
evaluated potential interference by an antenna on the spacecraft. At the time
of docking, flight controllers could not confirm that the antenna used by the
Progress' Kurs automated docking system had retracted as commanded. If the antenna
had remained extended, it could have interfered with the final latching of the
supply ship to the station.
After
reviewing data, Mission Control Moscow commanded the Progress' docking probe to
slowly retract, pulling the ship firmly into the port and aligning the hooks
and latches that hold it secure. Latches for the craft on the station were
secured at about 1 p.m. CDT. Flight controllers will command additional latches
on the Progress to close Friday. This allows the operation to be completed in a
normal manner over Russian communications sites.
uring
the hours between initial docking and final latching, the station's orientation
was allowed to drift to avoid any disturbance of the softly docked cargo ship.
The station's drift resulted in lower power generation by the solar arrays. The
crew then powered off several pieces of non-critical equipment as outlined in a
standard procedure that reduces power consumption. Soon after the latches were
closed, however, the station's attitude control was restored and power
generation was returned to normal.
Due
to the long operations Thursday, Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and
flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter will open the hatch to the
supply ship on Friday. Supplies on the Progress include food, fuel, oxygen and
air, clothing, experiment hardware and spare parts, as well as personal items
from the crew's families. The new Progress joins an older Progress supply ship
that arrived at the station’s Pirs Docking Compartment in June. Progress 22
will remain docked until mid-January. It will be used to stow trash, and its
supply of oxygen will help replenish the station’s atmosphere when required.
ISS
Progress 23 holds 1,918 pounds of propellant for the Russian thrusters, 110
pounds of oxygen and almost 2,800 pounds of spare parts, experiment hardware
and life support components, including parts for the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation
system. The system has been inoperable since last month, and Tyurin is expected
to resume repairs on the unit next week.
Engineers
continue to review data from the station’s S-band communications system, which
experienced dropouts late last week in the transmission link of one of two
redundant channels used for voice and commanding capability. After collecting
data last weekend from “string 1” of the S-band system, its transmitter was
reactivated Wednesday, but the communications problem occurred once again.
“String
2” of the system is being used for voice and commanding with no impact to
station activities. Flight controllers are analyzing the problem to determine
if any procedural adjustments must be made for the upcoming flight of Discovery
to the station on the STS-116 mission.
In
other activities, the crew conducted sound level measurements in the station’s
modules and installed cables in the Russian segment of the station. They
performed regular station maintenance and took time to chat with a reporter
from the Orange County Register in California on Tuesday. Reiter continued his
work with European plant growth experiments while throughout the week
Lopez-Alegria did log entries for a sleep experiment.
In
two weeks, the crew will begin preparations for a spacewalk Nov. 22 by Tyurin
and Lopez-Alegria in Russian Orlan suits from the Pirs Docking Compartment to
replace and retrieve several science experiments from the hull of the Zvezda
Service Module. Tyurin also plans to hit a golf ball from a bracket on Pirs as
part of a Russian commercial activity