14 DAY TRIAL // Other than Discovery’s atmospheric reentry, today will also see another important space event, in the docking of the Soyuz TMA-14 mission, carrying the Expedition 19 crew to the International Space Station, on the orbital facility. In addition, today marks a new record in the history of mankind, a day that sees the most human beings in space at the same time. With the three crew members aboard the ISS, the seven people on the Discovery, and the three astronauts on the Soyuz capsule, the grand total is now of 13 space explorers in orbit at the same time, an unprecedented record.
The Souyz TMA-14 mission took off on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 7:49 am ET (1149 GMT), and is scheduled to return to Earth on April 7th, carrying the core crew of the current Expedition 18 crew, NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, the acting commander of the space station, and Russian mission specialist Yury Lonchakov. Also hitching a ride on the Soyuz module is American software billionaire Charles Simonyi, who is currently on its second voyage to the ISS.
The two astronauts now on the laboratory will be replaced by NASA astronaut, flight engineer Michael Barratt, and Expedition 19 commander, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. The latter is at his second stage as commander of the station, having already served a tour of duty in orbit as commander of the Expedition 9 in 2004. The new crew will be made complete by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will be his country's first long-term resident of the ISS.
“Space station is a good example, very outstanding example, [of] how people can work together, can cooperate together, just using different technologies, we can supplement each other. And thank God all our nations, at last our countries, our agencies and people themselves, have matured in their ability to work together in space on behalf of all mankind,” to-be-commander Padalka told reporters before taking off for the space lab.
“We're looking very forward to welcoming them aboard in just a few days. It's going to be great to have them on board. Congratulations on another picture perfect launch,” Fincke said on Thursday, after the crew on the Soyuz successfully launched from Kazakhstan. He will give over the command of the ISS to Padalka in a ceremony scheduled to take place on April 2nd.