14 DAY TRIAL // In less than a month, the first long-term JAXA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Koichi Wakata, will be returned to Earth by the space shuttle Endeavor, during the STS-127 assembly mission. Despite the fact that the launch is still some 23 days away, and the docking procedure a couple of days later, the Expedition 19 crew has already started working on preparations to better accommodate their guests. Wakata, together with station commander Gennedy Padalka and US astronaut Michel Barratt have already begun to set up the ISS for next month's visit, and are currently performing a series of tests and diagnostics aboard the facility.
Yesterday, the Japanese astronaut started maneuvering the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, or the Dextre instrument aboard the ISS, into its position, ready to observe Endeavor during its final approach to the station's docking port. Barratt conducted a series of bacterial measurements on water samples collected from around the station, using the Water Microbiology Kit. The instrument is able to give a highly precise bacterial count, and also to assess if the liquid is safe to eat.
Two days ago, the two astronauts removed a check valve from the station's now-infamous Urine Recycling System, while mission controllers in Houston ran the first successful recycling sequence in the new device. This means that astronauts will now again be able to rely on the machine for their daily needs, after numerous delays and glitches made the recycler the laughing stock of the entire world, getting widespread attention in the press and on the Internet.
During the June visit to the ISS, the space shuttle Endeavor, which is currently still docked at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, as part of the STS-400 mission to aid Atlantis, will carry Wakata's replacement, NASA Flight Engineer Timothy Kopra, to the orbital station. The new crew member will also stay aboard the station for three months, like his predecessor, and will occupy the same position. The other six crew members of the STS-127 mission will be Mark L. Polansky (commander), Douglas G. Hurley (pilot), and mission specialists Christopher J. Cassidy, Julie Payette, David A. Wolf, and Thomas H. Marshburn.