14 DAY TRIAL // The three-astronaut crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is about to be restored to its full glory soon, as three new space flyers are poised to launch this evening from Kazakhstan.
They will embark aboard the Soyuz TMA-01M space capsule, which will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the Kazakh steppes, at 2310 GMT today, October 7.
Two cosmonauts from the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) will be accompanied by a NASA astronaut in joining the rest of the Expedition 25 crew already in orbit.
This is the first mission to launch on the new version of the Soyuz spacecraft. This model features new cooling system for its electronics, alongside new guidance, navigation, control and data processing systems.
RosCosmos officials say that this particular launch will also carry additional meaning because it will take place from the same launch pad that sent the first artificial satellite ever in Earth's orbit.
The Sputnik was launched on October 4, 1957, in what would be a glove thrown for the United States. That historic launch is what made the US put a man on the Moon in response.
The Soyuz crew will be made up of cosmonauts Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. The three are scheduled to catch up and docking with the ISS on October 9.
According to the flight manifest, Soyuz TMA-01M will attach itself to the rooftop docking port on the Russian-built Poisk module. The section was added to the station last year.
Docking is scheduled for Saturday at 8:02 pm EDT (0002 GMT Sunday), Space reports.
Waiting for the astronauts in orbit are flight engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin (RosCosmos) and Shannon Walker (NASA), alongside Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock (NASA).
An interesting thing to note about astronaut Scott Kelly is that his brother, Mark Kelly, is scheduled to fly to the ISS aboard Endeavor's STS-134 mission, scheduled for February 2011.
“I feel pretty confident that we'll meet in space. On a personal level, it will be great to have two shuttles visit while I'm up there. Having my brother on the last one will make it even more special,” Scott Kelley said in an interview.
“Even though we bring different cultures and different schools of thought and different backgrounds to the work, you have to learn and evolve with time how to work together with the partners,” Kaleri said before the flight.
“This is not just the most difficult but probably the most interesting part of the job as well,” he added.
Aleksandr Yuriyevich Kaleri is the veteran cosmonaut on the new flight, having already participated in several long-term stays in space, aboard both the ISS and the Russian-built space station Mir.
He has spent nearly 610 combined days in space, and has a total of 25 hours and 45 minutes of extra-vehicular activities (EVA) under his belt. He will be part of the Expedition 25/26 crew.