The Russian Rocket Soyuz arrived at the International Space Station early on Sunday morning, bringing fresh supplies and scientific equipment and the promise of a trip home for the two-man ISS crew.
The Soyuz lifted off from Kazakhstan Thursday evening and only needed two days to make the relief trip, which will provide a change of crews for the space station. The three-man Soyuz capsule featured a crew of one Russian cosmonaut, an American astronaut and an Italian scientist, who will be leaving with the current members of the space station.
According to ABCNews.com, the replacement crew will be overseeing the arrival of the Discovery space shuttle, which is scheduled to launch between May 15 and June 3, 2005. The expected Discovery docking will be the first space shuttle to dock with the ISS since the Columbia disaster in February 1, 2003.
One of Krikalev and Phillips’ key tasks during their six-month mission will be to observe the condition of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery when it arrives in the first shuttle launch since the Columbia shuttle disaster on Feb. 1, 2003. The two will conduct a photo survey of the Discovery’s insulating tiles as the shuttle docks.
Since the Columbia disaster, the Russian Soyuz capsule has been the only means of getting astronauts to the station. Russian cargo ships alone have delivered fresh supplies in the interim.
Read NASA’s release for more information.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
