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Three astronauts to dock with ISS
Moscow, Apr 21: A Soyuz rocket carrying a US and Dutch astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will dock with the International Space Station today, to install vital equipment and carry out a slew of experiments at the multi-national project.
Moscow, Apr 21: A Soyuz rocket carrying a US and Dutch astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will dock with the International Space Station today, to install vital
equipment and carry out a slew of experiments at the multi-national project.
The three astronauts who blasted off Monday are expected due to dock at the station some 400 kilometers above the Earth at 1034 IST today.
US astronaut Edward Michael Fincke and Russia's Gennady Padalka will replace Michael Foale and Alexander Kalery, who have been there since last October.
The docking would be fully automatic, Russian space officials quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency said, adding however that Padalka would stand by to take over if anything went wrong. Padalka and Fincke are to remain at the station for six months, during which they will perform two space walks in June and august to install equipment necessary for the Jules Verne, a European-built new automated transfer vehicle, which is due to arrive at the station in April 2005.
Andre Kuipers, a Dutchman who is making his maiden space voyage on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), will stay at the ISS for nine days before returning to Earth with Foale and Kalery on April 30.
Kuipers is to perform 21 experiments, including studying the effect of weightlessness on blood pressure and heartbeat, as part of the "delta" project -- the Dutch expedition for life science, technology and atmospheric research.
Bureau Report
US astronaut Edward Michael Fincke and Russia's Gennady Padalka will replace Michael Foale and Alexander Kalery, who have been there since last October.
The docking would be fully automatic, Russian space officials quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency said, adding however that Padalka would stand by to take over if anything went wrong. Padalka and Fincke are to remain at the station for six months, during which they will perform two space walks in June and august to install equipment necessary for the Jules Verne, a European-built new automated transfer vehicle, which is due to arrive at the station in April 2005.
Andre Kuipers, a Dutchman who is making his maiden space voyage on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), will stay at the ISS for nine days before returning to Earth with Foale and Kalery on April 30.
Kuipers is to perform 21 experiments, including studying the effect of weightlessness on blood pressure and heartbeat, as part of the "delta" project -- the Dutch expedition for life science, technology and atmospheric research.
Bureau Report