A trio of astronauts and cosmonauts who have been living and working aboard the International Space Station for the past five months, have successfully returned to Earth.
The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft, carrying Soyuz commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin, and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, landed in the steppe of Kazakhstan at 3:29 a.m. Irish Standard Time on September 10.
Yurchikin and Vinogradov say goodbye before hatch closure
Prior to their departure from the station Expedition 36 commander Vinogradov handed command of the orbiting outpost to fellow space flight veteran Fyodor Yurchikin on September 9th. Yurchikin, who now holds the reigns of the ISS for the second time in his career, paid tribute to the Expedition 36 crew, and looked forward to all the work that will be done as part of Expedition 37;
"We want to continue to do our job well" said Yurchikin. "We would like to continue this programme. This programme is our future!"
Then the time came when the departing trio said their farewells to the rest of the astronauts who will still be living & working aboard the station; ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg; before closing the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station at 9:19 p.m.
With hatches closed, Cassidy, Vinogradov and Misurkin donned their Sokol launch and entry suits they would wear for landing.
Undocking occurred at 12:38 a.m. as the Soyuz slowly moved away from the International Space Station, marking the official beginning of Expedition 37.
A series of deorbit burns were performed at 3:05 a.m. to take the Soyuz out of Earth orbit and back into the atmosphere. The spacecraft's parachutes then opened, before a "Soft landing" of the Soyuz occurred at 3:58 a.m. southeast of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz landing
Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy return to Earth having spent 166 days in space.
Shortly after landing, search and rescue teams surrounded the charred Soyuz, before Vinogradov, Cassidy and Misurkin were extracted one by one from the spacecraft, and were then put into their own reclining chairs, while being attended to by medical staff. After a few phone calls to loved ones and celebratory photographs were taken, the three newly-returned space farers were lifted to a nearby medical tent for some tests.
Expedition 37 will comprise of a three person crew until the end of the month. Waiting back on Earth is the Soyuz TMA-10M crew, made up of cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazanskiy, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins. All three will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25.
Japan's HTV-4, Konoutori-4 cargo ship has successfully berthed to the International Space Station.
Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg smile
for the camera in the Cupola
as HTV-4 floats below the ISS.
credit: NASA
The Japanese HTV-4 (Nicknamed Konoutori-4), loaded with 3.6 tonnes of cargo and supplies for the astronauts aboard the orbiting complex, launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on August 3rd. For the past five and a half days, the vehicle has been performing a series of orbital maneuvers and burns in preparation for today's berthing to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony Node, which occurred at 3:38 p.m. UTC, while the International Space Station was flying high above the Southern Pacific Ocean.
HTV-4 entered its Approach Initiation phase shortly after 8 a.m. UTC, as the cargo ship edged its way closer to the International Space Station, travelling at a speed of 1 inch/second.
Konoutori-4 was then ordered to hold at a distance of 10m below the station, as both the HTV-4 and ISS were placed in free-drift- with all thrusters turned off. HTV-4 was then flawlessly grappled and captured by the the Space Station's robotic arm Canadarm2, which was controlled by NASA Astronaut and Expedition 36 Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg. Nyberg was assisted by her fellow flight engineers; NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy, and ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano. Capture was confirmed at 11:26 a.m. UTC, while the ISS flew 260 miles over the southern coast of South Africa.
HTV-4 docked to the International Space Station
credit: NASA
A short while later, Robotics Officer John Bellingham, working from Mission Control in Houston took control of Canadarm2, and slowly maneuvered HTV-4 into a mating position, before the cargo vehicle was finally bolted and berthed to the Nadir(Earth facing) port of the Harmony Module.
Cassidy, Nyberg and Parmitano will now focus on finishing up this week's set of scientific experiments, before turning their attention to preparing the vestibule between the HTV and the Harmony Module. Hatches between the two spacecraft are scheduled toopen at 11:30 a.m. UTC on Saturday, August 10th.
HTV-4 is expected to remain docked to the station for a little over a month, before leaving the complex, filled with trash and other items which will no longer be needed by the astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the ISS, departing on September 5th.
Back in December 2012, a trio of astronauts and cosmonauts launched from Kazakhstan bound for the International Space Station. They promised shots of our Earth from the vantage point of 250 miles above our heads. They didn't disappoint!
"The Moon, newly risen, perfect over a flowing blanket of cloud"
Credit: Chris Hadfield
Since arriving at the orbiting outpost almost five months ago, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut and Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield, and Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA, have sent social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ into a frenzy, by posting around a dozen photos each day of completely random places scattered across on Earth. One minute Marshburn might post a picture of Mount Etna in Italy puffing out smoke and gas from its vent, and a couple minutes later Hadfield might give us all a look at what Niagara Falls looks like from the space station.
For me, I have never felt so up to date and involved in what is being done on station. Every morning before I went to school, the first thing I would do would be to check Commander Hadfield's Twitter feed and get a small digest of what work would be conducted for the day on the orbiting laboratory- all summed up in 140 characters. Marvelous! What more could you want when you're rushing out the door!
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. I mean when these photos make national headlines all over the world you know that there's something special going on. It has allowed people to imagine they are inside the International Space Station, looking down at our fragile oasis and have that unique orbital perspective of our blue planet.
"Leaving is bittersweet. It's been an unbelievable ride.
Can't wait to see what's next!". credit: Tom Marshburn/NASA
Personally, I have had people who have no or very little interest or knowledge about what is being done on the ISS, coming up to me asking did I see the photo Tom Marshburn took of airplane contrails over Cork the previous day. That's pretty cool for me. It shows no matter how much you know or care about the manned space programme, you can still be stunned and encapsulated by these beautiful images beamed down from the guys. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some time in the future they renamed Flight Engineer to "Social Media Specialist" as an additional role for the astronauts at the rate it's going!
On a serious note, I think we all need to remember what an amazing achievement Expedition 35 really was scientifically. It's not like the guys have just been taking pictures since the moment they got up there. The departing crew set a record for the amount of experiments studied and completed in the entire 13 year history of the ISS-
"On a science side.. we set a record for utilisation, for the amount of time that was spent and the amount of research done during our tenure here aboard Expedition 35"said Hadfield as he handed over command of the International Space Station to Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov.
However, the hard work didn't not stop there. With a little under 4 days until Hadfield, Marshburn and fellow crew member Roman Romanenko were to return to Earth, an ammonia leak was spotted in the station's P6 Truss, prompting an emergency spacewalk. With just 48 hours notice, the spacewalk by Marshburn and Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy could not have gone any better, with initial reports indicating the leak had been fixed and there was no more leaking.
"For me it all really came together in the last 3 days... For me this is just the personification of what the International Space Station is, and what the people mean to it".
Spaceflight finale:
"To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn".
credit: Chris Hadfield/CSA
-Chris Hadfield
As the crew prepared to close the hatch between the ISS and the Soyuz, in typical Chris Hadfield style, the commander reflected on the future as he posted his last photo from space.
"To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn" -Chris Hadfield
Never before have us Earthlings been able to see and hear what it must be like to live aboard the International Space Station for nearly six months. We have been able to hear what it sounds like to run on the space station treadmill, float around from module to module inside this orbiting vessel, and what it sounds like when a Soyuz spacecraft docks, bringing three new crewmates to the station. We have never seen the crew answer questions from people all over the world quite like this, and I think they should be commended for this.
Keeping people up to date and sharing magnificent views is what makes people interested in space travel at the end of the day, and gives them that humble reminder with every photo that we all share this beautiful planet, and that we need to take care of it.
A few months ago while conducting an interview from the space station with the ground, NASA Astronaut Tom Marshburn described the view of our Earth whizzing by, below his feet as he finished his third EVA during STS-127. Sounding slightly disappointed, Marshburn mentioned it is a view he probably wouldn't experience again any time soon. This all changed on Friday.
Spacewalkers Cassidy and Marshburn conducted a 5 and a half hour EVA
Late on Thursday the 9th of May, Expedition 35 crew members currently aboard the station noticed white flakes leaking from the station's P6 Truss. Upon noticing the problem, station commander Chris Hadfield notified Houston- as he reported seeing "A very steady stream of flakes". These flakes turned out to be ammonia, used to keep things like the station's solar arrays and trusses cool and at a suitable temperature. This leak originated from the same area that Expedition 33 spacewalkers Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide(Who was present in Mission Control to offer his assistance) conducted an EVA back in 2012, in order to try and fix the coolant pump that was also leaking ammonia, but not at as fast a rate as it was on Thursday. You can see the video of the ammonia leak by watching the video below. The ammonia leak caused one of the International Space Station's eight solar arrays to be shut down.
For Marshburn and Cassidy, this is their fourth EVA each, having both walked in space during STS-127 on space shuttle Endeavour back in July 2009. The pair do not lack experience walking in space, having conducted two EVAs with eachother, which included a visit to this P6 Truss, so this leak could not have happened at a better time.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield acted as today's Intra-Vehicular Crew Member, supporting Airlock Ops and choreographing the EVA from inside
The main aim of the EVA was for Marshburn and Cassidy to exit the space station's Quest Airlock
in their space suits to inspect and possibly replace the pump leaking the ammonia.The EVA began at 1:44 p.m. GMT as the station flew 255 miles over the Sahara Desert.
Marshburn and Cassidy quickly got to work, translating the 150 feet along the station's Port truss in order to reach today's work site. At first, the pair didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, and little or no sign of the ammonia leak. "I see nothing off nominal" said Cassidy. As is the case with pretty much every spacewalk, the crew ran into some minor problems with bolts early on, but this was quickly overcome. Like a pair of tourists, Marshburn and Cassidy constantly took photo after photo of the work site in order to assist teams on the ground on the the condition of the area, and will also aid teams when future EVAs are conducted on the P6 Truss.
The old PFCS box(yellow) was replaced by a new, clean box(red).
credit: NASA
After overcoming problems with the flash on his camera, Marshburn continued to work alongside Cassidy in unbolting and removing the PFCS box in order to identify the source of the leak. No ammonia flakes were spotted by either astronaut, after initial inspection, not exactly what you want to hear when looking for a leak. The decision was then taken to replace the suspect box with a spare one located nearby. If all this information is too much for you, look at this picture- it might help explain it a bit better.
After the spare box was installed, the system was turned on in order to allow ammonia to flow into the station's cooling lines. After this procedure was initiated, keen eyes from Mission Control watched closely to see how the new Subsystem was performing, and also to look out if any ammonia began to leak out of it. Shortly after instillation, the moment of truth arrived, as the ammonia from the pump began to flow, recharging the coolant system in the process, with no leak visible.
A little over three and a half hours after the beginning of the Extra-Vehicular Activity, Marshburn and Cassidy declared that they had completed all the tasks they set out to achieve. The pair then were ordered to stay outside in the vacuum of space for a little while longer,in a process known as "Bake-Out"- in which Cassidy and Marshburn got rid of any ammonia contamination that may have gotten onto their spacesuits while working out at the Station's P6 Truss structure.
Cassidy and Marshburn take a quick timeout to pose for a photo during the EVA
credit: Chris Hadfield/NASA
Today's activities outside were brought to a close when the hatch to the Quest Airlock was closed at 7:14 p.m. GMT. The astronauts spent a total of 5 hours and 30 minutes outside and all in all, the spacewalk and repair could not have gone any better, with Marshburn and Cassidy finishing their excursion one hour ahead of schedule. It is still unclear at this present time what originally caused the ammonia leak, but seeing that no leak or flakes were visible after the new PFCS was installed, the old pump seemed to be the cause of the problem. Official confirmation of the source of the leak may take days, if not weeks to figure out.
Now all attention turns to the return of the Soyuz-TMA 07M spacecraft to Earth, carrying Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko, and today's spacewalker and space plumber Tom Marshburn after nearly six months in space. They are expected to make a parachute assisted landing in Kazakhstan at 3:30 a.m. GMT on Monday May 13.
Another seven EVAs are scheduled for this year, two of which will involve today's spacewalker Chris Cassidy. He will be accompanied by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, who will launch to the station on May 28.
The Soyuz TMA-08M crew has arrived at the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz TMA-08M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:43 p.m. GMT
Credit: NASA
The trio, made up of cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, launched aboard their Soyuz spacecraft from the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, lifting into the Kazakhstan sky at 8:43 p.m GMT.
However, what makes this Soyuz mission to the ISS special is that is is the first time a crew launching to the station used the six-hour rendezvous flight profile, previously tested on the last two Progress resupply missions to the orbiting laboratory.
Launch, rendezvous and docking to the space station in all previous Soyuz flights took two days to do so if all went according to plan. Today, the new trio arrived at their home for the next six moths in less time than it takes to fly a plane from London to New York!
The trio docked to the station's Poisk module at 2:28 a.m. GMT over the Pacific Ocean, a little under six hours after launching from Baikonur.
All six Expedition 35 crew members aboard the ISS Credit: NASA
The hatches between the Soyuz and the station's Poisk Module were opened at 4.35 a.m. GMT, when the crew was welcomed aboard by Station commander Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko, restoring the station to its full complement of six crew members.
Speaking in a NASA social media event recently, Expedition 32/33 Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of JAXA said "It's really cool... It's kind of interesting to see the transition from a two day rendezvous to just six hours". Hoshide who flew to the station after two days catching up in his Soyuz, marvels at the speed at which crews can now fly to the ISS- "You launch in the morning and then that afternoon you're already on the station".
Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy are scheduled to return to Earth in September.
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