Tuesday 31 March 2009
Space Shuttle Atlantis
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- After safely reaching its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis now awaits liftoff for its target May 12 STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis arrived at Launch Pad 39A at approximately 9:10 a.m. EDT Tuesday on top of a giant crawler-transporter. The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 3:54 a.m., traveling less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 11:17 a.m. Atlantis' 11-day mission is the final shuttle flight to Hubble.
During five spacewalks, the shuttle's seven astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace other Hubble components. The Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit that will be installed in the telescope arrived at Kennedy on Monday. The new unit will replace the one in Hubble that stopped working in September 2008 and delayed the servicing mission. The result of the upgrades will be six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond those now available and an extended operational lifespan of the telescope through at least 2014.
Scott Altman will command Atlantis. Gregory C. Johnson will be the pilot. The Mission Specialists will be John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good. STS-125 is the 126th shuttle flight, the 30th flight for Atlantis and the fifth Hubble servicing mission.
Space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Kennedy's other launch pad, 39B, on Thursday, April 17. Endeavour will be prepared for liftoff in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary following Atlantis' launch. After Atlantis is cleared to land, Endeavour will move to Launch Pad 39A for its upcoming STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch in mid-June. Endeavour will roll over from Kennedy's Orbiter Processing Facility 2 to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 10. In the assembly building, crews will attach the spacecraft to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters in preparations for its move to pad 39B.
NASA managers decided to proceed with the dual-pad approach after carefully reviewing the manifest options to complete the International Space Station and to ensure it is in the most robust condition possible following shuttle retirement. The dual-pad approach requires one month less processing time than the single-pad approach and will help complete both STS-125 and STS-127.
Endeavour will deliver the Japanese Exposed Facility and make the space station more robust to support cargo delivery for a six-person crew. The Space Shuttle Program will continue to work with the Constellation Program to minimize the impact on the Ares I-X test flight which will use Launch Pad 39B later this year.
For STS-125 and STS-127 souvenirs and a whole lot more visit the SPACEBOOSTERS Online Store
Astronaut James Lovell
NASA Honours Gemini and Apollo Astronaut James Lovell
WASHINGTON -- NASA will honour astronaut James "Jim" Lovell, Jr., with the presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his contributions to the U.S. space program. During a ceremony Friday, April 3, Lovell will accept the award at the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park, Md., and present it to the museum for display. NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America's goal of going to the moon. The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite, mounted for public display. The rock is part of the 842 pounds of lunar samples collected during six Apollo expeditions from 1969 to 1972. Lovell was born in Cleveland and received his bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1952. He spent four years as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, now the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
Monday 30 March 2009
Astronauts & Cosmonauts
This post includes Space Explorers 301 to Current,
There are currently 490 Space Explorers...and counting
301. Richard Searfoss STS 58
302. William McArthur STS 58
303. David Wolf STS 58
304. Martin Fettman STS 58
305. Yuri Usachev Soyuz TM-18
306. Ronald Sega STS 60
307. Thomas Jones STS 59
308. Yuri Malenchenko Soyuz TM-19
309. Talgat Musabayev Soyuz TM-19
310. James Halsell STS 65
311. Leroy Chiao STS 65
312. Donald Thomas STS 65
313. Chiaki Mukai STS 65
314. Jerry Linenger STS 64
315. Terrence Wilcutt STS 68
316. Steven Smith STS 68
317. Yelena Kondakova Soyuz TM-20
318. Joseph Tanner STS 66
319. Jean-Francois Clervoy STS 66
320. Scott Parazynski STS 66
321. Eileen Collins STS 63
322. William Gregory STS 67
323. John Grunsfeld STS 67
324. Wendy Lawrence STS 67
325. Vladimir Dezhurov Soyuz TM-21
326. Nikolai Budarin STS 71
327. Kevin Kregel STS 70
328. Mary Ellen Weber STS 70
329. Yuri Gidzenko Soyuz TM-22
330. Thomas Reiter Soyuz TM-22
331. Michael Gernhardt STS 69
332. Kent Rominger STS 73
333. Catherine Coleman STS 73
334. Michael Lopez-Alegria STS 73
335. Fred Leslie STS 73
336. Albert Sacco, Jr STS 73
337. Chris Hadfield STS 74
338. Brent Jett, Jr. STS 72
339. Winston Scott STS 72
340. Koichi Wakata STS 72
341. Daniel Barry STS 72
342. Yuri Onufrienko Soyuz TM-23
343. Scott Horowitz STS 75
344. Maurizio Cheli STS 75
345. Umberto Guidoni STS 75
346. Andrew Thomas STS 77
347. Richard Linnehan STS 78
348. Charles Brady STS 78
349. Jean-Jacques Favier STS 78
350. Robert Thirsk STS 78
351. Valeri Korzun Soyuz TM-24
352. Claudie André-Deshays Soyuz TM-24
353. Alexander Lazutkin Soyuz TM-25
354. Reinhold Ewald Soyuz TM-25
355. Susan Kilrain STS 83
356. Roger Crouch STS 83
357. Gregory Linteris STS 83
358. Carlos Noriega STS 84
359. Edward Lu STS 84
360. Pavel Vinogradov Soyuz TM-26
361. Robert Curbeam STS 85
362. Stephen Robinson STS 85
363. Bjarni Tryggvason STS 85
364. Michael Bloomfield STS 86
365. Steven Lindsey STS 87
366. Kalpana Chawla STS 87
367. Takao Doi STS 87
368. Leonid Kadenyuk STS 87
369. Joe Edwards STS 89
370. James Reilly STS 89
371. Michael Anderson STS 89
372. Salizan Sharipov STS 89
373. Leopold Eyharts Soyuz TM-27
374. Scott Altman STS 90
375. Kathryn Hire STS 90
376. Dafydd Rhys Williams STS 90
377. Jay Buckey STS 90
378. James Pawelczyk STS 90
379. Dominic Gorie STS 91
380. Janet Kavandi STS 91
381. Gennadi Padalka Soyuz TM-28
382. Yuri Baturin Soyuz TM-28
383. Pedro Duque STS 95
384. Frederick Sturckow STS 88
385. Ivan Bella Soyuz TM-29
386. Rick Husband STS 96
387. Julie Payette STS 96
388. Valeri Tokarev STS 96
389. Jeffrey Ashby STS 93
390. Scott Kelly STS 103
391. Gerhard Thiele STS 99
392. Sergei Zalyotin Soyuz TM-30
393. Jeff Williams STS 101
394. Dan Burbank STS 106
395. Richard Mastracchio STS 106
396. Boris Morukov STS 106
397. Pamela Melroy STS 92
398. Mark Polansky STS 98
399. James Kelly STS 102
400. Paul Richards STS 102
401. John Phillips STS 100
402. Yuri Lonchakov STS 100
403. Dennis Tito Soyuz TM-32
404. Charles Hobaugh STS 104
405. Patrick Forrester STS 105
406. Mikhail Turin STS 105
407. Konstantin Kozeev Soyuz TM-33
408. Mark Kelly STS 108
409. Daniel Tani STS 108
410. Duane Carey STS 109
411. Michael Massimino STS 109
412. Steven Frick STS 110
413. Rex Walheim STS 110
414. Lee Morin STS 110
415. Roberto Vittori Soyuz TM-34
416. Mark Shuttleworth Soyuz TM-34
417. Paul Lockhart STS 111
418. Phillipe Perrin STS 111
419. Peggy Whitson STS 111
420. Sergei Treschev STS 111
421. Sandra Magnus STS 112
422. Piers Sellers STS 112
423. Fyodor Yurchikin STS 112
424. Frank DeWinne Soyuz TMA-1
425. John Herrington STS 113
426. Don Pettit STS 113
427. Willie McCool STS 107
428. David Brown STS 107
429. Laurel Clark STS 107
430. Ilan Ramon STS 107
431. Yang Liwei Shenzhou 5
432. Michael Fincke Soyuz TMA-4
433. Andre Kuipers Soyuz TMA-4
434. Yuri Shargin Soyuz TMA-5
435. Charles Camarda STS 114
436. Soichi Noguchi STS 114
437. Greg Olsen Soyuz TMA 7
438. Fei Junlong Shenzhou 6
439. Nie Haisheng Shenzhou 6
440. Marcos Pontes Soyuz TMA-8
441. Mike Fossum STS 121
442. Lisa Nowak STS 121
443. Stephanie Wilson STS 121
444. Chris Ferguson STS 115
445. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper STS 115
446. Anousheh Ansari Soyuz TMA-9
447. William Oefelein STS 116
448. Nicholas Patrick STS 116
449. Christer Fugelsang STS 116
450. Joan Higginbotham STS 116
451. Sunita Williams STS 116
452. Oleg Kotov Soyuz TMA-10
453. Charles Simonyi Soyuz TMA-10
454. Lee Archambault STS 117
455. Steven Swanson STS 117
456. John Olivas STS 117
457. Clayton Anderson STS 117
458. Tracy Caldwell STS 118
459. Barbara Morgan STS 118
460. Alvin Drew STS 118
461. Muszaphar Shukor Soyuz TMA-11
462. George Zamka STS-120
463. Douglas Wheelock STS-120
464. Paolo Nespoli STS-120
465. Alan Poindexter STS-122
466. Leland Melvin STS-122
467. Stanley Love STS-122
468. Gregory H. Johnson STS 123
469. Robert Behnken STS 123
470. Michael Foreman STS 123
471. Garrett Reisman STS 123
472. Sergei Volkov Soyuz TMA-12
473. Oleg Kononenko Soyuz TMA-12
474. Yi So-yeon Soyuz TMA-12
475. Kenneth Ham STS-124
476. Karen Nyberg STS-124
477. Ronald Garan STS-124
478. Akihiko Hoshide STS-124
479. Gregory Chamitoff STS-124
480. Liu Boming Shenzhou 7
481. Zhai Zhigang Shenzhou 7
482. Jing Haipeng Shenzhou 7
483. Richard Garriott Soyuz TMA-13
484. Eric Boe STS-126
485. Stephen Bowen STS-126
486. Robert Kimbrough STS-126
487. Dominic "Tony" Antonelli STS-119
488. Joseph Acaba STS-119
489. Richard "Ricky" Arnold STS-119
490. Michael Barratt Soyuz TMA-14
Space Collectables and Souvenirs available from the SPACEBOOSTERS Online Store
NASA Space info available at NASA-Space
Atlantis moves towards pad
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis' rollout to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has been rescheduled to begin at 4 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 31, as preparations for the STS-125 mission move forward. Atlantis is targeted to lift off May 12 to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television's live coverage of the event will begin at 6:30 a.m. Video highlights will air on the NASA TV Video File. Journalists are invited to a photo opportunity of the shuttle's move to the pad and an interview opportunity with Atlantis Flow Director Angie Brewer at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Dates and times of this event are subject to change. Updates are available by calling 321-867-2525. Reporters must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday for transportation to the viewing area. Media accreditation for this event has closed. Badges can be picked up through Tuesday at the Kennedy Badging Office on State Road 405. The badging office opens at 6 a.m. The fully assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters is mounted on a mobile launcher platform and will be delivered to the pad atop a crawler-transporter. The crawler will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take approximately six hours. During Atlantis' 11-day mission, the crew of seven astronauts will make the final shuttle flight to Hubble. During five spacewalks, they will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace components. The result will be six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what is now available, and an extended operational lifespan for the telescope through at least 2014. Scott Altman will be the commander of Atlantis. Gregory C. Johnson will be the pilot. Mission specialists will be John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good.
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NASA Honours Astronaut Ken Mattingly
May - Space Shuttle Hubble Mission
Image Above: Goddard engineers re-install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument into its Shuttle carrier at the Payload Hazardous Systems Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The SM4 flight hardware is being prepared to re-enter the Shuttle launch flow in preparation for a May 12 launch.nbsp; Image Credit: NASA
STS-125 Mission Collectables available from the Spaceboosters Online Store
Friday 27 March 2009
New Crew for ISS
Soyuz TMA-14 Launch to the Interrnational Space Station
HOUSTON -- The 19th crew to live and work aboard the International Space Station launched into orbit Thursday morning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, and spaceflight participant and U.S. software engineer Charles Simonyi lifted off at 6:49 a.m. CDT.
They are scheduled to dock with the station at 8:14 a.m. Saturday, March 28. Padalka will serve as commander of Expeditions 19 and 20 aboard the station. Barratt will serve as a flight engineer for those two missions. Padalka and Barratt's other crewmate is Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. He arrived to the station March 17 on space shuttle Discovery. Simonyi, flying to the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, previously visited the complex in April 2007. He is the first spaceflight participant to make a second flight to the station and will spend 10 days aboard. Simonyi will return to Earth April 7 with Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, who have been on the station since October 2008.
The Expedition 19 crew will continue science investigations and prepare for the arrival of the rest of the station's first six-person contingent. Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will launch from Baikonur on May 27, arriving at the station on May 29. After all the astronauts are aboard, Expedition 20 will begin, ushering in an era of six-person station crews.
This mission also will be the first time the crew members represent all five International Space Station partners. For more information about the space station and how to view it from Earth, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Expedition 19 memorabilia and collectables available from the SPACEBOOSTERS Online Store
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #7
STS-119 Mission Report #07
A busy day in orbit for the crews of Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station has set the stage for another station assembly task – the installation of the final truss segment and American solar power panels. As the crew prepared for the first spacewalk to assist with the truss installation, Mission Control radioed that no further inspection of Discovery’s heat shield is necessary clearing the way for an earlier deployment of the solar wings Friday. Late today, imagery analysts along with the Damage Assessment Team in Mission Control determined Discovery’s heat shield is healthy for reentry next week. A final routine inspection of the shuttle’s wing leading edge panels will be conducted after Discovery leaves the station to ensure their health. Near the end of the crew day, the station’s robotic arm maneuvered the 31,000 pound, 45-foot-long truss segment to an overnight “park” position to await the start of the first spacewalk by Mission Specialists Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold. They will “campout” in the Quest airlock of the station at a reduced air pressure overnight to prepare their bodies for the spacewalk planned to last six and a half hours. The two astronauts will assist with final connection of the S6 to its permanent home attached to the remaining station truss. They will connect plumbing, electrical and data cables bringing the segment to life before deployment of the 240-foot-long solar panels. Meanwhile, the newest station crew member Koichi Wakata is settling in for a three-month stay on board after swapping places with Sandy Magnus who returns home aboard Discovery after four months in space. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to stay long-term aboard the station. He will be on board when the final pieces of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory are launched aboard Endeavour this summer on the STS-127 mission. The crews head to bed between 10 and 11 tonight as preparations continue toward Thursday’s assembly task.
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #6
STS-119 Mission Report #06
The last set of American solar power panels for the International Space Station start the last leg of their journey today when the astronauts on space shuttle Discovery position the new S6 truss element for installation. At 10:18 a.m. CDT, Mission Specialists John Phillips and Sandra Magnus start the procedure to command the station’s Canadarm2 to grapple S6 and lift it out of the shuttle’s payload bay, where Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist Joseph Acaba are waiting for a handoff to the shuttle’s robot arm. The station arm will release S6 so its operating base can move out to the starboard end of the station’s truss structure. Once there, Phillips and station Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata will fly Canadarm2 back to take a handoff back from the shuttle arm, and then move S6 into an overnight park position near its final installation location. The new element, and its two solar array wings, will be put in place on the starboard end of the truss during the first spacewalk of the mission Thursday. In the meantime, Mission Specialists Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold will spend the first part of the day checking out systems in the station’s Quest airlock and configuring the tools they’ll take outside with them on the mission's first planned spacewalk Thursday. The two spacewalkers will assist with the installation of the S6 Truss and open the solar array blanket boxes. Station Commander Mike Fincke and Discovery Commander Lee Archambault will join Acaba and Arnold to talk about the progress of the mission in an interview with Channel One News at 1:58 p.m. Just before the combined crews break for lunch at 2:20 p.m. station Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov will assist his new crewmate Wakata with a leak check of the Japanese astronaut’s Soyuz launch and entry suit. Wakata has time in his schedule each day to familiarize himself with the stations’ systems and operations. This morning’s wakeup song, “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash, was played for Swanson. The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier if events warrant.
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #5
STS-119 Mission Report #05
The space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station at 4:20 p.m. CDT, delivering the final truss segment and pair of U.S. solar arrays and a new crew member to take up residence aboard the growing orbital scientific complex. Discovery Commander Lee Archambault guided the shuttle to a docking as the two spacecraft flew 220 miles above Western Australia. Before closing the final 600 feet to the station, Archambault commanded Discovery through a “backflip” allowing the station’s Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Sandy Magnus to take photos that imagery experts will review to assess the health of Discovery’s heat shield. The shuttle and station crews opened hatches and greeted one another at 6:09 p.m., beginning more than a week of joint operations between the two crews. One of the first major tasks of the crews was to swap station crew member Magnus for Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. The official swap occurred when a specially fitted seat liner was installed in the Soyuz crew vehicle. That swap at 9 p.m. signified the official designation change making Wakata an Expedition 18 flight engineer and Magnus a shuttle mission specialist. The mission’s main objective Thursday will be to install the 31,000 pound, 45-foot-long truss segment known as S6 and solar array pair to the far starboard end of the truss during the first spacewalk planned by Mission Specialists Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold. Throughout the joint mission, transfer of shuttle middeck items to the station will take place, including a replacement Distillation Assembly for the urine recycler. The station crew is scheduled to go to bed about 11 p.m. and the shuttle crew 30 minutes later just after 11:30 p.m. Wake up Wednesday is scheduled for 7:43 a.m. Prime business for the crews Wednesday will be to lift the truss segment out of Discovery’s payload bay with the shuttle robot arm and hand it off to the station’s mechanical arm for an overnight stay before Thursday’s permanent installation on the station. The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wake, or earlier if events warrant.
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Monday 23 March 2009
Astronauts Flight Order
A complete listing with images of all space explorers to date. 1- 300 are listed on this post; 301 to current on the next post!
490 Space Travellers and Counting....
A listing of all international space travellers in order of their first mission into space.
Each name is linked to an appropriate image of that person.
1. Yuri Gagarin Vostok 1
2. Alan Shepard M-R 1
3. Virgil Grissom M-R 3
4. Gherman Titov Vostok 2
5. John Glenn M-A 6
6. Scott Carpenter M-A 7
7. Andrian Nikolaev Vostok 3
8. Pavel Popovich Vostok 4
9. Walter Schirra M-A 8
10. Gordon Cooper M-A 9
11. Valeri Bykovski Vostok 5
12. Valentina Tereshkova Vostok 6
13. Vladimir Komarov Voskhod 1
14. Konstantin Feoktistov Voskhod 1
15. Boris Yegorov Voskhod 1
16. Pavel Belayaev Voskhod 2
17. Alexei Leonov Voskhod 2
18. John Young Gemini 3
19. James McDivitt Gemini 4
20. Edward White Gemini 4
21. Charles Conrad Gemini 5
22. Frank Borman Gemini 7
23. James Lovell Gemini 7
24. Thomas Stafford Gemini 6
25. Neil Armstrong Gemini 8
26. David Scott Gemini 8
27. Eugene Cernan Gemini 9
28. Michael Collins Gemini 10
29. Richard Gordon Gemini 11
30. Buzz Aldrin Gemini 12
31. Don Eisele Apollo 7
32. Walter Cunningham Apollo 7
33. Georgi Beregovoi Soyuz 3
34. William Anders Apollo 8
35. Vladimir Shatalov Soyuz 4
36. Boris Volnyov Soyuz 5
37. Alexei Yelisiev Soyuz 5
38. Yevgeni Khrunov Soyuz 5
39. Russell Schweickart Apollo 9
40. Georgi Shonin Soyuz 6
41. Valeri Kubasov Soyuz 6
42. Anatoli Filipchenko Soyuz 7
43. Vladislav Volkov Soyuz 7
44. Viktor Gorbatko Soyuz 7
45. Alan Bean Apollo 12
46. John Swigert Apollo 13
47. Fred Haise Apollo 13
48. Vitali Sevastyonov Soyuz 9
49. Stuart Roosa Apollo 14
50. Edgar Mitchell Apollo 14
51. Nikolai Rukavishnikov Soyuz 10
52. Georgi Dobrovolski Soyuz 11
53. Viktor Patsaev Soyuz 11
54. Alfred Worden Apollo 15
55. James Irwin Apollo 15
56. Thomas Mattingly Apollo 16
57. Charles Duke Apollo 16
58. Ronald Evans Apollo 17
59. Harrison Schmitt Apollo 17
60. Joseph Kerwin Skylab 2
61. Paul Weitz Skylab 2
62. Owen Garriott Skylab 3
63. Jack Lousma Skylab 3
64. Vasili Lazarev Soyuz 12
65. Oleg Makarov Soyuz 12
66. Gerald Carr Skylab 4
67. Edward Gibson Skylab 4
68. William Pogue Skylab 4
69. Pyotr Klimuk Soyuz 13
70. Valentin Lebedev Soyuz 13
71. Yuri Artyuhkin Soyuz 14
72. Gennadi Sarafanov Soyuz 15
73. Lev Dyomin Soyuz 15
74. Alexei Gubarev Soyuz 17
75. Georgo Grechko Soyuz 17
76. Vance Brand ASTP
77. Donald Slayton ASTP
78. Vitali Zholobov Soyuz 21
79. Vladimir Aksyonov Soyuz 22
80. Vyacheslav Zhudov Soyuz 23
81. Valeri Rozhdestvenski Soyuz 23
82. Yuri Glazkov Soyuz 24
83. Vladimir Kovalyonok Soyuz 25
84. Valeri Ryumin Soyuz 25
85. Yuri Romanenko Soyuz 26
86. Vladimir Dzhanibekov Soyuz 27
87. Vladimir Remek Soyuz 28
88. Alexander Ivanchenkov Soyuz 29
89. Miroslaw Hermaszewski Soyuz 30
90. Sigmund Jähn Soyuz 31
91. Vladimir Lyakhov Soyuz 32
92. Georgi Ivanov Soyuz 33
93. Leonid Popov Soyuz 35
94. Bertalan Farkas Soyuz 36
95. Yuri Malishev Soyuz T-2
96. Pham Tuan Soyuz 37
97. Arnoldo Tamayo Mendez Soyuz 38
98. Leonid Kizim Soyuz T-3
99. Gennadi Strekalov Soyuz T-3
100. Viktor Savinykh Soyuz T-4
101. J. Gurragchaa Soyuz 39
102. Robert Crippen STS 1
103. Dumitru Prunariu Soyuz 40
104. Joe Engle STS 2
105. Richard Truly STS 2
106. Charles Fullerton STS 3
107. Anatoli Berezovoi Soyuz T-5
108. Jean-Loup Chretien Soyuz T-6
109. Henry Hartsfield, Jr. STS 4
110. Alexander Serebrov Soyuz T-7
111. Svetlana Savitskaya Soyuz T-7
112. Robert Overmyer STS 5
113. Joseph Allen STS 5
114. William Lenoir STS 5
115. Karol Bobko STS 6
116. Donald Peterson STS 6
117. Story Musgrave STS 6
118. Vladimir Titov Soyuz T-8
119. Frederick Hauck STS 7
120. John Fabian STS 7
121. Sally Ride STS 7
122. Norman Thagard STS 7
123. Alexander Alexandrov Soyuz T-9
124. Daniel Brandenstein STS 8
125. Dale Gardner STS 8
126. Guion Bluford STS 8
127. William Thornton STS 8
128. Brewster Shaw STS 9
129. Robert Parker STS 9
130. Byron Lichtenberg STS 9
131. Ulf Merbold STS 9
132. Robert Gibson STS 41B
133. Bruce McCandless STS 41B
134. Ronald McNair STS 41B
135. Robert Stewart STS 41B
136. Vladimir Solovyov Soyuz T-10
137. Oleg Atkov Soyuz T-10
138. Rakesh Sharma Soyuz T-11
139. Francis Scobee STS 41C
140. George Nelson STS 41C
141. James van Hoften STS 41C
142. Terry Hart STS 41C
143. Igor Volk Soyuz T-12
144. Michael Coats STS 41D
145. Judith Resnik STS 41D
146. Steven Hawley STS 41D
147. Richard Mullane STS 41D
148. Charles Walker STS 41D
149. Jon McBride STS 41G
150. Kathryn Sullivan STS 41G
151. David Leestma STS 41G
152. Paul Scully-Power STS 41G
153. Marc Garneau STS 41G
154. David Walker STS 51A
155. Anna Fisher STS 51A
156. Loren Shriver STS 51C
157. Ellison Onizuka STS 51C
158. James Buchli STS 51C
159. Gary Payton STS 51C
160. Donald Williams STS 51D
161. Margaret Seddon STS 51D
162. Jeffrey Hoffman STS 51D
163. David Griggs STS 51D
164. Jake Garn STS 51D
165. Frederick Gregory STS 51B
166. Don Lind STS 51B
167. Lodewijk van den Berg STS 51B
168. Taylor Wang STS 51B
169. John Creighton STS 51G
170. Shannon Lucid STS 51G
171. Steven Nagel STS 51G
172. Patrick Baudry STS 51G
173. Sultan Al-Saud STS 51G
174. Roy Bridges, Jr. STS 51F
175. Karl Henize STS 51F
176. Anthony England STS 51F
177. Loren Acton STS 51F
178. John-David Bartoe STS 51F
179. Richard Covey STS 51I
180. John Lounge STS 51I
181. William Fisher STS 51I
182. Vladimir Vasyutin Soyuz T-14
183. Alexander Volkov Soyuz T-14
184. Ronald Grabe STS 51J
185. David Hilmers STS 51J
186. William Pailes STS 51J
187. Bonnie Dunbar STS 61A
188. Reinhard Furrer STS 61A
189. Ernst Messerschmid STS 61A
190. Wubbo Ockels STS 61A
191. Bryan O’Connor STS 61B
192. Mary Cleave STS 61B
193. Sherwood Spring STS 61B
194. Jerry Ross STS 61B
195. Rodolfo Neri Vela STS 61B
196. Charles Bolden STS 61C
197. Franklin Chang-Díaz STS 61C
198. Robert Cenker STS 61C
199. William Nelson STS 61C
200. Alexander Laveikhin Soyuz TM-2
201. Alexander Viktorenko Soyuz TM-3
202. Muhammed Faris Soyuz TM-3
203. Musa Manarov Soyuz TM-4
204. Anatoli Levchenko Soyuz TM-4
205. Anatoli Solovyov Soyuz TM-5
206. Alexander Alexandrov Soyuz TM-5
207. Valeri Polyakov Soyuz TM-6
208. Abdul Ahad Mohmand Soyuz TM-6
209. Sergei Krikalev Soyuz TM-7
210. Guy Gardner STS 27
211. William Shepherd STS 27
212. John Blaha STS 29
213. James Bagian STS 29
214. Robert Springer STS 29
215. Mark Lee STS 30
216. Richard Richards STS 28
217. James Adamson STS 28
218. Mark Brown STS 28
219. Michael McCulley STS 34
220. Ellen Baker STS 34
221. Manley Carter STS 33
222. Kathryn Thornton STS 33
223. James Wetherbee STS 32
224. David Low STS 32
225. Marsha Ivins STS 32
226. Alexander Balandin Soyuz TM-9
227. John Casper STS 36
228. Pierre Thuot STS 36
229. Gennadi Manakov Soyuz TM-10
230. Robert Cabana STS 41
231. Bruce Melnick STS 41
232. Thomas Akers STS 41
233. Frank Culbertson STS 38
234. Carl Meade STS 38
235. Charles Gemar STS 38
236. Samuel Durrance STS 35
237. Ronald Parise STS 35
238. Viktor Afanasyev Soyuz TM-11
239. Toyohiro Akiyama Soyuz TM-11
240. Kenneth Cameron STS 37
241. Jerome Apt STS 37
242. Linda Godwin STS 37
243. Blaine Hammond STS 39
244. Gregory Harbaugh STS 39
245. Donald McMonagle STS 39
246. Charles Lacy Veach STS 39
247. Richard Hieb STS 39
248. Anatoli Artsebarski Soyuz TM-12
249. Helen Sharman Soyuz TM-12
250. Sidney Gutierrez STS 40
251. Tamara Jernigan STS 40
252. Andrew Gaffney STS 40
253. Millie Hughes-Fulford STS 40
254. Michael Baker STS 43
255. Kenneth Reightler STS 48
256. Tokhtar Aubakirov Soyuz TM-13
257. Franz Viehböck Soyuz TM-13
258. Terence Henricks STS 44
259. Mario Runco STS 44
260. James Voss STS 44
261. Thomas Hennen STS 44
262. Stephen Oswald STS 42
263. William Readdy STS 42
264. Roberta Bondar STS 42
265. Alexander Kaleri Soyuz TM-14
266. Klaus-Dietrich Flade Soyuz TM-14
267. Brian Duffy STS 45
268. Michael Foale STS 45
269. Dirk Frimout STS 45
270. Kevin Chilton STS 49
271. Kenneth Bowersox STS 50
272. Lawrence DeLucas STS 50
273. Eugene Trinh STS 50
274. Sergei Avdeev Soyuz TM-15
275. Michel Tognini Soyuz TM-15
276. Andrew Allen STS 46
277. Claude Nicollier STS 46
278. Franco Malerba STS 46
279. Curtis Brown STS 47
280. Jan Davis STS 47
281. Mae Jemison STS 47
282. Mamoru Mohri STS 47
283. Steven MacLean STS 52
284. Michael Clifford STS 53
285. Susan Helms STS 54
286. Alexander Poleshchuk Soyuz TM-16
287. Kenneth Cockrell STS 56
288. Ellen Ochoa STS 56
289. Charles Precourt STS 55
290. Bernard Harris STS 55
291. Ulrich Walter STS 55
292. Hans Schlegel STS 55
293. Nancy Currie STS 57
294. Peter Wisoff STS 57
295. Janice Voss STS 57
296. Vasili Tsibliev Soyuz TM-17
297. Jean-Pierre Haigneré Soyuz TM-17
298. James Newman STS 51
299. Daniel Bursch STS 51
300. Carl Walz STS 51
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #4
STS-119 MCC Status Report #04
The astronauts on space shuttle Discovery are primed for rendezvous and docking operations that will link their ship to the International Space Station this afternoon and deliver a new crew member. The crew was awakened at 8:44 a.m. CDT with “Radio Exercise,” performed by the Tokyo Broadcast Children’s Choir. The song traditionally accompanies exercise for Japanese schoolchildren, and was played for astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who’s to become his nation’s first long-duration space traveler later today. By 10:38 a.m., shuttle Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist John Phillips will step into the rendezvous timeline for a series of engine firings to refine the orbiter’s pursuit of the station. The terminal initiation burn of Discovery’s engines is scheduled for 1:35 p.m., setting the shuttle on course to close the last eight miles to the station over the subsequent orbit. Discovery should arrive at a point 1,000 feet below the station at 3 p.m., when Archambault will begin manually flying the shuttle. He’ll pause 600 feet away to perform the rendezvous pitch maneuver, a backflip that points Discovery’s belly toward the station so Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus can document the condition of the shuttle's heat protection tiles with up to 300 digital photos. Archambault will guide the shuttle to a point 400 feet directly in front of the station, then begin a slow final approach. Discovery is expected to dock with the International Space Station at 4:12 p.m. CDT, as the two vehicles fly above Jakarta, Indonesia. After hatch opening and a safety briefing, the crews will begin moving supplies and equipment into the station. Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold will move spacesuits and spacewalking tools into the Quest airlock, and Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov will help Wakata install his custom-fitted seat liner in the Soyuz vehicle. Once that’s complete, Wakata officially becomes a member of the station crew and Magnus transfers to the shuttle after 121 days as a member of Expedition 18. The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier if events warrant.
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #3
STS-119 Mission Report #03
Space Shuttle Discovery’s first full day in space focused on an up close inspection of its wing leading edge panels using the robotic arm and Orbiter Boom Sensor System extension. Combined with video documentation on launch day and photographs taken by the International Space Station crew when Discovery approaches on Tuesday afternoon, imagery experts will analyze the photographs and video to assess the health of the shuttle’s Thermal Protection System for reentry. The five-hour inspection today paralleled work by the seven crew members onboard to prepare for the docking Tuesday planned for 4:13 p.m. Some of that work included pre-positioning transfer items and checking out spacesuits that will be used during the three spacewalks planned while Discovery is docked. In preparation for docking, the crew tested rendezvous equipment, installed an Orbiter Docking System “centerline” camera and extended the docking ring atop the docking system before going to bed just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. The shuttle crew includes Koichi Wakata – Japanese astronaut on his third mission – who will become the newest station crew member after docking and hatch opening. He will replace Sandy Magnus who returns home after four months aboard the station. On board the space station, Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineers Yury Lonchakov and Magnus prepared for Discovery’s arrival by reviewing procedures they will use to capture images of Discovery as it approaches and conducts a backflip exposing its underside tiles to the paparazzi armed with long-range lenses inside the station. At about 4:30 Monday afternoon, trajectory experts called off the need for a station maneuver to avoid a piece of space debris when calculations showed it would pass harmlessly by the complex. The next status report will be issued after crew wake-up at 8:43 a.m. Tuesday, or before, if events warrant.
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #2
STS-119 Report #02
The astronauts on board space shuttle Discovery plan a day of orbiter inspection on their way to deliver a new set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. The crew was awakened at 9:13 a.m. CDT to the sounds of “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, played for Pilot Tony Antonelli. First up for Antonelli and Commander Lee Archambault is a planned firing of the shuttle’s orbital maneuvering system engines to refine its approach to the station for Tuesday’s planned docking at 4:13 p.m. Then, Antonelli joins Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba and John Phillips to begin inspection of critical elements of Discovery’s heat shield. The astronauts use the shuttle robot arm to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) from the starboard sill of the payload bay and move it into position to examine the reinforced carbon-carbon panels that line the leading edges of both wings and the orbiter’s nose cap. Data gathered by the OBSS sensor packages is transmitted to Earth for review by specialists looking for evidence of damage caused by debris during the shuttle’s Sunday evening climb into orbit. Also on tap for Monday are checkouts of the spacesuits to be worn by Acaba and Mission Specialists Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold during the three spacewalks they’re to conduct from the International Space Station. The crew also will prepare the orbiter docking system and a suite of rendezvous tools they’ll use during Tuesday’s approach to the station. International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke and flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus are scheduled to spend today getting ready for the arrival of Discovery, which is delivering Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata to take over for Magnus; she’ll come home with the shuttle crew later this month after some four months in orbit. Along with the S6 Truss element and another set of U.S. solar array wings, Discovery’s crew is delivering a new distillation assembly to get the station’s water recycling system up to full operation for a doubling of the station’s crew size later this summer.
STS-119 Official Crew Portrait
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Spaceboosters - Shuttle Discovery Launches
NASA's Shuttle Discovery Launches to Fully Power Space Station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:43 p.m. EDT Sunday to deliver the final set of power-generating solar array wings and a new crew member to the International Space Station. Discovery's STS-119 flight is carrying the space station's fourth and final set of solar array wings, completing the station's truss, or backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in May. The 13-day mission will feature three spacewalks to help install the S6 truss segment to the starboard, or right, side of the station and deploy its solar arrays. The flight also will replace a failed unit for a system that converts urine to potable water. Shortly before launch, Commander Lee Archambault thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible. "It's truly an honor to be part of this team representing NASA, the nation and the international partners," Archambault said. "See you in a couple of weeks." Archambault is joined on STS-119 by Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace space station crew member Sandra Magnus, who has been aboard the station for more than four months. He will return to Earth during the next station shuttle mission, STS-127, targeted to launch in June 2009. Former science teachers Acaba and Arnold are now fully-trained NASA astronauts. They are making their first journey to orbit on the mission and will to step outside the station to conduct critical spacewalking tasks. Discovery's launch was postponed Wednesday, March 11, after a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system was detected during fueling. Technicians rebuilt and replaced seals and other components associated with the system. No leaks were detected during the Sunday's fueling. NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Discovery's mission, which is the 125th shuttle flight, the 36th for Discovery and the 28th shuttle mission to the station. NASA Television features live mission events, daily mission status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. NASA TV is webcast at:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv NASA's Web coverage of STS-119 includes current mission information, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, also is available on the main space shuttle Web site at:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing. To access the NASA News Twitter feed and other agency Twitter feeds, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate
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Spaceboosters - STS 119 Mission Report #1
03.15.09
STS-119 Status Report #01
Space shuttle Discovery blasted off Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center on the first shuttle flight of the year, lighting up the skies along the Eastern seaboard on a mission to deliver a fourth and final set of U.S. solar arrays that will put the International Space Station into full-power status. Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata began their journey at 6:43 p.m. CDT. Less than nine minutes later, Discovery and its seven crew members reached their preliminary orbit and began to stow gear and prepare for the opening of the shuttle’s cargo bay doors. At the time of Discovery’s launch, the International Space Station flew 220 miles above Tasmania just south of the Australian continent. The station crew, Commander Mike Fincke and flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus, watched the launch on a special television feed from Mission Control. Wakata will become a station crew member Tuesday evening to begin a three-month stay shortly after docking. He will replace Magnus, who will return to Earth aboard Discovery to end her four-month stay in space. Wakata is scheduled to spend a little more than three months on the orbital complex. Discovery took flight after engineers fixed a gaseous hydrogen leak in a vent line for the shuttle’s external tank that forced a postponement last Wednesday. Today, there were no issues as Discovery was fueled for the start of its 36th mission under cloudless skies. During the 13-day flight, Swanson, Arnold and Acaba will rotate assignments on three spacewalks. The first, by Swanson and Arnold Thursday has them assist with installation of the 16-ton S6 truss element and its solar arrays onto the end of the station’s starboard truss. Discovery’s crew will deliver a replacement distillation assembly for the station’s water recycling system, and help the Expedition 18 crew prepare for doubling of the station’s crew size later this summer. The crew will begin a sleep period just after 1 a.m. Monday and awaken at 9:13 a.m. The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew wakeup, or earlier if events warrant.
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