Space Station Crew Takes Brief Trip Aboard Soyuz Spacecraft

ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev flew their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft about 45 feet (13 meters) during a brief trip to move the spacecraft to a new docking port. CREDIT: NASA/JSC.

Two astronauts working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a short trip early Friday during a relocation flight aboard their Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft.

Clad in their Sokol spacesuits, ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev successfully moved their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft to a new docking port to free up a Russian-built airlock for an upcoming spacewalk.

Tokarev commanded the 19-minute Soyuz flight, which began at the Pirs docking compartment at 3:46 a.m. EST (0846 GMT) while the ISS flew 220 miles (354 kilometers) over the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South America.

"Okay, we're moving along," Tokarev said as the Soyuz pulled away from the ISS.

The two astronauts moved the Soyuz spacecraft about 45 feet (13 meters) during the flight and docked the spacecraft at a berth outside the Russian-built Zarya control module at 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT) while passing over Northern Africa's Sahara Desert.

"Everything looks great," Tokarev said.

Both the ISS and Soyuz vehicles flew about 5,500 miles (8,851 kilometers) across Earth during the short flight.

The Soyuz relocation clears the Pirs docking compartment for the Expedition 12 crew's second spacewalk, during which McArthur and Tokarev will don Russian Orlan spacesuits to work outside the ISS.

Originally set for Dec. 7, the spacewalk will likely be rescheduled to late January or early February to ease a rather packed month of work for McArthur and Tokarev in December, NASA officials said. The two astronauts are set to discard the unmanned cargo ship Progress 19 from its berth at the aft end of the station's Zvezda service module on Dec. 20 to make way for its replacement - Progress 20 - set to dock there on Dec. 23, they added.

Russia's Federal Space Agency, which Tokarev represents aboard the ISS, will launch the Progress 20 supply ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 21, NASA officials said.

During today's spaceflight, McArthur and Tokarev left the ISS in an unmanned configuration, with many systems controlled from the ground, as a precautionary measure in case their spacecraft was unable to redock properly.

Their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft will remain at its Zarya port for the remainder of the astronauts' six-month mission. McArthur and Tokarev arrived at the ISS aboard the spacecraft with U.S. space tourist Gregory Olsen on Oct. 3, 2005.

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• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 12