Aboard Space Station, Astronauts Wait for STS-121 Crew

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - While seven astronauts prepare to ride NASA's Discovery shuttle toward the International Space Station (ISS) this week, the orbital laboratory's two-man crew is gearing up for the spacecraft's arrival.

ISS Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeffrey Williams said Tuesday that they welcome Discovery's planned July 3 docking, not the least of which because it will bring their first human visitors - and a new crewmember - to the station after three months of orbital work. NASA plans to launch Discovery on its STS-121 mission on July 1at 3:49 p.m. EDT (1949 GMT).

"It's a huge event," Williams told reporters here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) via video link of the upcoming launch. "It's probably the capstone event of our six months on orbit."

The STS-121 shuttle mission is NASA's second orbiter test flight since the 2003 Columbia accident, which led to the loss of one spacecraft and seven astronauts as they reentered the Earth's atmosphere. While the space agency has launched one shuttle mission to the ISS since that tragedy - the STS-114 return to flight mission aboard Discovery - the size of space station crews have remained at their reduced, two-astronaut levels.

But Williams said the STS-121 spaceflight will change all that when it brings European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter to the ISS. Reiter, who hails from Germany, is expected to serve alongside the Expedition 13 crew for three months, and then join the Expedition 14 crew when it arrives at the station in September.

"Obviously, we'll have more crew time to dedicate to science and research, which is a great addition to our capability," Williams said. "It puts us back on tack to completing the assembly of the space station and bringing it to full utilization."

Vinogradov and Williams are also prepared to host the STS-121 crew, which is commanded by veteran shuttle commander Steven Lindsey, for an extended stay should Discovery suffer critical damage during launch and be unfit for the return trip. The plan, known as Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS) or safe haven, calls for shuttle crews to stay aboard the ISS until a rescue flight could be launched aboard a NASA orbiter or Russian Soyuz vehicle.

"That would definitely be a difficult stage for us, however, our system will be able to support the entire crew," Vinogradov said. "We have enough food, we won't have any doubts that we can't continue working here."

Busy days ahead

Discovery's planned July 3 docking at the ISS will mark the second spacecraft to visit the orbital research laboratory in one week. On June 26, an unmanned Russian cargo ship moored itself to the station's Pirs docking compartment to deliver 2.5 tons of new supplies and equipment.

The STS-121 crew is also carrying a full load of cargo for the ISS crew, which will have to be unpacked and stowed while Discovery is docked at the ISS.

"It is a little bit difficult for us to perform the work, we will have to work hard, but it will be a pleasure to deal with this challenge," Vinogradov said. "It's always nice to accept crews of a vehicle, especially considering that our colleagues and friends are coming up."

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• Return to Flight: NASA's Road to STS-121
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