Shuttle Astronauts Haul Cargo to ISS, Enjoy Flight

The STS-121 and Expedition 13 crews speak to reporters during a live news conference from the International Space Station. At bottom: from left) Thomas Reiter, Pavel Vinogradov, Jeffrey Williams. Center: (from left) Stephanie Wilson, Steven Lindsey, Lisa Nowak. Top: (from left) Piers Sellers, Michael Fossum, Mark Kelly. CREDIT: NASA TV.

HOUSTON - Nine astronauts are working through a moving day in orbit today as they haul cargo into the International Space Station (ISS) from the Discovery shuttle and its Leonardo module.

The three-astronaut ISS crew, counting recently-arrived European spaceflyer Thomas Reiter, and Discovery's six-person shuttle crew are continuing their station resupply work to deliver more than 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of fresh food, equipment and basic stores like air and water.

"Today was the first day that really all of the crew got involved in doing transfer activities," said Tony Ceccacci, NASA's lead shuttle flight director for Discovery's STS-121 mission said Sunday. "Today it's more of a pack mule day."

In a video link with reporters here at Johnson Space Center and other NASA centers, the ISS Expedition 13 and STS-121 astronauts said today's cargo transfer duties made for a rather welcome break from the last five busy days of spaceflight.

"We've been fortunate enough not to have a lot of stuff to trip us up and we've been staying on top of it," said STS-121 shuttle pilot Mark Kelly. "The transfer is going very well...today has been a relatively light day compared to the others."

Ceccacci said the STS-121 astronauts will go to sleep one hour earlier today, giving them a 15-hour work day, due to schedule changes following their mission's one-extension on Friday.

"We'll make sure they're not going to lose any sleep," Ceccacci said.

A good flight

The six astronauts who will return to Earth aboard Discovery said their flight is going well, though the adaptation to the orbital environment did take some getting used to for some first-time flyers.

"Well this is my first flight and the first day, the first 24 hours, I didn't feel so great and it took me a while to adapt," said STS-121 Lisa Nowak, who along with crewmates Stephanie Wilson and Michael Fossum is making her first orbital flight. "But I'm happy to say I think I'm completely adapted now."

Shuttle managers are expected later today to close out their final concerns over Discovery's heat shield, which is a milestone the STS-121 crew is eager to hear.

"We're motivated to know that our vehicle is clean so we can come in and reenter," Discovery commander Steven Lindsey said. "So we'll be happy to hear those words."

In the meantime, Lindsey, his shuttle crew, and the Expedition 13 astronauts Reiter, Jeffrey Williams and Pavel Vinogradov will forge ahead with their cargo duties while two spacewalkers prepare for their next orbital task in the vacuum of space.

STS-121 mission specialists Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum, the two spacewalkers aboard Discovery, gave their U.S.-built spacesuits a checkup today to prepare for a critical repair job outside the ISS Monday. During that spacewalk, the second of three planned for their 13-day flight, the astronauts will restore the space station's Mobile Transporter - a sort of railcar-mounted crane - to full health to allow future ISS construction.

That Monday spacewalk will come two days after their first spacewalk, in which they prepared the Mobile Transporter for repairs and tested shuttle heat shield repairs from the end of a 100-foot (30-meter) combination of Discovery's robotic arm and orbital inspection boom.

"To see a sunset and sunrise from the end of the boom, it's just beyond words," Fossum said.

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