Astronauts in Space Will Make Time for Mother's Day
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The Expedition 23 crew of the International Space Station poses for a group portrait in April 2010. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, commander, is at center. Also pictured clockwise (from bottom center) are Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Timothy "T.J." Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, all flight engineers. CREDIT: NASA |
Astronauts living on the International Space Station may have to spend this Mother's Day far from home, but Mission Control will make sure they get a chance to send love to their moms down on Earth.
Since Mother's Day is on a weekend, it falls during a regular day off for the space station crew, NASA spokesperson Josh Byerly told SPACE.com.
"The crew has some off duty time on Sunday, so they will be free to use the station?s phone and e-mail to wish their moms a happy Mother?s Day," he said.
The International Space Station is home to six astronauts ? five men and one woman ? from three different countries. Three of the crewmembers are Russian cosmonauts, with two Americans and a Japanese astronaut rounding out the team.
The astronauts are flying a staggered six-month mission to the space station, and typically zoom around Earth at about 17,500 mph (28,200 kph) at an altitude of about 220 miles (354 km) up. But just because the spaceflyers are stuck in orbit, that doesn?t mean they're out of touch.
Although life in space can be busy, space station astronauts have continuous access to their loved ones by way of an Internet Protocol phone for personal chats. Video conferences and radio sessions are also available to speak with family, friends and the occasional reporter or class of students.
The astronauts also have access to the Internet from space via a special link to a computer at NASA's Mission Control center in Houston.
That space Internet link went live earlier this year in January, when NASA astronaut Jeff Williams was in command of the orbiting lab.
His first use of the space station's Internet? Ordering flowers for his wife.
The space station's current Expedition 23 crew has a busy week ahead. The astronauts plan to jettison an old unmanned Russian cargo ship on Monday, move a Soyuz spacecraft to a new parking spot on the station's exterior on Wednesday, then await the arrival of NASA's space shuttle Atlantis ? which is due to dock at the orbiting lab on May 16.
Atlantis is scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station Friday, May 14 at 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT) to deliver a new Russian science module, supplies and spare parts. The shuttle's six-astronaut crew plans to perform three spacewalks during the upcoming mission, which is slated to be the last-ever flight of the space shuttle Atlantis.
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