Two
astronauts and U.S. space tourist Gregory Olsen are settling into life aboard
the International Space Station (ISS) one day after arriving at the orbital laboratory.
"This is a
dream come true," Olsen told reporters Tuesday via video link during a press
briefing. "I'm having a great time."
Olsen
arrived at the ISS early Monday with the Expedition
12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev when their Soyuz
TMA-7 spacecraft docked
at Russian-built Pirs docking compartment attached to the Zvezda service
module.
So far, the
best part of the flight has been the absence of gravity, Olsen said, adding
that he has experienced no ill effects from weightlessness.
"Just to
float down the station is a wonderful experience," he added. "To me, yeah, it's
worth the money."
While the flight
is Olsen's first spaceflight - he is paying $20 million for his orbital trek -
it marks the second ISS-bound trip for McArthur and Tokarev.
"The
station is much bigger than when I was here last," said McArthur, who last
boarded the ISS during STS-92
in October 2000. "At that time, there was no [Destiny] lab and we weren't
allowed to go into the service module."
McArthur
said that despite the newness of the ISS, he and Tokarev did not feel like
space station strangers.
"It's
really interesting how much at home Valery and I feel because the simulators at
[Johnson Space Center] Star City prepared us well for being here," he added.
Orbital
replacements
McArthur
and Tokarev are relieving the space station's current caretakers, Expedition
11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips, who have
spent almost six months living and working aboard the ISS. The Expedition 11
crew and Olsen are scheduled to ride their Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft back to Earth
on Oct. 10.
Both
Expedition 11 astronauts are looking forward to seeing their families, as well
some good eating, when they return from space.
After six
months, a hot steaming pizza and a good, cold mug of beer are looking pretty
good, Phillips said.
Krikalev
added that he looked forward to once again savoring his coffee's aroma in a mug,
rather than merely drinking it out of a plastic bag as he does aboard the space
station.
"So nothing
fancy, maybe simple stuff..we're missing regular, normal Earth food," Krikalev
added.
The Expedition
11 and Expedition 12 station crews will spend most of this week's joint
operations conducting handover activities, though Tokarev and Phillips are
performing some experiments that are only scheduled during such crew overlaps,
NASA officials said.
A
fearless launch
Olsen, a
scientist and entrepreneur, said he experienced no fear as he launched
into space with the Expedition 12 crew late Friday atop a Russian-built Soyuz
rocket.
"As soon as
that rocket launched, I was more relaxed than I've been in two years," Olsen
said, adding that he felt both relief and joy at liftoff. "The only think I was
nervous about was, maybe I wasn't going to go."
He will
spend a total of 10 days in space, which includes a week aboard the ISS, and
perform three science experiments for the European Space Agency before
returning to Earth. He is the third fare-paying visitor to the space station
after South African Mark
Shuttleworth in 2002 and U.S. space tourist Dennis Tito in 2001.
"I feel
welcome," Olsen said, adding that the Expedition 11 and Expedition 12
astronauts are good company. "With a crew like this, how could you go wrong?"
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