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ISS Crew to Redock Soyuz Spacecraft
By Associated Press
posted: 12 November 2004
2:15 p.m. ET
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MOSCOW (AP) -- The
U.S.-Russian crew manning the International Space Station will redock a spaceship
later this month in preparation for spacewalks planned for next year, Russian
Mission Control said Friday.
The operation, scheduled
for Nov. 29, will involve entering the Soyuz-TMA-5 spaceship and moving it from
the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya service module, said Mission Control
spokesman Valery Lyndin. Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and U.S. astronaut
Leroy Chiao will use manual controls to move the Soyuz 30-50 meters (100-165
feet) away from the station and then re-approach, he said.
The spacewalks are
scheduled for January and March.
Lyndin said that prior to
the redocking, the crew would ''conserve'' the station for its unmanned period
by turning off unnecessary support systems, such as the oxygen supply, and
switching the station to management by Mission Control.
He also said that on
Wednesday, the crew would fire the engines of a docked Russian Progress M-50
cargo ship to raise the station by about four kilometers (2.5 miles). The
station has dropped about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) over the past week due to
strong magnetic storms, Lyndin said.
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