CAPE CANAVERAL - A U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will board the emergency lifeboat at the
International Space Station (ISS) early Monday, flying the Soyuz spacecraft to
a port at the rear end of outpost crew quarters.
The 35-minute move will
clear an Earth-facing port on the station's Zarya module for the upcoming
arrival of a replacement crew. It also will be a first step in preparation of
the arrival of a Russian Progress cargo carrier in late April.
Strapped into the Soyuz and
wearing partial-pressure launch-and-entry suits, station skipper Bill
McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev will undock from the Zarya
module about 1:45 a.m. Eastern time (0645 GMT).
Kylie Clem, a spokeswoman
for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said the Soyuz will be piloted to a
point 80 (24 meters) to 100 feet (30 meters) below the station. The spacecraft
then will be flown to a point about the same distance behind the station,
traveling about 200 feet (60 meters) in the process.
With Tokarev at the
controls, the Soyuz then will make a final approach to the port at the back end
the station's Zvezda module, which is a Russian command-and-control center that
doubles as crew quarters.
Clem said the move will
free up the Zarya port for the March 31 arrival of a Soyuz with the Expedition
13 crew, which includes commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer
Jeffrey Williams.
The two are scheduled to
launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 29 with Marcos Pontes,
who will become the first Brazilian to fly in space. Pontes will spend about
eight days aboard the station before returning to Earth on April 8 with
McArthur and Tokarev.
The returning crew will
pull away from the station in the Soyuz that will be parked at the aft end of
the Zvezda module. Doing so will open that port for a Russian Progress
freighter to be launched April 24. Its anticipated arrival date is April 26.
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Complete
Coverage: ISS Expedition 12
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