CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After eight days in space, the five Atlantis astronauts may have their space legs, but they still are getting a little advice on moving in weightlessness from the three space station Alpha residents.
The Expedition One crew has been aboard the station since Nov. 2.
Microgravity is "something that you have to get used to," Alpha commander Bill Shepherd said. "[There are] a lot of things to bump into so you kind of have to restrain yourself from going too fast. But after a while, you can float probably 20 to 30 feet without having to touch something for stability or more motion."
Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko said it takes him between 15 and 20 seconds to travel the length of the station. With the recent addition of the lab Destiny, the station is 171 feet (52 meters) long.
Atlantis astronauts, used to the tight confines of the shuttle cabin, are going a bit slower in the station.
"Believe me, I am not zooming anywhere," said astronaut Tom Jones. "I am going very slowly."
Shepherd said the station is starting to seem like a home.
"I'm getting really used to looking at Russian hardware as well as U.S. hardware. It all looks very familiar to me," he said. "I can be upside down and it still makes sense."
The station commander said he was depressed Monday when part of the lab's air revitalization rack did not turn on. It helps clean carbon dioxide from the air. He said he had a couple cups of coffee and worked on it again the next day. NASA managers are still working on the problem, but the rest of the rack is functioning. In the meantime, devices in the Russian Zvezda module are removing excess carbon dioxide and will suffice until the problem is fixed, NASA controllers said.
The crews spent much of Thursday moving supplies like food and clothing from the shuttle to the station. Atlantis is expected to undock from the station at 9:06 a.m. today and land at KSC at 12:52 p.m. Sunday.
If bad weather prevents the shuttle from landing in Florida, it could try to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
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