CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The new crew of the International Space Station bid bon voyage to their homebound predecessors Monday as a Russian cosmonaut and two American astronauts took leave of their orbital abode after 165 days in space.
With shuttle Discovery poised to rocket off on a two-day trip back to Earth, station skipper Frank Culbertson wished "soft landings" to Yuri Usachev, Susan Helms and Jim Voss, who had been living and working aboard the station since March.
"It's a very emotional day for Yuri, Jim and Susan as they are leaving what has been their home for over five months," Culbertson said as the joined crews of Discovery and the station floated inside the U.S. Destiny science laboratory.
"I know it's a tough day. I know it's hard to say goodbye. But we really, really are proud of all you have done, and we will do our best to keep up the good tradition you have started and to maintain just as high a standard of excellence if we can."
Said Usachev: "It's time to say goodbye to the station, and good luck to the (new) crew."
"We wish them a great journey as they continue in the exploration of space that will sometime take mankind out through the solar system and beyond," added Discovery mission commander Scott Horowitz.
To mark the occasion, Culbertson and his two cosmonaut colleagues - Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin - displayed two autographed plaques commemorating the so-called "Phase 1" portion of the International Space Station program.Staged between June 1995 and June 1998, that chapter in space history involved launching nine U.S. shuttle missions to Russia's former space station Mir as precursors to the construction of the new international outpost.
The plaques are adorned with the signatures of every Russian cosmonaut and American astronaut that either visited Mir or served tours of duty aboard the outpost during that time period.
Seven U.S. astronauts tallied 977 days in space as part of the project, also known as the shuttle-Mir program.
Culbertson said the mementoes, which flew aboard Mir, serve as a symbolic bridge between the two stations. Also significant, he said, is the fact that several astronauts and cosmonauts who took part in that program already have served aboard the new international outpost.
Dezhurov was the commander aboard Mir when Atlantis docked there for the historic first shuttle-Mir link-up in 1995. Usachev was the skipper there when NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid chalked up 188 days in space, still a world record for female space travelers.
Voss was as a backup to two of seven American astronauts who carried out research tours on Mir, and Culbertson served a long stint as NASA's deputy director and then chief of the program.
What's more, cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko - members of the new station's first full-time crew - also flew either on the shuttle or Mir during the forerunner program.
"There's a lot of names on this plaque, and a lot of missions, and I think one of the significant things to note is that two crewmembers of each of the first three (ISS) crews were participants in Phase 1," Culbertson said.
The veteran U.S. astronaut then said "thanks, goodbye and see you later" in English, Russian and Italian, the latter of which is the language of the nation that built a $150 million moving van used to ferry supplies and equipment to the station for Culbertson and his crew.
A while later, hatches between the station and the swung shut for the last time as Discovery's four astronauts and the returning station crew prepared to undock from the outpost.
With shuttle pilot Rick Sturckow will be at the controls, Discovery will ease away from its station berthing port at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT) before flying a loop around the outpost.
Shuttle jet thrusters then will be fired about 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT), propelling Discovery on its way back to Earth.
With Usachev, Helms and Voss in tow, Discovery is due back at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 12:48 p.m. EDT (1648 GMT) Wednesday. Culbertson and his crew will remain in space until Dec. 9.
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