Duque

---

18 October 2003 05:38 GMT. Landing Date: 2003-10-28 02:40:00 PM. Flight Time: 9.88 days. Alternate Name: Soyuz TMA-3 (Duque). Other Name: ISS EP-5. Flight Up: Soyuz TMA-3. Flight Back: Soyuz TMA-2. Crew: Duque. Program: ISS. Duque carried out out 24 experiments in the fields of life and physical sciences, Earth observation, education and technology. The experiments were sponsored by the European Space Agency and Spain.

Duque was transported to the ISS with the Expedition 8 crew of Mike Foale and Aleksandr Kaleri aboard Soyuz TMA-3. Soyuz TMA-3 docked with the Pirs module at 07:16 GMT on October 20. After ten days in space, Duque returned to earth with the EO-7 crew of Malenchenko and Lu aboard Soyuz TMA-2.

The program of experiments under the SSM Cervantes Project included: Ageing, Root, Geneexpression, Message-2, Bmi-2, Cardiocog-2, Neurocog-2, Sympatho-2, Promiss Eo-2, Nanoslab-2, Lso-S, 3d Camera, Medops, Crew Restraint, Chondro, Video-2, Apis, Thebas, Ariss Eo-2, and Winograd.

• 2003 Oct 18 - International Space Station Status Report #03-52 

  A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station early today, leaving the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz booster that lifted off at 12:38 a.m. CDT and flawlessly sped into Earth orbit.

  ISS Expedition 8 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Foale and Expedition 8 Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri are accompanied by European Space Agency Astronaut Pedro Duque aboard the ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft. The trio plan to dock Soyuz 8 to the Station at about 2:17 a.m. CDT on Monday, Oct. 20, and hatches between the Station and Soyuz 8 are to be opened at about 5:14 a.m. CDT. Foale and Kaleri are bound for a six-month stay aboard the international research complex. Duque, flying under a commercial agreement between Rosaviakosmos and the European Space Agency, will spend a week aboard the Station conducting a series of scientific studies.

  Foale and Kaleri will relieve Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, who have flown aboard the Station since late April. Malenchenko, Lu and Duque will depart the station on Oct. 27 aboard the ISS Soyuz 7 craft en route to a landing hours afterward in Kazakhstan.

  The week ahead will include a variety of joint activities for the five station crew members as they hand over activities onboard. The plans include an interview by ABC News and the Houston Chronicle at 8:45 a.m. CDT Tuesday, Oct. 21; an interview by CNN and CBS News at 9:25 a.m. CDT Wednesday, Oct. 22; a crew news conference at 10 a.m. CDT Thursday, Oct. 23; and a formal change of command ceremony at 1:20 p.m. CDT Friday, Oct. 24. Undocking of the Soyuz 7 carrying Duque and the Expedition 7 crew home is planned for 5:20 p.m. CST on Oct. 27 leading to a touchdown in Kazakhstan at 8:36 p.m. CST.

• 2003 Oct 18 - Soyuz TMA-3  Crew: Foale, Kaleri, Duque. Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA. Payload: Soyuz TMA s/n 213. Mass: 7,250 kg (15,980 lb). Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. Perigee: 376 km (233 mi). Apogee: 384 km (238 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.20 min.

  The spacecraft carried the Expedition 8 crew of Mike Foale and Aleksandr Kaleri and the EP-5 (Cervantes) mission crewmember Pedro Duque. During the flight to the station spacecraft Commander was Aleksandr Kaleri . Soyuz TMA-3 docked with the Pirs module at 07:16 GMT on October 20. Once the EO-7 crew aboard the ISS was relieved, the roles switched, with Foale becoming the ISS Commander. Duque carried out out 24 experiments in the fields of life and physical sciences, Earth observation, education and technology. The experiments were sponsored by the European Space Agency and Spain. After ten days in space, Duque returned to earth with the EO-7 crew of Malenchenko and Lu aboard Soyuz TMA-2.

• 2003 Oct 20 - International Space Station Status Report #03-53 

  New residents arrived at the International Space Station Monday with the ISS Soyuz 7 spacecraft docking to the Station at 2:16 a.m. CDT (0716 GMT, 11:16am Moscow time). The arrival of Expedition 8 and a European Space Agency visiting researcher initiated a week of intense science operations and handover activities for the newest station crew, which will stay aboard the complex for nearly 200 days.

  With Soyuz Commander and Expedition 8 Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri at the controls, the Soyuz vehicle softly linked up to the Pirs Docking Compartment as the two spacecraft flew 240 miles above central Asia. The docking followed Saturday's launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Joining Kaleri are Expedition 8 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Foale and Pedro Duque of Spain.

  Foale and Kaleri will spend more than six months living on the Station while Duque, who is flying under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, will conduct an eight-day research mission before returning October 27 with Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, who monitored the new crew's arrival from onboard the ISS. Today marked 177 days in space for Malenchenko and Lu, and 175 days on the ISS.

  After docking, clamps were affixed to the interface between the Soyuz and Pirs, and leak checks in the small tunnel connecting the two craft was underway. The hatches will be opened at about 5:15 a.m. Central time signaling the start of eight days of joint operations. Foale, Kaleri and Duque are the first visitors for Malenchenko and Lu, who have overseen operations and been in orbit since late April.

  On the scene at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev outside Moscow are NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy and International Space Station Program Manager William Gerstenmaier.

• 2003 Oct 20 - International Space Station Status Report #03-54 

  The International Space Station's newest crew of Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri officially boarded the complex when hatches between its Soyuz spacecraft swung open at 5:19 a.m. CDT ( 1019 GMT, 2:19 p.m. Moscow time). They were joined by visiting researcher, European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque.

  Greeting them on the station were Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, who are 177 days into their six months in space. The two crews will conduct eight days of joint operations and research before Expedition 7 and Duque return home on October 27.

  Among those observing the on orbit arrival of Expedition 8 to the station were NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy and International Space Station Program Manager William Gerstenmaier. Both talked to the five station crew members delivering best wishes for the mission.

  The plan for the two crews includes eight days of handover activities and scientific experiments carried out by Duque for Spanish and other European scientists under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

  After lunch, the new crewmembers will receive a safety briefing from Malenchenko and Lu and install a seat liner for Duque in the Soyuz earmarked for landing Oct. 27 (U.S. time) and then begin setting up a host of Duque's equipment previously launched on Russian Progress resupply spacecraft.

  The crews are scheduled to go to bed about 3 p.m. CDT today and wake up at midnight to begin their first full day of joint operations. Expedition 8 officially will take control of Station operations October 27 when Malenchenko, Lu and Duque close the hatches between their returning Soyuz and the station. Foale and Kaleri will remain on board until late April 2004.

• 2003 Oct 24 - International Space Station Status Report #03-55 

  Final handover activities are underway aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 7 crew prepares to return to Earth Monday, following six months aboard the orbiting complex. Landing is scheduled for 8:41 p.m. CST on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

  Ready to take over is the Expedition 8 crew, which has spent the last week in space "cramming" for its role as prime station crew effective Monday afternoon when the hatches close between the station and returning Soyuz spacecraft, signaling the official change of command. A ceremonial "Change of Command" ceremony took place Friday afternoon.

  Flight controllers in the U.S. and Russia have been closely monitoring the predicted effects of the recent solar activity and anticipate no change to any of the landing plans. NASA flight control personnel have determined that no additional radiation exposure to the ISS crew is expected as a result of the solar activity. Increased solar activity is forecast for the next few weeks, and the control team will continue to monitor the progress of events with support from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

  Since arriving early Monday morning at their home for the next six months, Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri have spent the week familiarizing themselves with real-time station operations from departing Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu.

  Among the handover activities conducted this week were robotic training for Foale on the station's remote manipulator system, called Canadarm2. He will serve as the incoming NASA ISS science officer also, and spent a great deal of his handover activities in the Destiny laboratory where most of the experiment work will take place during his six months aboard. Meanwhile, Kaleri and Malenchenko devoted their attention to operational handover in the Russian segment of the station, which will be overseen by Kaleri throughout the increment.

  The weekend will be devoted almost exclusively to Soyuz stowage activities for the Expedition 7 crew's return to Earth along with European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque, who has spent the last eight days conducting a host of science experiments in support of a commercial contract with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

  The station crews will wake up Monday about 1 a.m. CST and the hatch to the Expedition 7 crew's Soyuz is set to be closed around 2 p.m. Undocking is planned for 5:18 p.m. followed by the deorbit burn at 7:47 p.m. and landing at 8:41 p.m.

• 2003 Oct 27 - International Space Station Status Report #03-56 

  The Expedition 7 crew touched down in northern Kazakhstan in its Soyuz spacecraft about 8:41 p.m. CST, concluding a 183-day mission aboard the International Space Station and 185 days in space. Landing occurred on target, approximately 24 miles (38 kilometers) from Arkylyk in Kazakhstan.

  Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu and European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque undocked from the Station at 5:17 p.m. today, leaving behind the eighth resident Space Station crew, Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri. Duque flew to the Station with the Expedition 8 crew, launching on October 18.

  A formal change of command ceremony between the Expedition 7 and 8 crews occurred this afternoon, just before Malenchenko, Lu and Duque climbed aboard their Soyuz spacecraft for the return trip home. After final farewells, hatches between the Station and the ISS Soyuz 6 were closed at 2:14 p.m. Foale and Kaleri are beginning a planned six-month stay on board the ISS. About three hours later, a command was issued to release latches, with undocking occurring at 5:17 p.m.

  A 4-minute, 17-second deorbit burn began at 7:47 p.m. CST. About 8:17 p.m., the orbital and instrumentation/propulsion modules separated from the crew's descent module, the only one of the three modules intended to return to Earth. Minutes later, that module began to feel the effects of the upper atmosphere. About 8:25 p.m. the first of a series of parachutes deployed to slow the module's rate of descent, with six small rocket engines firing just before touchdown to further slow the capsule.

  Helicopters with U.S. and Russian ground support personnel retrieved the crew shortly before 9 p.m. CST. NASA officials and flight surgeons reported Malenchenko, Lu and Duque were in excellent condition. Following brief medical exams, the crew will return to Star City, near Moscow, site of the Russian space center where they will be reunited with their families and begin their formal rehabilitation regimen. Malenchenko and Lu are expected to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston in approximately two weeks.

  Video of the crew's arrival will air on NASA Television at 5 a.m. EST Tuesday.