| SPACE TRAVEL | SPACE DAILY | SPACE WAR | TERRA DAILY | MARS DAILY | SPACE MART | GPS DAILY | ENERGY DAILY |
 |
Baikonur - Oct 18, 2003 The Russian Soyuz spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur consmodrome at 0538 GMT Saturday carrying American Michael Foale, Russian Alexander Kaleri and Spaniard Pedro Duque towards the International Space Station, Russian space control officials here said. s
Paris - Oct 17, 2003 Duque, a member of ESA's astronaut corps since 1992, becomes the sixth European, and first Spaniard, to visit and work on the International Space Station. His mission takes its name from Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), author of Don Quixote. The main purpose of this 10-day mission is to carry out an extensive scientific programme comprising a series of experiments in the fields of life and physical sciences, Earth observation, education and technology. Most of these will be performed by Duque in the Russian part of the Station; others in NASA's Destiny laboratory, including use of the Microgravity Science Glovebox, a scientific research facility developed in Europe. "A trip into space is not something you can do every day", said Duque, "so I am determined to use every moment to the fullest and perform the various experiments as proficiently as possible. I am proud to be representing almost 40 million Spanish citizens". From a European perspective the Cervantes mission is also important because it increases ESA's astronaut experience ahead of the launch of Columbus, Europe's own laboratory, to the Space Station. Pedro Duque has worked previously on the development of Columbus. He reviewed its design in terms of operability and maintainability and checked on ergonomic aspects of its structure. The ongoing development of Columbus and its research facilities will benefit from the ¿hands on' experience he will get during his stay on the ISS. Other important objectives of the Soyuz 7S/Cervantes mission are to exchange the ISS Expedition crews and the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft currently attached to the ISS. Duque will be Flight Engineer in the Soyuz TMA-3 on the ascent phase to the ISS, taking an active role in piloting the spacecraft. The other crew members are Russian Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, the Commander, and NASA astronaut Michael Foale. Kaleri and Foale, the ISS Expedition 8 crew, will stay on the station for approximately six months. Two days after launch the Soyuz TMA-3 will approach and dock with the orbiting complex some 400 km above the Earth. On the return flight, on 28 October, Duque will be Flight Engineer on the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft. He will return with the ISS Expedition 7 crew, Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu, who arrived at the ISS on 28 April in the Soyuz TMA-2, which is being replaced by the Soyuz TMA-3 in order to maintain the integrity of the systems of the spacecraft, which is permanently docked with the ISS in case of emergencies.
|
