Soyuz docks with Station - 6 person crew restored

The second half of Expedition 29 docked safely with ISS on November 16 at 0524 GMT. Rob Navias, the NASA commentator, announced the docking and the "restoration of a six man crew." Too bad it's only for a week. TMA-02M undocks on November 21 beginning Expedition 30 and it's back to a three person crew until late December.  

Also, not much was said about Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin's stay on the ISS being trimmed from 5 1/2 to 4 months because of the launch delay.

NASA does great stuff, but I wish they would crank the spin down a notch.

Three men and a bird move into space station - Technology & science - Space - Space.com - msnbc.com:
"A spacecraft carrying the three newest residents of the International Space Station safely arrived at the orbiting outpost on Wednesday after a two-day space journey.

NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin reached the space station slightly ahead of schedule, at 12:24 a.m. ET. The trio parked their Russian-built Soyuz TMA-22 capsule at the Poisk mini-research module on the station's Russian segment, as both spacecraft were flying 248 miles (400 kilometers) above the South Pacific."

Soyuz TMA-22 successfully docks with ISS

12:24 am EST Update:
Soyuz TMA-22 successfully docks with ISS.  Docking occurred about 9 minutes early.


12:00 midnight EST Update:
NASA TV has now gone live.


11:33 pm EST Update:
#Soyuz and #ISS have closed to about 10 mile apart now. Passing over Baikonur now.  The TV system is scheduled to be turned on at 11:51 pm EST.  NASA TV coverage starts at 12:00 midnight EST.


11:10 pm EST Update:
Soyuz and ISS are about 60 miles apart now.  Soyuz in a lower orbit is traveling faster than ISS and should close to within 10 miles of ISS in the next 30 minutes.

At 11:18 pm EST rendezvous burn 5 is expected to take place.


10:50 pm EST Update:
Soyuz TMA-22 and ISS are approaching the southern tip of South America.  Soyuz is behind and about 50 miles lower than ISS. You can watch in real time here.

The KURS docking system will be activated in the next few minutes.


10:30 pm EST Update:
Soyuz TMA-22 has now passed out of range of Russian ground stations.  Rendezvous burn 4 (33.4 mph) is scheduled for 10:33 pm EST.

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Soyuz TMA-22 has completed its rendezvous burns as expected and is on course to link up with ISS at 12:33 am EST tonight.

Both craft have just moved into daylight and have been acquired by Russian ground stations. The initiation of automated rendezvous will take place at 10:15 pm EST (0315 GMT).

Soyuz, ISS's docking scheduled tonight

Soyuz TMA-22 is closing in on the International Space Station. with docking scheduled for 12:33 am EDT (0533 GMT) November 16. If you live on the US West Coast as I do, that's 9:33 pm PDT tonight.

NASA TV will begin broadcasting the docking at 12:00 midnight EDT.

Photo of the Day - Soyuz on the Launch Pad in Snowstorm

I couldn't believe the Russians launched Soyuz TMA-22 in this kind of weather! Seems it wasn't a problem as long as it wasn't too windy.

NASA - Soyuz on the Launch Pad:
"The Soyuz TMA-22 rocket is seen on the launch pad during a snow storm the morning of the launch of Expedition 29 to the International Space Station at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011."


Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Tickets Available for Mars Science Laboratory Launch

Are these tickets available to anyone or just NASA employees?

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission | Kennedy Space Center:
"On November 25, 2011, the Curiosity Rover will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket as part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission. Mars, the Red Planet, will be the rover's destination in August 2012.
Curiosity will spend 23 months after landing gathering samples of rocks and soil. Curiosity is equipped with equipment to drill through rocks, and instrumens to collect samples and distribute to onboard test chambers. Curiosity's goal is to assess whether Mars ever had, or does still have today, an environment capable of supporting microbial life and habitability.
The rocket launch is scheduled for 10:25 a.m., with a window of opportunity lasting until 12:08 p.m. EST on November 25, 2011. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will open at 6:30 a.m. EST, and bus boarding for rocket launch transportation tickets will begin at 7:30 a.m. EST.
Rocket Launch Transportation Tickets (RLTT's) are on-sale by calling 866-737-5235


Image credit: NASA

Russians still trying to contact stranded Mars probe

The chances of Phobos Grunt being rescued are slim to none.  Even if controllers can re-establish communication with it, orbital precession has moved the craft's orbit out of alignment for a trans Mars trajectory.

Vladimir Popovkin, head of Roscosmos, says otherwise. He believes the spacecraft has till early December to set course for Mars. If not, it should remain in orbit until January before falling back to Earth.

Russians still trying to contact stranded Mars probe - Technology & science - Space - Space.com - msnbc.com:
"Russian engineers are still trying to communicate with a wayward Mars moon probe, and they have until early December to fix the spacecraft and send it on its way, according to news reports."

Chinese spacecraft dock in orbit for second time

China's Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft undocked and then redocked today.  The two first docked on November 2. They remained docked for twelve days before today's second docking test. Shenzhou-8 is next scheduled to depart and return to earth. Tiangong-1 will then raise it's orbit and await the arrival of it's first crew next year.

Plans are for two manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, to dock with Tiangong-1 next year.

Tiangong-1 is a rudimentary space station, that is probably more properly called a docking target.  China is currently planning two follow-on Tiangong's, each of which will be more fully functioning stations.

Chinese spacecraft dock in orbit for second time - Technology & science - Space - msnbc.com:
"Two unmanned Chinese spacecraft successfully docked together for a second time Monday, state-run media reported, in China's latest step toward placing its own space station in orbit.


The Shenzhou 8 craft re-docked with the Tiangong 1 module that will form part of a future space lab, and the two were jointly orbiting Earth, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the mission's control center."

Voyager 2 Completes Power Saving Switch to Backup Thruster Set

In an ongoing effort to extend the life of the Voyager's mission engineers continue to switch off power consuming devices. In this case switching to the backup roll control thrusters allows the heaters on the primary set to be switched off to conserve power. Power conservation is necessary because the craft's nuclear generator's degrade over time.

It is absolutely amazing that these 34 year old spacecraft are still functioning.  It's a true testament to the genius of the engineers who designed and built them.

Voyager 2 Completes Switch to Backup Thruster Set - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: "NASA's Voyager 2 has successfully switched to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the spacecraft to make the change on Nov. 4 and received confirmation today that the switch has been made. 

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are each equipped with six sets, or pairs, of thrusters to control the pitch, yaw and roll motions of the spacecraft. These include three pairs of primary thrusters and three backup, or redundant, pairs. Both spacecraft are now using all three sets of their backup thrusters."

Soyuz TMA-22 successfully launched in snowstorm

Soyuz TMA-22 has successfully reached orbit after launching into a snowstorm

NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, 50, is making his third spaceflight, the first on board a Soyuz. Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin, 42, and Anton Shkaplerov, 39, are making their first trips into space.

After a two-day trip aboard the Soyuz, the crew will arrive at the International Space Station.  There they will briefly join with station commander Mike Fossum of NASA, Japan's Satoshi Furukawa and Russia's Sergei Volkov.  Fossum, Furukawa and Volkov are scheduled to return to earth on November 21.

The launch was the first manned launch since NASA retired it's 30 year old Space Shuttle. The International Space Station now solely on Russia's Soyuz's to ferry crews to the station.

Soyuz TMA-22 prepares to launch in snow storm

Soyuz TMA-22 is preparing to launch in a snow storm.  Half a foot has fallen and it's still snowing, but Russian technicians say they are go for launch because winds are light.

Angry Birds Big Red Bird is flying along on Soyuz TMA-22

Looks like Angry Birds Big Red Bird is the launch mascot for TMA-22.

Update per theipadguide.com:

"Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov's daughter chose a red Angry Birds doll for him to take into space on his trip to the ISS. The crew will hang the doll with string before launch, and 10 minutes into the trip when theAngry Bird starts floating they will know they've entered the weightlessness of space. This continues a tradition by cosmonauts and astronauts of using simple items and charms to mark zero gravity."