SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Progress Undocking Sets Stage for New Station Crew* 18 SEPTEMBER 2007
Tuesday night’s undocking of a Progress 25 (P25) cargo craft at 8:37 p.m. EDT sets the stage for a Soyuz relocation and the arrival of Expedition 16.
Progress 25 will orbit a safe distance from the International Space Station for a week after undocking. This will enable Russian engineers to perform propulsion tests on the cargo craft before it finally deorbits and burns up over the Pacific Ocean.
On Thursday, Sept. 27, the Expedition 15 crew will enter the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft, undock from the Zarya’s earth-facing port and relocate to the Zvezda service module’s aft port. On Oct. 12, Expedition 16 will arrive at the International Space Station in a Soyuz TMA-11 for a crew swap.
Arriving with Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko is Spaceflight Participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov will leave several days later taking Shukor with them.
Flight Engineer Clay Anderson will stay aboard with Expedition 16. Flight Engineer Dan Tani will replace Anderson when Space Shuttle Discovery arrives at the station on mission STS-120.
+ View crew daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html + Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + Read more about Expedition 16 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/index.html