SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Preparations Continue for Expedition 15, ATV*

Image above: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Image credit: NASA

TO VIEW PICTURE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams completed internal assembly tasks for the startup later this year of the new Oxygen Generation System (OGS). OGS, which will be required once the station crew expands to six people, is scheduled for activation during Expedition 15.

Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin prepared for the arrival of the European Space Agency’s unpiloted cargo craft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle. Tyurin set up equipment in the Zvezda module for a ground-operated test of the satellite navigation system to be used during autonomous docking of the ATV.

A reboost of the station is planned for March 15 using the Progress 23 engines to place the station at the correct altitude for the launch of the Soyuz TMA-10 carrying the Expedition 15 crew.

The ISS Progress 23 cargo ship, currently docked to the Zvezda service module, will be jettisoned on March 27 to make room for the Soyuz TMA-9 craft currently docked at the Zarya module. The Soyuz TMA-9 will be moved to the Zvezda service module on March 29 to make room for the Soyuz TMA-10. The Expedition 15 crew is scheduled to arrive at the station on April 9. The Expedition 14 crew will return to Earth on April 20.