The International Space Station as witnessed seen from the space shuttle. Photo Credit/NASA
The International Space Station “family portrait” that NASA has been hoping for before shuttle Discovery departed the orbital outpost for the last time was nixed on Tuesday by Russia.
The March 5 photo shoot, using three astronauts with cameras in the Soyuz 24 spacecraft, would jeopardize a long established test program for the upgraded capsule, the Russians determined.
Plans for the photograph began to gel about two weeks ago.
The Soyuz 24 was to back away from the station with Alexander Kaleri, Oleg Skripochka and Scott Kelly. At a distance of about 600 feet they were to aim cameras and camcorders to photograph the station while Discovery, European, Japanese as well as another Russian Soyuz and Progress capsules were docked.
NASA’s Kenneth Todd, who chairs the International Space Station Mission Management Team, explained the decision following a scheduled “go-no go” vote by the European, Japanese and Canadian and Russian partners. The Russians objected prior to the balloting.
Soyuz 24 marks the first flight of a major upgrade to the venerable three-person spacecraft that included the introduction of new avionics and data management systems as well as upgraded data handling equipment. The Russians did not want to depart from a long standing test flight regime established before the Soyuz 24 was launched on Oct. 7, Todd said.
The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth on March 16 with Kaleri, Skripochka and Kelly.
“This is not surprising to anyone,” Todd told a news briefing, explaining the Russians voiced concerns when the photo shoot was proposed but agreed to carry out another evaluation.
It is unlikely the station’s major partners will have so many simultaneous dockings with the obital outpost again.
NASA’s shuttle program is scheduled to conclude this year, with one and possibly two more missions.
Meanwhile, NASA’s shuttle Mission Management Team agreed late Monday to extend Discovery’s flight by 24 hours to 12 days in length, including an extra day at the station for the six astronauts.
Under the new scheduling, Discovery would undock on March 6 and return to Earth on March 8, with a touchdown at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:36 a.m., EST.
Discovery's astronauts use a robot arm to transfer the Permanent Multipurpose Module from the shuttle's cargo bay to the International Space Station's Unity module. Photo Credit/NASA
The astronauts will use the extra day to assist with the un-stowing of the station’s new Permanent Multipurpose Module. The PMM, and about 8,500 pounds of supplies packed away inside, was moved from Discovery’s cargo bay to the station using robot arm operations early Tuesday.
The new compartment is the final habitable module planned for the station’s U. S. segment.
On Wednesday, Discovery astronauts Al Drew and Steve Bowen will embark on their second spacewalk outside the station in three days.
They will tackle a number of external maintenance tasks during a 6 1/2 hour excursion that is scheduled to get under way at 10:18 a.m., EST.
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