American Don Pettit, Russian Oleg Kononenko and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency, seated left to right, plan a five to six month International Space Station mission. Photo Credit/NASA photo
U.S., Russian and European astronauts began a five to six month mission to the International Space Station early Wednesday, climbing to orbit from the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstanaboard a Soyuz rocket.
NASA’s Don Pettit, Russian Oleg Kononeko and Dutch physician Andre Kuipers, who lifted off at 8:16 a.m., EST, carry an ambitious agenda.
Their lift off started a two-day trip to the orbiting science laboratory, where they will be greeted by Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank, of NASA, and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin. Their scheduled docking on Friday at 10:23 a.m., EST, will mark a resumption of sustained six person crew operations aboard the orbital lab.
Soyuz rocket undergoes preparations before it lifted off Wednesday. Photo Credit/NASA Photo
Staffing dropped to three astronauts in mid-September in response to a late August Soyuz failure that sent a Progress cargo capsule crashing back to Earth and prompted a temporary suspension of launch operations.
The increased staffing means more work with space station science experiments and technology demonstrations. The station’sU. S.segment will undergo a major computer software upgrade. In February, the station crew expects to greet and berth the firstU. S.commercial cargo capsule. SpaceX plans to launch their Dragon 9 supply ship on Feb. 7.
In addition, the Russians plan a February spacewalk that will include the installation of additional external orbital debris shielding. In March, the European Space Agency plans the launch of the third Automated Transfer Vehicle, another cargo supply craft.
“You are well prepared to take on this challenge,” NASA’s Mike Suffredini, the International Space Station program manager, assured Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers before their lift off.
All three of the newest crew members are spaceflight veterans.
Pettit served as a station flight engineer during a 161- day mission to the station in 2002-03. Kononenko served in the same role during a 199 day mission in 2008. Kuipers visited the station during an 11-day Soyuz mission in 2004.
A Russian Progress cargo craft plummeted back to Earth on April 24, after its Soyuz launcher experienced a third stage failure. An investigation pointed to a fuel line obstruction as the cause, prompting new production line inspection procedures. While the Russians pursued a recovery strategy, station managers weighed the possibility of temporarily de-staffing the orbital outpost altogether if the effort required more time.
It never came to that.
The Soyuz became the only means of transporting astronauts to the station following the retirement of NASA’s shuttle fleet in July.