 Now official: US astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ (left), and Expedition 7 Crew Commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, of Russia train in NASA's virtual reality lab at the Johnson Space Center for duty aboard the ISS. Both now are in Russia for Soyuz training. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, April 1, 2003--As expected, NASA has named veteran Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and veteran NASA astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, as the International Space Station's Expedition 7 primary crew. Malenchenko--who will be the crew commander--and Lu will be the first two-person ISS crew increment and the first primary crew to travel to the space station on a Russian Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft. Plans call for an April 26 launch from Kazakhstan.
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR--originally set to be the third person on the new crew--and NASA astronaut Mike Foale, KB5UAC, are the back-up crewmembers for Expedition 7. All four have been training in Russia.
Originally
scheduled to return in March aboard the space shuttle Atlantis STS-114 mission,
Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin,
RV3FB, and NASA Space Station Science Officer Don Pettit, KD5MDT, will return
to Earth aboard a Soyuz TMA-1 craft in May. They have been in space since
November 23. NASA's shuttle fleet remains on the ground as the space agency
continues to investigate the February 1 Columbia tragedy that claimed the lives of
seven astronauts.
 Left behind: Mir veteran cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR, was scheduled to be part of the Expedition 7 crew. He's now a back-up member. [NASA Photo] |
The fresh crew will remain in space until October, when a new crew will be sent up. NASA has said that until the space shuttle return to flight-ready status pending the outcome of the Columbia accident investigation, Russian Soyuz vehicles will handle ISS crew rotations.
Additional unmanned Russian Progress cargo rocket
flights have been scheduled to keep the ISS well stocked. The next will arrive
in June and carry enough food, water, fuel and other provisions to sustain the
two-person crew in space at least through October.
 Taste tests: Expedition 7 crew members Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP (left), and US astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, are briefed by a dietitian during food tasting in the Flight Projects Division Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). [NASA Photo] |
Malenchenko, who's 41 and a Russian Air Force colonel, commanded a four-month mission aboard the Russian Mir space station in 1994. In 2000, he participated in the STS-106 mission aboard the shuttle Atlantis to prepare the ISS for permanent human occupancy. Lu--who will turn 40 this summer--is a veteran of two shuttle flights. In 1997, he flew to Mir aboard Atlantis to exchange US residents on the Russian complex, and he joined Malenchenko on STS-106 Atlantis mission.
While aboard the ISS, Malenchenko and Lu will continue to operate the science payloads already on board, as well as maintain the station. The implications of a two-person crew on Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts is not completely clear. ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, has said that despite the reduction in crew size, NASA has told the ARISS team that it may continue to schedule one or two ARISS school group contacts per week. ARISS school contacts typically go on hiatus during a crew changeover, however.
In addition to the smaller crew, the
grounding of the shuttle fleet also means that plans to transport new ham gear
to the ISS will have to be put on hold.
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