Two-Ham Crew Set to Fly to International Space Station

Expedition 7 commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP (left), and NASA ISS Science Officer and Flight Engineer Ed Lu, KC5WKY, take time out from practicing launch procedures in a Soyuz simulator during training in Russia. Malenchenko and Lu will spend six months aboard the ISS. [NASA Photo]

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 24, 2003--Space veterans Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and NASA astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, head into space this weekend to assume the reins of the International Space Station (ISS) as its Expedition 7 crew. Crew commander Malenchenko, 41, and NASA ISS Science Officer Lu, 39, will be the first two-person ISS crew increment and the first primary crew to travel to the space station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Their Soyuz TMA-2 vehicle is scheduled to launch April 26, at approximately 0354 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They'll arrive aboard the ISS April 28. The crews will spend six days together on the ISS.

NASA has scheduled a joint news conference for the incoming and outgoing crews on April 29, and US and Russian reporters will get a chance to question the astronauts and cosmonauts. NASA Television--which is available on some cable systems--will broadcast the event live. NASA TV also will cover the Expedition 7 launch and docking activities.

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 the Soyuz TMA-1 craft that's now attached to the space station. They're scheduled to land on May 3 in Kazakhstan. Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit have been in space since November 23.

The Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft that's now attached to the International Space Station. This vehicle will return the Expedition 6 crew to Russia on May 3. [NASA Photo]

NASA says that with the arrival of the Expedition 7 crew just days away, the Expedition 6 crew has been preparing for "handover" activities this week. On April 23, the crew conducted a motion control system test in the Soyuz TMA-1 that Expedition 6 crew will use to return to Earth.

Malenchenko and Lu will remain in space until October, when a new crew will be sent up. NASA has said that until the space shuttle returns to flight-ready status pending the outcome of the Columbia accident investigation, Russian Soyuz vehicles will handle ISS crew rotations. NASA Chief Sean O'Keefe said this week, however, that he expects the shuttle fleet to be space-ready by year's end.

NASA continues to investigate the February 1 shuttle Columbia tragedy that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, three of them Amateur Radio licensees.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says NASA has okayed a schedule of one or two ARISS school group contacts per week, despite the reduction in crew size. The grounding of the shuttle fleet could put a crimp in plans to deliver new ham radio gear to the ISS this year, however.

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