ASTROFILE – Aug - Sept 2009

LATEST CREW ASSIGNMENTS

11 August: STS-134 crew named, and a change to STS-132 crew assignment.                                             NASA named the five NASA and one ESA astronauts to STS-134 scheduled to visit the ISS in July 2010 to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the station. the mission will include the flight of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer designed to collect information from cosmic sources in order to gather evidence of anti-matter and increase our knowledge of the Universe. Assigned as Mission Commander is veteran astronaut  Navy Captain Mark Kelly who has prebiously flown three missions to the station. He was Pilot on STS-108 (2001) and STS-121 (2006) and served as Commander for STS-124 in 2008. Serving a Pilot for the mission will be retired Air Force Colonel Gregory J.H. Johnson who previously flew as Pilot on STS-123 in 2008. NASA Mission Specialists are Air Force Colonel Michael Fincke a long duration spaceflight veteran having spent two residence on ISS as  NASA science officer and flight engineer for Expedition 9 (187 days 21 hrs during 2004) and  as Station Commander for Expedition 18 (178 days 00 hrs during 2008/2009); Greg Chamitoff also a veteran ISS NASA Science Officer and Flight Engineer completing a 183 day flight  as part of Expedition 17 and 18 spending 179 days on ISS and  Andrew Feustel who flew as Mission Specialist for STS-125 (Hubble Service Mission 4) in May 2009. Also named to the crew is Italian Air Force Colonel Roberto Vittori, an ESA astronaut and veteran of two Soyuz flights to ISS (see below). In addition to delivering the AMS facility to the outside of the station using the shuttle and station robotic arms the crew will conduct three EVAs.

In the same announcement NASA revealed that Air Force Colonel Michael Good had replaced Karen Nyberg on STS-132 currently manifested for a May 2010 launch. Nyberg had been grounded due to a temporary medical condition. The announcement stated Nyberg would be assigned to a technical role while awaiting a return to flight status and assignment to a future spaceflight crew. {NASA News Release 09-127]

18 September: NASA Announces final scheduled Shuttle mission flight crew.                                                         A veteran six person crew will fly the final Shuttle mission in September 2010 ending an era began on 12 April 1981 when astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen completed the two day STS-1 maiden flight of Columbia inaugurating the Shuttle flight programme. The flight will take the final logistics pressurised module to the station during an eight day mission. Chosen to command the mission is Chief Astronaut and retired Air Force Colonel Steve Lindsey who will be making his fifth mission into space. He previously served as Pilot for STS-87 (1997) and STS-95 (1998) and then went on to command the flights of STS-104 (2001) and STS-121 (in 2006). Pilot for the mission will be Air Force Colonel Eric Boe who has previously served as Pilot on STS-126 in 2008. MS Air Force Colonel Alvin Drew previously flew on STS-118 in 2007 and is the current NASA Director of Operations at the Yu. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. The other three MS are all long duration veterans of ISS Expedition crews. Michael Barratt completed his residency on ISS as Flight Engineer for ISS-19/20. Army Colonel Timothy Kopra has  completed his first spaceflight aboard ISS as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 20 landing on September 11 2009 (see below). He was replaced on ISS by Nicole Stott who returned from the station in November (See the next Astrofile update). Stott has also been named to the STS-133 crew.

The selection of the Chief Astronaut and such veteran crewmembers is an interesting choice given the number of unflown astronauts available or those who have not made a recently spaceflight. The prospect of an American astronaut making a flight into space on anything other than Soyuz, with its limited seat availability is small. Most of the Americans assigned to ISS operations through 2016 are assigned or at least in various stages of long duration training as primary, back up or support crews. With the closure of Shuttle flight operations occurring within the next 12 months it seems clear that the natural attrition from the astronaut office will increase as veteran shuttle astronauts retire or move to more managerial roles.

In the same release NASA named Peggy Whitson as replacement Chief of the Astronaut Office when Lindsey commenced his mission training in October. Whitson became the first female and non-pilot astronaut to hold the post of Chief  of CB since the position was created in September 1962. [NASA News Releases: 09-187]

UPS AND DOWNS

Who’s been launched into space and who are back on earth

IN SPACE: ISS21/22 Expedition Crew:

Frank De Winne (Belgian – ESA) ISS-20 Flight Engineer/ISS21 Station Commander

Roman Romanenko (Russian TsPK)– ISS20/21 Flight Engineer/ TMA Commander (call sign Parus)

Robert Thirsk (Canadian – CSA) – ISS20/21 Flight Engineer

Nicole Stott (American- NASA) ISS20/21 Flight Engineer (arrive on STS-128)

Maxim Suryaev (Russian TSPK) ISS21/22 Flight Engineer (arrive on TMA-16)

Jeff Williams (American NASA) ISS-21 FE/ISS-22 CDR (arrive on TMA-16)

DOWN: STS-128 (ISS-17A)

August 28 – September 12 2009 (13 days 20 hrs 54 min 55 sec)

128^th Shuttle mission

37^th Discovery  mission

30^th ISS Shuttle assembly mission

Flight Crew:

STURCKOW, Frederick, 48, Colonel USMC, Commander, 4^th mission

Previous missions: STS-88 (1998); STS-105 (2001); STS-117 (2007)

FORD, Kevin, 49, Colonel USAF, Ret. , Pilot

FORRESTER, Patrick, 52, Colonel USA Ret., Mission Specialist 1, 3^rd mission

Previous missions: STS-105 (2001); STS-117 (2007)

HERNANDEZ, Jose, 47, civilian, Mission Specialist 2/Flight Engineer

OLIVAS, John, 44, civilian, Mission Specialist 3, 2^nd mission

Previous missions: STS-117 (2007)

FUGLESANG, Christer, 52, Civilian, ESA Swedish Mission Specialist 4, 2^nd mission

Previous missions: STS-116 (2006) 

ISS resident crew exchange

STOTT, Nicole, 46, civilian, MS5, ISS 20 Flight Engineer, up only

KOPRA, Timothy, 45, Colonel USA, MS5, ISS 20 Flight Engineer, down only

Launched from KSC  28 August 2009; docked to ISS 30 August

Undocked from ISS  8 September 2009 landed at KSC 12 September 

Duration: 13 days 20 hrs 54 minutes 55 sec (wheel stop) 219 orbits 

3 EVAs totalling 20 hrs 15 minutes

EVA                      Duration                 Date                 EV1     EV2                 IV

1                            6 hrs 35 min           1 September     Olivas   Stott                Forrester            2                            6 hr 39 min            3 September     Olivas  Fuglesang          Forrester               3                            7 hr 1 min              6 September     Olivas   Fuglesang         Forrester                                    Total  20  hrs 15  min

Kopra mission log:

15 July : Launched aboard STS-127

17 July: Docked to ISS and exchanged with Koichi Wakata as ISS FE20/21

30 August: Exchanged with Stott joins STS-128 crew  Kopra

8 September: Undocked from ISS aboard STS-128

12 September 2009 Lands aboard STS-128

Kopra  duration: 58 days 02 hrs 50 min 15 sec (53 days on ISS/44 days expedition crew member)

ISS -19/20 Crew Down

Gennady I. Padalka (Russian - TsPK): ISS-20 Station and TMA Commander (call sign Altair)

Michael Barrett (American- NASA) ISS-20 Flight Engineer

Expedition 19/20 duration. 198 days 16 hrs 42 min 22 sec

Expedition 19/20 EVA’s 2 (5hrs 6min)

ISS Visiting Crew 17 SF Participants - Down

Guy Laliberté

Launched on  TMA-16 September 30

Landed on TMA-14 October 11

Duration 10 days 12 hrs 17 min and 171 orbits

 SPACE EXPLORER UPDATES

CLASS OF 2009 UPDATES:

24 August: The nine new NASA Ascans reported to Johnson Space Center, Houston to commence a two–year programme of training and evaluation that includes scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction on ISS systems, EVA, robotics , physiological training, T-38 flight training, in addition to water and wilderness survival training.  (NASA News J009-025

The same day the two Canadian candidates reported to JSC to join the NASA Class of 2009 for the next 18 months as they embark on the NASA Ascan training programme. The Canadians had already commenced basic training  at the Canadian Space Agency with a CSA orientation programme. The welcome by CSA colleges on 14 May came the day after they were identified as the counties new astronauts.  They took part in a training flight with 4 Wing Operations, Cold Lake , Alberta on 26 May followed by robotics familiarization at the CSA headquarters in July. They have also completed trauma response training at McGillUniversity’s Medical Simulation Centre in Montreal, Quebec before moving to Houston.  (CSA)

The two Japanese candidates announced in April also joined the NASA group for the Ascan training programme after completing an orientation programme in Japan.

On 26 August the Ascans   were in the depths of the western Maine wilderness for a four-day programme of Land Survival Training at the Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, their training towards a flight into space had begun. (JAXA)

1 September: The six new ESA astronauts commenced their 18-month basic training programme at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.  Training will include academic studies in spaceflight fundamentals, as well as lectures and studies in space systems and operations and updates on European participation and hardware within the ISS programme and on the Russian Soyuz vehicle. Hey will also commence studies in Russian, scuba diving for EVA familiarisation as well as survival and wilderness training. Their programme also includes the fundamentals of several scientific disciplines, the history of spaceflight, space engineering, human behaviour, flight training as well as public outreach techniques. (ESA News Release)

8 September: JAXA reveals a third Japanese candidate would join the NASA Class of 2009 group for the two year Ascan training programme. Mr Norishige Kanai, MD, 32, joined JAXA on 12 September and after a period of orientation in Japan will move to theUnited States.

Norishige Kani was born in December 1976 and is a 2002 graduate of the NationalDefenceMedicalCollege. He subsequently worked at the National Defence Medical college Hospital, Japan Self Defence Force Ohminato Hospital and Japan Self Defence Force Hospital Kure. In June 2009 he was assigned to the Medical Service Division, 1^stService School, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force. He holds the rank of Lieutenant, Diving Medical Officer)

ESA ASTRONAUT UPDATES:

ISS resident crew assignments:

5 August:  André Kuipers (Netherlands) was named by ESA to the ISS 30/31 Expedition crew currently scheduled for a December 2011 launch aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft. He is schedule to complete a six month mission returning in June 2012. Kuipers has recently served as BUp to Frank De Winne, currently aboard ISS conducting his OasISS mission (Expedition 20/21). Kuipers has already visited ISS once before during his 11 day Delta mission in April 2004. As well as being trained in  robotics Kuipers will prepare for a possible EVA during his mission 

It was also announced on the same date that a German national will participate in the next flight opportunity to ISS on a six month mission in the 2013-2014 timeframe. (ESA News Release)

Shuttle crew assignments:

11 August: ESA announces that Roberto Vittori (Italy) has been assigned to STS-134 as a Mission Specialist. Currently manifested for launch in July or September 2010  (see above) Vittori has previously completed two ten day missions to ISS as a Soyuz Flight Engineer. His first flight in April 2002 included a concise programme of experiments but during his second flight three years later he completed a more extensive programme of 22 experiments (ESA News Release)

FORMER SPACE EXPLORER UPDATES

1 September 2009: Former Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan (STS-118)  and private astronaut Richard Garriott ( Soyuz TMA-13) have been elected to the board of directors to the Challenger Center Board of Directors. The international network of 46 Challenger Learning  Centers use space exploration as a theme and simulation as the vehicle to generate a positive experience to education in science   engineering and maths. (ChallengerCenter New Release)

9 September 2009: NASA finally announces the formal departure from the astronaut programme and space agency and return to the USN (reported in the July issued of AstroFile) (NASA news release 09-207)

JAPANESE ASTRONAUT TAKAO DOI LEAVES JAXA

13 September: The first Japanese astronaut to walk in space and two time Shuttle astronaut Takao Doi has left the Japanese Space Agency to take up a new appointment as Section Chief , Space Applications, at the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, Austria effective 17 September, the day before his 55^th birthday. An engineer by profession Doi studied space propulsion as a research student and worked at NASA Lewis Research Center as a National Research Council research assistant in 1985 when nominated as one of the first Japanese Payload Specialist astronauts selected by the National Space Development Agency (NASDA, from Oct 2003 renamed JAXA)   for the First Materials Processing Test (FMPT) mission also manifested as Spacelab J (for Japan).

Whist training for the mission  he continued his research studies and served as BUp PS for the mission flown as STS-47 in 1992. In 1994 he served as Project Scientist for STS-65 International Microgravity Laboratory 2 mission and was selected for NASA mission Specialist training in 1995 for one year of Ascan training. He subsequently flew as Mission Specialist on STS-87 (Nov 19 – Dec 5b 1997) during which he became the first Japanese astronaut to perform  an EVA, and more recently flew as a MS on STS-123 (March 11- 26, 2008) to the ISS which attached the first element of the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’ to the station. He returned to JAXA from NASA on 30 June 2009. In his career Doi logged over 754 hrs in space during his two missions and completed two EVAs totalling over 12 hours. In his new role Doi will work in the development of a system for providing observational data collected be artificial satellites to countries affected by natural disasters and supplying globally academic knowledge of the space environment [NASA, JAXA, and Collect Space Messages]. CLICK HERE for a aprofile of Doi.

SPACE EXPLORER OBITUARIES

The loss of two Cosmonauts

28 September: With regret we have to report that former cosmonaut Nikolai Stepanovich Porvatkin has died aged 77. Born on 15 April 1932 in Vozdvizhenka, Krasavsky Raion, Saratov Oblast, Russia he was a retired Colonel in the Air Force Reserves and a 1952 graduate of the Serpukhov Technical Air Force School. Following graduation in 1960 from the Military Air Engineering Academy named for Professor N. Ye. Zhukovsky he served as an engineer in a military unit. In 1962 until selection to the cosmonaut programme he was assigned to the Scientific Research Institute NII-2 in Kalinin where he gained experience in military space programmes. He was selected for cosmonaut training on 12 April 1967 as a member of the 4^th Air Force Selection. He completed a two year cosmonaut training course in 1969. The previous year he had earned a Candidate of Technical Sciences. Although he never flew into space he received various assignments during his a sixteen year career as an active cosmonaut. His initial assignment following training was in the Soyuz VI training group until it was stood down in August 1969. He served as a Salyut 4 and ASTP Capcom in 1975 followed by two years Almaz training. He formally retired from the cosmonaut team on 20 April 1983 as a result of an Air Force directive discharging a number of inflow cosmonauts. After retirement he worked as a flight controller in Moscow Mission Control (TsUP) and on spacesuit simulations. From 1989 he was employed by Energiya as a civilian at TsUP training flight controllers and working on spacecraft guidance issues. He was widowed and had three children.

30 September. It is also with sad news that we have to record the loss of another Russian cosmonaut and space exploration pioneer. Pavel Romanovich Popovich died just five days before he was to celebrate his 79th birthday. At the time of his death he was in hospital in Gurzuf on the Crimean Peninsula , Ukraine and reportedly suffered from a stoke. Popovich was one of the first 20 cosmonauts chosen for space training in 1960 and went on to fly as solo Pilot Vostok 4 in 1962 in a group flight with Andrian Nikolayev in Vostok 3 and as Commander of Soyuz 14 with Yuri Artyukhin, on a 16 day mission to the military space station Salyut (Almaz) 3 in 1974. CLICK HERE for a profile of Popovich.

NASA Astronaut Frank Caldeiro dies of a brain tumour aged 51

With regret we announce the death on October 3rd 2009 of NASA astronaut Frank Caldeiro (Group 16) aged 51 after a two and a half year battle with a brain tumour. He was married with two daughters. Born in Buenos Aires , Argentine, he came to the United States aged 16 and later became a naturalised US citizen, making him eligible for consideration as a career NASA astronaut. Following advanced education in engineering and management he worked for Rockwell International on the B-1B bomber and as a Shuttle main propulsion specialist. In 1991 he joined NASA as a cryogenic and propulsion systems expert until selection in the 1996 astronaut group as a mission specialist. Though he would not make a flight into space he completed important support assignments on ISS and Shuttle before reassignment to the WB-57 high altitude research aircraft program, where he was still assigned at the time of his death. A profile of Frank Caldeiro is available by CLICKING HERE

OTHER NEWS

SON OF ISRAEL ASTRONAUT KILLED IN JET CRASH

13 September: Assaf Ramon, 21, a Lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force and the son of Ilan Ramon who died in the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2001, was killed in the crash of his F-16 fighter in the hilly area south of the city of Hebron in the West Bank region. Assaf Ramon had only completed his countries air force training course in June and was commissioned as Lieutenant. Assaf’s late father is a national hero in Israel and his son was following in his footsteps by excelling in his training course and was presented his aviator wings by  President Simon Peres. Shortly after the loss of Columbia Assaf stated he wanted to follow in his father footsteps and become an astronaut. Sadly this was not to be. The accident that claimed his life was a routine training flight. Earlier this year he had a lucky escape when the engine failed in the  Skyhawk A4 he was flying with an instructor but they were both able to successfully eject. His loss is a second tragic blow to his family and to Israel. (BBC News; CollectSpace Messages)

NEW CHINESE TAKIONAUT SELECTION

17 September: Chinese news agencies report the preliminary selection of 45 candidates (30 men and 15 women) for the counties next selection of space explorers. It is expected that the final selection would include five men and two women, the first time female candidates have been considered in China’s human spaceflight programme. The new candidate average 30 years old with the mail candidate fighter pilot and the female pilots aero-transport pilots, all with college degrees

There was a selection of candidates in the early 1970s which was stood down following the abandonment of the man in space programme. The next formal selection occurred in 1998. The first Chinese manned flight occurred in October 2003 when Liwei Yang flew Shenzhou 5 for 21 hrs 26 min. Two years later in October 2005 Junlong Fei and Haisheng Nei flew a 4 day 19 hr 33 min flight aboard Shenzhou 6. In September 2008 Zhigang Zhia, Boming Liu and Haipeng Jing completed a 2 day 20 hr 28 minute flight in Shenzhou 7 during which Zhia completed the first Chinese EVA (27 September – 22 min). The next launch in 2010/2011 is expected to include rendezvous and docking and the creation of a small research platform, a stepping stone to a larger space station.