{"id":15078,"date":"2016-11-16T18:46:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T10:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/three-person-crew-ready-to-embark-on-space-station-expedition\/"},"modified":"2016-11-16T18:46:02","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T10:46:02","slug":"three-person-crew-ready-to-embark-on-space-station-expedition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/three-person-crew-ready-to-embark-on-space-station-expedition\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-person crew ready to embark on space station expedition"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n

\"NASA
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet during a fit check rehearsal with their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. Credit: NASA\/Alexander Vysotsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A veteran Russian cosmonaut, a rookie French flight engineer and a record-setting NASA astronaut making her third trip to the International Space Station are gearing up for launch Thursday aboard an upgraded Soyuz ferry craft, kicking off a two-day flight to the orbital laboratory.<\/p>\n

Soyuz MS-03\/49S commander Oleg Novitskiy, strapped into the command module\u2019s center seat, European Space Agency flight engineer Thomas Pesquet and Peggy Whitson, NASA\u2019s most experienced female astronaut, are scheduled for take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20:13 p.m. EST (GMT-5; 2:20 a.m. Friday local time).<\/p>\n

As with all missions to the space station, the launching is timed to coincide with the moment Earth\u2019s rotation carries the pad into the plane of the lab\u2019s orbit, a rendezvous requirement for spacecraft trying to match orbits with a target streaking through space at 5 miles per second.<\/p>\n

The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is the third in a series of upgraded ferry craft featuring improved propulsion, navigation and communications systems. As with the first two flights in July and October, Novitskiy\u2019s crew will carry out a two-day rendezvous with the station to give Russian flight controllers more time to put the new systems through their paces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to finish out the testing of the new Soyuz vehicle in realtime conditions,\u201d Novitskiy said before launch. \u201cWe\u2019re going to finish the testing of the radio control system, there have been some upgrades to the propulsion system, the navigation system has been upgraded and we\u2019re going to finish the tests. I\u2019m sure they will go great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitson said she had hoped the first two MS-series flights would clear the way for resumption of shorter four-orbit rendezvous profiles because \u201ctwo days on board the Soyuz isn\u2019t as good as two days on board the space station.\u201d But she said the additional testing will ensure the upgraded spacecraft is safe in all phases of flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, all the changes they\u2019ve put in have improved the reliability of the vehicle,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s how the Russians do their progression, it\u2019s small steps changing out a few things at a time, making sure they work before they progress to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a very reliable vehicle to begin with, and I think the changes they\u2019ve put in will make it even more reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n

If all goes well, Novitskiy will oversee an automated rendezvous and docking at the lab\u2019s Russian Rassvet module, arriving at the Earth-facing port around 5:01 p.m. Saturday. Standing by to welcome them aboard will be Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft before encapsulation inside its aerodynamic shroud. Credit: NASA\/Alexander Vysotsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They were launched to the station Oct. 19 aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft, joining Soyuz MS-01 commander Anatoly Ivanishin, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and NASA biochemist Kate Rubins. Ivanishin and his crewmates returned to Earth on Oct. 30, leaving Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko on their own.<\/p>\n

With the addition of Novitskiy, Pesquet and Whitson, the lab\u2019s crew will be back up to its full complement of six, clearing the way for a full slate of research activity.<\/p>\n

Whitson, 56, holds a doctorate in biochemistry. She is America\u2019s most experienced female astronaut, veteran of two long-duration stays aboard the station in 2002 and 2007-08 totaling nearly 377 days aloft. She served as commander of the station during her second visit and was the first non-military pilot, and first female, to serve as chief of NASA\u2019s astronaut office at the Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n

During her third space flight, Whitson will set a new record for most time in space by a U.S. astronaut. On April 24, she will surpass the 534-day mark set in September by astronaut Jeff Williams.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the science, not records, that holds Whitson\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the more interesting experiments for me, because of my background, is going to be looking at how stem cells grow and also potentially looking at how a bacteria grows and multiplies and how mutations occur and doing the genetic sequencing of those cells,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re doing a large variety of different scientific experiments, including combustion, crystallization, animal biology, plant biology.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said earlier that she\u2019s particularly looking forward to carrying out research to learn more about how the immune system works in the weightless environment of space to help pave the way for long-duration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

\"NASA
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson gets a hair cut in the final week before launch. Credit: NASA\/Bill Ingalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to understand why crew members sometimes have more rashes or more allergies than we do on the ground, and trying to improve how people live in space for long periods of time,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cObviously, we\u2019ve been looking at bone loss for quite some time, and we\u2019re continuing with that, trying to understand what is the minimum amount of exercise you can (safely) do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space station astronauts currently spend two hours a day exercising, using treadmills and resistive weight machines to keep in shape. Whitson said she will participate in tests of a new, smaller exercise device during her upcoming mission that may prove useful for astronauts on deep space missions who will be confined to smaller spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Another experiment of interest to Whitson, one that also could prove useful for deep space explorers, is one devoted to studying X-rays emitted by neutron stars, the collapsed high-gravity cores of massive stars that exploded in the distant past.<\/p>\n

Along with studying the basic physics of neutron stars, the experiment also will help engineers assess the possible use of such X-ray beacons as a sort of cosmic GPS navigation system.<\/p>\n

\u201cA really neat side effect of that is they\u2019re also doing a technology demonstration thing to develop a space navigation system using the X-rays,\u201d Whitson said, \u201cbecause they have a very continuous periodicity that allows them to potentially develop a space navigation system looking at neutron stars all around us throughout the galaxy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that could prove to be space navigation just like we have GPS satellites around the Earth. Once we leave Earth, we don\u2019t have GPS any more. So this would be the next level of our GPS system except, it would be at a much bigger scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Whitson, Novitskiy is a veteran space station crew member, serving as a flight engineer during a 144-day visit in 2012-13. Pesquet, an aerospace engineer and veteran Air France pilot, is making his first flight.<\/p>\n

Asked if he had any fear about riding into space on top of a rocket, Pesquet said \u201cif you\u2019re not afraid, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re brave, it means you\u2019re crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCourage is all about realizing your fears and then trying to overcome them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s natural to be afraid. The day I climb on the rocket, I\u2019ll be a little bit afraid, to be honest, because it IS scary. Courage is all about realizing that, and still going.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said flying with veterans like Novitskiy and Whitson was a definite bonus, joking that Whitson \u201cbuilt the space station by herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a long process for me to learn from these two guys, and I think we\u2019re in good shape now,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be exciting. I hope I haven\u2019t forgotten anything in my suitcase for that big upcoming trip!\u201d<\/p>\n

Novitskiy said he had no worries in that regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great to have him as a left seater,\u201d Novitskiy said, referring to the flight engineer\u2019s position in the command module. \u201cHe works very fast, and he\u2019s a real professional. He knows the systems very well, and the training has been going fantastically well, too. So I\u2019m fully confident it will be just as great during the flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitson said all three crew members get along well and enjoy each other\u2019s company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really a great time training with these two guys, they\u2019re both extremely professional, which I respect and admire, and that\u2019s what I like having on the team, that professionalism,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what\u2019s really neat about them that makes them a little bit unique is that we really have a lot of fun together, too. Oleg has a great sense of humor and he\u2019s willing to laugh at himself. And Thomas is the comedian of the team and entertains us quite well.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their stay aboard the space station, Whitson and company will welcome a Russian Progress cargo ship on Dec. 3 and a Japanese HTV freighter on Dec. 13. The HTV is loaded with six state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries that will replace 12 aging nickel-hydrogen batteries in one set of the station\u2019s solar arrays.<\/p>\n

The batteries will be installed during at least two spacewalks in January. Whitson and Kimbrough are spacewalk veterans and both have trained for the battery swap out, as has Pesquet. NASA has not yet identified who will venture outside in January.<\/p>\n

Additional spacewalks are tentatively planned in the March-April timeframe to attach a short tunnel-like pressurized mating adapter to a port on the forward Harmony module that eventually will be used by commercial crew ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX. One such port already is attached to the front of the station.<\/p>\n

Along with routine research and spacewalk planning, the station crew also hopes to welcome two SpaceX Dragon cargo ships, one in January and one in March, along with a Progress supply craft in January and an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship in February. SpaceX, however, is still recovering from a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion, and while the company hopes to resume launchings in December, it\u2019s not yet clear when the Dragon cargo missions will actually fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf everything goes and we get all the vehicles that are planned, we will have a very exciting and busy mission,\u201d Whitson said. \u201cI anticipate it\u2019s going to be busy no matter what we end up having because the ground is great at finding things for us to work on depending on what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of those fine details we don\u2019t know yet. But we\u2019re an adaptable crew, we\u2019ll be able to do whatever it is they give us to do, and we\u2019re looking forward to it. We have an incredible number of scientific investigations, some are already on board, some will be arriving while we\u2019re up there, and we\u2019ll be able to continue to conduct research no matter what the shuffle is.\u201d<\/p>\n

And along the way, Pesquet may provide a bit of entertainment. He hopes to carry up a saxophone. While he said he was out of practice and \u201cnot good at all,\u201d he looks forward to finding a quiet corner and trying his hand again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know. It could be really cool on a Sunday,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cI hope it won\u2019t bother my crewmates, I\u2019ll try to find the most isolated corner of space station so that in case I\u2019m really not doing well at all it won\u2019t be too much pain for you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Whitson: \u201cWe\u2019ll let you know whether or not he\u2019s any good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet during a fit check rehearsal with their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. Credit: NASA\/Alexander Vysotsky A veteran Russian cosmonaut, a rookie French flight engineer and a record-setting NASA astronaut making her third trip to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1601,831,3292,3293,1545,717,1882,1078],"class_list":["post-15078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-baikonur-cosmodrome","tag-european-space-agency","tag-expedition-50","tag-expedition-51","tag-human-spaceflight","tag-international-space-station","tag-oleg-novitskiy","tag-peggy-whitson"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}