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Station Crew Enjoys Holiday After Busy Week

Image above: Commander Sergei Volkov (left) and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko (center) and Garrett Reisman dine together in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. Photo Credit: NASA TV

The Expedition 17 crew of the International Space Station enjoyed an off-duty day after a busy week filled with robotics, science and preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Discovery.

In observance of Victory Day, a Russian holiday commemorating the end of World War II in Europe, the three station crew members took a breather from their usual busy schedule Friday. During the light-duty day, the crew attended to several routine station maintenance tasks as well as the daily 2-hour exercise regimen to maintain physical fitness during long-duration spaceflight.

On Thursday, Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman worked with the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2. He maneuvered the arm to grapple Dextre, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, for a test of Dextre’s latching end effector systems.

Reisman took a break from his tasks on Thursday for a chat with Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”

Earlier in the week, Reisman gathered items for transfer to Discovery, set to arrive at the station in early June on the STS-124 mission. Reisman will return home on the shuttle as astronaut Greg Chamitoff takes his place as an Expedition 17 crew member.

Reisman also configured tools that will be used during the three spacewalks planned for STS-124. The crew will install the Japanese Pressurized Module of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and its robotic arm. They will also replace a depleted nitrogen tank assembly on the station’s truss.

Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko installed stowage enclosures in the Zarya module. The enclosures, which were among the cargo delivered by the Automated Transfer Vehicle in April, provide more efficient stowage and improve air circulation.

Throughout the week, Volkov and Kononenko also conducted several sessions with a Russian experiment aimed at improving air leak detection in station modules.

Meanwhile, Russian flight controllers conducted a series of tests on the Kurs automated rendezvous system before the upcoming launch and docking of the ISS Progress 29 unpiloted cargo ship. Loaded with more than two tons of food, fuel and supplies for the orbital outpost, Progress 29 is set to launch May 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and dock with the station May 16.

+ Read more about Expedition 17
+ View crew timelines
+ Read more about the European Automated Transfer Vehicle

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