Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Next Progress to space station on July 3; Next manned Soyuz to space station on July 23-25

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 10, 2015 at 11:06:40 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Next Progress to space station on July 3; Next manned Soyuz to space station on July 23-25

ROSCOSMOS: NEW SCHEDULE launch of Space Shuttle ISS program
09/06/2015 15:18
The State Commission approved the amended schedule of launches to the International Space Station (ISS) and freight transport manned spacecraft "Progress" and "Union" to the end of 2015:

1. JULY 3: TGK "Progress M-28M" ("Soyuz-U");
2. July 23-25: TPK "Soyuz TMA-17M" ("Soyuz-FG", the date will be determined later in connection with the correction of the ISS shaved, held June 8);
3. On 1 September: TPK "Soyuz TMA-18M" ("Soyuz-FG");
4. September 21: TGK "Progress M-29M" ("Soyuz-U");
5. November 21 - the first launch of the modernized Space "truck" TGK "Progress-MS" ("Soyuz 2.1a");
6. December 15: TPK "Soyuz TMA-19M" ("Soyuz-FG").
Press Service of the Russian Federal Space Agency

Russia's next Progress space freighter to blast off to space station on July 3
June 09, 16:15 UTC+3
The Russian Space Agency's schedule was adjusted due to last month's accident with the carrier rocket and the space freighter

Soyuz-U carrier rocket
© EPA/TASS/ROSCOSMOS PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT
MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The next launch of the Progress space freighter to the International Space Station (ISS) has been scheduled for July 3, Russia's Space Agency Roscosmos announced on Tuesday.
"The launch of the Progress M-28M freighter on the Soyuz-U carrier rocket has been scheduled for July 3, and the launch of an upgraded version of the space freighter, the Progress-MS on the carrier rocket Soyuz 2.1a, has been scheduled for November 21," Roscosmos said in its statement.
The launch of the Progress M-29M space freighter to the ISS has been scheduled for September 21.
The Russian Space Agency issued on Tuesday an adjusted schedule of flights for this year. The schedule was adjusted due to last month's accident with the carrier rocket and the space freighter.
The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress space freighter blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on April 28. However, the carrier rocket failed to put the cargo ship into a designated orbit and Russia's Mission Control lost communications with the space freighter that was intended to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
The Progress cargo ship burnt up in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean in the morning of May 8.
Roscosmos later said the accident had been caused by the "off-nominal separation of the third stage of the Soyuz and Progress space vehicles" as a result of the fuel tanks' depressurization.
Head of Flight Control of the Russian segment in the International Space Station Vladimir Solovyov earlier said Roscosmos planned to postpone the ISS crew's landing until June, then launch a Progress space freighter and send a new manned expedition only after that.

Next manned Soyuz to head to space station July 23-25 — Roscosmos
June 09, 19:58 UTC+3
Earlier there were plans to launch the Soyuz toward the ISS on May 26, but the launch was delayed due to an accident involving a Progress cargo spacecraft
© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS
MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The launch of the Soyuz TMA-17M manned spacecraft with the crew of the next expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for July 23-25 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos told TASS Tuesday.
"The exact date of the launch will be determined later in connection with adjustment of the ISS orbit that took place June 8," the agency said.
Earlier there were plans to launch the Soyuz toward the ISS on May 26, but the launch was delayed due to an accident involving a Progress cargo spacecraft. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Japan's Kimiya Yui and American Kjell Lindgren are to fly to the station.
Roscosmos said the Soyuz TMA-18M, the seat in which was given up by British singer Sarah Brightman, is to blast off September 1. This year's final manned launch will be made December 15: the Soyuz TMA-19M will head toward the station.
The Progress M-27M cargo spacecraft was launched on April 28 from the Baikonur space center on a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket. The rocket took the spacecraft to a higher orbit than required to dock with the ISS. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get control of the spacecraft, experts gave up the idea. The Progress was taking food, oxygen and other cargos to the ISS crew. It burned in dense atmosphere May 8.
Roscosmos concluded that the cause of the accident was "abnormal separation" of the Soyuz third stage and the Progress due to decompression of the rocket's fuel tanks, caused by an unaccounted design property.
© 2015 TASS

Russia updates launch schedule for ISS crews, cargo
June 9, 2015 by Stephen Clark
Updated at 11 p.m. EDT
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese flight engineer Kimiya Yui will launch to the International Space Station in late July. Credit: NASA/GCTC
The next three-person crew will launch to the International Space Station sometime between July 23 and July 25 after a two-month delay triggered by the failure of an unmanned Progress resupply mission in April, Russian officials said Tuesday.
Veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko will lead the crew launching aboard the Soyuz TMA-17M space capsule. Kononenko will be joined by rookie NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and first-time Japanese flight engineer Kimiya Yui.
Roscosmos said space station managers will set a target launch date for the new crew after analyzing the results of an unplanned maneuver conducted Monday to steer the complex out of the way of a piece of space junk. The debris avoidance burn slightly changed the space station's orbit, and analysts will have to recompute the Soyuz spacecraft's launch opportunities before finalizing a launch date.
Kononenko, Lindgren and Yui will replace an three-person crew scheduled to depart the space station Thursday and land in Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz TMA-15M capsule set to undock Thursday with NASA commander Terry Virts, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Russian pilot Anton Shkaplerov was put through standard pre-departure checks this week.
Roscosmos said engineers are studying a thruster misfire — a separate impulse from Monday's intentional space junk avoidance burn — that occurred during routine tests of the Soyuz communications system Tuesday. The glitch occurred at 11:27 a.m. EDT (1527 GMT), according to NASA, causing the space station to slightly drift out of its normal orientation.
The complex was quickly brought back under control by other rocket thrusters on the Russian section of the outpost.
"There was no threat to the crew or the station itself, and the issue will have no impact to a nominal return to Earth of the Soyuz TMA-15M on Thursday," NASA said in a statement. "Roscosmos specialists are determining the cause of the incident. Once more information is known, additional information will be provided."
Thursday's undocking was originally set for mid-May, but space station managers delayed the landing a month in the schedule shakeup following the loss of the Progress spacecraft in April.
Russian officials moved up the next Progress cargo launch from Aug. 6 to July 3 in the wake of the failure of the last mission, which investigators said was caused by a "design peculiarity" in the linkage between the Progress supply freighter and its Soyuz rocket, which launched with an upgraded digital flight control suite and other modernizations.
The spacecraft spun out of control after a botched separation from the third stage of the Soyuz rocket.
The July 3 launch will use an older version of the venerable Soyuz booster not susceptible to the problem that led to the loss of the Progress cargo capsule April 28.
The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is pictured docked to the space station with the night lights of Italy in the background. The capsule is set for landing Thursday with outgoing commander Terry Virts, flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti and Russian pilot Anton Shkaplerov. Credit: NASA
The liftoff of the following Soyuz crew ferry craft remains set for Sept. 1, Roscosmos said. It will carry up incoming space station flight engineer Sergei Volkov, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and a third crew member still to be announced.
British soprano Sarah Brightman was slated to launch to the space station with Volkov and Mogensen under a tourist contract with Space Adventures, but she backed out of the mission last month. Russia is expected to settle on a replacement for Brightman soon.
Volkov will remain on the space station until early 2016, but Mogensen will come back to Earth after a 10-day trip along with outgoing space station commander Gennady Padalka and the still-unknown third crew member.
The mission is necessary to change out the Soyuz lifeboat on the space station, which comes with a "warranty" of 210 days in orbit. The Soyuz landing craft are typically flown back to Earth by returning space station residents at the end of their expeditions, but two members of the current crew will stay in orbit beyond the design expiration of their Soyuz capsule.
Padalka launched in March with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who are slated to spend nearly one year aboard the space station. Kelly and Kornienko will remain in orbit when Padalka returns in September.
Russia also announced its revised space station launch plan for the rest of the year:
Progress M-29M — known as Progress 61P in the ISS flight sequence — will launch on Sept. 21
Progress MS-1 — known as Progress 62P in the ISS flight sequence — will launch on Nov. 19
Soyuz TMA-19M — carrying cosmonaut Yuri Malenchecnko, NASA flight engineer Timothy Copra and British astronaut Timothy Peake — will launch on Dec. 15

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

Longest Woman Spaceflyer to Return as Russia Reshuffles Station Launches After Rocket Failure
by Ken Kremer on June 9, 2015

Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, record setting female spaceflyer, in Star Trek uniform as Dragon arrives at the International Space Station on April 17, 2015. Credit: NASA
The longest space mission in history by a female astronaut is now set to conclude on Thursday, following Russia's confirmation of a significant reshuffling of the crew and cargo flight manifest to the International Space Station (ISS) for the remainder of 2015 – all in the wake of the unexpected Russian launch failure of a station bound Progress resupply ship in late April with far reaching consequences.
The record setting flight of approximately 200 days by Italian spaceflyer Samantha Cristoforetti, along with her two Expedition 43 crewmates, will come to an end on Thursday, June 11, when the trio are set to undock and depart the station aboard their Russian Soyuz crew capsule and return back to Earth a few hours later.
Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, officially announced today, June 9, a revamped schedule changing the launch dates of several upcoming crewed launches this year to the Earth orbiting outpost.
Launch dates for the next three Progress cargo flights have also been adjusted.
The next three person ISS crew will now launch between July 23 to 25 on the Soyuz TMA-17M capsule from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The exact timing of the Expedition 44 launch using a Russian Soyuz-FG booster is yet to be determined.
The International Space Station, photographed by the crew of STS-132 as they disembarked. Credit: NASA
Soon after the Progress mishap, the Expedition 43 mission was extended by about a month so as to minimize the period when the ISS is staffed by only a reduced crew of three people aboard – since the blastoff of the next crew was simultaneously delayed by Roscosmos by about two months from May to late July.
Indeed Cristoforetti's endurance record only came about as a result of the very late mission extension ordered by Roscosmos, so the agency could investigate the root cause of the recent launch failure of the Russian Progress 59 freighter that spun wildly out of control soon after blastoff on April 28 on a Soyuz-2.1A carrier rocket.
Roscosmos determined that the Progress failure was caused by an "abnormal separation of the 3rd stage and the cargo vehicle" along with "associated frequency dynamic characteristics."
The Expedition 43 crew comprising of Cristoforetti, NASA astronaut and current station commander Terry Virts, and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov had been scheduled to head back home around May 13. The trio have been working and living aboard the complex since November 2014.
The 38-year old Cristoforetti actually broke the current space flight endurance record for a female astronaut during this past weekend on Saturday, June 6, when she eclipsed the record of 194 days, 18 hours and 2 minutes established by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams on a prior station flight back in 2007.
Cristoforetti, of the European Space Agency (ESA), also counts as Italy's first female astronaut.
The Progress 59 cargo vessel, also known as Progress M-27M, along with all its 2.5 tons of contents were destroyed during an uncontrolled plummet back to Earth on May 8.
NASA astronaut Terry Virts (left) Commander of Expedition 43 on the International Space Station along with crewmates Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (center) and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on May 6, 2015 perform a checkout of their Russian Soyuz spacesuits in preparation for the journey back to Earth – now set for June 11, 2015. Credits: NASA
Roscosmos announced that they are accelerating the planned launch of the next planned Progress 60 (or M-28M) from August 6 up to July 3 on a Soyuz-U carrier rocket, which is different from the problematic Soyuz-2.1A rocket.
Following the Soyuz crew launch in late July, the next Soyuz will blastoff on Sept. 1 for a 10 day taxi mission on the TMA-18M capsule with cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen. After British opera singer Sarah Brightman withdrew from participating as a space tourist, a new third crew member will be named soon by Roscosmos.
The final crewed Soyuz of 2015 with the TMA-19M capsule has been postponed from Nov. 20 to Dec. 15.
Also in the mix is the launch of NASA's next contracted unmanned Dragon cargo mission by commercial provider SpaceX on the CRS-7 flight. Dragon CRS-7 is now slated for liftoff on June 26. Watch for my onsite reports from KSC.
The most recent unmanned Dragon cargo CRS-6 mission concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown on May 21.
The Dragon will be carrying critical US equipment, known as the IDA, enabling docking by the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 astronaut transporters – due for first crewed launches in 2017.
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti enjoys a drink from the new ISSpresso machine. The espresso device allows crews to make tea, coffee, broth, or other hot beverages they might enjoy. Credit: NASA
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka will remain aboard the station after the Virts crew returns to begin Expedition 44.