Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Soyuz Launched to ISS With Denmark's First Astronaut

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 2, 2015 at 9:33:05 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Soyuz Launched to ISS With Denmark's First Astronaut

ROSCOSMOS: DECISION ON ADDING space rocket "Soyuz-FG" fuel components
02.09.2015 2:30
At Baikonur launch site the meeting of the State Commission, which examined the results of the tests at the launch complex launch vehicle (LV), "Soyuz-FG", designed for launching into orbit manned transport spacecraft (TPC) "Soyuz TMA-18M" with an international crew.
After hearing the reports of supervisors, the State Commission decided readiness "Soyuz-FG" with TPK "Soyuz TMA-18M" for filling with propellant components and launch.
In accordance with the schedule of prelaunch work specialists of space industry began operations on refueling tank space rocket oxidizer and fuel.
Start is scheduled at 07:37 MSK on September 2. Follow the live broadcast of launch preparation and launch, please visit the Russian Space Agency to 4:40 MSK: http://www.federalspace.ru/317
Press Service of the Russian Federal Space Agency

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen launched to Space Station
2 September 2015
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov were launched into space this morning at 04:38 GMT (06:38 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
The launch marks the start of ESA's 10-day 'iriss' mission that focuses on testing new technologies and ways of running complex space missions.
The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft was pushed into orbit as planned, accelerating 50 km/h every second for the first nine minutes.
The spacecraft separated from the Soyuz launcher at 04:46 and the trio are now circling Earth at 28 800 km/h. They will spend the next three days, or 36 orbits of our planet, catching up with the International Space Station.
Their docking is planned on 4 September at 07:42 GMT (09:42 CEST) but they will not enter their new home in space until the astronauts on both sides of the spacecraft hatch to ensure that there are no leaks.
Calm before the mission
For Andreas and his colleagues the time spent travelling to the Station will be relatively calm, with the spacecraft mostly flying automatically.
Once they get to their destination Andreas's schedule is fully packed, with experiments during his short but intense stay in space.
Andreas will control three rovers from space in two experiments, hunt elusive sprites during thunderstorms, purify water with a new nanotechnology membrane that mimics cells found in every living being on Earth, wear a tailor-made SkinSuit to alleviate back problems and use a mobile headset that allows ground control to look over his shoulder as he works.
Just eight days after arrival, Andreas and Aidyn will return to Earth with a different commander and in a different spacecraft. They will fly in Soyuz TMA-16M under commander Gennady Padalka, who has spent more time in space than any other human being.
Follow the whole iriss mission on Twitter via @esaoperations and on the iriss mission blog.
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iriss mission liftoff

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Sep. 1, 2015
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Soyuz Heads to Space Station with New Crew, Return Transportation for One-Year Mission Team
Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency launched aboard Soyuz TMA-18M from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EDT on Wednesday (10:37 a.m. in Baikonur).
Credits: NASA TV
Three crew members representing Russia, Denmark and Kazakhstan have launched to the International Space Station to provide a new ride home for the station's one-year crew and continue important research that advances NASA's journey to Mars.
Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency launched aboard Soyuz TMA-18M from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EDT on Wednesday (10:37 a.m. in Baikonur). They are set to dock to the station at 3:42 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 3 a.m.
At 2:40 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, NASA TV will provide a live broadcast as Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscomos hands over command of the space station to Expedition 44 Flight Engineer Scott Kelly of NASA. Expedition 45 begins on Sept. 11 when Padalka, Mogensen and Aimbetov undock from the orbital outpost in the Soyuz spacecraft designated TMA-16M and return to Earth. The Soyuz TMA-16M carried Padalka, Kelly, and Roscosmos' Mikhail Kornienko to space in March. Because each Soyuz remains in orbit for about six months, the spacecraft swap is necessary at the midway point of the one-year mission.
With the arrival of Volkov, Mogensen and Aimbetov, nine people will be aboard the orbiting laboratory for the first time since 2013. The three join Expedition 44 Flight Engineers Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Commander Padalka and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Kornienko of Roscosmos, and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Kelly and Kornienko will reach the halfway point of their one-year mission to advance understanding of the medical and psychological challenges astronauts face during long duration spaceflight, in addition to developing countermeasures that will help minimize adverse effects. The pair will spend 342 consecutive days living in space before returning to Earth with Volkov in March 2016 aboard the Soyuz TMA-18M.
In the coming months, Expedition 45 crew members will conduct more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.
The recently installed CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) searches for dark matter, measures cosmic rays and observes sources of high-energy phenomena in the galaxy. CALET seeks answers for several unknowns, including the origin of cosmic rays, how cosmic rays accelerate and move across the galaxy, and the existence of dark matter and its relation to nearby cosmic ray sources. Once scientists take an inventory of the highest-energy radiation in space, they may be able to characterize the radiation environment experienced by humans and encountered by space electronics. This may help determine risk of exposure to this type of radiation.
Ongoing station research also includes the Flame Extinguishment Experiment-2 JAXA (FLEX-2J), a study of combustion in microgravity. Fires burn differently in space, where fuels form spherical droplets and flames burn in a globular shape rather than teardrop. The crew studies the interactions of flames on the motion and ignition, or non-ignition, of millimeter-sized droplets. Results could provide key insights and improve computer modeling of fuel combustion to aid in reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency in space and on Earth.
During the second half of the marathon one-year mission, the team will continue a wide variety of human research studies, such as the Assessing Telomere Lengths and Telomerase Activity in Astronauts (Telomeres). Telomeres are "caps" on the ends of chromosomes that protect them from fraying, much like the aglet on the end of a shoelace. Telomeres shorten over time, and the rate at which this occurs can be increased by stress, leading to accelerated aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer and an impaired immune system. The Telomeres investigation uses crew member blood samples to examine how telomeres and telomerase, an enzyme that maintains the length of telomeres, are affected by space travel and to better evaluate the impact of future spaceflight.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that enables us to demonstrate new technologies and make research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. It has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and, since then, has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next giant leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
To follow activities on orbit, visit the space station Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/ISS
Follow the crew members and the station on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa_astronauts
http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station
-end-
Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov
Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov
Last Updated: Sep. 1, 2015
Editor: Karen Northon

Russia Launches New Soyuz Mission to ISS With Denmark's First Astronaut
© Sputnik/ Vitaly Belousov

08:00 02.09.2015(updated 08:32 02.09.2015) Get short URL
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Russia's manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-18M was launched to the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome early Wednesday with the first Danish astronaut aboard.

BAIKONUR (Sputnik) — Russia launched early Wednesday a manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-18M to the International Space Station (ISS), a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
"The spacecraft has shed the third stage. The crew is in high spirits," the commentator of the launch at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan said.
The lift-off of the carrier rocket took place at 7:32 a.m. Moscow time (4:32 GMT). The flight to the orbital space station will take two days, instead of six hours. According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the schedule change was made out of security concerns.
The docking with the station is slated for September 4.
The Soyuz crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, European Space Agency flight engineer Andreas Mogensen, who will become the first Danish astronaut, and Kazakh cosmonaut Aydin Aimbetov.

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved.

Three-man crew blast off for International Space Station
By Emilee Speck
contact the reporter

Three astronauts originating from Russia, Denmark and Kazakhstan are on their way to the International Space Station after a successful launch Wednesday morning.
Russian Federal Space Agency Cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, ESA Astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Kazakh Space Agency Astronaut Aidyn Aimbetov will make a total of nine crew aboard the International Space Station when they arrive.
Soyuz TMA-18M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
Morgensen and Aimbetov will have a short stay, returning to Earth on September 12 along with Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka on the Soyuz TMA-16M leaving behind the Soyuz capsule they arrived in.
This spaceflight has special meaning for the country of Denmark. Morgensen is the nation's first astronaut.
Soyuz and its crew will make 34 orbits of Earth before meeting up with the Space Station. The journey will take two days, instead of the normal six hours because the Space Station had to adjust its orbit last month to avoid a run in with space junk, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos.
The spacecraft will begin docking on Friday at 3 a.m. The new crew members will be welcomed by Padalka, Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
This will mark the first time since 2013 that the Space Station has been home to nine crew members.
Kelly and Kornienko are about half way into their one year mission living on the Space Station. They will return to Earth in March 2016 sharing a ride with Volkov.
Hours later and half a world away an Atlas V rocket is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Wednesday morning carrying the MUOS-4 Navy communications satellite into orbit.
Watch the recorded launch of ISS Expedition 45 and docking of the Soyuz spacecraft on NASA TV here.

Copyright © 2015, Orlando Sentinel

By William Harwood CBS News September 2, 2015, 1:26 AM
Soyuz rocket blasts off on space station flight
The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft thunders away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Wednesday, kicking off a two-day flight to the International Space Station. NASA TV

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft streaked into orbit Wednesday carrying a crew of three on a two-day flight to the International Space Station. Their mission: to deliver a fresh ferry craft to the lab complex that will be needed next March to carry two station crew members back to Earth after nearly a year in orbit.
With veteran cosmonaut Sergey Volkov at the controls, flanked on the left by European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen and on the right by Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov, the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft lifted off from Yuri Gagarin's launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37:43 a.m. EDT (10:37 a.m. local time).
Putting on a spectacular show, the rocket majestically climbed away to the east, launching directly into the plane of the space station's orbit just a few moments after the lab complex passed 250 miles above the launch site. But it will take two days, or 34 orbits, for the Soyuz to catch up with its quarry.
While shorter four-orbit approaches have been employed since 2013, a recent debris avoidance maneuver changed the lab's orbit slightly, requiring the longer two-day rendezvous.
In any case, all three crew members appeared relaxed in live television shots from the Soyuz command module as it thundered toward orbit, monitoring cockpit displays and occasionally flashing thumbs up at the camera.
Volkov, a second-generation cosmonaut, is making his third spaceflight while Aimbetov and Mogensen, the first Dane to make trip to orbit, are space rookies. Aimbetov, the third Kazakh to fly in space, was added to the crew after singer and would-be space tourist Sarah Brightman withdrew from training earlier this year citing "personal" issues.
Soyuz commander Sergey Volkov, left, and European Space Agency flight engineer Andreas Mogensen, right, monitor cockpit displays during the climb to orbit. Out of view to the left was Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov.
NASA TV
The climb to space appeared to go smoothly and the Soyuz TMA-18 ferry craft was released from the booster's upper stage to fly on its own about nine minutes after launch. A few moments after that, the spacecraft's navigation antennas and solar arrays unfolded and locked in place as planned.
"We're doing great, and everything is in order on board," Volkov reported.
If all goes well, Volkov will oversee an automated approach to the space station, moving in for docking at the lab's upper Poisk module around 3:42 a.m. Friday.
Standing by to welcome them aboard will be the station's six-man Expedition 44 crew made up of commander Gennady Padalka and his two Soyuz TMA-16M crewmates, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, and Soyuz TMA-17 crew members Oleg Kononenko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren.
Padalka, Kelly and Kornienko were launched to the station March 27 while Kononenko, Yui and Lindgren arrived at the outpost July 22.
With the addition of the TMA-18M crew, the station will be hosting nine crew members for the first time since November 2013 when the Olympic torch for the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, was delivered to the space station.
In this case, Volkov and his crewmates are delivering a fresh Soyuz to the station to carry Kelly and Kornienko back to Earth next March after nearly a year in orbit participating in experiments to learn more about the long-term effects of weightlessness and the space environment.
Soyuz spacecraft are certified for about 200 days in orbit and the TMA-16M ferry craft is nearing the end of its orbital lifetime.
Padalka will turn over command of the station to Kelly on Saturday, marking the end of Expedition 44 and the beginning of Expedition 45. Padalka then will return to Earth Sept. 11 aboard the TMA-16M spacecraft with Mogensen and Aimbetov. Volkov will remain aboard the station as a long-duration crew member, joining Kelly and Kornienko aboard the TMA-18M spacecraft for the return to Earth next March.

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photos: Three-man crew launched from steppes of Kazakhstan
September 2, 2015 by Stephen Clark
Three space fliers rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, setting off in pursuit of the International Space Station to swap out Soyuz lifeboats for the research lab's one-year crew.
The launch occurred at 0437 GMT (12:37 a.m. EDT; 10:37 a.m. Baikonur time).
Veteran cosmonaut Sergey Volkov sat in the center couch of the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft, joined by European Space Agency flight engineer Andreas Mogensen and Kazakh fighter pilot turned cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov.
These photos show the crew preparing for launch, including a traditional blessing, goodbyes to family and friends, and boarding the Soyuz spacecraft before liftoff.
Read our full story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvAvBZEcQcQ
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: Roscosmos
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja
Photo credit: ESA-S. Corvaja

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

Rocket with 'Denmark's Gagarin' lifts off to space station

By Shamil Zhumatov

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The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft carrying the crew of Aidyn Aimbetov of Kazakhstan, Sergei Volkov of Russia …
By Shamil Zhumatov
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying a three-man international crew, including Denmark's first astronaut, roared off on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, beginning a two-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
The rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-18M spaceship lifted off to the $100 billion orbiting laboratory at 10:37 a.m. (0437 GMT), leaving just a puff of white smoke in the sky.
The crew is commanded by veteran Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, joined by rookie Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Aidyn Aimbetov, another first-time space flyer from Kazakhstan's space agency Kazcosmos.
ESA dubbed Mogensen "Denmark's Gagarin", a reference to the Soviet cosmonaut and first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.
The Dane told a pre-flight news conference on Tuesday that he had shaved his right leg to allow Volkov to better apply electrodes during scientific experiments in space.
View gallery

Astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark gestures from a bus as he leaves to board the Soyus spacecraft …
One of Mogensen's jobs will be to test new equipment on Danish-made exercise bikes, ESA said.
The Danish exercise bikes - with no seats as none is needed in gravity-free conditions - were launched in 2001 and have been replaced or upgraded several times since. They help astronauts battle the negative impact weightlessness.
Aimbetov, the third ethnic Kazakh in space, said he was taking dried mare's milk and traditional Kazakh cheese to orbit. Fermented mare's milk, or "kymyz", is popular among nomadic cultures of Central Asia.
While in space, he will wear a special dosimeter to study the effects of space radiation on the brain.
Volkov is the first son of a cosmonaut who has flown to the 15-nation space outpost.
View gallery

Photographers take pictures as the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft carrying the crew of Aidyn Aimbetov of K …
"It's our family tradition already to carry Kazakhs into space," joked Volkov, whose father, Alexander Volkov, commanded a Soyuz spaceship that took the first-ever Kazakh cosmonaut, Tokhtar Aubakirov, into space in 1991.
Mogensen and Aimbetov are set to return to Earth on Sept. 12, together with veteran Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, 57, who has been working aboard the ISS since March.
By then, Padalka will have racked up a total of 878 days in space, more than any other person.
Volkov will return to Earth in March together with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Mikhail Kornienko, who will have spent one year in space by that time.
The Soyuz rocket will take two days to reach the ISS, rather than a six-hour approach usually taken in recent years.
Russia's Roscosmos space agency said the altitude of the station, boosted in July to avoid space debris, requires the slower approach.
(Additional reporting by Sabina Zawadzki in Copenhagen and Irene Klotz from Cape Canaveral; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Copyright © 2015 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Russian Rocket Launches International Crew of 3 Toward Space Station
by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | September 02, 2015 01:10am ET

Three new crewmembers launched toward the International Space Station early Wednesday morning, embarking on a mission that will boost the orbiting lab's population to a level not seen in nearly two years.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency and Kazakhstan's Aidyn Aimbetov blasted off atop a Soyuz rocket Wednesday (Sept. 2) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EDT (0437 GMT). It was 10:37 a.m. local time in Baikonur at launch time. You can see a video of the flawless Soyuz launch here.
"We're doing great," Volkov radioed down to Mission Control in Russia after the successful liftoff. "Everything is in order on board."
If all goes according to plan, the trio will reach the station on Friday morning (Sept. 4). The arrival will bring the number of crewmembers aboard the $100 billion orbiting complex to nine, a number last reached in November 2013, NASA officials said.
But the abnormally dense population won't last long. Mogensen and Aimbetov will return to Earth on Sept. 12 along with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who has been living on the International Space Station (ISS) since March.
After that departure, six crewmembers will remain — Volkov and fellow cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko, Japanese spaceflyer Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren.
European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (top) gives a thumb's up sign as he launched into space aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft with cosmonaut Sergei Volkov (bottom) and Kazakh Space Agency cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov (out of frame) from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Sept. 2, 2015. The trio is headed for the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA TV
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Kelly and Kornienko are about halfway through the first-ever yearlong mission aboard the space station. Researchers are studying how they adapt physiologically and psychologically to long-duration spaceflight; the results should help pave the way for future human missions to Mars, NASA officials have said.
(L to R) Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency, Sergei Volkov of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, and head to the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
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Kelly's identical twin brother Mark, who is a former NASA astronaut, is participating in the experiment from the ground, serving as a control against which to compare the data gathered about Scott.
Most crewmembers spend 5 to 6 months aboard the orbiting lab. Mogensen and Aimbetov are flying their brief 10-day mission because Soyuz spacecraft are certified to stay in space for just six months. So Kelly and Kornienko cannot return to Earth in the Soyuz that brought them up; instead, they will come down in the vehicle that is carrying Mogensen, Aimbetov and Volkov to the station.
Aimbetov was a late addition to this "taxi flight." His seat was supposed to be filled by English singer Sarah Brightman, who was reportedly set to pay about $50 milllion for her orbital experience. But Brightman backed out in May, citing "personal family reasons."

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