WASHINGTON – A fresh crew is heading for the international space station this weekend for a six-month stint that will include science and spacewalks, but will also demand close attention to an array of potentially serious maintenance problems that have arisen in the aftermath of last year’s shuttle disaster.
Unlike the last crew exchange, when two midlevel NASA officials refused temporarily to certify the safety of the mission, planners have given this weekend’s “Expedition 9” – the ninth crew to staff the station – a clean bill of health. Lingering defects ranging from an iffy oxygen supply to jury-rigged exercise equipment and a temperamental gyroscope continue to raise concerns, but NASA officials said they have been analyzed and deemed manageable.
“The best you can do is train for every one of these contingencies,” NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe said last week. “But you’re going to have equipment challenges, and there’s no way to call Pep Boys or Wal-Mart. You’ve got to have the capacity to do this on board.”
O’Keefe also denied reports of disputes between NASA and Russian space officials over priorities for shipping vital equipment on the Russian Soyuz and Progress cargo spacecraft, which have assumed the burden of servicing the station since the U.S. space shuttles were grounded after last year’s Columbia tragedy. The Russians “have responded like partners,” he said. “It has been extremely successful.”
Expedition 9 is scheduled for launch at 8:19 p.m. PDT Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian Air Force Col. Gennady Padalka, 45, a veteran of long-duration spaceflight aboard the Mir space station, will command the mission. U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Edward “Mike” Fincke, 37, a spaceflight rookie, will serve as flight engineer and science officer. Docking is scheduled for 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, 45, another first-timer, will accompany Padalka and Fincke and conduct experiments aboard the space station for 10 days. He will return to Earth on April 30, with the departing crew: American commander Michael Foale and Russian flight engineer Alexander Kaleri.
Boeing is a prime contractor for the space station.
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