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TOPIC: International Space Station


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Columbus laboratory
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In December 2006, experts from ESA and partner organisations met to review Columbus launch preparations. The successful review was a significant milestone for the launch of the Agency's science module, planned for later this year.
 The review meeting, known formally as the Flight Operations Readiness Review, included experts from ESA, NASA, the German Aerospace Agency (DLR), the Japanese space agency (JAXA) and industry, and concluded that ESA and its partners are on track for the launch of the Columbus scientific laboratory.
Columbus is Europe's cornerstone contribution to the International Space Station (ISS), and is scheduled for launch on shuttle mission STS-122 in October/November 2007.

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RE: International Space Station
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Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams and her two companions in space are engaged in a bit of housekeeping to make room for new equipment and supplies coming their way Jan 20.
Williams, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin are stowing items no longer needed at the International Space Station (ISS) on Progress 22 cargo ship.
Progress 22 will undock from the Pirs Docking Compartment on Jan 17 at 5.03 a.m. IST to make room for ISS Progress 24 scheduled to launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Jan 18 at 7.42 a.m. IST. Progress 24 arrives at the station Jan 19 and will dock around 8.30 a.m.
Williams and other crewmembers - orbiting 230 miles above earth - received more than 7,000 electronic postcards wishing them a happy new year from their home planet.

Source Indo-Asian News Service

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RE: ISS
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Astronaut's Camera is Lost In Space
A camera was accidentally turned into a satellite when it detached from astronaut Suni Williams during a seven-hour spacewalk last weekend. Williams, a member of the space shuttle Discovery crew, was in the process of trying to free a stuck solar array on the international space station.

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During a spacewalk lasting over six and a half hours, ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang and NASA's Robert Curbeam successfully freed the International Space Station's jammed P6 solar array allowing it to fully retract.
Standing on the end of the Station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, Curbeam used tape-insulated tools to pull on the array's guide wires, whilst Fuglesang shook the panel several times. Gradually the solar array was fully retracted into its rectangular blanket box.
Space Station managers added the fourth spacewalk to the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission after the solar array failed to retract fully following remote commands last Wednesday. A major objective of the STS-116 mission, the P6 solar array needed to be retracted ahead of relocation to another part of the Station, making way for new arrays which will be added during a future Shuttle mission.

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RE: International Space Station
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Crew members of the space shuttle Discovery are preparing for a fresh spacewalk to rewire the International Space Station (ISS).
Astronauts Robert Curbeam and Sunita Williams are expected to complete the task - begun by the crew on Thursday - during a six-hour spacewalk.
The rewiring, delayed after the 2003 Columbia disaster, will provide a power upgrade to support extra equipment.
Astronauts are also trying to fix a jammed solar panel on the ISS.

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RE: ISS
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Two spacewalking astronauts successfully rewired half of the international space station on Thursday, a job that when finished will allow the orbiting outpost to double the size of its crew and add two more labs in the coming years.
Flight controllers on the ground happily reported to the space station that power was flowing through two electrical channels hooked up by astronauts Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang.

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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station abandoned troubleshooting efforts on a jammed solar panel on Wednesday, leaving it half extended, and went forward with the next steps in their mission to rewire the outpost's electrical system.
Mission controllers told the astronauts they were considering mounting a space walk later in the mission to manually retract the solar wing.
The 33-metre panel had to be moved out of the way so new arrays installed on the station in September can rotate to track the sun for power.
Although the panel didn't fully retract, the path was cleared for the new arrays to rotate for the first time since they were installed.

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The retraction of a six-year-old solar array on the International Space Station (ISS) did not go to plan on Wednesday. Ground controllers left it only partly folded while they consider their options for getting the device pulled back fully. The problem may mean the crew of the space shuttle Discovery has to undertake a fourth spacewalk.

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A spacewalk was planned for the space shuttle crew despite failure of one of the International Space Station's solar arrays to fold properly.
Although 17 of the 31 bays of the P6 port solar array retracted Wednesday, a new set of arrays was successfully installed and National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission controllers in Houston reported the array was tracking the sun and generating maximum power.
That event set the stage for the two remaining spacewalks by space shuttle Discovery's STS-116 crew to rewire the station's power system.
More than 40 unsuccessful commands were sent to furl and unfurl the malfunctioning P6 arrays in an attempt to properly align them. NASA engineers Thursday were to explore options for completing the solar array folding.
Astronauts Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, who conducted the mission's first spacewalk, were to start Thursday's orbital stroll at 3:12 p.m. EST. They were to begin rewiring the station, bringing power generated by the newly installed solar arrays on line and prepare for the addition of more arrays next year.

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Space shuttle astronauts visiting the International Space Station will attempt on Wednesday to fold up one of the two 6-year-old solar arrays which have been the sole power providers to the U.S. sections of the station.
Next year, the second panel will be retracted and the entire power module will be relocated to boost the station's power supply.
The shuttle Discovery astronauts hope that by the time they leave the station, it will be drawing power from a new set of solar arrays that were delivered and installed during a shuttle mission in September.
Rewiring, which is needed to power new laboratories due to arrive next year, is scheduled to be done during spacewalks on Thursday and Saturday.
Retracting the old array may be tricky. NASA originally planned to do the work in 2003, but station construction was halted due to the Columbia accident.
If the array fails to fold up automatically, NASA might dispatch Discovery's spacewalkers on an extra outing to manually retract the panel. It must be retracted at least 40 percent to leave room for the new arrays to rotate as they track the sun for power.
The first spacewalk of the current mission ended successfully on Tuesday after more than six and a half hours with two astronauts managing to add a new piece to the metal backbone of the space station, clearing the way for the rewiring later this week.
The pair also replaced a faulty camera during their foray, among other tasks.

Source Reuters

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Two astronauts are preparing to carry out the first spacewalk of Space Shuttle Discovery's 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The pair will leave the ISS at 20:42GMT (1542EST) to begin installing a truss that forms the backbone of the station.

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