The two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are eagerly anticipating the arrival of NASA’s space shuttle Discovery and their first human visitors in more than two months.
No Take-Off soon to bring relief to the men up there.
ISS Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips said they look forward to nightly dinners with Discovery’s STS-114 astronauts, and are planning something special to welcome the shuttle crew aboard.
“If I told you now, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Phillips told reporters Friday during a space-to-ground news conference. “But I do have a surprise for them.”
Discovery’s STS-114 mission, commanded by veteran astronaut Eileen Collins, is slated to launch on July 13 at 3:51 p.m. EDT (1951 GMT) and dock at the ISS two days later. In addition to testing out new orbital tools and procedures to inspect and repair space shuttles, Collins and her crewmates will deliver a cargo pod full of much-needed supplies, experiments and replacement parts to the ISS.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my colleagues up here, and seeing another seven faces,” Phillips said, adding that he has been collecting his supply of Mexican food for a theme dinner with the shuttle astronauts.
Krikalev and Phillips have lived aboard the ISS since mid-April, and are expected to be the last two-person crew to maintain the orbital facility. A third crew member, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter, is slated to join them during NASA’s STS-121 shuttle flight aboard Atlantis, which is currently set to launch no earlier than Sept. 9.
No comments:
Post a Comment