• 10 November 2002 - More on Saturday's Soyuz landing: The capsule from the TM-34 spacecraft touched down outside the Kazakh capital, where temperatures were 14° F (-10° C - brrr!). The crew were found to be well after their soft landing.

  Unlike the Space Shuttle, a Soyuz capsule can land only hours after undocking. The Shuttle can take days to land, because the crew must stow mission equipment and prepare for the glide to Kennedy Space Center's runway. The orbiter may fly around the Station to document its growth, and can only land under strict rules for weather and visibility. Soyuz can simply undock (which is automated anyway), deorbit, and touch down in an open area via parachute and braking rockets - a much less complicated affair.

  See the press release and landing photos from Energia Corp.

• 09 November 2002 - Evening Update - LANDING! - The three-man crew of Soyuz Taxi Flight 5 has landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan, completing their mission to swap escape capsules (which are only certified for six months on-orbit) and perform some science experiments while they were there. NASA reports:

  Soyuz 5 Undocks from ISS; STS-113 Next
  Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson bid farewell to their latest set of visitors, the Soyuz [Taxi] 5 crew, on Saturday. However, they will not have to wait long to welcome new guests to the station.

  The three-member Soyuz ... crew undocked the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft from the station at 2:44 p.m. CST [3:44PM EST/2044 GMT] Saturday, leaving behind the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft that it delivered to the station last week. [The capsule] landed safely in Kazakhstan at 6:04 p.m. CST Saturday [7:04PM EST/0004 GMT Sunday].

  The undocking set the stage for the arrival of STS-113 on Tuesday. Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Expedition Six crew and the P1 (P-One) Truss to the station. The Expedition Five crewmembers have spent time over the past week preparing for STS-113's three spacewalks and packing for their return home on Endeavour. STS-113 is scheduled to launch at 11:59 p.m. CST Sunday [12:59AM EST/0559 GMT Monday].

  Stay tuned for our coverage of STS-113.

  
  

• 09 November - Afternoon Update - UNDOCKED - The Soyuz Taxi 5 cosmonauts - Sergei Zalyotin, Yuri Lonchakov and Belgian Frank De Winne - are on their way home, after separating their Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft from Space Station Alpha. Undocking was at 3:44PM EST (2044 GMT), a few minutes after the scheduled time of 3:35PM EST.

  
  

• 09 November 2002 - Undocking Day - Watch NASA TV and ESA TV to watch undocking and landing activities for the Soyuz Taxi Flight 5 crew. They will parachute down in the TM-34 spacecraft that was flown up to the ISS in April. Fresh Soyuz ships must be flown up to the Station every six months for use as an emergency lifeboat.  See below for the timeline.

• 08 November 2002 - Flight Day 9 was the last full day of docked operations for the Soyuz crew. NASA reports:

  Soyuz to Leave ISS Saturday
  Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson will bid farewell to their latest set of visitors, the Soyuz [Taxi] 5 crew, on Saturday. However, they will not have to wait long to welcome new guests to the station.

  The three-member [Taxi Flight] 5 crew is scheduled to undock the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft from the station at 2:41 p.m. CST [3:41PM EST/2041 GMT] Saturday, leaving behind the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft that it delivered to the station last week. Soyuz ... is scheduled to land in Kazakhstan at 6:04 p.m. CST Saturday [7:04PM EST/0004 GMT Sunday]. NASA TV will cover undocking activities, beginning at 2 p.m. CST [3PM EST/2000 GMT].

  The undocking will set the stage for the arrival of STS-113 next week. Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Expedition Six crew and the P1 (P-One) Truss to the station. The Expedition Five crewmembers have spent time over the past week preparing for STS-113's three spacewalks and packing for their return home on Endeavour.

  On the ground, flight controllers in Houston, Texas, are troubleshooting a problem with the Carbon Dioxide Removal System in the Destiny Laboratory Module. The problem, related to valve performance, poses no threat to the ISS or the shuttle mission.

• 07 November 2002 - Thursday - Flight Day 8 was another busy day for the half-dozen folks in orbit. NASA reports:

  ISS, Soyuz Crew Continue Joint Operations
  Thursday was another busy day aboard the International Space Station for the Expedition Five and Soyuz [Taxi] 5 crews. Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson prepared the station's Quest Airlock for the three STS-113 spacewalks.

  The Soyuz ... crewmembers proceeded with pursuing their science objectives Thursday. Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne worked with several experiments inside the station's Microgravity Science Glovebox. One of those studies monitors protein crystal growth with a digital holographic microscope.

  The Space Station is experiencing difficulties with the "scrubber" system which removes exhaled carbon dioxide gas from Alpha's atmosphere, so Expedition 5 Science Officer Peggy Whitson has set up a backup system to keep the Station's air fresh and breathable. The six are in no danger, since there is plenty of stored oxygen aboard.

• 06 November 2002 - Wednesday - Flight Day 7 continues with docked operations. NASA reports:

  ISS Crew Works with Soyuz 5, Prepares for STS-113
  Wednesday, Expedition Five Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev and NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson continued their work with the Soyuz 5 crew aboard the International Space Station and prepared for their return home later this month with STS-113. Treschev and Soyuz 5 Flight Engineer Yuri Lonchakov removed unneeded equipment from the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft in which the visiting crew will return to Earth.

  This weekend, the taxi crew will leave behind the Soyuz vehicle (Soyuz TMA-1) that they arrived in at the station. The Soyuz spacecraft serves as the station's crew return vehicle and must be swapped out every six months. Undocking is scheduled to occur about 2:40 p.m. CST [3:40PM EST/2040 GMT] Saturday, with NASA TV's coverage beginning at 2 p.m. [3PM EST/2000 GMT].

  Stay tuned...

More details available at the TMA-1 main page.

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