With less than a month remaining in their stay aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke are preparing the orbiting laboratory for its next residents.
The crew’s work last week (September 20-24) included taking inventory, performing maintenance on exercise equipment and continued troubleshooting of the primary onboard oxygen generator.
Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, announced this week the next Station crew will launch at 12:17 a.m. EDT Oct. 11 aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The Expedition 10 crew commander is Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov is flight engineer.
Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin will accompany them for launch and spend about a week aboard the Station. Padalka, Fincke and Shargin will return to Earth Oct. 19.
Last week, additional troubleshooting work continued on the Elektron oxygen-generating unit. It produces breathing oxygen from wastewater. Intermittent operations of the device led the Russian flight control team to believe contamination was preventing proper pressurization in a hydrogen line.
Padalka cleaned the line. Further work was planned for the weekend just gone. As oxygen is generated from water by the unit, hydrogen is dumped overboard.
While the Elektron work continued, the Station’s atmosphere was repressurized twice last week using oxygen from tanks on the Progress supply spacecraft docked to the Station.
If needed, months of oxygen are available for the crew even without the use of the Elektron. Oxygen is stored in Progress tanks, Station tanks and oxygen-generating canisters.
Padalka and Fincke also performed routine maintenance work last week on the Station’s treadmill, which is done every six months. The treadmill provides cardiovascular training.
The crew prepared for the trip home by taking food and hardware inventory. They also began stowing cargo containers and personal items for the return trip.
