Expedition 47 crew members Flight Engineer Jeff
Williams of NASA, Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency
Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos pose for a photo
at the conclusion of a press conference on Thursday, March 17, 2016, at the
Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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The Soyuz TMA-20M rocket launches from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 19, 2016 carrying
Expedition 47 Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency
Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka
of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the
International Space Station.
Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
|
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams is
now the first American to become a three-time, long-term resident of the
International Space Station. He arrived at the orbiting laboratory at 11:09
p.m. EDT Friday, with cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of the
Russian space agency Roscosmos, where they will continue important research
that advances NASA's Journey to
Mars.
The trio launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:26 p.m. (3:26 a.m. Saturday, March 19,
Baikonur time), orbited Earth four times, and docked at the station. The
hatches between the spacecraft and station opened at 12:55 a.m. Saturday, March
19.
The arrival of Williams, Ovchinin and Skripochka returns the
station's crew complement to six. The three join Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra of NASA and Flight Engineers
Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos. The
Expedition 47 crew members will spend five months conducting more than 250 science investigation in
fields that benefit all of humanity, such as biology, Earth science, human
research, physical sciences and technology development.
Investigations arriving on Orbital ATK’s fifth NASA-contracted
commercial resupply mission in late March will include a study of realistic
fire scenarios on a spacecraft, enable the first space-based observations of
meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere from space, explore how regolith, or soil,
behaves and moves in microgravity, test a gecko-inspired adhesive gripping
device that can stick on command in the harsh environment of space, and add a
new 3-D printer for use on station.
Expedition 47 crew members also are expected to receive the first
expandable habitat, which will allow NASA its first test of an innovative
habitat concept that can support astronauts who live and work in the harsh
environment of space. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an
experimental expandable module scheduled for delivery on SpaceX’s eighth
NASA-contracted cargo resupply mission this spring. Although astronauts will
not live in BEAM, it will be attached to the space station, expanded and tested
for a minimum two-year demonstration, and crew members will enter periodically
to evaluate performance of the habitat.
NASA is considering the use of expandable habitats to support crew
members traveling to an asteroid, Mars and other destinations. An expandable
habitat such as BEAM takes up less room on a rocket, while allowing additional
volume for living and working in space.
The crew members also are scheduled to receive one Russian
Progress resupply mission delivering about three tons of food, fuel, supplies
and research.
During his six-month mission, Williams will become the American
record holder for cumulative days in space -- 534 -- surpassing Expedition 46
Commander Scott Kelly, who wrapped up his one-year mission March 1. Williams
will take command of the station on June 4 for Expedition 48. Williams,
Ovchinin and Skripochka will remain aboard the station until early September
2016. Kopra, Peake and Malenchenko will return to Earth on June 5.
For 15 years, humans have been living continuously aboard the International Space Station to advance
scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies, making research
breakthroughs not possible on Earth and that will enable long-duration human
and robotic exploration into deep space. A truly global endeavor, more than 200
people from 15 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that
has hosted more than 1,700 research investigations from researchers in more
than 83 countries.
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