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International Space Station Status Report #04-7
8 a.m. CST, Saturday, January 31, 2004
Expedition 8 Crew
An unmanned Russian resupply
ship smoothly linked up to the International Space Station this morning,
delivering 2-1/2 tons of food, fuel, spare parts and supplies to the two
residents on board.
With Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Foale and
Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri looking on, the ISS Progress 13 docked
to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 7:13 a.m. CST (1313 GMT)
as the two craft flew 230 statute miles above Central Asia.
Foale and Kaleri were in Zvezda, prepared to take over manual control
of the operation if it had been necessary, but the Progress craft
automatically docked to the module through pre-programmed computer
command with no problem.
The Progress was the first ship to arrive at the ISS since Foale and
Kaleri were launched more than 100 days ago. They are well past the
midway mark of a planned 6-½ month mission on the complex. The next ship
to reach the Station will be the Soyuz TMA-4 capsule in April, carrying
a new crew to replace Foale and Kaleri.
After leak checks are completed to insure a tight seal between
Progress and the ISS, Kaleri will open up the ship’s hatch later today
so he and Foale can begin unloading its cargo on Sunday. The cargo
includes spare parts for environmental systems and a new flex hose to
help vent condensation and air from the Destiny Laboratory’s optically
pure viewing window. A small leak in an identical flex hose was found to
have caused a slight pressure decay in the ISS earlier this month.
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