April 15, 2004. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

New mission to the International Space Station
By Iain Nicholson

LONDON, April 15, Graphic News:  At around 03.00GMT on April 19, three astronauts are due to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to the International Space Station. Two of the astronauts -- Russian commander Gennadi Padalka and American flight engineer E. Michael Finke -- will become the ninth long-stay crew to inhabit the space station, replacing Russian commander Alexander Kaleri and British-born U.S. astronaut Michael Foale, who have already spent six months on board. The third crew member -- Dutch flight engineer Andre Kuipers -- will spend eight days on the station before returning to Earth with Kaleri and Foale on April 30. 

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Kuipers will be the second Dutchman to fly in space but the first to visit the ISS. While on board he will work on the suite of 15 science experiments central to the European Space AgencyÕs DELTA (Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research) mission. Most of the experiments will be concerned with effects of weightlessness on human physiology, and on biological and technological processes. One intriguing experiment, called SUIT, will test whether or not wearing a vibrating vest improves KuipersÕ sense of orientation in zero gravity and alleviates side effects such as Òspace sicknessÓ.

Kuipers will also study lightning and associated discharges -- called sprites -- in the upper atmosphere and will carry out a range of educational projects in association with schools. Some of these projects involve growing plants on the Space Station at the same time as schoolchildren are growing the same kinds of plant back on Earth, so as to show the effects of gravity on the growth of plants.

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Padalka, Fincke and Kuipers will travel to the space station on a spacecraft called Soyuz TMA-4. Soyuz TMA is the latest development of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft which, in various versions, has been operating for nearly 37 years. The new version has been substantially modified and upgraded to improve crew comfort and safety and, in particular, to create enough internal space to accommodate taller and heavier astronauts, up to the limits applicable to the American astronaut contingent. It has smaller and more efficient computers, a less bulky control panel with much improved colour displays, new control systems to increase landing accuracy, new engines to reduce the touchdown speed back on Earth and better shock absorption for the crew seats. A customised seat liner is individually tailored to fit each crew member. 

Soyuz TMA was originally designed to provide a rescue capability for the long-term crews of the Space Station (who would be delivered by the space shuttle) and for the delivery of special visiting crews. A Soyuz TMA would remain docked to the Space Station at all times to provide a ÒlifeboatÓ capability to return astronauts to Earth in case of emergency and would be exchanged for a fresh one every six months or so. 

However, the shuttle fleet was grounded following the tragic loss of Columbia in February 2003, and Soyuz TMA became the only craft capable of taking crew to and from the space station. Until such time as the shuttle fleet returns to flight -- currently likely to be no earlier than March 2005 -- crew transfers will continue to be carried out solely by these Russian spacecraft. Each upward mission carries two long-duration crew members and one short-stay astronaut. The old long-duration crew, together with the short-stay astronaut, returns to Earth in the Soyuz which has been docked to the space station throughout their time on board. The newly-docked Soyuz then takes on the lifeboat role until it in turn is replaced.

The first of the new-style spacecraft -- Soyuz TMA-1- was used in May 2003 to return the long-stay crew which had been stranded aboard the space station following the Columbia tragedy. A malfunction in its Motion Control System caused it to follow a steep ballistic trajectory (similar to the path of a cannon ball) rather than the intended, more gently-angled, controlled descent. The returning astronauts experienced a rough ride and touched down some 450km short of their intended landing zone. Although the problem did not recur during the descent of TMA-2 in October 2003, subsequent TMA craft have been modified to eliminate the possibility of a similar malfunction. These modifications will be put to the test when TMA-3 -- which has been attached to the space station since last October -- descends to Earth on April 30.

Sources: 
European Space Agency (www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Delta_Mission)
NASA: International Space Station Mission News,
S.P Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Press Release (May 26, 2003)