New Station Crew Members Prepare for Soyuz Relocation

The three new Expedition 24 crew members will relocate the Soyuz TMA-19 from the aft end of the Zvezda service module to the Rassvet module on Monday. Undocking will occur at 1:58 p.m. EDT with docking happening a short time later at 2:23 p.m. Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker spent Friday in preparation for the move. The trio conducted a training exercise, conferred with Russian flight controllers and tested the Soyuz motion control systems.

The new crew members arrived June 17 beginning their five-and-a-half month stay on the International Space Station. The Soyuz relocation makes room for a new Progress 38 cargo craft which arrives on July 2.

The Mingachevir Reservoir and Azerbaijan’s fourth largest city, Mingachevir, were photographed by a station crew member. The reservoir is located between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains. Credit: NASA

Walker and Wheelock wore wrist monitors that recorded their heart rates during exercise sessions on a cycle ergometer and treadmill. The data was sent to specialists on Earth who monitor and gauge crew performance in microgravity.

Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson was troubleshooting the COLBERT treadmill after she heard a noise during its operation. Ground controllers believe the treadmill’s belt was rubbing against a closeout panel and want to stop the noise before resuming exercise on the machine.

Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko checked out tools used when monitoring spacewalks from inside the space station. They also participated in and set up various Russian science experiments.

The six-member crew proceeds with familiarization and orientation activities as the transition and handover from Expedition 23 to Expedition 24 continues. The new arrivals also are participating in a safety handover.