A few hours ago the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the American astronaut Rick Mastracchio and the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin returned to Earth on the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft, which landed safely in Kazakhstan. The three of them spent almost exactly six months on the International Space Station, where they arrived on November 7, 2013. Initially, they were part of Expedition 38, in the second half of their stay they were part of Expedition 39 with Koichi Wakata as commander of the Station.
Over the six months spent on the International Space Station, the three crew members have carried out various routine maintenance activities and many scientific experiments. The Expedition 39 period was quieter than the Expedition 38 period, when Rick Mastracchio had to perform two extraordinary spacewalks to install a new ammonia pump needed to repair the air Station’s conditioning system.
As always, some cargo spaceships have arrived and started from the International Space Station. April was a busy month in which the Progress 54 spacecraft left, the Progress 55 arrived and then left and particularly the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived. The Progress 53 spacecraft, arrived to the Station in November 2013, was used at the end of April to test a new version of the Kurs automated rendezvous system.
The various spacecraft brought new supplies but also new equipment and scientific experiments, especially the Dragon. They can also be used to lift the orbit of the International Space Station a bit, using the propellant still available.
In recent days, the usual routine was interrupted by an electrical problem. Probably a short circuit in the component known as Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) caused the loss of one of the eight power supply channels. The other seven channels kept on working normally, so much that it no equipment needed to be turned off. This is not a critical issue so there’s some time to assess the best way to intervene.
On Monday, May 12, Koichi Wakata has officially passed command of the International Space Station to the American astronaut Steve Swanson, marking the beginning of Expedition 40. The crew will be completed by the arrival of three new members, expected in a couple of weeks.
[ad name=”AmazonDocumentary”]
