Jump to content

Expedition 9

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Expedition 9
Edward M. (Mike) Fincke, Expedition 9 NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer, is pictured near fresh fruit floating freely in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.
Mission typeLong-duration expedition
Mission duration185 days, 15 hours, 7 minutes (at ISS)
187 days, 21 hours, 16 minutes (launch to landing)
Distance travelled~121,802,083 kilometres (75,684,306 mi)
Orbits completed2,940
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began21 April 2004, 05:01 (2004-04-21UTC05:01Z) UTC[1]
Ended23 October 2004, 20:08 (2004-10-23UTC20:09Z) UTC[2]
Arrived aboardSoyuz TMA-4
Departed aboardSoyuz TMA-4
Crew
Crew size2
MembersGennady I. Padalka
E. Michael Fincke
EVAs4
EVA duration15 hours, 45 minutes

Expedition 9 mission patch

L-R: Edward Fincke and Gennady Padalka

Expedition 9 (2004) was the ninth expedition to the International Space Station[3] (21 April 2004[1] – 23 October 2004).[2]

Crew

[edit]
Expedition 9 promotional poster
Prime crew
Position Crew
Commander Russia Gennady Padalka, RSA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer United States Michael Fincke, NASA
First spaceflight
Backup crew
Position Crew
Commander United States Leroy Chiao, NASA
Flight Engineer Russia Salizhan Sharipov, RSA

Planned crew before Columbia disaster

[edit]
Position Crew
Commander Russia Gennady Padalka, RSA
Flight Engineer United States Michael Fincke, NASA
Flight Engineer Russia Oleg Kononenko, RSA

Mission parameters

[edit]

Mission objectives

[edit]

Padalka and Fincke arrived at the Station on 21 April 2004 aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft with European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut André Kuipers.[1] After more than a week of joint operations and handover activities, Padalka and Fincke officially took command of the Station on 29 April when Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri left the Station.[4] This mission was the site for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Project.[5]

Expedition 8 and Kuipers returned to Earth that same day aboard the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft. Kuipers' 11-day mission to the ISS was part of a commercial agreement between ESA and the Federal Space Agency of Russia.

Spacewalks

[edit]

The Expedition 9 crew conducted four spacewalks during its stay at the International Space Station. The four spacewalks were devoted to ISS maintenance and assembly. All four were based out of the Pirs Docking Compartment and used Russian Orlan spacesuits.

Before these four extravehicular activities (EVAs), 52 spacewalks had been performed at the ISS, with 27 based out of the Station.

Gennady Padalka (EV1): red stripes Mike Fincke (EV2): blue stripes

Mission Spacewalkers Start (UTC) End (UTC) Duration
Expedition 9
EVA 1[6]
Gennady Padalka
Mike Fincke
24 June 2004
21:56
24 June 2004
22:10
14 minutes
The spacewalk was cut short due to a pressure problem in Fincke's prime oxygen tank in his spacesuit. Mission managers decided to reschedule the spacewalk for 29 June.
Expedition 9
EVA 2[7]
Gennady Padalka
Mike Fincke
29 June 2004
21:19
30 June 2004
02:59
5 hours 40 minutes
Padalka and Fincke replaced a Remote Power Controller (RPCM) that failed in late April, causing a loss of power in Control Moment Gyroscope No. 2 (CMG 2). A failed Remote Power Controller Module was responsible for the temporary loss of CMG 2 in April. The gyroscope is one of four that control the ISS' orientation.
Expedition 9
EVA 3[8]
Gennady Padalka
Mike Fincke
3 August 2004
06:58
3 August 2004
11:28
4 hours 30 minutes
In preparation for the arrival of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Padalka and Fincke removed laser retro reflectors from the Zvezda Service Module assembly compartment and installed three updated laser retro reflectors and one internal videometer target. They installed two antennas.

The spacewalkers removed Kromka Panel No. 2 and installed Kromka Panel No. 3. The Kromka experiment exposes various materials to the space environment. They also replaced another materials science experiment.

Expedition 9
EVA 4[9]
Gennady Padalka
Mike Fincke
3 September 2004
16:43
3 September 2004
22:04
5 hours 20 minutes
Expedition 9's fourth scheduled EVA prepared the Station for future assembly operations and the arrival of the ATV. The spacewalkers replaced the Zarya Control Module flow control panel and installed four safety tether fairleads on Zarya's handrails.

ATV support operations included installing equipment for the air-to-air radio link antennas and removing all covers from antennas.

Other tasks included installing a Pressure Control and Exposure Monitor Sensor on Pirs and installing protective components on the brackets of Pirs' ring handrails on EVA Hatch No. 2.

Mission patch

[edit]

The design of the Expedition 9 mission patch includes a tribute to astronauts and cosmonauts who gave their lives in space exploration.[10] The outspread wings of the eagle have 16 stars and 1 star of David. They represent the Apollo 1 crew Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51L crew Dick Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and Christa McAuliffe. Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew Rick Husband, William C. McCool, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. Around the eagles neck are 4 small red stars and one larger red star. The large star is for Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space during Vostok 1, who was killed during training for Soyuz 3. The other 4 are for Soyuz 1 cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 11 crew Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov.

References

[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  1. ^ a b c Petty, John Ira (21 April 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-21". NASA News. NASA. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Zak, Anatoly. "Soyuz TMA-4". Russian Space Web. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Expedition 9 Press Kit" (PDF). NASA. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2011.
  4. ^ Petty, John Ira (29 April 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-23". NASA News. NASA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  5. ^ Chowdhury, Abul A. (10 June 2020). "Mission/Study Information: Expedition 9". Life Sciences Data Archives. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. ^ Petty, John Ira (26 June 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-32". NASA News. NASA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  7. ^ Petty, John Ira (30 June 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-36". NASA News. NASA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ^ Petty, John Ira (3 August 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-43". NASA. NASA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  9. ^ Petty, John Ira (3 September 2004). "International Space Station Status Report #04-50". NASA News. NASA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  10. ^ "ISS009-S-001". NASA Johnson Flickrstream. Flickr. 6 April 2004. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
[edit]