On October 28 at 19:22 UTC the "Dragon” unmanned supply spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in a distance of about 400 kilometers from California seaside. The commercial capsule built by SpaceX delivered to Earth nearly one ton of precious experiment samples and other gear from the International Space Station.
On October 28, 2012 the "Dragon” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station. American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide undocked the spacecraft from the station by using the "Canadarm-2” robotic system at 13:27 UTC. The "Dragon” will deliver scientific samples and a variety of equipment to Earth. The California-based SpaceX company will steer its unmanned capsule to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, a couple hundred miles off the Baja California coast.
On October 25, 2012 at 12:29 UTC the "Soyuz TMA-06M” spacecraft docked with the Russian "Poisk” module of the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-06M delivered three new members of Expedition 33 to the ISS, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin as well as American astronaut Kevin Ford. The hatches between the spacecraft and the station were opened at 15:04 UTC. The new comers joined current ISS expedition members - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide to form Expedition 33 crew of 6 members. This is the first mission for Novitsky and Tarelkin, while Ford flew to the ISS on board a US Space Shuttle in 2009.
On October 23, 2012 at 10:51 UTC the Russian "Soyuz TMA-06M” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian "Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (center); flight-engineer-1, Russian cosmonaut Evgeny Tarelkin (right); flight-engineer-2, American astronaut Kevin Ford (left).
Photo by the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.
The space vehicle is to dock with t
... Read more »
On October 10, 2012 the "Dragon” unmanned supply spacecraft arrived to the International Space Station. American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide have used the 17-meter Canadarm robot arm to grab the Dragon spacecraft at 11:56 UTC and pulled it to the station, completing the operation at 13:03 UTC. The privately-owned reusable Dragon spacecraft carried to the station more than 450 kg of supplies.
On October 8, 2012 at 00:35 UTC (October 7 at 8:35 p.m. EDT) the "Dragon” (CRS 1) unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from the Cape Canaveral US Air Force Station in Florida. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by NASA specialists and the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The "Dragon” was orbited by the "Falcon-9” rocket-carrier. It is the first commercial flight of a Dragon unmanned supply spacecraft to the ISS of 12 contracted flights by SpaceX to resupply the space station and marks the second trip by a Dragon to the station, following a successful demonstration mission in May 2012. The capsule is packed with about 450 kg of cargo, including experiment hardware, a freezer, spare parts, clothing and food. Taking advantage of the freezer, ice cream was included, a rare treat for space crews. It is also carrying 23 microgravity experiments designe
... Read more »
On October 05, 2012 five micro satellites were launched from the board of the International Space Station. The satellites, small enough to be held in the palm of the hand, were transported to the space station by the Japanese "Kounotori 3” unmanned supply spacecraft in July 2012. Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and other astronauts conducted the first-ever operation to launch the satellites using a robotic arm. They finished the task at 15:44 UTC. 3 (WE-WISH; RAIKO and FITSAT-1) of the 5 satellites were developed by Japanese companies and universities. The Fukuoka Institute of Technology made a satellite which uses light-emitting diodes to send messages in Morse code to earth. The 2 other satellites (TechEdSat and NanoRacks) are belonged to NASA. The satellites will orbit earth for about 100 days and eventually disintegrate when entering the atmosphere.
On October 03, 2012 the European ATV-3 unmanned supply spacecraft was successfully de-orbited and sunk in the Pacific. The Automated Transfer Vehicle, nicknamed Edoardo Amaldi after a pioneering Italian physicist, plunged into the atmosphere after two rocket burns slowed the craft's velocity enough to fall from orbit. Debris from the ATV-3 fell into a predefined zone in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile at about 01:30 UTC.
On September 17, 2012 at 02:52 UTC the Soyuz TMA-04M landing capsule landed safely at a distance of 86 kilometers to North-East from the city of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.
The spacecraft delivered to Earth the 3 members of ISS’s Expedition 32 – Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin as well as American astronaut Joseph Acaba.
They spent in space 124 days, 23 hours, 51 minutes and 30 seconds. Three other ISS crew members – Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, American astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide - remained in orbit aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 33 crew.
On September 17, 2012 at 03:09 Moscow time (Sept. 16 at 23:09 UTC) the Russian Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station to deliver to Earth the 3 members of Expedition 32 – Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin as well as American astronaut Joseph Acaba.
