KI6ADA
03-30-2006, 10:47 PM
New two-ham crew plus guest en route to space station (Mar 30, 2006) -- The International Space Station Expedition 13 crew of Commander Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, roared into space March 30 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz transporter. Along for the ride and a eight-day stay on the ISS is Brazilian Space Agency astronaut Marcos Pontes. The Soyuz will dock on the ISS early Saturday UTC. Vinogradov and Williams will take over the ISS from the Expedition 12 crew of Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, and Valery Tokarev and will spend six months on the space complex. Pontes, who's flying under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, will conduct experiments during his ISS visit. Brazilian telecommunications authorities have granteed Pontes the call sign PY0AEB for use on his space journey, and there are plans for him to conduct Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts during his mission. Pontes will return to Earth April 8 with McArthur and Tokarev, who've been in space since last October. At landing, McArthur and Tokarev will have spent almost 190 days in space. Earlier this week, McArthur found a supply of lithium hydroxide canisters used to scrub carbon dioxide from the air in Russian space suits during a spacewalk. The find ensures Russian suits can be used, if a spacewalk is needed.--some information from NASA