Clapway: orbit

Thanks to Russian Soyuz once again, another Russian cosmonaut, American astronaut, and Japanese space traveler rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) this Thursday. This came following a smooth lift off from the Russian launch facility in Kazakhstan 5 hours and 45 minutes earlier, on the previous Wednesday, 2102 GMT.

After takeoff, the rocket achieved orbit roughly fifteen minutes post-launch, orbiting the planet four times before it approached the space station.

THIS TIME WE’VE SENT HUMANS

Contained in the Russian Soyuz capsule were the Russian Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui from Japan, and NASA’s Kjell Lindgren. For Lindgren and Yui, this was their first time. During a press conference preceding the flight upon the Russian Soyuz, Yui informed interested parties that he’s bringing sushi with him to share with the other space travelers upon his arrival.

SUSHI RENDEZVOUS TO ENSUE ON RUSSIAN SOYUZ

These new additions to the ISS join the already present crew: Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly. Mikhail and Scott are four months in to what will have been an almost year-long mission in the ISS.

This successful Russian Soyuz launch and rendezvous with the ISS is actually the tail end of a two-month delay following a failed launch of an unmanned Russian cargo ship in April. Some system failures are always to be expected, but the Russians became concerned enough to forestall future launches pending a reassessment of their rocket design. This had left the already present crew mentioned shortly above (Padalka, Kornienko and Kelly) stuck in space with dwindling supplies until a second Russian cargo ship launched successfully earlier this July.

SPACE RIVALS

This year, it seems the Russian Space program is in better standing when it comes to orbital flights. The last Russian cargo ship successfully launched also followed the failed launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket , which exploded roughly 3 minutes after launch. SpaceX has since come to believe the explosion was caused by a steel strut holding down a bottle of high-pressure helium.

SPACE FRIENDS

Of course it’s unfortunate that three major space programs, one private and two national, happened to experience such catastrophic failures in the same few months, but with three new astronauts safely aboard the ISS, we can rest assured human space ventures will continue unheeded.

Though without sushi, this space adventure can’t be missed:

Russian Soyuz Brings Three More Men to ISS, Sushi Ensues

Imagine you’re doing routine repairs of the newest, most sensitive telescope, orbiting in low-earth orbit near the International Space Station (ISS). You’ve just reached this new level of Buddha-esque calm and detachment from the world below, which spins below you in pristine, eternal perfection. Surviving the onslaught of hundreds of particles of space debris is the last thing on your mind.

ISS IN CHAOS

Suddenly you feel a strong, low vibration coming out of the telescope, and your visor lights up. Above you half the telescope has been sheared away by something flying by very, very quickly. You detach from the spinning junk lense and push off, turning around to return to the ISS. You dodge a few extra globules of metallic blur on your way to the airlock, and just as you close it behind you, you catch white, blue and red rectangles zapping by the window. You recognize that pattern. You turn around to your fellow cosmonaut, and he’s floating there with arms raised, palms flat, and says in a deep, accented English: “it’s Russian, eh?”

THIS ISN’T HOW SANDRA BULLOCK OUTLIVED GEORGE CLOONEY

No really, the crew of the ISS recently received permission to re-enter the space station proper after having to take shelter from the throes of passing space debris. This started less than two hours after a live interview with WDRB news Thursday morning, NASA made an announcement explaining that the crew had just taken shelter in a capsule called the Soyuz, presently docked with the station. This was done as a precautionary measure in the unlikely event that the passing space debris from Russian satellites did enough damage to necessitate that the crew make an emergency return to Earth.

The debris was predicted to come closest to striking and chewing the station into pieces at about eight a.m. this morning, NYC time.

AFTER THE BULLET-quick DEBRIS PASSED

Very little time passed before NASA announced an “all clear,” for the crew to the media. More specifically, they said that the crew of the ISS had returned to normal operations following permission to do so at just after seven a.m., central standard time.NASA continued, “All station systems are operating normally and the crew will move out of the Soyuz spacecraft in which they stayed during the space debris pass. They will reconfigure the station for normal operations and then continue their research work during the day.”

In fact, this is the fourth time since ISS was completed that the crew had to take such extreme shelter. Let’s assume they are breathing a long sigh of relief up there.

Take your notes in the field on the moleskine voyageur traveller’s notebook

ISS Dodges Russian Space Debris

Clapway

Thursday, July 23, 2015

#Sushi and #diplomacy in #space thanks to #RussianSoyuz. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/23/russian-soyuz-brings-three-more-men-to-iss-sushi-ensues-234/