April 24, 2006 Allard Beutel Headquarters, Washington (202) 358-4769 James Hartsfield Johnson Space Center, Houston (281) 483-5111 STATUS REPORT: SS06-019 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-019 A shipment of supplies is on its way to the International Space Station. The ISS Progress 21 cargo spacecraft was launched today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The new resupply ship lifted off at 12:03 p.m. EDT (10:03 p.m. Baikonur time). Less than 10 minutes later, the cargo ship reached orbit, and its solar arrays and navigational antennas were deployed for its two-day trip to the orbital outpost. Two pre-programmed firings of the Progress' main engine are scheduled today to fine-tune the ship's path to the space station. Additional rendezvous maneuvers are planned Tuesday and Wednesday. When the Progress launched, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams were flying 219 miles over the Earth off the northeast of Australia. This is their 26th day in space and their 24th day on the complex. Carrying 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, air, spare parts and other supplies, the new Progress is scheduled to automatically dock to the aft port of the station's Zvezda Service Module at 1:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The older ISS Progress 20 supply ship, which arrived at the station just before Christmas, will remain at the Pirs Docking Compartment until mid-June. It will be used to stow trash, and its supply of oxygen will help replenish the station's atmosphere. Live coverage of the docking of ISS Progress 21 to the space station begins 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday on NASA Television. NASA TV's Public, Education and Media channels are available on an MPEG-2 digital C-band signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, they're on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal polarization. For digital downlink information and links to streaming video, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more on the crew's activities aboard the station and opportunities to see the station fly overhead from anywhere on the Earth, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station The next station status report will be issued on Wednesday, April 24, after the ISS Progress 21 docking, or earlier, if events warrant. -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
