Expedition 16

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Expedition 16
Mission insignia
Expedition 16 insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name: Expedition 16
Call sign: Expedition 16
Number of crew: 3
Launch Date: October 10, 2007 (Soyuz TMA-11),
October 23, 2007 (STS-120),[1]
February 7, 2008 (STS-122),
March 11, 2008 (STS-123)
Launch Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA-11 (Whitson/Malenchenko),
Atlantis STS-117 (Anderson),
Discovery STS-120 (Tani),
Atlantis STS-122 (Eyharts),
Endeavour STS-123 (Reisman)
Landing Date: April 19, 10:30 UTC2008 (Soyuz TMA-11),
November 7, 2007 (STS-120),
February 20, 2008 (STS-122),
March 27, 2008 (STS-123),
June 11, 2008 (STS-124) (est.)
Landing Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA-11 (Whitson/Malenchenko),
Discovery STS-120 (Anderson),
Atlantis STS-122 (Tani),
Endeavour STS-123 (Eyharts),
Discovery STS-124 (Reisman)
Landing Site:
Time Docked:
EVA Duration:
Mission Duration: 192 days
Number of orbits:
Distance traveled:
Mass:
Expedition 16 crew picture

Expedition 16 crew portrait
The official Expedition 16 crew portrait. (left to right) Anderson, Malenchenko, Tani, Eyharts, Whitson, Reisman
Navigation
Previous expedition Next expedition
Expedition 15
Expedition 17

Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS).[2] The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on October 10, 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and were joined by spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Malaysian in space.[3][4]

Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson did not land with the Soyuz TMA-10, so he was considered part of Expedition 16 for the few weeks prior to the arrival of STS-120.[5] STS-120 launched on October 23, docked on October 25, and replaced Anderson with new Flight Engineer Daniel Tani.[1][6][7] Following docking, the Soyuz seat liners for Anderson and Tani were swapped, and Anderson became part of the STS-120 crew. Léopold Eyharts, who came aboard during STS-122, joined the mission on February 9, 2008, replacing Tani.[3][8] The crew was then joined by Garrett Reisman, who was launched aboard Endeavour with STS-123, on March 11, 2008, replacing Eyharts. Reisman joined Expedition 16 in progress, and will be part of Expedition 17 as well. Upon reentry, the astronaut's Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft suffered a minor malfunction, causing the craft to follow a very steep ballistic descent. As a result, the crew experienced forces up to 10 G, ending up about 260 miles (418km) west of the targeted landing site. Roscosmos reported all three crew members were doing just fine and in good health.[9]

Contents

[edit] Crew

[edit] First part (October 2007)

[edit] Second part (October 2007 to February 2008)

  • Peggy Whitson (2) Commander - NASA
  • Yuri Malenchenko (4) Flight Engineer 1 - RSA
  • Daniel Tani (2) Flight Engineer 2 - NASA Flag of the United States United States

[edit] Third part (February to March 2008)

  • Peggy Whitson (2) Commander - NASA
  • Yuri Malenchenko (4) Flight Engineer 1 - RSA
  • Léopold Eyharts (2) Flight Engineer 2 - ESA Flag of France France

[edit] Fourth part (March to April 2008)

  • Peggy Whitson (2) Commander - NASA
  • Yuri Malenchenko (4) Flight Engineer 1 - RSA
  • Garrett Reisman (1) - Flight Engineer 2 - NASA Flag of the United States United States

(#) number of spaceflights each crew member has completed, including this mission.

[edit] Back-up crew

[edit] Mission details

Expedition 16 is the first ISS mission to include two crew members who have served on a previous expedition, and the first time a former commander (Malenchenko) returned as a flight engineer.[5] Whitson is the first female commander of an ISS expedition,[5][10] and with STS-120 commanded by female astronaut Pamela Melroy, it marked the first time that two female mission commanders were in orbit simultaneously.[11][12][13] On her first expedition, Whitson implemented a "Friday night movie night" to help the crew wind down at the end of the week, and plans to keep the custom of adding some levity to the station going for Expedition 16.[14] Anderson incorporated some entertainment into the daily planning conference with the ground, quizzing the ground team on a wide variety of subjects, and Michael Lopez-Alegria did a similar activity with movie and music trivia.[14]

[edit] STS-120

The first major objective of the increment was accomplished successfully on October 26, when the crew of STS-120 delivered the Harmony module, and attached it to a temporary location on the Unity module.[15][16] The new addition added over 2,500 cubic feet (71 cubic meters) to the station's living volume.[17] The joint crews also moved the P6 truss, and relocated it from its position on top of the station, to its final port-side position, during the third of four spacewalks.

[edit] Configuration of Harmony

Expedition commander Peggy Whitson during the increment's third EVA. Behind Whitson, is the Destiny Laboratory Module, and Harmony.
Expedition commander Peggy Whitson during the increment's third EVA. Behind Whitson, is the Destiny Laboratory Module, and Harmony.

Following the departure of STS-120, a series of Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) and robotic activities were carried out to move the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) from the end of the Destiny laboratory, to the end of Harmony. Whitson and Malenchenko carried out the increment's first EVA on November 9, that prepared the docking port for relocation.[18] On November 12, Whitson and Tani used the station's Mobile Servicing System (robotic arm) to detach the docking port, and relocated it to the forward port of Harmony.[19] On November 14, the Tani and Whitson again used the robotic arm and moved Harmony from its temporary location, to its permanent location on the forward port of Destiny.[20]

On November 20, Whitson and Tani completed the second EVA for the increment, a 7-hour, 16-minute spacewalk to outfit the Harmony node in its new position. All tasks were accomplished, and three get-ahead tasks were performed.[21] On November 24, Whitson and Tani completed the third EVA for the increment, a 7 hour, 4 minute spacewalk to complete the outfitting of Harmony. All task were accomplished, and photographic inspection of the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) was performed, as well as some ISS maintenance get-ahead tasks.[22][23]

[edit] EVA milestone

On December 18, 2007, during the fourth spacewalk of Expedition 16 to inspect the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), the ground team in Mission Control informed Whitson that she had become the female astronaut with the most cumulative EVA time in NASA history, as well as the most EVAs, with her fifth EVA. Three hours and 37 minutes into the spacewalk, Whitson surpassed NASA astronaut Sunita Williams with a total time at that point of 29 hours and 18 minutes.[24][25] At the completion of Whitson's fifth EVA, the 100th in support of ISS assembly and maintenance, Whitson's cumulative EVA time became 32 hours, and 36 minutes, which placed her in 20th place for total EVA time.[25]

[edit] STS-122

STS-122 delivered Columbus and replaced Dan Tani by Léopold Eyharts.

[edit] STS-123

STS-123 delivered the first element of Kibō and replaced Léopold Eyharts by Garrett Reisman.

[edit] ATV Jules-Verne

Expedition 16 has also seen the arrival of the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to the station, named Jules Verne after the science fiction author.

[edit] Soyuz TMA-12

Expedition 16 has also seen the arrival of the first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon.

[edit] Extra-vehicular activity

See also: List of spacewalks and moonwalks , List of ISS spacewalks, and Extra-vehicular activity
EVA # Spacewalkers Start (UTC) End (UTC) Duration Notes
EVA 1 Peggy Whitson
Yuri Malenchenko		 November 9, 2007
09:54		 November 9,
16:49		 6 hours, 55 minutes SSPTS cable disconnect and stowage, PMA-2 umbilical stowage, Node 2 avionics umbilical temp stowed.[18]
EVA 2 Whitson
Daniel M. Tani		 November 20, 2007
10:10		 November 20,
17:26		 7 hours, 16 minutes External configuration of PMA-2 and Harmony: Fluid, electrical, and data line hookups, avionics line hookup, heater cable hookups, Fluid tray relocation.[21][26]
EVA 3 Whitson
Tani		 November 24, 2007
09:50		 November 24,
16:54		 7 hours, 04 minutes Completion of fluid, electrical, and data line hookups for PMA-2 and Harmony. Loop B Fluid Tray connection to port side of Destiny. Photographic analysis of starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) to assist with troubleshooting on the ground, re-installation of CETA cart from a temporary stowage location.[23][22]
EVA 4 Whitson
Tani		 December 18, 2007
09:50		 December 18,
16:46		 6 hours, 56 minutes Inspection of the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), and a Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA). The EVA is the 100th in support of building the International Space Station.[27][25]
EVA 5 Whitson
Tani		 January 30, 2008
09:56		 January 30,
17:06		 7 hours, 10 minutes Replacement of a Bearing Motor Roll Ring Module (BMRRM) in the S4 starboard Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA), further inspection of the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ).[28]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b NASA (2007). STS-120 (English). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  2. ^ RIA Novosti (2007). Space station Expedition 16 crew approved (English). RIA Novosti. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  3. ^ a b c NASA (2007). NASA Announces Three International Space Station Crews (English). NASA. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  4. ^ SpaceDaily (2007). Expedition 16 Crew To Launch From Baikonur (English). Space Travel Exploration and Tourism - SpaceDaily. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Tariq Malik (2007). Space Station Astronauts Prepare for Crew Swap (English). Space.com. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  6. ^ William Harwood (2007). Discovery docks with space station (English). CBS News. Retrieved on October 25, 2007.
  7. ^ UPI (2007). Discovery successfully docks at the ISS (English). United Press International. Retrieved on October 25, 2007.
  8. ^ Spacefacts (2007). Expedition 16 (English). Spacefacts. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  9. ^ Soyuz crew endures severe G-forces on re-entry - CNN.com
  10. ^ Tariq Malik (2007). Astronauts Ponder State of Space Exploration (English). Fox News. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  11. ^ NASA (2007). Female Space Commanders Available for Interviews (English). NASA. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  12. ^ Tariq Malik (2007). Female commanders set for landmark mission (English). MSNBC. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  13. ^ Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (2007). History In Space: 2 Women Commanders (English). Local6.com Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Gina Sunseri (2007). Space Boredom Busters: Movies, Music, Jokes (English). ABC News - Associated Press. Retrieved on October 26, 2007.
  15. ^ William Harwood for CBS News (2007). Harmony module pulled from cargo bay. Spaceflight Now. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  16. ^ John Schwartz (2007). New Room Added to Space Station. The New York Times. Retrieved on October 26, 2007.
  17. ^ Liz Austin Peterson (2007). Astronauts Attach Space Station Addition (English). ABC News / The Associated Press. Retrieved on October 26, 2007.
  18. ^ a b NASA (2007). Station Spacewalk Prepares for PMA, Harmony Moves. NASA. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  19. ^ Frank Morring, Jr. (2007). ISS Crew Moves Harmony Node. Aviation Week. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  20. ^ NASA (2007). Harmony Moved to Front of Space Station. NASA. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  21. ^ a b NASA (2007). Spacewalkers Harmonize on Node Hookup Tasks. NASA. Retrieved on November 24, 2007.
  22. ^ a b NASA (2007). Spacewalkers Complete More Harmony Hookup Work. NASA. Retrieved on November 24, 2007.
  23. ^ a b NASA (2007). ISS On-Orbit Status report 11/24/07. NASA. Retrieved on November 27, 2007.
  24. ^ Tariq Malik (2007). Space Station Commander Breaks Spacewalking Record (English). Space.com. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
  25. ^ a b c NASA (2007). Spacewalkers Find No Solar Wing Smoking Gun. NASA. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
  26. ^ NASA (2007). International Space Station Daily Report: 11/20/07. NASA. Retrieved on November 24, 2007.
  27. ^ Associated Press (2007). Astronauts Take Spacewalk to Inspect Defective Solar Wing Mechanisms. Fox News. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
  28. ^ NASA (2008). Spacewalkers Replace Solar Wing Motor. NASA. Retrieved on January 31, 2008.

[edit] External links

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