Expedition 32 Landing

The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Russian Flight Engineer Sergie Revin in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, September 17, 2012. Padalka, Acaba and Revin returned from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews.

Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

NASA TV to Cover Departure of Japanese Cargo Ship From Space Station Sept. 12

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will provide live coverage of the third Japanese "Kounotori" H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) cargo ship's departure from the International Space Station in two broadcasts Wednesday, Sept. 12. The first, covering unberthing, will begin at 6:30 a.m. EDT, and the second, covering release, will begin at 11:30 a.m.

HTV-3, launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) July 21, arrived to the orbiting laboratory July 27 with several tons of supplies and experiments. Departure, originally planned for Sept. 6, was delayed to accommodate a second spacewalk by Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA on Wednesday.

Hoshide and fellow Expedition 32 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA will be at the controls of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to unbolt and disengage the cargo craft from the station's Harmony module. A few hours later the astronauts will release the cargo craft, which will be moved a safe distance away from the complex. JAXA flight controllers later will fire the spacecraft's engine, initiating its destructive entry back through Earth's atmosphere.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about the International Space Station and its continuing research activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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Virginia Students To Speak Live With Space Station Resident

Sonja Alexander

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1761

sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov

 

Rachel Kraft

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- More than 200 students will meet at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, Va., to speak with Expedition 32 flight engineer Joe Acaba aboard the International Space Station at 8:55 a.m. EDT, Thursday, July 5. Media representatives are invited to attend.

The question-and-answer discussion, coordinated by NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and the museum, will be broadcast live on NASA Television and include video of Acaba. The students, most of whom are Hispanic, will ask questions about life, work and research on the space station. Several of the questions will be asked and answered in Spanish.

To attend the event, reporters must contact Nancy Tait at ntait@smv.org. The museum is located at 2500 West Broad Street in Richmond. 

Many of the students also are participating in other NASA programs, including camps associated with the agency's Summer of Innovation (SoI) project. SoI provides hands-on learning opportunities for middle school students and educators through NASA-unique science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational activities during the summer school break.

Acaba arrived at the space station with Russian Federal Space Agency's cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin on May 17. They will be joined later this month by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve STEM teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

The exact time of the downlink could change. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

To follow Twitter updates from Acaba, visit http://twitter.com/AstroAcaba.

For information about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

For information about the International Space Station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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Trio From International Space Station Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

HOUSTON -- Three members of the Expedition 31 crew undocked from the International Space Station and returned safely to Earth Sunday, July 1, wrapping up a mission that lasted six-and-a-half months.

Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers landed their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 3:14 a.m. CDT (2:14 p.m. local time) after undocking from the space station's Rassvet module at 11:47 p.m. June 30. The trio, which arrived at the station Dec. 23, 2011, spent a total of 193 days in space, 191 of which were aboard the station.

During their expedition, the crew supported more than 200 scientific investigations involving more than 400 researchers around the world. The studies ranged from integrated investigations of the human cardiovascular and immune systems to fluid, flame and robotic research.

Before leaving the station, Kononenko handed over command of Expedition 32 to the Russian Federal Space Agency's Gennady Padalka, who remains aboard the station with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Revin. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will join them July 17. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide are scheduled to launch July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

On June 25, Pettit celebrated achieving one cumulative year in space, combining his time in orbit on Expedition 6, Expedition 30/31 and the STS-126 space shuttle Endeavour flight to the station in November 2008. Pettit now has 370 days in space, placing him fourth among U.S. space fliers for the longest time in space.

During Expedition 31, Pettit also used household objects aboard the station to perform a variety of unusual physics experiments for the video series "Science Off the Sphere." Through these demonstrations, Pettit showed more than a million Internet viewers how space affects scientific principles.

To watch "Science Off the Sphere" videos, visit http://www.physicscentral.com/sots.

To follow Twitter updates from NASA's Expedition 31 and 32 astronauts, visit http://twitter.com/Astro_Suni , https://twitter.com/AstroAcaba , https://twitter.com/Aki_Hoshide.

For more information about Expedition 32 and the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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Students Gather In Philadelphia To Speak With Astronauts In Space

Sonja Alexander

Headquarters, Washington                               

202-358-1761

sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov

 

Rachel Kraft

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON – Elementary, middle and high school students will have the opportunity to speak with Expedition 31 flight engineers Don Pettit, Joseph Acaba and André Kuipers aboard the International Space Station at 10:35 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 26.

The event will take place at Philadelphia University in Philadelphia. Media representatives are invited to attend. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and include video of the space station residents.

The event will be hosted by Destination Imagination, a non-profit organization that provides education programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving.

To attend the event, reporters must contact Michelle Griffith at 813-597-8187 or michelle@clearviewcom.com. Philadelphia University is located at 4201 Henry Avenue.

Pettit, Kuipers, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Konenenko arrived at the space station on Dec. 23, 2011. Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin completed the six-person crew on May 17.

This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

The exact time of the downlink could change. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For information about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

For information about the International Space Station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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