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Trio of space station crewmembers set for landing
Three crewmembers left the International Space Station for Earth on Thursday while their replacements remain delayed by an investigation into a Russian launch accident.
Former station commander Andrey Borisenko, cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev and U.S. astronaut Ron Garan sealed themselves inside one of two Russian Soyuz capsules parked at the outpost at 5:30 p.m. EDT/(2130 GMT), closing out a five-month mission.
Three hours later, the Soyuz slipped out its berthing port at the station, a recently completed $100 billion project of 16 nations. Touchdown in Kazakhstan is set for midnight EDT/(0400 GMT) on Friday.
"It's hard to believe it's time," NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, the new station commander, said during a farewell ceremony broadcast on NASA Television.
Originally posted by triplereiki
Something that comes to my mind is I hope the empty ISS has REAL good autopilot and plenty of fuel...
Sure don't want a BIIIIG ISS surprise falling on my head in the middle of the night.
Originally posted by Human_Alien
Why is the ISS being abandoned? Elenin perhaps?
The departure of Borisenko, Samokutyaev and Garan will leave Fossum, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russia's Sergei Volkov, on their own for an extended two-month period. They will have little time to prepare the new crew to take over the station before heading home themselves around November 22.
Originally posted by Chance321
It is interesting. Also take into account the mothballing of the Shuttles, why couldn't they or at least one be brought back into service to resupply the space station? Deffinately something going on.
NASA WISE Telescope shows a Giant Planet next to the Solar System. February 13, 2011. NASA confirms that is tracking Hercolubus, at the moment scientists call it as Tyche. The NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope is showing a giant planet next to the Solar System. Tyche (Hercolubus) is 4 times bigger than Jupiter and orbit at the outer edge of the Solar System.Scientists are just analyzing the data gathered by a NASA space telescope WISE, it shows a giant planet up to four times the mass of Jupiter lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (Hercolubus) would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s, and 375 times farther than Pluto’s.
The first tranche of data is to be released in April, and astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette think it will reveal Tyche (Hercolubus) within two years.
This means that NASA considers impossible to cover-up the Hercolubus approaching in two years.
Once Tyche (Hercolubus) has been located, other telescopes could be pointed at it to confirm it.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) may create a whole new category for Tyche, Professor Matese said.
The IAU would also have the final say about the giant planet name. To the Greeks, Tyche was the goddess responsible for the destiny of cities. Her name was provisionally chosen in reference to an earlier hypothesis, now largely abandoned, that the Sun might be part of a binary star system with a dim companion, tentatively called Nemesis, that was thought responsible for mass extinctions on Earth. In myth, Tyche was the good sister of Nemesis.
Tyche (Hercolubus) has an atmosphere much like Jupiter’s, with colorful spots and bands and clouds, Professor Whitmire said. “You’d also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them,” he added.
Originally posted by ElGatoLoco0698
reply to post by Human_Alien
Perhaps it's being abandoned because it has outlived it's life expectancy. The thing was only supposed to be inhabited for 10 years and it's been active well over that.
NASA WISE Telescope shows a Giant Planet next to the Solar System. February 13, 2011. NASA confirms that is tracking Hercolubus, at the moment scientists call it as Tyche. The NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope is showing a giant planet next to the Solar System. Tyche (Hercolubus) is 4 times bigger than Jupiter and orbit at the outer edge of the Solar System.Scientists are just analyzing the data gathered by a NASA space telescope WISE, it shows a giant planet up to four times the mass of Jupiter lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (Hercolubus) would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s, and 375 times farther than Pluto’s.
The first tranche of data is to be released in April, and astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette think it will reveal Tyche (Hercolubus) within two years.
This means that NASA considers impossible to cover-up the Hercolubus approaching in two years.
Once Tyche (Hercolubus) has been located, other telescopes could be pointed at it to confirm it.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) may create a whole new category for Tyche, Professor Matese said.
The IAU would also have the final say about the giant planet name. To the Greeks, Tyche was the goddess responsible for the destiny of cities. Her name was provisionally chosen in reference to an earlier hypothesis, now largely abandoned, that the Sun might be part of a binary star system with a dim companion, tentatively called Nemesis, that was thought responsible for mass extinctions on Earth. In myth, Tyche was the good sister of Nemesis.
Tyche (Hercolubus) has an atmosphere much like Jupiter’s, with colorful spots and bands and clouds, Professor Whitmire said. “You’d also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them,” he added.