Farm Camera Installed; Station Water Tested

A new camera designed to take detailed observations of the climate on earth to assist farmers and ranchers was activated today, along with work on several experiments and the testing of recycled water made for a full day aboard the orbiting international space station.

Known as the Agriculture Camera or AgCam, it will be mainly operated by the students and faculty at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. AgCam, according to the Johnson Space Center, "will take visible light and infrared images of the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States".

The current Expedition 19 crew of Commander Gennady Padalka, Mike Barratt and Japan's Koichi Wakata also spent today performing trash stowing and each crew member worked with a specific experiment. Wakata also tested water samples from the Water Recovery System, as NASA prepares the station to begin recycling its own water. Water recycling will assist the station in supporting a full time crew of six beginning May 29th.

Currently docked with the station is the Russian cargo ship known as Progress 32, Wakata spent today stowing waste materials and trash into the craft. Around May 4th, Progress 32 will undock from station and Russia will send commands to fire its engines for a destructive reentry.

The next space craft to visit the orbital outpost in space will be the Progress 33P, which is set to launch on May 7th and dock two days later.

The next space shuttle flight to station will be Endeavour on mission STS-127 in June, which will see the last piece of the Japanese station segment attached - the experiment platform.

Expedition 19 Crew takes over on Space Station

A new crew took command of the international space station this afternoon during a traditional change of command ceremony, as the 19th long duration crew of three begins their six month stay in space.

Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka of Russia, American astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese flight engineer Koichi Wakata will set the stage as they await the second half of their crew in May to arrive - giving the station a crew compliment of six. A Russian Soyuz TMA 15 launch in late May will carry a crew of three to the station to join the new commander.

Space E-Mail: Charles Talks to Simonyi on Station

Current international space station resident Charles Simonyi answered my email question from space following his arrival aboard the station on Saturday, March 28:

Charles Atkeison: As a journalist for Spacelaunch News.com, I would like to ask: What will you focus on doing during your ten days in space. Also, do you have a special food diet you enjoyed on your last flight which you took measures in repeating the menu? God speed, Charles, and the Expedition 19 Crew.

I am focusing on the experiments and communicating the experience. Time really flies, and it is only now on the third day that we unstowed my food rations, it is scary how much stuff is there and how much food we . . .

Simonyi: I am focusing on the experiments and communicating the experience. Time really flies, and it is only now on the third day that we unstowed my food rations, it is scary how much stuff is there and how much food we have in general. There is such thing as too much food because some of it may expire before we have a chance of consuming it. I’ll convey your message to the others! Thank you.

Charles and the Expedition 18 crew of Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov will return to earth on April 8th.

Expedition 19 Crew Arrives at Space Station

A Russian Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 19 crew docked with the international space station this morning following a beautiful LIVE video downlink of the new-look complex in space.

In an event which was carried LIVE on SpaceLaunch News.com, the crew of three aboard the Soyuz - Commander Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, American astronaut Michael Barratt and space tourist Charles Simonyi docked with the space station a few minutes early at 9:05 am EDT or 4:05 pm Moscow time.

A slight issue with the Soyuz thruster firings on automatic caused Padalka to switch to manual control to bring the craft in for a perfect docking.

Padalka and Barratt will begin to replace current Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov, who have been aboard the orbital outpost since October.

The hatches between the Soyuz and station will be opened at about 12 noon EDT.

Expedition 19 Crew in Space; Docking Saturday

Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt along with space tourist Charles Simonyi are on orbit and two days away from their docking with the international space station, and the start of Padalka & Barratt's six month stay in space.

Nine and a half minutes after launch, their spacecraft reached orbit. Its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward, stated Mission Control in Moscow.

The Soyuz TMA-14 will slowly fly up to the station early Saturday morning EDT, and then dock to the Russian side of the station at 9:14 am EDT.

New Expedition 19 Crew Launches to Station

Soyuz TMA-14 Launches Today with Expedition 19. (D. Steitz)

A new long duration crew is bound for their new home in space following a beautiful launch this morning from a rainy, overcast sky at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The four liquid-fueled boosters of the Soyuz rocket boosted the 15,800 pound Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft with the Expedition 19 crew aboard at 7:49:15 am EDT, or 5:49 pm local time, today. Two minutes into the flight, sunshine began to light the cabin as the ship soared through the last traces of the earth's atmosphere.


For the first time in spaceflight history, there are currently 13 humans in space - 10 Americans, 2 Russians & 1 from Japan. There are currently three manned spacecraft's in orbit now.

Soyuz Rocket Fueled; Crew Boarding for Flight

Launch of the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft carrying the next long duration crew bound for the international space station is set for liftoff in one hour, however the weather at the launch site is very overcast.

Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka, flight engineer Michael Barratt and space tourist Charles Simonyi have boarded the craft - which sits on the same launch pad cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin used 49 years ago this April 12th.

Liftoff time is scheduled for 7:49:14 am EDT [5:49 pm local time] today. Earlier this morning, NASA astronaut Barratt told members of the media, "There's a rocket out there with our name on it. Ready or not we're gonna fly it!"

New Station Crew Set for Liftoff in Hours

A Soyuz-TM prepares for Thursday's Expedition 19 launch.

On the horizon this morning will be the launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstanon, on a mission to deliver a new crew to the orbiting international space station.

Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, Expedition 19 commander, and NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, along with veteran space tourist Charles Simonyi, are scheduled to lift-off aboard the Soyuz TM-14, today at 7:49 am EDT.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will have LIVE launch coverage of the Soyuz's flight beginning at 7 AM EDT tomorrow.

At about 7:05 am EDT, the crew will walk up and begin to board their spacecraft. The walkway and stairs are the same one's cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin used in 1961 when he becam the first human to fly in space.

Following two days of orbital altitude maneuvering to catch up with the space station, the Soyuz will dock to the Russian docking port on Saturday morning at 9:14 am EDT.

The crew of Expedition 19 will join Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who arrived aboard the station on March 17th, and will replace the current E-18 crew which were launched to the station last October 12th, also from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Expedition 18 crew of astronaut Michael Fincke, Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and Charles Simonyi will undock on April 7th from the beautiful orbital complex and land several hours later.

Expedition 19 will stay aboard the station until October 11th.

[note: SpaceLaunchNews.com journalist Charles Atkeison emailed Charles Simonyi a few questions this morning and we are awaiting his reply.]

Expedition 19 & Soyuz preLaunch NASA Images

Here is a few images from yesterday, March 24th, at the the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstanon, Russia. The Soyuz with the Soyuz TM-14 atop, sits proudly atop it's pad awaiting tomorrow morning's launch with the space station Expedition 19 crew. Read our story of the flight below.