Expedition 16
Encyclopedia
Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station
(ISS).
The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko
and Peggy Whitson
, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11
, and were joined by spaceflight participant
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
, the first Malaysian in space.
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
. STS-120 launched on 23 October, docked on 25 October, and replaced Anderson with new Flight Engineer Daniel Tani. 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 9 February 2008, replacing Tani. The crew was then joined by Garrett Reisman
, who was launched aboard Endeavour
with STS-123
, on 11 March 2008, replacing Eyharts. Reisman joined Expedition 16 in progress, and was a 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 (418 km) west of the targeted landing site. Roscosmos reported all three crew members were doing just fine and in good health.
Expedition 16 was the first ISS mission to include two crew members who had served on a previous expedition, and the first time a former commander (Malenchenko) returned as a flight engineer. Whitson was the first female commander of an ISS expedition, and with STS-120 commanded by female astronaut Pamela Melroy
, it marked the first time that two female mission commanders were in orbit simultaneously. 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. 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.
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 9 November, that prepared the docking port for relocation. On 12 November, 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. On 14 November, 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.
On 20 November, 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.
On 24 November, 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.
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. 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.
delivered Columbus
and replaced Dan Tani with Léopold Eyharts
.
delivered the first element of Kibō
and replaced Léopold Eyharts
with Garrett Reisman
.
(ATV) to the station, named Jules Verne
after the science fiction author.
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS).
The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko
Yuri Malenchenko
Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko is a Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station...
and Peggy Whitson
Peggy Whitson
Peggy Annette Whitson is an American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and NASA's Chief Astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. Her second mission launched October 10, 2007, as the first female...
, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
, and were joined by spaceflight participant
Spaceflight participant
Spaceflight participant is the term used by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency for people who travel aboard space missions coordinated by those agencies who are not part of the crew...
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and was the first Malaysian to go into space. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on October 10, 2007...
, the first Malaysian in space.
Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson
Clayton Anderson
Clayton Conrad Anderson is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. Launched on STS-117, he replaced Sunita Williams on June 10, 2007 as a member of the ISS Expedition 15 crew.-Education:...
did not land with the Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
, so he was considered part of Expedition 16 for the few weeks prior to the arrival of STS-120
STS-120
-Crew notes:As commander of STS-120, Pamela Melroy became the second woman to command a space shuttle mission. Additionally, the Expedition 16 crew that received STS-120 was commanded by Peggy Whitson, the first female ISS commander...
. STS-120 launched on 23 October, docked on 25 October, and replaced Anderson with new Flight Engineer Daniel Tani. Following docking, the Soyuz seat liners for Anderson and Tani were swapped, and Anderson became part of the STS-120 crew. Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts is a Brigadier General in the French Air Force and an ESA astronaut.-Background:Eyharts was born April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France...
, who came aboard during STS-122
STS-122
STS-122 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station , flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis. STS-122 marked the 24th shuttle mission to the ISS, and the 121st space shuttle flight since STS-1....
, joined the mission on 9 February 2008, replacing Tani. The crew was then joined by Garrett Reisman
Garrett Reisman
Garrett Erin Reisman is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a member of Expedition 17. He returned to Earth 14 June 2008 on board STS-124 on...
, who was launched aboard Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
with STS-123
STS-123
-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: 336 kilometers * Apogee: 346 kilometers * Inclination: 51.6 degrees* Period: 91.6min-Mission payloads:...
, on 11 March 2008, replacing Eyharts. Reisman joined Expedition 16 in progress, and was a part of Expedition 17
Expedition 17
Expedition 17 was the 17th expedition to the International Space Station .The first two crew members, Sergey Volkov, and Oleg Kononenko were launched on 8 April 2008, aboard the Soyuz TMA-12...
as well. Upon reentry, the astronaut's Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11
Soyuz TMA-11 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...
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
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
, ending up about 260 miles (418 km) west of the targeted landing site. Roscosmos reported all three crew members were doing just fine and in good health.
Crew
| Position | First Part (October 2007) |
Second Part (October 2007 to February 2008) |
Third Part (February to March 2008) |
Fourth Part (March to April 2008) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commander | Peggy Whitson Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson is an American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and NASA's Chief Astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. Her second mission launched October 10, 2007, as the first female... , NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research... Second spaceflight |
|||
| Flight Engineer 1 | Yuri Malenchenko Yuri Malenchenko Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko is a Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station... , RSA Russian Federal Space Agency The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located... Fourth spaceflight |
|||
| Flight Engineer 2 | Clayton Anderson Clayton Anderson Clayton Conrad Anderson is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. Launched on STS-117, he replaced Sunita Williams on June 10, 2007 as a member of the ISS Expedition 15 crew.-Education:... , NASA First Spaceflight |
Daniel Tani Daniel M. Tani Daniel Tani is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. Although born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, he considers Lombard, Illinois, to be his hometown... , NASA Second spaceflight |
Léopold Eyharts Léopold Eyharts Léopold Eyharts is a Brigadier General in the French Air Force and an ESA astronaut.-Background:Eyharts was born April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France... , ESA European Space Agency The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states... Second spaceflight |
Garrett Reisman Garrett Reisman Garrett Erin Reisman is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a member of Expedition 17. He returned to Earth 14 June 2008 on board STS-124 on... , NASA First spaceflight |
Backup crew
- Michael Fincke Commander - NASA (for Whitson)
- Salizhan SharipovSalizhan SharipovSalizhan Shakirovich Sharipov is a Kyrgyz cosmonaut. Sharipov is a co-author and investigator for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity project. He has been to space twice and has conducted two spacewalks...
Flight Engineer 1 - RSA (for Malenchenko) - Greg Chamitoff Flight Engineer 2 - NASA (for Anderson)
- Sandra MagnusSandra MagnusSandra Hall Magnus is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She returned to Earth with the crew of STS-119 Discovery on March 28, 2009, after having spent 134 days in orbit. She was assigned to the crew of STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle...
Flight Engineer 2 - NASA (for Tani) - Frank De WinneFrank De WinneFrank, Viscount De Winne is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space . He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission when he served as commander of ISS Expedition 21.-Education:De Winne graduated in 1979 from the Royal School of Cadets...
Flight Engineer 2 - ESA (Belgium) (for Eyharts) - Timothy KopraTimothy L. KopraTimothy Lennart Kopra is a colonel in the United States Army and a NASA astronaut. Kopra deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Desert Storm as a member of the 3rd Armored Division...
Flight Engineer 2 - NASA (for Reisman)
Mission details
- Docked: 12 October 2007 14:50 UTCCoordinated Universal TimeCoordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
- Undocked: 19 April 2008 6:06 UTC
- Time docked: 192 days
Expedition 16 was the first ISS mission to include two crew members who had served on a previous expedition, and the first time a former commander (Malenchenko) returned as a flight engineer. Whitson was the first female commander of an ISS expedition, and with STS-120 commanded by female astronaut Pamela Melroy
Pamela Melroy
Pamela Anne Melroy is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. She served as pilot on Space Shuttle missions STS-92 and STS-112 and commanded mission STS-120.-Early life and education:...
, it marked the first time that two female mission commanders were in orbit simultaneously. 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. 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
Michael Lopez-Alegria
Michael Eladio "LA" López-Alegría b. May 30, 1958, is a Spanish-American astronaut; a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space Station mission...
did a similar activity with movie and music trivia.
STS-120
The first major objective of the increment was accomplished successfully on 26 October, when the crew of STS-120 delivered the Harmony module, and attached it to a temporary location on the Unity module. The new addition added over 2500 cubic feet (70.8 m³) to the station's living volume. 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.Configuration of Harmony
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
(EVA) and robotic activities were carried out to move the Pressurized Mating Adapter
Pressurized Mating Adapter
The International Space Station uses three Pressurized Mating Adapters to interconnect spacecraft and modules with different docking mechanisms. The first two PMAs were launched with the Unity module in 1998 aboard STS-88...
(PMA-2) from the end of the Destiny laboratory
Destiny Laboratory Module
The Destiny module is the primary operating facility for U.S. research payloads aboard the International Space Station . It was berthed to the Unity module and activated over a period of five days in February, 2001...
, to the end of Harmony. Whitson and Malenchenko carried out the increment's first EVA on 9 November, that prepared the docking port for relocation. On 12 November, 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. On 14 November, 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.
On 20 November, 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.
On 24 November, 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.
EVA milestone
On 18 December 2007, during the fourth spacewalkExtra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
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
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
time in NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
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
Sunita Williams
Sunita Williams is a United States Naval officer and a NASA astronaut. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15...
with a total time at that point of 29 hours and 18 minutes. 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.
STS-122
STS-122STS-122
STS-122 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station , flown by the Space Shuttle Atlantis. STS-122 marked the 24th shuttle mission to the ISS, and the 121st space shuttle flight since STS-1....
delivered Columbus
Columbus (ISS module)
Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency ....
and replaced Dan Tani with Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts is a Brigadier General in the French Air Force and an ESA astronaut.-Background:Eyharts was born April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France...
.
STS-123
STS-123STS-123
-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: 336 kilometers * Apogee: 346 kilometers * Inclination: 51.6 degrees* Period: 91.6min-Mission payloads:...
delivered the first element of Kibō
Kibo
Kibo may refer to:*Kibo , Japanese Experiment Module , component of the International Space Station*Kibo , volcanic cone forming the main summit of Mount Kilimanjaro...
and replaced Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts
Léopold Eyharts is a Brigadier General in the French Air Force and an ESA astronaut.-Background:Eyharts was born April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France...
with Garrett Reisman
Garrett Reisman
Garrett Erin Reisman is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a member of Expedition 17. He returned to Earth 14 June 2008 on board STS-124 on...
.
ATV Jules-Verne
Expedition 16 also saw the arrival of the first Automated Transfer VehicleAutomated Transfer Vehicle
The Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency . ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments...
(ATV) to the station, named Jules Verne
Jules Verne ATV
The Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 , was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency . The ATV was named after the French science-fiction author Jules Verne...
after the science fiction author.
Extra-vehicular activity
| Mission | Spacewalkers | Start (UTC Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose... ) |
End (UTC) | Duration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVA 1 |
Peggy Whitson Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson is an American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and NASA's Chief Astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. Her second mission launched October 10, 2007, as the first female... Yuri Malenchenko Yuri Malenchenko Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko is a Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station... |
9 November 2007 09:54 |
9 November, 16:49 |
6 hours, 55 minutes | ||
| SSPTS cable disconnect and stowage, PMA-2 umbilical stowage, Node 2 avionics umbilical temp stowed. | ||||||
| EVA 2 |
Whitson Daniel M. Tani Daniel M. Tani Daniel Tani is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. Although born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, he considers Lombard, Illinois, to be his hometown... |
20 November 2007 10:10 |
20 November, 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. | ||||||
| EVA 3 |
Whitson Tani |
24 November 2007 09:50 |
24 November, 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. | ||||||
| EVA 4 |
Whitson Tani |
18 December 2007 09:50 |
18 December, 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. | ||||||
| EVA 5 |
Whitson Tani |
30 January 2008 09:56 |
30 January, 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). | ||||||