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International Space Station Crew Ready for First Expedition October 3, 2000 The International Space Station Expedition One crew, comprised of American Commander Bill Shepherd, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, is scheduled to launch October 30 on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Expedition One crew will dock with the International Space Station on Nov. 1. Shepherd, Gidzenko, and Krikalev will spend about 4 months aboard the International Space Station, activating critical station systems, conducting the first scientific experiments on the research facility and welcoming three visiting shuttle crews. They will return to Earth on the U.S. Space Shuttle next February on the same mission that will bring their replacements to the International Space Station for the second Expedition flight. Assembly on orbit of the International Space Station began with the launch of the U.S.-owned, Russian-built Zarya control module on November 20, 1998, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, followed on December 4, 1998, carrying the U.S.-built Unity connecting module. Endeavour’s crew attached Unity and Zarya during a 12-day mission to begin the station’s orbital construction. The third component, a Russian-provided crew living quarters and early station core known as Zvezda, was launched from Baikonur over a year behind schedule on July 12, 2000. The Space Station is currently orbiting Earth at an altitude of 197 nautical miles traveling approximately 17,300 mph. The International Space Station is the largest scientific cooperative program in history, drawing on the resources and scientific expertise of 16 nations: the United States, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Canada, and the 11 members of the European Space Agency -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. NASA's expenditures for development of the space station are expected to total $24 billion. The International Space Station was originally dubbed "Space Station Freedom" by the Reagan administration. The "Freedom" moniker was dropped when Russia was added as a partner.
© 2000 TruthNews. All Rights Reserved. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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