Expedition 24

Expedition 24 was the 24th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition 24 initially had two planned spacewalks, one Russian and one American Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA). The U.S. EVA was re-planned and a second U.S. EVA was added.

ISS Expedition 24
Mission typeISS Expedition
Expedition
Space StationInternational Space Station
Began1 June 2010, 00:04 (2010-06-01UTC00:04Z) UTC
Ended25 September 2010, 02:02 (2010-09-25UTC02:03Z) UTC
Arrived aboardSoyuz TMA-18
Soyuz TMA-19
Departed aboardSoyuz TMA-18
Soyuz TMA-19
Crew
Crew size6
MembersExpedition 23/24:
Aleksandr Skvortsov
Mikhail Korniyenko
Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Expedition 24/25:
Fyodor Yurchikhin
Shannon Walker
Douglas H. Wheelock

(l-r) Wheelock, Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov, Korniyenko, Walker and Yurchikhin
 
A last-quarter crescent moon above Earth's horizon is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 24 crew member.

Crew
Position First part
(June 2010)		 Second part
(June 2010
to September 2010)
Commander Aleksandr Skvortsov, RSA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1 Mikhail Korniyenko, RSA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2 Tracy Caldwell Dyson, NASA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 3 Fyodor Yurchikhin, RSA
Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer 4 Shannon Walker, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 5 Douglas H. Wheelock, NASA
Second spaceflight
Source
NASA[1][2]

Backup crew

Incidents

Ammonia pump module

On 31 July 2010, the Expedition 24 crew was awoken by an alarm on the station. The alarm was caused by a cooling pump that had failed and caused a Remote Power Controller to trip and cut power to some of the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Doug Wheelock performed some steps to assist ground controllers in re-powering some of the station components such as two main power buses and one Control Moment Gyroscope. After the steps had been completed Capcomm James Kelly told the crew they could go back to bed as all the work required by the crew on the ISS was complete. A short time later, another alarm sounded and awoke the crew, when the ground attempted to restart the pump module.[3]

Docking ring

A failure in the docking ring on the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2) Poisk, caused a delay in the planned landing of the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft. Soyuz TMA-18 was originally planned to undock and land on 24 September 2010, but instead undocked less than 24 hours later on 25 September 2010. The failure is believed to be due to a faulty indication from a micro-switch on the hatch between the Soyuz and MRM2. A drive gear, which is related to the docking mechanism was also found to have two broken teeth, and is believed to be related to the problem as well.[4]

Spacewalks
Shannon Walker is pictured near the robotic workstation in the Destiny laboratory during the EVA 2 on 7 August 2010.
Wheelock egresses the Quest Airlock hatch on the ISS during the EVA 3 on 11 August 2010.

Three spacewalks, one in Orlan space suits and two in U.S. Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) were originally planned for Expedition 24. However, additional spacewalking tasks were added to remove and replace a failed ammonia pump module.

Mission Spacewalkers Start (UTC) End (UTC) Duration
Expedition 24
EVA 1
‡		 Mikhail Korniyenko
Fyodor Yurchikhin		 27 July 2010
04:11		 27 July 2010
10:53		 6 hours 42 minutes
Korniyrnko and Yurchikhin ran three data cables between Rassvet and the Zvezda module, routing them along the Zarya module. The pair then installed cables between Rassvet and Zarya. They next moved on to relocate a camera already on Rassvet's exterior, from the zenith or space-facing side to the nadir or Earth-facing side. As their final task, Yurchikhin and Kornienko replaced a camera used for docking European Automated Transfer Vehicles to the station.
Expedition 24
EVA 2
 Douglas Wheelock
Tracy Caldwell Dyson		 7 August 2010
11:19		 7 August 2010
19:22		 8 hours 3 minutes
Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson disconnected electrical and fluid connectors. The spacewalkers did not complete all of the planned tasks due to a quick disconnect that got stuck and would not release. The pair had to complete a "bake-out" in order to ensure there was no ammonia on their suits before re-entering the Space Station.[5]
Expedition 24
EVA 3
 Douglas Wheelock
Tracy Caldwell Dyson		 11 August 2010
12:27		 11 August 2010
19:53		 7 hours 26 minutes
Wheelock successfully closed the quick disconnect valve for the fourth and final fluid connector for the failed pump, and detached the final fluid line from the failed pump. Caldwell Dyson demated five electrical and data cables while Wheelock broke torque and removed four bolts from the old pump. The pump was extracted from the truss through the use of a grapple bar and installed on a payload bracket on the Mobile Base System on the station's truss. Caldwell Dyson then prepared the spare pump for future installation, disconnecting three of five electrical cables and reconfiguring insulation.[6][7]
Expedition 24
EVA 4
 Douglas Wheelock
Tracy Caldwell Dyson		 16 August 2010
10:20		 16 August 2010
17:40		 7 hours 20 minutes
Wheelock removed the spare pump module from an external stowage platform. The pump module was successfully installed on the S1 Truss after Wheelock attached four bolts and Caldwell Dyson mated five electrical connectors.[8]

‡ denotes spacewalks performed from the Pirs docking compartment in Russian Orlan suits.

  • The Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in preparation for the launch of Expedition 24.
  • Soyuz TMA-19 launched on Wednesday, 16 June 2010.
  • Amazing picture taken over central Asia
  • The Soyuz TMA-18 with its main parachute deployed for landing on 25 September 2010.
  • Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko sit in chairs outside the Soyuz capsule just minutes after they landed.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  1. NASA HQ (2008). "NASA Assigns Space Station Crews, Updates Expedition Numbering". NASA. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  2. NASA HQ (2009). "NASA and its International Partners Assign Space Station Crews". NASA. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  3. Bill Harwood. "Spacewalks needed to fix station cooling problem". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  4. Chris Bergin. "Soyuz TMA-18 home after second undocking attempt success". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  5. Chris Bergin. "Opening ISS spacewalk to replace coolant pump completed". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  6. Chris Gebhardt (11 August 2010). "Large success for second EVA as failed Pump Module is removed". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  7. William Harwood (11 August 2010). "Station's bad pump removed; more spacewalking ahead". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  8. NASA (16 August 2010). "Spacewalkers Install Spare Ammonia Pump". Retrieved 19 August 2010.
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