Space Station Expedition 40 Crew Returns to Earth, Lands
Safely in Kazakhstan
Three crew members from the International Space Station (ISS) returned to
Earth Wednesday after 169 days of science and technology research in space,
including a record 82 hours of research in a single week, which happened in
July.
A trio of International Space Station crew members
returned to Earth and landed in Kazakhstan at 10:23 p.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2014
(8:23 a.m., Sept. 11, in local time) after spending 167 days aboard the orbital
laboratory. Seen left to right, Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov of the
Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA’s Steve Swanson were examined
by medical personnel after being removed from their Russian Soyuz
spacecraft.
Image Credit:
NASA Television
Expedition
40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and
Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) touched down
southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 10:23 p.m. EDT
Wednesday, Sept. 10 (8:23 a.m., Sept. 11, in Dzhezkazgan).
During their time aboard the space station, the crew members participated in
a variety of research focusing on Earth remote sensing, human behavior and
performance and studies of bone and muscle physiology.
One of several key research focus areas during Expedition 40 was human health
management for long duration space travel as NASA and Roscosmos prepare for two
crew members to spend one year aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2015.
During their time on the station, the crew members orbited Earth more than
2,700 times, traveled more than 71.7 million miles and welcomed five cargo
spacecraft. Two Russian ISS Progress cargo spacecraft docked to the station
bringing tons of supplies in April and July. The fifth and final European Space
Agency (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle also launched to the station in July
with the spacecraft bearing the name of Belgian physicist Georges Lemaitre, who
is considered the father of the big-bang theory.
SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft to the station in April, the
company's third of at least 12 planned commercial resupply missions. In July,
Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft completed its third of at least eight
resupply missions scheduled through 2016 under NASA's Commercial Resupply
Services contract.
During his time on the complex, Swanson ventured outside the confines of the
space station for a spacewalk to replace a backup computer relay box that
unexpectedly failed. Skvortsov and Artemyev conducted two spacewalks during
Expedition 40, totaling 12 hours and 34 minutes.
The space station is more than a scientific research platform. It also serves
as a test bed to demonstrate new technology. Even routine tasks, such as
monitoring and operating the carbon dioxide removal system, provides valuable
data for next-generation life support systems. Carbon dioxide removal from the
pressurized compartments of the station proved to work differently in space than
predicted by ground tests. The crew also saw the arrival of the Haptics-1
experiment, part of an effort to develop technology that would allow an
astronaut in orbit to control a robot as it explores its target, such as an
asteroid or Mars, during future human exploration missions.
Having completed his third space station mission, Swanson now has spent a
total of 196 days in space. Skvortsov has accumulated 345 days in space on two
flights, and Artemyev accrued 169 days in space on his first mission.
Expedition 41 now is operating aboard the station with Max Suraev of
Roscosmos in command. Suraev and his crewmates, Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman of
NASA and Alexander Gerst of ESA, will tend to the station as a three-person crew
until the arrival in two weeks of three new crew members: Barry Wilmore of NASA
and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Roscosmos. Wilmore, Samokutyaev
and Serova are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan Thursday, Sept. 25.
For more information on the International Space Station and its crews,
visit:
For b-roll and other media resources, visit:
Expedition 40 Soyuz TMA-12M Landing
Ground support personnel are seen at the landing site after the Soyuz TMA-12M
spacecraft landed with Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA, and Flight
Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space
Agency (Roscosmos) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Sept.
11, 2014. Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev returned to Earth after more than five
months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of
the Expedition 39 and 40 crews.
Photo Credit: NASA/Bill
Ingalls
NASA Astronaut Steve Swanson Returns to Earth
Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA rests in a chair outside the
Soyuz Capsule just minutes after he and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and
Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), landed in their
Soyuz TMA-12M capsule in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan
on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014. Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev returned to Earth
after more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they
served as members of the Expedition 39 and 40 crews.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill
Ingalls
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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