Monday, December 19, 2011

Astronauts 'Deck the Halls' of Space Station

Astronauts 'Deck the Halls' of Space Station

Astronauts on the International Space Station are formulation a large holiday whack to acquire 3 new crewmates, who are slated to arrive usually before Christmas.

The further of 3 some-more spaceflyers on Dec. 23 will double a race of a orbiting lab, bringing it behind adult to full operational strength after a month during skeleton-crew levels. That's good news for scientists penetrating to maximize a , and it'll make a holidays a small reduction waste 240 miles (386 kilometers) above a Earth's surface.

"We'll applaud a holidays in good conform after they get here," hire commander Dan Burbank of NASA pronounced in a . "We've already put adult decorations, and we've collected together all a cards and gifts that a friends and families have sent to us, and we're formulation a integrate of large meals. That'll be great."

Skeleton organisation will get beefed up

Burbank and his dual cosmonaut colleagues, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, are a usually residents aboard a International Space Station (ISS) during a moment. They arrived on Nov. 16 and have been alone adult there given Nov. 21, when 3 other crewmembers over for Earth. []

But things should change this week. A Soyuz booster carrying 3 spaceflyers â€" one American, one Russian and one Dutch â€" is slated to blast off from Kazakhstan on Dec. 21 and arrive during a hire dual days later, rounding out a station's stream Expedition 30 to a full element of 6 crewmates.

Burbank is fervent for a new organisation to come aboard, and not usually for veteran reasons.

"With their arrival, ISS will be behind during full strength, though we'll also have 3 good friends to join us," he said. "We'll also have them usually in time for a holidays."

A holiday summary for Earth

Burbank also sent home holiday greetings to a 7 billion people vital and operative on Earth, hundreds of miles underneath his feet.

"On interest of a Expedition 30 organisation aboard a International Space Station, we wish everybody on planet Earth a happy, protected and â€" many of all â€" pacific holiday season," he said.

Burbank combined that his month in space has been "very bustling though wonderful," and that saying Earth from space is an implausible experience. He described a events of one night in particular, when he looked out and saw bracketed by city lights on both sides of a Atlantic Ocean.

"This world is unimaginably beautiful, and it's pacific and it's relaxed when we demeanour during it from space," Burbank said. "And that night pass to us seemed like a holiday nod card, a many pleasing one we could imagine."

If you'd like to send holiday wishes to Burbank and his associate space hire crewmembers, NASA creates it easy. You can select among several electronic "postcards" during a following website:

You can follow SPACE.com comparison author Mike Wall on Twitter: . Follow SPACE.com for a latest in space scholarship and scrutiny news on Twitter and on .


News referensi http://news.yahoo.com/astronauts-deck-halls-space-station-172109353.html

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