FLUG REVUE May 2006: Thomas Reiter prepares for ISS mission

May 2006

THOMAS REITER PREPARES FOR ISS MISSION

By Matthias Gründer

10 March 2006 in the European Astronaut Centre: a press conference with the German ESA astronaut, Thomas Reiter, is under way in the presence of European and German VIPs, numerous national and international representatives of the press and familiar astronaut colleagues. Reiter is not just an excellent colleague, as testified by both the Russians and Americans, but he is also the darling of the media. He goes up to the crowd, does not avoid any question, and utters rousing words suitable for printing as they are. The journalists are enthusiastic, and so are the officials. On this day and the next day, the German astronaut and his forthcoming flight to the International Space Station are one of the main news stories on the radio, on TV and in the printed media.

That day everyone present still assumed that the launch date would be at the end of May when the Discovery space shuttle is scheduled to lift off for mission STS-121. But only five days later, the technicians discovered a defective engine cut-off (ECO) sensor in the external tank, which now has to be replaced. They also requested more time for testing and analysis with the tank which had to be modified after STS-114 last year as once again chunks of foam material fell off during the launch. Finally there are still some unplanned repairs outstanding to the robotic arm of the orbiter, which was inadvertently slightly damaged during work in the assembly hall.

Bad news, then, for the crew, quite apart from tension for Reiter, whose mission has already been postponed several times. Now NASA is planning a new launch window between 1 and 19 July, but the risk of further delays cannot be ruled out. Who knows which of the many hundreds of sensors in this highly complicated launch vehicle system will be the next to fail?

Meanwhile Thomas Reiter and colleagues are professional enough to take this situation in their stride. Launch delays occur only too frequently on space shuttle flights, so the astronauts use the remaining time before launch to undergo ever new training for their work on board.

Reiter at any rate will have both hands full during his allotted time in space. He is not only the first German to be going to the space station, but he will also be first ESA astronaut to work there in zero-gravity conditions for longer than eight days and also to take a walk outside the ISS. He is expected to spend over six months in space, but he already has some highly relevant experience: between 3 September 1995 and 29 February 1996 he spent 179 days in space on board the Russian space station Mir, where he performed about 40 European scientific experiments and twice left the confines of the ISS for a spacewalk.

The present mission, which bears the ESA name of “Astrolab”, is unusual in another way: after arriving on the ISS, Reiter's assigned role will be that of Flight Engineer 2 to his colleagues, Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams, who as Commander and Flight Engineer of the 13th expedition crew are to set off for the ISS on 29 March. They will be accompanied by Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes, although he will be setting back for Earth after eight days once the crew handover is complete, so that Reiter will not meet him in the ISS.

When Vinogradov and Williams then fly back home on 24 September, Reiter will remain on board, receive the members of Expedition 14 and continue working as Flight Engineer 2 to this new resident crew until he too sets back for Earth, probably in December 2006.

Whether future shuttle missions will be postponed due to the delay in launching STS-121 is not yet clear. If STS-116 is also delayed, then Reiter's return flight could slip to January or even February 2007. He himself would not mind that much, as he would then have longer to enjoy the view of our home planet with its indescribable blue colour. “It's a great pity that I can't do any flying myself,” the former Bundeswehr test pilot confessed to FLUG REVUE. “But at least I am more than adequately compensated for this loss through my present career.”

For the forthcoming flight, Reiter and his French colleague, Léopold Eyharts, who will serve as substitute should the need arise, have completed extensive training programmes. Since October 2004 they have undergone 1870 hours of training, in the course of which they have familiarised themselves with the systems of the ISS, the shuttle and the Soyuz capsule and also with the spacewalk procedures. (“It's a great feeling to be able to go out through the door for once during my stay in this tight tin can!”) 51 percent of the training has taken place in Russia, 44 percent in the USA and 5 percent in Europe. Some of this was “only” a refresher course for Reiter as he is one of the few foreign astronauts to have passed the test to qualify as “Soyuz return flight commander”, which means he is authorised and also able to uncouple and land a Soyuz capsule on his own.

Reiter is to carry out a total of 19 scientific experiments on behalf of the European Space Agency during his time on board and to participate in many more of NASA's experiments. “We also want to promote manned space flight,” he stressed at the press conference, “and explain to the taxpayers in live broadcasts from the station why we are doing this.” In the eyes of this former serviceman, cooperation in space has a special role to play as regards maintaining the peace.

As Flight Engineer 2, Reiter will be responsible in case of need for operating, controlling and maintaining the Russian docking mechanism, for flight control, navigation and control of orbit in the Russian section of the ISS using the data management system developed by ESA, for the life-support system and power supply, for keeping the ISS clean, disposing of waste and organising the supply of provisions, for communications, operation of the scientific equipment, extra-ISS work with Russian and American spacesuits and finally for emergency operations. Nothing more, but also nothing less.

On top of this, he will also perform some work to pave the way for docking of the European Columbus module next year. This module is already longingly awaited by the European scientists and, according to ESA Director-General Jacques Dordain, it will remain in service for at least ten years.

Ten years from 2007? Correct. Although NASA is planning to retire its shuttles in 2010, that does not mean the end of the ISS. By then the USA will have only reduced the number of supply flights flown with the shuttle, but not the construction flights which will carry the remaining missing modules into orbit. The ISS will thus be built as planned, and the present partners do not view themselves as a closed club. It is possible that new partners could join them in the future and even that additional modules could dock onto the ISS, changing the appearance of the station as planned up to now. Perhaps more Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) will also be needed in the future? “We will see,” says Reiter with that smile which the media like so much.

From FLUG REVUE 5/2006

Last updated 10 April 2006

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