New space station crew to launch into orbit today

NASA/Carla Cioffi

The Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft is seen at the launch pad after being raised into vertical position on June 5, 2011, at the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 28 Soyuz commander Sergei Volkov of Russia, NASA flight engineer Mike Fossum and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2011.

Expedition 28 Flight Engineers Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:12 p.m. EDT Tuesday (2:12 a.m. Wednesday, Baikonur time) aboard the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft. They will arrive at the station Thursday to join the Expedition 28 crew.

Aboard the orbiting International Space Station Monday, Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev worked with the Russian behavioral assessment TYPOLOGY, which measures a crew member's psychophysical state and ability to withstand stress, to perform and to communicate. An EEG measures and records the electrical activity of the brain.

Samokutyaev also spent some time with the RUSALKA experiment. RUSALKA is a test of procedures for remote determination of methane and carbon dioxide content in the Earth’s atmosphere. Samokutyaev took pictures of the atmosphere using special camera filters and sent the information to researchers on Earth.

Meanwhile, Borisenko participated in a Russian medical test called SPRUT-2, which investigates the distribution and behavior of human body fluids in zero gravity.

Flight Engineer Ron Garan spent most of the day replacing and upgrading laptops and working with the computer network aboard the orbital complex.