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2003
Report #20 
4 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 2, 2003 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 
 
International Space Station crewmembers are wrapping up a week
largely devoted to handover briefings and activities for the
Expedition 7 crew and their Expedition 6 predecessors.  The week will
culminate with the undocking of the Soyuz TMA-1 from the station at 5:
40 p.m. CDT on Saturday. 

A little over three hours later, at 9:07 p.m., the Expedition 6 crew,
Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS
Science Officer Don Pettit, is scheduled to land in northern
Kazakhstan. Their return will end a mission that began with their
launch on Nov. 23 and their docking to the orbiting laboratory two
days later. Weather for the landing area is predicted to be
acceptable. 

Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer and NASA
ISS Science Officer Ed Lu spent much of the week learning the ropes
aboard their new home, where they are to remain for about the next
six months. They also unpacked gear and equipment. 

On Thursday, the station's file server went down.  The event was not
a serious impediment to crew activities, though flight controllers
and computer experts on the ground and the crew did spend time
working to restore the server. The server was up and running again by
Friday morning. As a result of the incident, the Expedition 7 crew
got a quick review on how the server and the station computers
function. 

Bowersox and Lu did a handover session on Friday with the Carbon
Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in the U.S. laboratory Destiny. Both
the CDRA and the Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal system in the Russian
Zvezda Service Module are operating because of five crewmembers being
on the station. On Thursday Budarin had temporarily shut down the
Vozdukh to install new power cables. Normally only the Vozdukh or the
CDRA is running. 

On Friday the Expedition 7 crew got familiarization training with the
Canadarm2, the station's robotic arm. That and the CDRA activity
were, in contrast to the rest of the week, among the few
familiarization periods today.  Much of the day was devoted to
stowing materials on the station and packing Expedition 6 gear in
their Soyuz. 

Information on the crew's activities aboard the space station, future
launch dates, as well as station sighting opportunities from anywhere
on the Earth, is available on the Internet at: 

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Details on station science operations can be found on an Internet
site administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at: 

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/

The next International Space Station status report will be issued on
Saturday, May 3, after the Expedition 6 crew lands. 

                        -end-

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Subject: federal Agencies Discuss Conclusion Of Joint Recovery Operations
In May 5 Briefing

May 2, 2003

Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson
Headquarters, Washington
Phone: 202/358-1600

Dave Drachlis/Kelly Humphries
Lufkin Command Center, Texas
Phone: 936/699-1019

Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Phone: 281/483-5111

Kim Pease
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Phone 936/699-1094

Report #J03-33

FEDERAL AGENCIES DISCUSS CONCLUSION OF JOINT RECOVERY OPERATIONS IN
MAY 5 BRIEFING 

The conclusion of Columbia recovery activities in the primary East
Texas search area will be discussed in a news briefing immediately
following a closeout presentation for Texas and local government
officials on Monday, May 5, at the Disaster Field Office in Lufkin,
Texas. 

Local government officials will receive a final update on the status
of recovery efforts from NASA and Federal Emergency Management Agency
leaders beginning at 1 p.m. CDT. The private closeout briefing will
be followed immediately by a news conference in the fourth-floor
media center of the DFO at 415 S. First Street, Lufkin.

The May 5 news conference is expected to be the final media
opportunity to occur at the Disaster Field Office, which served as
the central coordination center for the majority of the Columbia
recovery search efforts in East Texas.  The briefing is expected to
begin about 2 p.m. CDT. 

Participants for Monday's briefing include:

·   David Whittle, Chairman, Columbia Mishap Investigation Team 
    
·   John Casper, NASA Astronaut   
    
·   Scott Wells, FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer
    
·   Mark Stanford, Texas Forest Service
    
·   John Martin, Environmental Protection Agency
    
·   Jack Colley, State Coordinator, Texas Division of Emergency
    Management

State and local officials participating in the private closeout
briefing will be invited to remain and be available for interviews
after the formal news conference as their schedules permit.

Media wishing to participate in the press briefing by telephone must
notify the Johnson Space Center newsroom no later than noon central
time, Monday, May 5. 

- -end-

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