The International Space Station (ISS) has been occupied continuously since 1 November 2000, with the arrival of the Expedition 1 Crew. Much had changed by the time the Expedition 9 Crew came aboard. The Station had nearly doubled in size, with a large increase in capability.

Expedition 9 initiated with the launch of Soyuz TMA-4 atop a Starsem booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on 18 April 2004 at 10:19 PM CDT (03:19 19 April GMT). Aboard were Station and Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke. In the third seat was ESA Astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, on the Delta Mission. They spent the next two days chasing ISSy for rendezvous and docking, which took place at 12:01 AM (05:01 GMT) on 21 April. The three men were warmly greeted by the outgoing crew of Expedition 8. These were Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander "Sasha" Kaleri. A week of joint operations ensued, with the station being finally handed over to the Expedition 9 crew. Andre Kuipers, and the Expedition 8 crew entered their Soyuz TMA-3 vehicle to return to Earth on 29 April 2004.

During their six month stay aboard, the Expedition 9 crew carried out Four EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) and an extensive but flexible program of science. These included some 21 different experiments in five categories. These were Bioastronautics, the Physical Sciences, Space Product Development, Space Flight, and Space Biology. More can be learned about the Expedition 9 Science program Here, and Here.

With the arrival of the Expedition 10 Crew, and Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin of the Russian Space Forces, on 15 October 2004, the final week of Expedition 9 was at hand. As is usual practice, the two crews worked together for a week to familiarize the new men with their home in orbit. On 23 October at 4:08 PM CDT (21:08 GMT), the Soyuz TMA-4 undocked from ISSy for the return home. Cosmonaut Shargin was aboard with the Expedition 9 crew for the ride. A safe landing was achieved near Arkalyk Kazakhstan on 23 October at 7:36 PM CDT (00:36 24 October GMT). Expedition 9 was a productive and successful mission to ISS, and all ended very well. Total flight duration: 187 days 21 hours 17 minutes.

ISS EVA 9b (Second of Four EVAs During Exp. 9), mounted from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment on 30 June 2004, was something of an emergency repair mission. The untimely failure of a remote power control module (essentially a circuit breaker) caused a second of the Control Moment Gyros to cease functioning. There are four of these gyros (pictured lower right - click for large photo). They maintain the attitude of the station for maximum solar panel exposure to the Sun. With only two working, a great deal of stress was placed on the fuel supplies for the Russian thruster rockets on the Zvezda module, since they were required to "pick up the slack", as it were. So, an extra EVA was scheduled for Padalka and Fincke in order to replace the failed power controller.

Wearing Russian Orlan (Eagle In Russian - pictured lower right - click for large photo) spacesuits, the two men opened the airlock hatch at 4:19 PM CDT (21:19 GMT). Padalka extended the telescoping boom known as Strela (Russian For Arrow) to its maximum length of around 45 feet (14 meters), so the men could use it to traverse the Zarya (FGB) module more quickly. From there, they made their way to the US side of the station where the work site was. The crew travelled in excess of 130 feet (80 meters) on their journey. This is the longest distance of any ISS EVA.

ISS protocol requires that crewmen speak Russian on EVA whilst on the Russian modules, and English when they work outside US modules. The spacewalkers "crossed the border" to the US side at 5:09 PM CDT (22:09 GMT), where they made their way to the S-1 Truss to begin the repairs. Despite a few problems with doors and fasteners, the job went swiftly and was completed ahead of schedule. This left some time for a few minor "get ahead" tasks, installing new handrails, a contamination experiment, and devices designed to prevent safety tethers from becoming tangled.

The crew retraced their long route back to the airlock once they had closed up the "breaker box". They re-entered the PIRS airlock compartment, resealing the hatch at 9:59 PM CDT (02:59 1 July GMT). EVA 9b lasted a total of 5 hours 40 minutes, and was the 54th ISS Assembly spacewalk, 29th from the station itself. All tasks were completed successfully, and the Control Moment Gyro was restored to use. (Clicking on the PIRS thumbnail at right will take you to an animated GIF illustrating where PIRS, and Strela are on ISSy. Major components on the Russian section are labeled, and the route taken from PIRS to the work site roughly indicated in orange.)

There was PLENTY of time for NASA to broadcast BOTH events. I personally see this as fear on the part of NASA officials. I believe perhaps they are afraid of what the public might see. So they resorted to very suddenly canceling live coverage of the space walk. Instead we were treated to some 7 hours or so of uninspiring "filler".

What was eventually seen of the space walk were highly edited clips, taken apparently at random, over the next few days. Naturally, IF there were any anomalies seen, such as in the 25 February EVA, they were certainly edited out of the version released to the public.

We the people PAY for NASA’s budget!! We have a RIGHT to see what they are doing with it. These erstwhile “public servants” are treating you and me like children.

I, for one, don’t like it at all!

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At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions

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© 2004 Jeff Challender