Another two-ham crew will take over the reins of the International Space Station (ISS) this fall. Veteran NASA astronaut Mike Foale, KB5UAC, and seasoned Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR, have been named as the ISS Expedition 8 crew. As former crew members aboard the Russian Mir space station, Foale and Kaleri are no strangers to long stays in space.
They’ll kick off their latest space station duty tours October 18 when they launch into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with a third ham, Spain’s Pedro Duque, KC5RGG–representing the European Space Agency (ESA). They’ll dock two days later at the ISS.
The English-born Foale, 46, will serve as the Expedition 8 commander and NASA ISS science officer. Kaleri will be the Soyuz commander and ISS flight engineer. They’ll replace Expedition 7 crew members Commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, who have been aboard the ISS since April.
A native of Latvia, Kaleri, 47, was a member of the backup crew for Expedition 5 and had been scheduled to be the third Expedition 7 crew member before the Columbia tragedy trimmed the Expedition 7 crew, and Kaleri was the proverbial odd man out. At least until the space shuttle returns to flight, two-person crews will be the rule and the Soyuz, which carries three passengers, will remain the prime crew transport system. Foale and Kaleri are scheduled to spend approximately six months aboard the ISS.
Space agency leaders from the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia spoke by telephone July 30 with Malenchenko and Lu and noted the significant milestone of the 1000th day (on July 29) of continuous human presence aboard the ISS. The first crew arrived at the ISS November 2, 2000.