New crew settles in at space station

 



  CAPE CANAVERAL -- (AP) -- Two American astronauts and one 
Russian cosmonaut moved into the International Space Station on 
Saturday, settling in for a half-year stay.

  The three men arrived aboard space shuttle Endeavour the day 
before, but did not have time to trade places with the space 
station crew that has been on board since August.

  The new residents' form-fitting seat liners for the lifeboat had 
to be carried over and installed, and their space suits tucked 
away, before they could call space station Alpha home.

  Russian Yuri Onufrienko couldn't wait to take over as space 
station commander from American Frank Culbertson. The cosmonaut 
kept peeking through a small window before the hatch finally 
swung open between the docked spacecraft.

  Onufrienko will remain on board until May, along with astronauts 
Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz.

  As gear moved back and forth across the threshold, Endeavour's 
astronauts used the ship's robot arm to lift an Italian-built 
cargo carrier from the shuttle and attach it to the station.

  The carrier, named Raffaello, is loaded with three tons of food, 
clothes, science experiments and spare parts. Once emptied, it 
will be filled with dirty laundry, trash and used equipment and 
put back on Endeavour for the ride home.

  The space station's new residents also packed some personal 
items, reflecting their hobbies. Onufrienko, a fisherman, took 
material to tie flies. Bursch has weaving material to make small 
baskets, while Walz has a five-octave keyboard that he calls a 
``psychological support device.''

  By the time Culbertson and his Russian crew mates, Mikhail 
Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov, return to Earth in another week, 
they will have spent 128 days in space.



Copyright 2001 Miami Herald