ISS: Expedition 40

Crew & expedition duration:

Exp.40 crew path

Complet crew

Backup Crew

Mission details

ISS configuration at exp_40



• On May 13, 2014 the Ex 39 crew of Tyurin, Mastracchio and Wakata transferred to Soyuz TMA-11M leaving the ISS under the control of Ex-40 commander Steve Swanson and FEs Arteme'v and Skvortsov. Soyuz TMA-11M undocked from the Rassvet module at 2236 UTC on May 13.
• The hatch to Dragon CRS-3 was closed on May 17, 2014. Dragon was unberthed, from the Harmony module, by the SSRMS Canadarm-2 at about 1200 UTC May 18 and released at 1326 UTC. The freighter was linked with the station since April 20, 2014. With 1.5 tons old equipment and experiment results the capsule splashed down near Mexico in the Pacific and was recovered.
• On May 28, 2014 Soyuz TMA-13M was launched with Maksim Suraev, Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst; the spaceship docked with the Rassvet module at 0144 UTC May 29 and the Exp 40 became a six-person crew.
• Progress M-21M undocked from Zvezda on Jun 9, 2014 at 1330 UTC and was deorbited the same day, with debris falling in the S Pacific around 1723 UTC.
  Progress M-23M remains docked to Pirs and Soyuz TMA-12M remains docked to Poisk.
• Expedition 40 is continuing with ISS in a 412 x 420 km x 51.7 deg orbit.
• The first EVA in this expedition was performed by Aleksandr Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev on June 19, 2014 (7h 23m). The primary objectives of the spacewalk were focused at servicing the exterior of the Zvezda service module and the experiments mounted in that location. The two spacewalking cosmonauts installed an automated phased antenna array (AFAR), which will serve as part of the Russian command and telemetry system. They also relocated a part of the Obstanovka experiment - which is used to monitor the presence of charged particles and plasma in the environment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Other tasks included verifying the correct installation of the universal work platform (URM-D), taking samples from one of Zvezda's windows, and jettisoning an experiment frame.
  
  

  exp.40 EVA Skvortsov and Artemyev

  Cygnus Orb-2 arrival

  
  
• On Jul 13, 2014 the third Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo (Orb-2) ship, SS Janice Voss, was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island on an Antares 120 rocket. The 5000 kg Voss carries supplies for the ISS, as well as two Nanoracks bags containing a total of 29 3U cubesats - 1 Techedsat-4 exobrake technology test for NASA-Ames and San Jose State U, and 28 Flock-1b imaging satellites for PlanetLabs. They are intended to be deployed from the Kibo airlock over the coming months.
• On July 16, 2014 flying more than 250 miles (350 km) above Earth, the Orbital Sciences Corp. supply spaceship deftly controlled its approach to the space station, firing rocket thrusters as required guide itself to an imaginary box about 30 feet (9.14 meters) below the outpost. Space station commander Steven Swanson took control of the lab's 58-foot-long (17.7 meters) SSRMS Canadian-built robotic arm grappled the Orb-2 at 1036 UTC on Jul 16. Ground controllers in Houston commanded the robot arm to maneuver the Cygnus spacecraft into position on the Harmony module's Earth-facing berthing port. A series of 16 bolts were driven into place to establish a firm mechanical connection between the Cygnus and the space station at 1253 UTC.
• Progress M-23M undocked from the Pirs module at 2144 UTC on Jul 21, 2014 and carried out 10 days of independent operations as part of the Radar-Progress experiment program.
• Progress M-24M (vehicle 423) was launched on Jul 23 on flight 56P into a 189 x 204 km orbit; it docked with the Pirs module at 0331 UTC Jul 24.
• ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle 5 'Georges Lemaitre' was launched on Jul 29, 2014 and arrived at the ISS on Aug 12. Named after the 20th century Belgian astronomer, the "Georges Lemaitre" docked automatically to the Zvezda service module's aft port August 12, 2014 at 13:29:53 UTC. Launch mass of ATV 5 was 19926 kg.
• During its slow, deliberate approach to the space station, the ATV-5 flew less than four miles underneath the station on August 08, 2014 to test new rendezvous sensors and laser systems before looping above and behind the station for the final phase of its rendezvous. The advanced technology was tested for possible incorporation in the design of future European spacecraft. The "Georges Lemaitre" is scheduled to end its stay at the station and complete its mission in January 2015. The ATV-5 will undock from Zvezda at the beginning of the year loaded with trash and discarded gear for a fiery disposal over the Pacific Ocean.
  
  

  ATV-5 arrival

  EVA preparation

  
  
• The SS Janice Voss cargo freighter was unberthed from the Harmony nadir port at 0914 UTC Aug 15, 2014 and released by Canadarm-2 at 1040 UTC. It was deorbited around 1233 UTC Aug 17 and reentered at 1315 UTC over the S Pacific.
• On Aug 18, 2014 astronauts Skvortsov and Artemyev made spacewalk VKD-39 from the Pirs module (5h 11m). The airlock was depressurized at 1340 UTC and the hatch opened at 1402 UTC. At 1423 UTC Artemev hand-launched the 1U cubesat Chasqui-1, a joint Peruvian-Russian project. Chasqui-1 was built by the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria in Lima and the Yugo-Zapadniy gosudarstvenniy universitet (Southwest State University) in Kursk.
  
  

  EVA Artemyev, launch Chasqui-1

  EVA Skvortsov

  
  
• The crew also worked with materials exposure experiments; they installed the EXPOSE-R2 experient on Zvezda's URM-D-II boom, and on Poisk they retrieved Panel 2 of the Vinoslivost experiment and swapped out the SKK-1-M2 cassette for the new SKK-2-M2; they also installed the new BKDO experiment to study the effects of rocket thruster plumes impinging on the station. Finally a Biorisk exposure canister was retrieved from Pirs, and the astronauts went back inside to close the Pirs hatch at 1913 UTC and repressurize the airlock at about 1916 UTC.
• On Aug 19, 2014 the JEM RMS arm picked up the Nanoracks cubesat packages from the Kibo airlock and began deploying the PlanetLabs Flock-1b cubesats. Electrical problems with the deployer meant that deploys were suspended after Aug 21. Two pairs of cubesats were accidentally deployed on Aug 23 and Sep 5 without being commanded; PlanetLabs was able to contact and command them without problems.
• On September 10, 2014 Steven Swanson changed the ISS command to Maksim Surayev. With the undocking of Soyuz TMA-12M at 23:01:30 UTC from the Poisk module of the ISS Expedition 40 concluded and ISS Expedition 41 began. The deorbit burn at 0130 UTC Sep 11 lowered the orbit to about -22 x 418 km followed by module separation at 0158 UTC, atmosphere entry at 0201UTC and Aleksandr Skvortsov, Oleg Artemyev and Steven Swanson landed safely in Kazakhstan at 0223 UTC.

External links:

• Wikipedia: Exp. descriptions
• Spacefacts: Exp. description