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Image above: The ISS Progress 36 cargo craft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Image Credit: Roscosmos

The ISS Progress 36 (P36) unpiloted spacecraft launched at 10:45 p.m. EST Tuesday (9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Baikonur time), loaded with 1,940 pounds of propellant, 106 pounds of oxygen and air, 926 pounds of water and 2,683 pounds of spare parts and supplies.

On Thursday shortly before 11:30 p.m., P36 will dock automatically to the aft port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station using the Kurs docking system.

Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Max Suraev completed the first spacewalk of the Expedition 22 mission at 10:49 a.m. EST Thursday.

During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts prepared the Mini-Research Module 2, known as Poisk, for future Russian vehicle dockings. Suraev and Commander Jeff Williams will be the first to use the new docking port when they relocate their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the aft port of the Zvezda service module on Jan. 21.

This was the third spacewalk for Kotov, who made two spacewalks in 2007 as an Expedition 15 flight engineer, and the first for Suraev.

Throughout the week, Kotov and Suraev completed a variety of tasks in anticipation of the spacewalk including resizing spacesuits, conducting routine spacesuit maintenance, configuring spacewalk equipment and conducting a suited “dry run” check Tuesday.

Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Max Suraev began the first spacewalk of the Expedition 22 mission when they opened the airlock hatches at 5:05 a.m. EST Thursday. The spacewalk is scheduled to last just under six hours with Kotov wearing the suit bearing the red stripes and Suraev wearing the suit bearing the blue stripes.

› Watch the spacewalk on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts will prepare the Mini-Research Module 2, known as Poisk, for future Russian vehicle dockings. Suraev and Commander Jeff Williams will be the first to use the new docking port when they relocate their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the aft port of the Zvezda service module on Jan. 21.

Image above: Expedition 22 Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov works with spacewalk equipment and Russian Orlan spacesuits in the Pirs docking compartment of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The five Expedition 22 crew members aboard the International Space Station tackled a busy schedule Tuesday, as they worked with the robotic arm to relocate a stowage platform and donned spacesuits for a thorough checkout.

Following the crew’s daily planning conference with teams on the ground, Commander Jeff Williams kicked off the workday with a leak check of the Water Processor Assembly, which along with the Urine Processor Assembly makes up the station’s advanced recycling system known as the Water Recovery System.

Image above: The interior of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, pictured shortly after the hatch was opened, is loaded with cargo. Credit: NASA

The Expedition 20 crew is wrapping up work with the external pallet of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

On Wednesday, the external pallet was removed from the hull of the HTV and attached to the Kibo lab’s Exposed Facility for the transfer of science experiments. After the transfer was complete, the external pallet was installed back in the HTV’s hull on Friday. The station’s crew members used the Canadarm2 in conjunction with the Kibo’s robotic arm for the pallet activities.

The six Expedition 20 crew members aboard the International Space Station tackled a busy workload Tuesday as they installed a recently delivered carbon dioxide removal system for testing and prepared for upcoming robotic arm activities.

Flight Engineers Nicole Stott and Frank De Winne positioned the Japanese robotic arm for Wednesday’s transfer of an experiments pallet from the newly-arrived H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) to the Exposed Facility of the Kibo module. Beginning about 5:40 a.m. EDT, the crew will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple and remove the pallet from the unpressurized cargo section of the HTV. Canadarm2 will hand off the pallet to the Japanese robotic arm, which will attach the pallet to the exposed facility and remove the individual experiments from the pallet and install them. The empty pallet will be transferred back to the HTV for disposal when the cargo craft is deorbited in late October or early November.

The Expedition 20 crew opened the hatches to the newly arrived Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Friday at 2:23 p.m. EDT. The crew entered the pressurized section of the HTV to begin cargo transfers to the station. After the HTV is empty they will fill it with trash. Cargo from the unpressurized section will be transferred using both the Canadarm2 and Japan’s external robotic arm attached to the Kibo laboratory.

After chasing the International Space Station for seven days the HTV was grappled with the Canadarm2 and berthed to the station’s Harmony Node on Thursday at 6:26 p.m. The station’s newest crew member, Nicole Stott, along with Flight Engineers Robert Thirsk and Frank de Winne, operated the Canadarm2 flawlessly as the HTV floated just 30 feet away from the station.

Image above: Flight Engineer Nicole Stott uses a vacuum cleaner in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The Expedition 20 crew of the International Space Station stepped up preparations Tuesday for the rendezvous and berthing of an unpiloted Japanese cargo craft.

Flight Engineers Nicole Stott, Robert Thirsk and Frank De Winne conducted a final session of robotic arm training to prepare for the grapple of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), which is slated for Thursday at 3:50 p.m. EDT. The crew will berth the HTV to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node using Canadarm2.

The space station crew enjoyed a day off Wednesday resting up after the busy assembly mission. They also prepared for the arrival of the next cargo delivery vehicle, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, scheduled for launch from Tanegashima, Japan, at 1:01 p.m. EDT Thursday.

The population aboard the International Space Station is back to six following the departure of space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew at 3:26 p.m. Tuesday.

The shuttle crew’s newest member, Mission Specialist Tim Kopra, is returning to Earth after 44 days as a member of the station’s Expedition 20 crew, while his replacement, Nicole Stott, begins a three-month stay in orbit.

With over a week of docked operations behind them, the astronauts and cosmonauts said their goodbyes and closed the hatches between the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery at 11:41 p.m. EDT Monday.

Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station at 3:26 p.m. Tuesday to begin the trip back to Earth.

The 13 crew members aboard space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station completed final transfer work between the two spacecraft and returned the high-tech moving van “Leonardo” back to the orbiter’s payload bay Monday.

Arriving aboard Discovery was the newest Expedition 20 crew member, Nicole Stott, who switched places with Mission Specialist Tim Kopra. Stott will handle flight engineer duties aboard the station until her return home aboard Atlantis following the STS-129 mission in November.