Space Forum / Space Station / December 2005

Hi everybody and merry christmas.
I read in the BIS  that the agreements signed with American by Russian had
scheduled  launching 11 Soyuz and 11 Progress for ISS.
Today, we have 11 Soyuz, but 20 Progress. Why Did Russian launched 9 other

As the Expedition-12 crew is at the halfway mark on their mission,
I'd like to write a profile of cosmonaut Tokarev for NBC's website. By
all accounts he has proven himself an excellent crewmember on ISS,
and the public-interest angle may be that he had to maneuver his

Dec. 22, 2005
Dean Acosta/David Mould
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-1400/1898

NASA SEEKS VOLUNTEERS FOR SPACEFLIGHT SIMULATION STUDIES
December 20, 2005
William Jeffs
Johnson Space Center, Houston

from Alpha On-Orbit Status 12/13/05 // Upcoming Events (all dates Eastern):
12/21/05 -- Progress M-55/20P launch (1:38pm EST)
12/23/05 -- Progress M-55/20P docking (2:55pm EST, at DC1)
01/09/06 -- 100 days for Expedition 12

Has Russia committed any significant amount of its own money to this
project?
It seems to me that Perminov was counting on European and Japanese partners
to fund Kliper. Is there any conceivable way that Putin will provide the

We have a story from the source about the ET PAL Ramp decision and the
current road block to it.
usspacenews.com
Cheers!

In celebration of having ISS crewed for 5 continuous years, there was
an excellent testimony given at Space Center Houston with stories
shared by many of the ISS crewmembers.  The one that moved me the most
was told by Don Pettit.  It went something like this: