First European Commander launched to International Space Station

May 27, 10:57 PMDC Space News ExaminerKeith Stein

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Photo: ESA

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne is heading to the International Space Station at the start of his six-month mission. Together with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, De Winne launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.

Their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday. The arrival of De Winne, Romanenko and Thirsk at the ISS will mark the first ever six-member ISS crew, as they join the three Expedition crewmembers already in residence on the Station: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

For the first four months of his mission, De Winne will be a Flight Engineer as a member of the Expedition 20 crew, reporting to Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka. With a rotation of three of the six crewmembers due in October, De Winne will take over as Commander of the Expedition 21 crew until his return to Earth in November. He is the first European to take on this role.

As ISS Commander, De Winne will be responsible, among other things, for conducting operations on the ISS, directing the activities of the ISS crewmembers as a single, integrated team, and for ensuring the safety of the crew and the protection of the ISS elements, equipment and payloads.

“For the first time, the five partners of the ISS –USA, Russia, Canada, Japan and ESA - are all represented in the crew of six,” said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, witnessing the launch from Baikonur.

De Winne will also be the main operator of the Japanese robotic arm and will be one of the two astronauts who will berth the HII-Transfer Vehicle to the ISS using the Station's robotic arm when the Japanese cargo spacecraft arrives at the ISS in September.

During his mission, De Winne will use the scientific facilities of the ISS, especially the European Columbus laboratory, to undertake a European program of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations. These come predominantly from scientific institutions across Europe and include experiments in human physiology, biology, radiation dosimetry, exobiology, fluid physics and materials sciences.

This is De Winne’s second space flight after taking part in a mission to the ISS from Oct. 30 to Nov. 10, 2002. Swedish ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who will fly as mission specialist on the 11-day STS-128 mission scheduled for August, will join him on the ISS.