Dear Proud to Be ’83,

Just a quick note to update the class on some upcoming special events, observances, and class gift information. 

June – Soyuz Rocket Launch of COL Doug Wheelock

I hope you all were able to see the launch on the NASA channel on 15 June.  Mark Sullivan had LOTG (Loafers on the Ground) for Colonel Doug Wheelock’s recent flight aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft – Mark’s “eyes on” email is below.  Doug will serve as an Expedition 24 flight engineer and commander of Expedition 25 on the International Space Station.  He will return to earth in December.  I have also attached an informational email from Doug about the launch and recent articles about their mission from Bruce Cordelli.  You can watch him on the NASA channel.

Fizzer-

My meager vocabulary cannot begin to describe the awesomeness of what our friend and Classmate accomplished yesterday.  I had a chance to spend quality time with Wheels in quarantine each of the three nights prior to the night of the launch.  (Three of his friends and I had to pass a physical exam daily by the notorious Russian "Doctor No" to gain access).

Wheels was in great shape, both physically and mentally.  Each day, you could see him more focused.  We all laughed A LOT recounting old stories...most that get better with age!  Many of the stories naturally revolved around his 30+ years friendships developed at West Point. 

On Launch Day, he conducted two press conferences with his crew.  I attended the second one, a mere three hours before launch, in which he spoke to the powerful Government Commission which controls all aspects of Russian space flight.  In front of about 100 people and worldwide press, he said (in Russian) what a privilege it was to be part of this mission and to further the cooperation between NASA and the Russian Space Federation.  Wheels absolutely brought the house down, when asked by a young boy "What was the most difficult part of your training?", he simply replied:  "Learning Russian"!

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is located 1200 miles southeast of Moscow, in the middle of nowhere.  (When we landed there Saturday, it was 105 degrees, with 12 % humidity and a 25 mph wind).  It's absolutely massive, covering roughly 7000 square miles.

Our viewing site was a mere 1400 meters from their Launch Pad #1, which first sent a man into space in the early 1960's.  When the engines ignited at 3:35 am Kazak time, I swear the ground shook.  It's almost a feeling of disbelief to see the night sky light up like daylight for what seemed like miles around.  It is such a total assault on the senses that several people close by just burst into tears.  Truth be told, I'm getting choked up just writing this now!

It was a beautiful, crystal-clear night...temperature was probably high 70's.  We could see the rocket head downrange for exactly 8 minutes, at which point they were travelling nearly 17,500 mph and were close to leaving the Earth's atmosphere.  As an added bonus, as if we needed one, we saw a satellite, as well as the International Space Station, pass directly  overhead with the unaided eye.  You could clearly see the ISS for at least three minutes.  Several people in our group saw a shooting star, which I missed.  By the way, NASA's Director of ISS Engineering was on my right, and two astronauts to my left, so between them we had some pretty informed commentary.

We're heading to Moscow Friday morning to their version of Mission Control to watch the link-up of the Soyuz craft with the ISS.  Wheels will then become Commander of the ISS, returning home somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Our" Wheels did '83 and our great Country proud.  I know everyone will keep Doug, his crew and their families close to your hearts and in your prayers until they return home safely.

Proud to Be '83,

Sully

BG Billy Don Ferris Promotion (See Attached Photo)

COL Mark Johnstone recount - For those who were not there:

We missed you, but it was an awesome event and I will summarize for those who are interested.

I counted a total of 12 classmates (Pete Brual, Tom Bowe, Mike Lee, BG Don Farris, BG Ernie Audino, COL Darryl Williams; Back: Don Lash, Johnny Thomas, Denis Harrington, Paul Grosskruger, Mac Crumlin).   In addition to Don's wife, Tara, and children Michaela, Elleora, and Ryan, both of Don's parents, Don and Joyce, also attended.  Attendees included CSA, George Casey and his wife, Don's current boss, MG Jim McConnville '81, as well as LTC Greg Gadson '89, a true hero.  MG Jim Huggins who had been Don's boss on a couple of occasions during Don's multiple tours with the 82nd ABN DIV, promoted Don and was able to give an intimate run down of Don's career path along with some humorous moments that occurred along the way.

When it was Don's turn to speak, he told MG Huggins, "If I would have known you were going to eulogize me, I would have died first."

During his talk Don mentioned several folks but perhaps the most impressive was the mention of Gadson, who Don attributed to inspiring him to have the courage to undergo surgery at Walter Reed.  As most of us know, while Don was in command of the 2d Bde, 82nd ABN Div during the height of the surge, Don was severely wounded and was taken out of command for a couple of months while he had several surgeries before returning to command in Iraq a couple of months later.  (Note:  when I was in Afghanistan with the 173d ABCT our higher HQs was the 82d ABN Div HQ;  I had spoken to his CG, MG Rodriguez, and DCG, BG Votel, and both said he wouldn't return to command because his wounds were so bad).  The primary theme of Don's talk was thanking those who have helped him along the way, but mostly he thanked the great Soldiers that comprise our great Army.

Following the ceremony we all met at Sine Pub in Pentagon City for a small celebration.  Don was recently assigned as the Deputy to the Office of the Chief Legislative Liaison.

Snowman headed to Iraq

Brigadier General Jeffrey J. Snow, Commanding General, 20th Support Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosive), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland to Director, Iraq Training and Advisory Team-Army, United States Forces-Iraq.

Army Football

Army Football fans can begin to plan the details surrounding their football Saturdays at West Point for this coming fall.

All five of Army's home games this fall will be televised live nationally in high definition with kickoff times for all five games set for noon.

2010 Army Home Football Schedule

Sept. 11, Hawaii, 12 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Sept. 18, North Texas, 12 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Oct. 2, Temple, 12 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Oct. 30, VMI, 12 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Nov. 6, Air Force, 12 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Go Army.

New Superintendent - Announced

Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon, Jr., has been selected as Superintendent, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.  His previous assignment was as Director of the Army Staff, United States Army, Washington, DC.

Fort Sill Dedication to honor LTC Larry H. Pruitt '83

Brian Trueblood sent some photos from the LTC Larry Pruitt dedication ceremony on 16 April 2010.  It was a truly a special event.

Save the dates April – 2011 and 12 Golfing Grads of USMA

We had 14 Alumni from 1983 attend this year in Prattville, Alabama.  Save the date – The next two years the tournament is in Opelika, AL.  

The dates selected are April 14-17, 2011 and April 19-22, 2012 and there will not be conflicts with either the Masters Golf Tournament or the Easter holidays.  If you are interested, let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

May - Proud to Be ’83 Cadet Spirit Award

We had our second installment of the Proud to Be ’83 Cadet Spirit Award this May and I have no idea what happened.  The first presentation was to now 2LT Bob Lewis, on 7 May 2009.  The award is a mounted Bayonet.  I will have to update you later.

May - Class Offspring Update

Col. Donna Brazil, Col. Tim Trainor and Cadet Hostess Jane Jollota presented four commemorative silver dollar coins May 20 at Jefferson Hall to Elizabeth Connors, Matthew Tullia, Dominic Rossi, and Phillip Rangitsch, who could not attend. The award was accepted by his parents Joseph and Maureen Rangitsch. See attached picture.

MAC Crumlin Proposes 50 for 50 Class Bonding Idea

From MAC - I have been thinking about an idea given most of us will have a significant milestone coming up in 2011 - our 50th birthday.

What do you think of the idea:  "Classmates 50 for 50."

The pledge is:  in recognition of our 50th birthdays next year, find a way to spend at least 50 person-days with some/any our classmates from Proud to Be.  Life is short.  Our bonds are strong.  Let's enjoy each other's company upon a significant milestone such as this.

Examples of how the pledge would work:  This past January, I intended BD's Promotion Ceremony to BG.  In attendance was:  Mark Johnstone, Don Lash, Johnny Thomas, Denis Harrington, Paul Grosskruger, Mike Bryson, Peter Brual,  Tom Bowe, Mike Lee, Don Farris, Ernie Audino and Darryl Williams.  For the pledge that would be 12 guys x 1 day = 12 man-days.

This past February, I skied Colorado with Marty Bobroske (2 days), Pete Brual (4 days), and Phil Beaver (1 day).  For the pledge that would be = 7 man-days.

Any activity counts - golf, reunions, dinners, skiing, promotion ceremonies, Founder's Day, vacations, you name it - so long as we do it together.

Harry Shablom adds - I think it is a great idea...please add "Classmates 50 for 50 and $500 for the Class Gift" (of course above your normal giving).

I hope this letter provides you all with opportunities to make the pledge.

Class Gift (2013)

Yada, Yada, Yada…Show us the money! 

Progress Update:  By the next update and under a separate email, we will announce our specific role within the West Point Leadership Center (WPLC) along with providing a professional communications brochure for your review. Since Jan 2008 (reunion year) we have received pledges and donations to the value of $378,720 (14% participation); this coupled with past donations since the 20 year gift which are credited to each person's contribution level, gives us roughly $734,755; We are almost half way toward the goal. Some notable mentions are the Regimental leaders in participation: A-1 (37%) – Mike Woods on point & C-1 (29%) closing while Rick Dauch is challenging E-1; G-2 (16%) Mark Voss on point & D-2 (15%) Vicky Nilles on point; B-3 (30%) & G-3 (19%); and A-4 (36%) & B-4 (23%). The Regimental Leaders in total pledges ($) are: A-1, G-2, H-3, A-4. We cannot achieve the gift goal without the entire class support.  Don’t forget Fizzer will send a class coin to anyone who pledges $1K.

The reality is we are less than three years away from presenting our 30th Reunion gift of $1.5 Million and struggling to attain this level of leadership and falling into a similar trap of other classes by relying on a select few to provide the bulk of what is considered a “class” gift. Without broader support and participation, we will need to revaluate our position. It is clear that we all have been impacted by the economic cycle as well as financial commitments with children in college, aging parents and planning for retirement. However, without alumni efforts like this, West Point will not remain #1. Please consider a pledge and donation (http://www.westpointaog.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1503) to the class. Your time to assist with contacting the class is equally important and will be recognized (value in kind); Please contact Harry Shablom at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to volunteer.

Be Thou at Peace

I wanted to take this time to honor our recently fallen classmates.  I received or collected the below information to pass to you all.

    Rudi Mizusawa

From his brother Bert -

Rudi died from septic shock at 8:44pm on 31 May due to a hospital-borne bacteria.  His case was somewhat unusual because he entered the hospital with it.  He was working for my congressional campaign, and doing a lot of outdoor work (putting in 4x8 signs and door to door), fairly stressful overall.  He was doing a great job, and impressed a lot of people on the campaign trail.  I last saw him on 23 May.  He was out sick, and not wanting to go to the hospital, basically waited too long to get treatment.  He called 911 near midnight 30 May, and was admitted to the critical care unit at Hampton Sentara.  I learned of his situation about 10 am the following morning, and by the time I arrived he was unconscious / sedated and on life support. I was the last to see him alive when I left him at 7:15 pm.  About 8:35pm I received a call that his heart had stopped and we had pre-authorized one and only one attempt at restarting his heart. When I arrive at the hospital at 9:05 I learned that he had died.

Rudi will be cremated in accordance with his wishes.  The link below is for the funeral home guestbook.  (BTW, Altmeyer funeral homes are owned by Jim Altmeyer USMA '61).

 Thank you for your support.

 Bert Mizusawa

 http://obit.altmeyer.com/obitdisplay.html?id=794077&clientid=altmeyer&listing=Current

Frank Ray Parris Jr.

 Visit Guest Book

Aug. 14, 1961 - June 9, 2010

Frank Ray Parris Jr., 48, of Hampton Cove passed away Wednesday.  Frank was a member of Willowbrook Baptist Church. He was employed with Jacob's Technology and was a graduate of West Point Academy. He is survived by his wife, Laura Parris; three daughters, Abby, Sydney and Kelli Parris; parents, Ray and Shelby Parris Sr.; sister, and brother-in-law, Cheryl and David Banquer; and brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Susan Parris.
Burial was in Maple Hill Cemetery with Berryhill Funeral Home directing.
Donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.

Proud to Be ’83 made a donation in Frank’s honor.

To our kind old Alma Mater, our rock-bound Highland home… 

Pete aka Fizzer

Tommy Morgan - Brian Trueblood - Bob Bridgford at Larry Pruit Dedication Ceremony.jpg

 Lisa Picture1.jpg

Plaque.jpg

Class Offspring 2010.png

“For once you have tasted flight you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return.”

        Leonardo da Vinci  (1452-1519)                                     

  ISS Expedition 25                               Soyuz TMA-19 ‘Olympus’                          

T-24 days and counting!

It’s hard to believe how quickly the time is slipping by.  It’s been nearly 3 years since my STS-120 ‘experience’, and my first journey into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.  That was a life-changing experience that is quickly fading to a distant memory now as the time draws close for my 6-month mission as the ‘Expedition 25’ Commander of the International Space Station (ISS).  This is a long-duration ‘marathon’ expedition and will prove to be quite a different experience than my 15-day ‘sprint’ on the Space Shuttle in 2007.  I would like to share this experience with you, and attempt to give you a front row seat to experience what it is like to ride a rocket, to live and work in space for 6 months, and then to ‘ride the flame’ of re-entry home to Earth in the Soyuz capsule.  Please forgive me if you receive this message twice.  I have been trying to keep up with everyone and the pace of life these days.

If  you’re wondering why you’re getting this e-mail, it is because you have been a part of my life in some way, some profoundly and others more subtly.  But, the bottom line is that I would not be on the threshold of this dream if I hadn’t experienced life through your eyes, in some way.  We either experienced high school together, survived West Point together, cheated death countless times in the Army together, flew together, rode out a hurricane together, built something together, climbed Everest together, survived a Russian winter together, or laughed, cried, and grieved together.  Whatever the case, for better or for worse, we have shared life and now I would like to share this unique journey with you.  My ultimate dream is to look back on the experience one day, as we share it with our kids and grandkids, and say, “remember when…”

Our launch to space will be on the next Russian Soyuz TMA rocket (Soyuz TMA-19) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan, in the early morning hours of June 16^th, a little more than three weeks from now.  The exact launch time is set at 03:35:17am (Kazakh Time) early Wednesday morning, June 16^th.  We will be 10 hours ahead of EDT, so if you have access to the NASA channel, or NASA TV over the internet, the launch is scheduled for Tuesday, June 15^th  at 17:35:17 (5:35:17pm) Eastern Daylight Time;  16:35:17 (4:35:17pm) Central Daylight Time.  We will accelerate from 0 to 17,500mph (5 miles per second) in roughly 9 minutes, a speed that true Rocket Scientists refer to as ‘orbital velocity’ and pilots simply refer to as ‘the speed of heat’.  This will be the realization of a childhood dream for me, and the culmination of a lot of hard work and tremendous sacrifice by my family and friends.  For that, I am eternally grateful.  Our rocket will launch from the same pad that launched ‘Sputnik’ on October 4, 1957 and the same pad that launched ‘Yuri Gagarin’ on April 12, 1961, opening space to human travel and exploration.  I’ve attached a photo of our Soyuz crew:  That’s me on the left;  Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russian Cosmonaut) in the center; and Dr. Shannon Walker (U.S. Astronaut) on the right.  If all goes as planned, we will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station on June 18^th, and return to the Earth sometime in early December.  We hope to be back on the planet and back home to the States by Christmas.

Our crew will have some precious cargo onboard, as a tribute to a couple of heroes of yesteryear.  Shannon is an avid aviatrix and a member of the international organization of women pilots called ‘The Ninety-Nines’.  She is flying Amelia Earhart’s watch aboard the ISS during our mission.  A unique piece of history and a very unique way for Shannon to pay tribute to a true aviation pioneer.  I’ve attached a NASA press release with some details on this story:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition24/earhart_watch_prt.htm

Since I will have the privilege of being the very first active-duty Army officer to command a spacecraft, I wanted to do something for our veterans and all of our soldiers / sailors / airman / marines / and coast guardsmen serving around the globe.  When I was growing up in a small town in upstate New York, I had heard stories about a local boy turned hero overnight in the jungles of Vietnam.  Army Sergeant Lester Stone, was just 21 years old, when he met with destiny just outside of landing zone Liz while on patrol with his unit.  It was March 3, 1969, and I was just a kid, but Sgt. Stone paid the ultimate price so that we can live free and pursue our dreams.  He was killed in action that day, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for rising above and beyond the call of duty to save his unit and fellow soldiers.  You can find Sgt. Stone’s Medal of Honor Citation at this website:

http://www.americal.org/moh7.shtml

On April 24^th of this year, I met with Doris Stone in the front yard of her home in the pastoral town of Harpursville, New York.  We talked about life and liberty, and we talked about ‘Sonny’, her son Lester, that never came home from Vietnam.  We talked and we cried together, and I thanked her for the sacrifice that she has laid on the altar of freedom for all of us.  She handed me Sonny’s Medal of Honor, and with tears in her eyes, she asked me to watch over it and bring it back home to her.  It is now my solemn promise to her, and Sonny’s Medal of Honor will be riding that Soyuz rocket with me in just a few weeks, as a tribute to Doris Stone’s sacrifice, Lester ‘Sonny’ Stone’s ultimate price, and as a tribute to all of those who serve for the love of their country.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100424/NEWS01/4240363/Astronaut-carrying-Medal-of-Honor-into-space-to-thank-veterans

I am writing this update from my ‘cottage’ in Star City, Russia, about forty kilometers northeast of Moscow.  This place is a jewel hidden in a picturesque forest of towering birch, oak and fir trees.  A little worn now, the victim of weather, rough winters, and years of neglect, but it is not hard to imagine what this place must have been like years ago.  On January 11, 1960, the Soviet Union selected this super-secret place as the training ground for its assault on the cosmos, fueling the space race of the 1960’s.  At the time, the U.S. was desperately searching for this place, the Yuri Gagarin State Scientific Research and Test Center, still a secure military training base, now known simply as ‘Star City’.

Star City will be our home until Thursday, June 3^rd, when we will fly to Baikonur for health-stabilization quarantine .  We’ll be isolated in quarantine for about two weeks undergoing final medical evaluations, and working through contingency and potential emergency scenarios.  Even with a 6-month mission in space ahead of us, it is still that first 9 minutes of pure rocketry that commands our full attention, and demands perfection, with little margin for human error.  I’ve attached a couple of photos of our training in the Soyuz capsule.  The photo on the left is a view of my ‘living space’, looking down into the capsule through the entry hatch.  Not much room here, and it is a tight squeeze for me.  This will be our home for 33 orbits of the Earth (a little more than 2 days), in transit to the ISS.  The photo on the right gives a little better perspective on the amount of room available in the capsule.  Shannon is on the left, Fyodor in the center, and me on the right.   

Below, on the left, is a shot of the business end of the Soyuz rocket, complete with 20 main engine nozzles and 12 gimbaling vernier thrusters…when you see this for the first time, it is rather breath-taking…what a ride this is going to be!  All of these engines are liquid-fueled and burn kerosene and liquid oxygen.  The four ‘1^st Stage’ boosters are assembled around the central core.  Following liftoff the boosters burn for 118 seconds and then are jettisoned, much like the solid rocket boosters on the Space Shuttle.  The central core is the ‘2^nd Stage’ and will continue burning for 290 seconds.  Ignition of the 1^st and 2^nd Stages occur simultaneously, 20 seconds prior to liftoff.  Since our launch will be in the darkness of the early morning hours, if you get a chance to watch the launch, you will see a lot of flame under the rocket prior to T-0, as the engines are throttled up to full thrust.  Below, on the right, is a schematic of a normal trajectory and staging of the Soyuz rocket.

Top of Form

Our mission will be a memorable one, with scheduled spacewalks, and robotic maneuvers and operations that NASA will attempt for the first time, but the most significant event will be that we will witness the final flight of the Space Shuttle and the end of an era in our nation’s space program.  I’ve attached an image of our mission patch at the top left of this e-mail, in which the artists attempt to capture this event, as they depict the last Space Shuttle flying back to Earth and the ISS taking center stage as the vehicle that will carry us boldly forward into a future of exploration and discovery.  Tim Gagnon and Jorge Cartes are our artists, and we are proud to wear their handiwork on our spacesuits.  Thanks, Tim and Jorge!

I will keep you posted on developments as we move closer to our launch date.  If you have specific requests, like a personal contact via telephone from space, or if you are interested in communicating through e-mail while I am in space, please let me know as soon as you can, so I can arrange those connections prior to the mission.  We will have a crew website and Facebook page, as well as a blog site established soon, I will send out links to those sites as they become operational. 

If you would like your name removed from this update list, or you received this twice, please let me know and I will take care of it.

I hope you and your family are well, and you’re graced with life, love, and laughter!

Let’s light the fire!

In faithful service,

‘Wheels’

Colonel Doug Wheelock, USA / NASA

Commander, ISS Expedition 25

Kazakhstan: 3-Man Rocket Departs for Space Station

New York Times    06/16/2010

Author: Associated Press

c. 2010 New York Times Company

A Russian rocket carrying two astronauts from the United States and one from Russia lifted off successfully early Wednesday from Kazakhstan, bound for the international space station. The spacecraft, the Soyuz TMA-19, is carrying the astronauts, Douglas H. Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin, to the international orbiting laboratory for a mission lasting about six months. The three will be onboard the space station to see the final shuttle, the Endeavour, depart from its last planned mission to the lab in November before the fleet is retired. With the shuttle being phased out, the Soyuz rocket will be the only means by which astronauts can travel to the station.

Soyuz Heads for Space Station With Russian, Two Americans

Aviation Week.com    06/15/2010

Author: Mark Carreau

A Soyuz rocket lifted off for the International Space Station on Tuesday with three U.S. and Russian astronauts prepared to finish outfitting the latest addition to the orbiting science lab, conduct dozens of science experiments and host the next-to-last scheduled space shuttle assembly mission.

The TMA-19 spacecraft carrying Fyodor Yurchikhin, the Soyuz commander, and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:35 p.m. EDT, initiating a five-to-six month mission.

The Soyuz crew was on course to dock with the orbiting laboratory on June 17 at 6:25 p.m. EDT.

The newcomers will join members of the station’s Expedition 24 crew, led by Russian Alexander Skvortsov. Skvortsov, fellow cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and NASA’s Tracy Caldwell Dyson arrived in early April.

The fully-staffed station, which is closing in on the Nov. 2 tenth anniversary of continuous occupation, will house three Americans and three Russians for the first time.

The joint crew will equip the Russian Rassvet mini research and docking module delivered by the shuttle Atlantis last month for automated dockings. They’ll conduct and participate in 130 research projects focused on human adaptation to spaceflight, fundamental biology, biotechnology, physics, materials sciences, technology development, Earth observation and space science.

“We have several milestones during our stay,” said Wheelock, a 50-year-old U.S. Army colonel who will assume command of the station in September as the first members of Expedition 24 depart for Earth. “The first is the completion of the assembly phase of the station to full utilization as a laboratory. We are very much looking forward to being right in the heart of that transition.”

Wheelock carried out three spacewalks as part of the STS-120 shuttle assembly mission that delivered the Harmony node and relocated the station’s oldest solar power module in 2007.

Walker, a 45-year-old space physicist, is beginning her first space flight. Yurchikhin, 51, served as the station’s Expedition 15 commander for six months in 2007 and was a member of the STS 112 mission that delivered the station’s center truss segment in 2002.

The TMA-19 crew will dock at the station’s aft docking port.

The newcomers will re-board their Soyuz on June 28 to manually re-locate their capsule to a docking port on the Rassvet module that was installed by the shuttle Atlantis crew on May 18. The transfer will free the aft port for the arrival of a Russian Progress supply ship on July 2.

Three spacewalks are planned for July and August. During a July 26 outing, Yurchikhin and Kornienko will equip Rassvet with the power and data connections for the Kurs system that will permit automated dockings of Progress and Soyuz spacecraft.

During an Aug. 5 spacewalk, Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson will equip the station’s Russian segment with a power and data grapple fixture to anchor the Canadian-furnished robot arm. They’ll venture out again on Aug. 17 to re-locate external cameras to provide clearances for the future berthings of SpaceX’s Dragon and Japanese HTV cargo spacecraft.

The final U.S. shuttle missions will deliver supplies and research gear intended to sustain station operations long after the winged orbiters retire. Though tentatively planned for late September and late November, they are likely to be delayed to accommodate modifications of the prime cargos.

The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo assigned to Discovery’s September flight is under going external modifications to convert it into a permanent storage compartment for the station. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer slated for delivery aboard Endeavour on the final mission is receiving a new magnet to prolong studies of cosmic rays.

After initial staffing of the station was achieved on Nov. 2, 2000, the outpost struggled to remain continuously occupied by three-member U.S. and Russian crews. Staffing fell to a single American and Russian in the aftermath of the 2003 shuttle Columbia tragedy. The additions of the final solar power modules, more robust life support systems as well as the European and Japanese laboratory modules in 2008 and 2009 allowed the station to reach its full six-person complement for the first time.

The earliest full crew complements featured the first long-duration visits by Canadian, European and Japanese astronauts.

Joint full staffing by U.S. and Russians crew members will be short-lived. In early December, a Soyuz mission will arrive with Russian, American and European astronauts.

Regards,
Bruce

Subject: RE: US astronauts upbeat despite end to shuttle fleet

Very nice Cordiens!

Subject: FW: US astronauts upbeat despite end to shuttle fleet

Pete – FYI… .Current article published on the 235^th Anniversary of the Army!!!

US astronauts upbeat despite end to shuttle fleet

Associated Press Newswires    06/14/2010

Author: Peter Leonard

Copyright 2010. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) - Two U.S. astronauts are set to blast off this week for an expedition that will see the last ever visit to the international space station by a shuttle. But they refused to be daunted by the prospect Monday and said they looked forward to being onboard a fully operational space laboratory.

U.S. astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin are set to travel Wednesday onboard a Russian-made Soyuz space craft to the international orbiting laboratory for a six-month mission.

The trio will be onboard the space station to see the final shuttle -- the Endeavour -- depart from its last planned mission to the lab in November before the fleet is finally retired.

"Of course, it's a big change in our program ... but change is not always bad," said Wheelock, who takes over as commander of Expedition 25 as soon as the current crew returns to Earth in about three months time.

With the shuttle being phased out, the venerable Soyuz rocket will take over as the only means by which astronauts will be able to travel to the space station, which has raised some concern about over-reliance on the Soviet-designed craft.

Wheelock conceded that there was some sadness in seeing the shuttle go, but described his upcoming mission as an exciting prospect.

"It's actually bittersweet to see the shuttle go, but it's really an exciting time as well, because we are also going to be the first to really make full utilization of the space station as a working laboratory," Wheelock said.

He acknowledged that there had been delays and overruns in expenditure in assembling the space station, but he said the wait was fully worthwhile.

"We had big dreams and visions, and I think now we're just getting to that point that we're really going to start seeing a return on that investment," said Wheelock.

He said he was particularly excited about the space station's contributions to the engineering of new materials and its role in ensuring breakthroughs in medicine.

Wheelock, a U.S. Army colonel, is returning to the space station for the first time since his two-week stint on the Discovery in late 2007, when he and his colleagues earned plaudits for their work repairing a power generation facility.

Walker is making her maiden trip to the space station, and thereby following in the footsteps of husband Andrew Thomas, one of a handful of U.S. astronauts to live onboard the old Russian Mir station in the 1990s.

Earlier Monday, the three astronauts received final clearance from a Russian government commission for their mission to go ahead.

Astronauts at Russian-leased Baikonur space center in southern Kazakhstan are kept in strict isolation in the days ahead of any launch to avoid exposure to infection from disease. Wheelock and Walker stood behind a plate of protective glass as they expressed their gratitude in Russian to the technicians that put together the rocket.

The three-person crew will join Russian commander Alexander Skvortskov, NASA flight engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko, who have been on the orbiting laboratory since April.

Last week, the international space station raised its orbit by 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) to enable optimal positioning for the arriving Soyuz craft.

A Progress cargo carrier also is due to arrive at the orbiting lab later this month.