Ask the Crew: STS-102

From: Gianne Ulanday from Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, age: 13
To: Commander James Wetherbee

Question: What are the problems that you have encountered from preflight until now, and how do you cope with it? Do you feel nervous in giving orders/tasks to the crew?

Wetherbee: I think probably the biggest challenge that we've had preflight is to determine whether or not we have accomplished everything in our preparations to make sure that we are prepared for all of the operations on orbit. We think we have done a pretty good job of training and thinking ahead for all the potential failures that we may have. Also, I think that, if you have a good crew and you can work well with the crew, then there is no need to become nervous when giving orders or tasks to the crew. They are a very good crew on STS-102, and so I'm very happy with that situation.

From: Ryan Rutherford from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, age: 19
To: Commander James Wetherbee

Question: It is very interesting to hear music being played up to the crew for the morning wake up calls. How do you hear the music being played? Where are the speakers located onboard?

Wetherbee: The speakers are on the flight deck and the middeck, and so, as we're sleeping, when we begin to hear the wake up music, that does wake us up in most cases. They're not the best of speakers. They're fairly small, but, I'll tell you, it's a great feeling to hear the music coming up from the ground when they wake us up. And they try to have a theme related to the mission or the individuals onboard, and it's very nice to wake up to that music and start the day in space.

From: Brian Divird from Diablo, Calif., age: 33
To: Commander James Wetherbee

Question: When the shuttle blasts off to visit the station, at what point can the crew of the station see the shuttle approaching? When I say "see," I mean visually with their own eyes or maybe binoculars.

Wetherbee: Interestingly, the view from space of vehicles approaching… You can see vehicles from many, many miles. In the case of our rendezvous, we were coming from below and behind, and unfortunately, the window on the space station was not pointed at the shuttle until we were only a couple of miles away. So that's when they first saw us. On my last flight, although, I did see a Progress vehicle, a rocket, launching from Russia while we were in orbit at five, six hundred miles away from the rocket, and it was very clearly visible as a star rising up to us. So you can see it anywhere from right at liftoff until only a couple of miles away, depending upon the lighting and the windows.

From: Cory Syvenky from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, age: 27
To: Commander James Wetherbee

Question: While watching NASA-TV during previous missions, I have never seen or heard the shuttle and station crews have direct communications with each other. Rather, Houston has to relay messages to the station crew on behalf of the shuttle crew. My question is does the shuttle crew have direct communications with the station crew during the pre- and post-docking phases?

Wetherbee: Of course, communications are very critical in operational flights like this one as we're building the International Space Station. It is a necessity, as we approach, to be in good communication with the other vehicle and also, after we're docked, to coordinate all the maneuvers and the control of the stack, and so we do want to have good communications. We also had a minor failure during our rendezvous and docking. Right after we docked, we lost communications on the shuttle with the ground, but the ground was able to relay information to us through the space station. So, we do have that capability, and it is very much appreciated when we're conducting the complex operations.

From: Cheryl Chuter from Aldershot, Hampshire, England, age: 48
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: Is there any food or drink you miss or activities you miss doing while you are all at work? And what has been your most exciting / interesting moment while onboard?

Thomas: Well, you do tend to miss fresh fruit and fresh vegetables and things like that - the foods that tend to perish quickly - because we don't have those up here, and that is kind of a pity. Of course, you miss walking out in the sunshine and fresh air a bit too. I think the most exciting moment has always been for me the launch, and getting into space and feeling zero gravity for the first time. It's a great feeling.

From: Jessie from Jacksonville, Ill., age: 14
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: Why doesn't the space shuttle burn up on its way through the Earth's atmosphere?

Thomas: The space shuttle, Jessie, is encased in some very fine silicon ceramic tiles, which are able to take a very large amount of heat. And they absorb the heat and radiate it back out into space so that the space shuttle does not burn up due to the friction of the atmosphere.

From: Dan Norman from Morris, Minn., age: 21
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: How do you tell how heavy an object is in space? Like when loading the Leonardo module. How does the crew know how heavy the trash and other items are to keep its center of balance?

Thomas: It is actually quite hard, Dan, to estimate the weight of objects in space. You can do it by feel to some extent, but if you need to really do it properly, you can't just weigh it on a scale because there is no gravity. And for cases like that you use a system where you put the mass on a spring and let it oscillate. By measuring how quickly it oscillates from the spring, you can determine its mass, and that is what we did to measure our own weight when we were on Mir.

From: Paul Wiszniak from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, age: 44
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: After returning to Earth, how long is the astronaut debrief and how soon do they get to go out, get a burger and take a stroll down main street?

Thomas: Well, actually, we do some post-landing medical checks, and a few hours after that we're free to go out and meet with families and get out and see the sunshine. Naturally, the debrief continues in the ensuing weeks but at a much more relaxed pace at that time.

From: Richard Macey from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, age: 46
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: STS-102 lands the same week the Mir space station will be scuttled in the Pacific. Having lived aboard Mir, how do you feel about its demise, and what was it like to be a member of the Russian station's crew?

Thomas: Well, I am kind of sorry, Richard, to see that it's going. But, things must progress, and we must move on to new systems. I feel kind of the same way I feel about if you have a car that you've had for many years and you finally end up having to sell it to buy a new one. You are sorry to see it go, but you know you have to do it. And that is how I feel about Mir. But I had a good time on Mir. And I certainly enjoyed the time there with the Russians I flew with. It was a great experience.

From: William Goodman from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
To: Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas

Question: Andy, how do you feel about being the first Australian to do a space walk, and what was it like?

Thomas: It was a big challenge but pretty amazing - sort of one of those little surreal experiences that is kind of hard to describe. To really be outside the vehicle and to be in a spacesuit working on a space station is quite an extraordinary experience.