The Expedition 20 and STS-127 crews are continuing their joint operations during the 16-day space shuttle mission. STS-127 will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Michael Barratt, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Roman Romanenko, Robert Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency and Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency welcomed the STS-127 crew aboard the station at 3:48 p.m. EDT Friday. The crew arrived at the station when space shuttle Endeavour docked at 1:47 p.m.

The ISS Progress 33 cargo craft's rendezvous with the station Sunday was successful. The Progress had undocked from the Pirs docking compartment June 30 and performed a retrograde burn placing the spacecraft into a parking orbit. Another burn on Saturday set up the Progress for its final rendezvous with the station on Sunday. The supply ship approached the Zvezda service module to test new automated rendezvous equipment mounted on Zvezda during a pair of spacewalks in June. This equipment will be used to guide the new Mini-Research Module-2 (MRM2) to an unpiloted docking to the zenith port of Zvezda later this year. MRM2 will serve as a new docking port for Russian spacecraft and an additional airlock for spacewalks conducted out of the Russian segment.

The Expedition 20 crew aboard the orbiting International Space Station bid farewell, for now, to an unpiloted Progress cargo craft Tuesday.

The ISS Progress 33 undocked from the Pirs docking compartment at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko monitored the undocking and photographed the departing cargo craft to assess the condition of its docking assembly.

The Progress will continue to move away from the station until Friday, when the vehicle will perform a retrograde burn to place the spacecraft into a parking orbit. Another burn on July 11 sets up the Progress for its final rendezvous with the station on July 12. The cargo ship will approach to within 10 to 15 meters of the Zvezda service module to test new automated rendezvous equipment mounted on Zvezda during a pair of spacewalks earlier this month. This equipment will be used to guide the new Mini-Research Module-2 (MRM2) to an unpiloted docking to the zenith port of Zvezda later this year. MRM2 will serve as a new docking port for Russian spacecraft and an additional airlock for spacewalks conducted out of the Russian segment.

The Expedition 20 crew is filling the Progress 33 with discarded equipment, gear and trash for disposal. The cargo craft will undock from the International Space Station on Tuesday and will enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up over the Pacific Ocean on July 12.

Before deorbiting the Progress 33 will rendezvous with the station one final time to test newly installed Kurs equipment in advance of the arrival of the Mini-Research Module 2 in November. The Kurs equipment was installed during a spacewalk earlier this month.

While Progress vehicles are docked with the station, the oxygen stored in them is used to replenish the station's atmosphere. The crew monitored the purging of the Progress 33's fuel and oxidizer supplies Friday and tested the Zvezda to Progress telerobotically operated rendezvous system.

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt completed an "internal" spacewalk Wednesday at 3:07 a.m. EDT.

Padalka and Barratt replaced a Zvezda hatch with a docking cone. The excursion took place internally with the spacewalkers attached to umbilicals in Zvezda for life support. It lasted about 12 minutes.

Docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors were installed on the exterior of the Zvezda service module during their first spacewalk Friday.

The station is now ready for the docking of the Mini-Research Module 2, or MRM2, later this year. The MRM2 will dock automatically to the zenith port of Zvezda and will serve as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles.

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt completed the first of two Russian spacewalks planned for June at 8:46 a.m. EDT Friday. The second spacewalk is set for Wednesday at 2:45 a.m.

Friday's spacewalk started late after data showed slightly elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the Russian Orlan spacesuits. The spacewalkers reported they felt fine and went on to work outside the International Space Station for 4 hours, 54 minutes.

Padalka and Barratt installed docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors on the Zvezda service module in preparation for the arrival of a new module in November. The Russian Mini-Research Module-2 will dock automatically to the zenith port of Zvezda and will serve as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles.

[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160328main_exp20_eva1_1.jpg[/img] Image above: Flight Engineer Mike Barratt (left) and Commander Gennady Padalka work outside of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV International Space Station Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt completed a spacewalk at 8:46 a.m. EDT Friday to prepare the Zvezda service module for the arrival of a new Russian module. The spacewalk was the seventh for Padalka and the first for Barratt. The spacewalkers installed docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors for the Kurs automated rendezvous equipment. Barratt then rode on the end of the Strela boom, a manually operated crane, to take photographs of the antennas.

The Expedition 20 crew aboard the International Space Station continued preparations Wednesday for an upcoming spacewalk.

Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt wore their Russian Orlan spacesuits for mobility and technical tests as they gear up for the 5 ½ hour excursion slated to begin at 2:45 a.m. EDT Friday.

During the Russian spacewalk, Padalka and Barratt will prepare the Pirs docking compartment for the arrival of the Mini-Research Module 2, which will serve as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles. The spacewalkers will install a docking antenna to help guide the new module into place when it arrives at the station aboard an unpiloted Soyuz in November.

Three new crew members arrived at the International Space Station at 8:34 a.m. EDT Friday. After launching from Kazakhstan on Wednesday, flight engineers Roman Romanenko, Robert Thirsk and Frank De Winne spent two days in space aboard the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft before docking to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module.

Awaiting the newest arrivals were the Expedition 19 crew members Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Koichi Wakata and Mike Barratt. Hatch opening between the Soyuz and Zarya occurred at 10:14 a.m. signifying the beginning of Expedition 20 and six-person crew operations. A welcome ceremony and a safety briefing for the new arrivals followed.

Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko, Frank De Winne and Robert Thirsk of the 20th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:34 a.m. EDT Wednesday to begin a six-month stay in space.

Expedition 20 will mark the start of six-person crew operations aboard the International Space Station. All five of the international partner agencies - NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) - will be represented on orbit for the first time.