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CNN Live At Daybreak

Expedition 8: Soyuz Docked With International Space Station

Aired October 20, 2003 - 06:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well there is life up there, because we put it there. Several hundred miles above you up in space, a replacement crew is arriving at the International Space Station. The docking maneuver about three hours ago was, as NASA says, AOK. Now the thing has to hook together and that's the first order of business. It's pressurizing the vestibule between the Soyuz rocket and the International Space Station.
Well, to explain, our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is with us. She is covering the mission called Expedition 8.

So what's happening now -- Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, just very shortly, we're going to now see the hatches open. They have already connected the Soyuz spacecraft that came up from Earth to the International Space Station. And remember that they are going around the Earth at the same time, but they are going to be opening the hatches.

The new crew, which is actually three people, not all of whom will stay, two will be permanent members up there, at least for the next six months, and the other and a European will be coming back in about a week. So the new crew comes in and takes over for the old crew.

The new crew is Alexander Kaleri. He is the Russian. Michael Foale who is from NASA. He was born in Britain but he is a U.S. citizen. And Pedro Duque from Spain. So they take over for the old team and that's Yuri Malenchenko, who, by the way, got married in space not too long ago by remote control, so to speak, and Edward Lu who is the American aboard.

The new job that these men are going to have will be basically taking care of that space station. It's a very complex place and can actually begin to fall apart if they don't do some maintenance on that on a regular basis. They are going to get some supply ships, the progress supply ships, upgrade the computers and do some experiments. They say about 20 experiments. And then also, it's expected that they will do a spacewalk as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Do you know anything more about the American astronaut that's going to be boarding the International Space Station soon?

DOUGHERTY: Michael Foale, a very experienced person. He is actually the only American who has spent a lot of time on the old Mir Space Station and now in space. A very astute and very intelligent astrophysicist. And the Russian has spent, Kaleri has spent 416 hours in space, more than a year in space. So it's a very experienced team and that's probably one of the reasons that they would like to try a spacewalk.

But you know, Carol, I have to note that even as all of this is going on up in the sky or up in space, so to speak, down on Earth there is some really serious issues about money. In fact, the head of the company that builds these spacecraft, Yuri Semenov (ph),...

COSTELLO: I want to interrupt you for just a second -- Jill.

DOUGHERTY: ... just this morning said...

COSTELLO: Jill, can you see the picture I'm seeing? Apparently the transfer has just begun.

DOUGHERTY: Actually, I can see it directly, so...

COSTELLO: So I see an astronaut and it's a very cloudy picture.

DOUGHERTY: Terrific. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) happy to see each other.

COSTELLO: Well I don't think they have met yet, but we do see an astronaut...

DOUGHERTY: I'd presume they would be happy.

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, I would presume they are really happy to see another human being, because that crew that has been up there has been there for six months with nobody else aboard. And now the two new people, the Kaleri and Foale will be spending another six months. They will be up until April of next year. So they're probably pretty happy. The old...

COSTELLO: How long will -- how long will the transfer take -- Jill?

DOUGHERTY: Actually not that long once they get it all set up. They move in there and of course they have to have a few pictures and official part of it, but the transfer really is as they show each other around, the old team showing the new team what has to be done. And bringing in, also, equipment. They have a few things aboard that they will eventually have to bring in, but not actually that long.

But as I was beginning to say, Carol, down here on Earth, really serious issues about money. You know after the space shuttle broke up in February, killing seven astronauts, the Russians had to pick up the ball on this. And just this morning, Yuri Semenov, who is the head of the company that builds these spacecrafts, said that the situation is catastrophic. He said that they had built these spacecraft by actually taking loans out and expecting the Russian government to pay and that the Russian government has not paid yet and he wants his money. And he also said that the Americans -- he said the Americans should pay attention to this because if anyone, if the Russians drop out, they will be in trouble. So obviously he wants his money and he wants it now.

COSTELLO: Yes, because obviously the U.S. space travel program has been put on hold, at least for now, although it's going to start up in a couple of months.

Let's talk about this Soyuz rocket that brought the new astronauts and will bring them back down. The last time the Soyuz touched down on Earth, it was blown off course and that scared a lot of people, frankly.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, they had to actually go around searching for the team. But they are taking that into consideration this time. They have given them a GSM, you know, where you can position yourself on the Earth. And then also they have a telephone that they, you know,...

COSTELLO: Jill, I'm going to interrupt you just a second so I can explain what's happening in these pictures. The hatch is being opened between the International Space Station and the rocket that brought the astronauts up into space and the transfer has begun. We can actually see kind of right now, because the picture has gotten cloudy, but we can see the astronauts going aboard the International Space Station right now. And, as you said, they were going to be happy to see one another and we just saw a hug. So some are coming out, some are going in.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, there now we can see that picture floating around. It's an amazing experience for all of them. And some of them probably would want to come back, maybe they don't want to come back, because a lot of them really say it's just an amazing experience. It does tend to be a lot of work, even maintaining that station. It's like a house, if you don't -- if you are not there taking care of it, it does tend to fall apart. So they have a lot of maintenance that they have to do while they are up there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well you mentioned the one astronaut who got married, you know in space, and his bride is on Earth, so I guess he gets to go down and celebrate his honeymoon. That's something to look forward to.

DOUGHERTY: That would be nice. The second -- now they can finally officially celebrate. It caused quite a stir. And the Russian Space Agency initially didn't want him to do it, but they eventually said OK, go ahead.

COSTELLO: Yes, NASA apparently wasn't too thrilled about it either, but hey, you can't stop a marriage when it wants to take place.

All right, we're going to break away. Jill Dougherty, thanks for helping us to understand what's going on up there in space as the International Space Station takes on new passengers and gets rid of others. Jill Dougherty live from Moscow this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





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Aired October 20, 2003 - 06:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well there is life up there, because we put it there. Several hundred miles above you up in space, a replacement crew is arriving at the International Space Station. The docking maneuver about three hours ago was, as NASA says, AOK. Now the thing has to hook together and that's the first order of business. It's pressurizing the vestibule between the Soyuz rocket and the International Space Station.
Well, to explain, our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is with us. She is covering the mission called Expedition 8.

So what's happening now -- Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, just very shortly, we're going to now see the hatches open. They have already connected the Soyuz spacecraft that came up from Earth to the International Space Station. And remember that they are going around the Earth at the same time, but they are going to be opening the hatches.

The new crew, which is actually three people, not all of whom will stay, two will be permanent members up there, at least for the next six months, and the other and a European will be coming back in about a week. So the new crew comes in and takes over for the old crew.

The new crew is Alexander Kaleri. He is the Russian. Michael Foale who is from NASA. He was born in Britain but he is a U.S. citizen. And Pedro Duque from Spain. So they take over for the old team and that's Yuri Malenchenko, who, by the way, got married in space not too long ago by remote control, so to speak, and Edward Lu who is the American aboard.

The new job that these men are going to have will be basically taking care of that space station. It's a very complex place and can actually begin to fall apart if they don't do some maintenance on that on a regular basis. They are going to get some supply ships, the progress supply ships, upgrade the computers and do some experiments. They say about 20 experiments. And then also, it's expected that they will do a spacewalk as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Do you know anything more about the American astronaut that's going to be boarding the International Space Station soon?

DOUGHERTY: Michael Foale, a very experienced person. He is actually the only American who has spent a lot of time on the old Mir Space Station and now in space. A very astute and very intelligent astrophysicist. And the Russian has spent, Kaleri has spent 416 hours in space, more than a year in space. So it's a very experienced team and that's probably one of the reasons that they would like to try a spacewalk.

But you know, Carol, I have to note that even as all of this is going on up in the sky or up in space, so to speak, down on Earth there is some really serious issues about money. In fact, the head of the company that builds these spacecraft, Yuri Semenov (ph),...

COSTELLO: I want to interrupt you for just a second -- Jill.

DOUGHERTY: ... just this morning said...

COSTELLO: Jill, can you see the picture I'm seeing? Apparently the transfer has just begun.

DOUGHERTY: Actually, I can see it directly, so...

COSTELLO: So I see an astronaut and it's a very cloudy picture.

DOUGHERTY: Terrific. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) happy to see each other.

COSTELLO: Well I don't think they have met yet, but we do see an astronaut...

DOUGHERTY: I'd presume they would be happy.

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, I would presume they are really happy to see another human being, because that crew that has been up there has been there for six months with nobody else aboard. And now the two new people, the Kaleri and Foale will be spending another six months. They will be up until April of next year. So they're probably pretty happy. The old...

COSTELLO: How long will -- how long will the transfer take -- Jill?

DOUGHERTY: Actually not that long once they get it all set up. They move in there and of course they have to have a few pictures and official part of it, but the transfer really is as they show each other around, the old team showing the new team what has to be done. And bringing in, also, equipment. They have a few things aboard that they will eventually have to bring in, but not actually that long.

But as I was beginning to say, Carol, down here on Earth, really serious issues about money. You know after the space shuttle broke up in February, killing seven astronauts, the Russians had to pick up the ball on this. And just this morning, Yuri Semenov, who is the head of the company that builds these spacecrafts, said that the situation is catastrophic. He said that they had built these spacecraft by actually taking loans out and expecting the Russian government to pay and that the Russian government has not paid yet and he wants his money. And he also said that the Americans -- he said the Americans should pay attention to this because if anyone, if the Russians drop out, they will be in trouble. So obviously he wants his money and he wants it now.

COSTELLO: Yes, because obviously the U.S. space travel program has been put on hold, at least for now, although it's going to start up in a couple of months.

Let's talk about this Soyuz rocket that brought the new astronauts and will bring them back down. The last time the Soyuz touched down on Earth, it was blown off course and that scared a lot of people, frankly.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, they had to actually go around searching for the team. But they are taking that into consideration this time. They have given them a GSM, you know, where you can position yourself on the Earth. And then also they have a telephone that they, you know,...

COSTELLO: Jill, I'm going to interrupt you just a second so I can explain what's happening in these pictures. The hatch is being opened between the International Space Station and the rocket that brought the astronauts up into space and the transfer has begun. We can actually see kind of right now, because the picture has gotten cloudy, but we can see the astronauts going aboard the International Space Station right now. And, as you said, they were going to be happy to see one another and we just saw a hug. So some are coming out, some are going in.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, there now we can see that picture floating around. It's an amazing experience for all of them. And some of them probably would want to come back, maybe they don't want to come back, because a lot of them really say it's just an amazing experience. It does tend to be a lot of work, even maintaining that station. It's like a house, if you don't -- if you are not there taking care of it, it does tend to fall apart. So they have a lot of maintenance that they have to do while they are up there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well you mentioned the one astronaut who got married, you know in space, and his bride is on Earth, so I guess he gets to go down and celebrate his honeymoon. That's something to look forward to.

DOUGHERTY: That would be nice. The second -- now they can finally officially celebrate. It caused quite a stir. And the Russian Space Agency initially didn't want him to do it, but they eventually said OK, go ahead.

COSTELLO: Yes, NASA apparently wasn't too thrilled about it either, but hey, you can't stop a marriage when it wants to take place.

All right, we're going to break away. Jill Dougherty, thanks for helping us to understand what's going on up there in space as the International Space Station takes on new passengers and gets rid of others. Jill Dougherty live from Moscow this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Station>