RPM Training Session

ISS028-E-015033 (9 July 2011) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa (left), Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov (center) and NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, all Expedition 28 flight engineers, use still cameras in the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory to photograph a detailed outline of the orbiter’s underbelly. The space shuttle “pattern” was traditionally used as a training tool by the station crew members preparing for the R-Bar Pitch Maneuver performed by each arriving shuttle. The image size represents the orbiter at a distance of about 600 feet on approach. During an RPM, typically more than 300 images are taken using cameras outfitted with 400, 800 and 1000 mm lenses and downlinked to the ground for analysis to clear the Thermal Protection System for entry.