American teacher blasts off to space today

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- A former teacher and present U.S. astronaut will rocket up to the International Space Station on Monday for a six-month expedition.

Veteran shuttle mission specialist Joe Acaba will be the first NASA "educator astronaut" to fly a long-duration mission aboard the orbital laboratory, and he is eager to get under way.

"I think I'm definitely ready for this mission. We've spent a little over two years preparing," the former Melbourne (Fla.) High School teacher said before he and two cosmonaut crewmates traveled to Russia for final launch preparations. "So now I'm at the point where the fine-tuning is almost done and I'm ready to get on that Soyuz and get to the space station."

Acaba is blasting off on a Russian Soyuz rocket, commanded by veteran Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:01 p.m. EDT Monday. The third seat is being taken by spaceflight rookie Sergei Revin.

The trio is scheduled to arrive at the station at 12:39 a.m. EDT Thursday — Acaba's 45th birthday.

"Really, the main reason we are up there is to conduct science. … Our goal is to get the 35 hours a week of utilization or time working on experiments," Acaba said. "So we plan on putting a lot of time into that. That's really the main focus."

A hydro-geologist who once managed a marine research center on a remote Bahamian island, Acaba said he is looking forward to being a subject for human research deemed critical to preparing for future interplanetary expeditions.

Among the experiments: Research aimed at gauging the effect of weightlessness on the human heart and how the cardiovascular system reacts during a return to normal gravity on Earth.

"It's really the information that we're going to need if we want to do longer and longer duration missions," Acaba said.

"So to be a part of that is pretty neat — to become part of that history, knowing that you are contributing a little bit by kind of being that lab rat that helps us get a little bit smarter about what we're doing in space."

If all goes as planned, Acaba will be onboard the station when SpaceX launches its Dragon spacecraft Saturday on a mission to demonstrate a capability to safely and reliably deliver cargo to the space station.

The California company holds a $1.6 billion contract for 12 commercial resupply missions to the station. A success on the upcoming demonstration mission would clear the way for the first of those resupply flights in August.

Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., holds a $1.9 billion contract for eight commercial resupply missions. An Antares rocket is slated to launch a Cygnus cargo carrier on a demonstration mission in early September.

With the U.S. shuttle fleet now retired, Acaba said the commercial resupply flights are critical to keeping the station fully staffed.

"They're extremely important, and we're really banking on them to be able to come through and help us get those supplies that we will need to the International Space Station," Acaba said. "We really need those guys to come through, you know, and we wish them all the best and hope to see them here shortly."

Acaba, Padalka and Revin are to live and work on the outpost for four months. Estimated time of arrival back on Earth: Sept. 17. The other half of their 32nd expedition crew is due at the station in mid-July.