CHAPTER 2 DAY IN THE LIFE: LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE AND ON THE GROUND 32 About 8 days before the crew is expected to land, the first flight crew flies commercial to Europe, usually Scotland or Norway, and waits for the G3 to arrive. The G3 departs Houston with the second crew 4 to 5 days prior to the landing. The two crews swap in Europe, and then the G3 continues to Kazakhstan to await the return of the crew. The crews swap again when the G3 arrives in Europe and the first crew returns on commercial airlines the next day. Figure 12. The NASA Gulfstream G3 waits on the tarmac in Karagandy, Kazahkstan, in June 2016 to return the Expedition 47 astronauts Timothy Kopra and Tim Peak to Houston for postflight medical studies and rehabilitation. Postflight medical evaluations and debriefs with the various specialist teams take up several weeks of the returning crew’s schedules. The crew members are asked about their experience on board with key systems, procedures, payloads, and activities. Their feedback helps the team improve operations and overall support. Just as during flight preparation, this process can include international travel, although as much postflight activity as possible is planned to take place in the crew member’s home country. The increment lead flight director schedules a lessons-learned JOP, at which the lead flight controllers discuss issues, gotchas, and process improvements, and watch items for upcoming increments. Major topics from this discussion roll into a report up to the ISS Program management, where actions may be assigned to track specific issues to resolution before they can impact a future increment team. Fun, welcome-back events take place, as well. Friends, family, and colleagues may come to Ellington Field in Houston to greet the returning US astronauts, usually within a day of landing. NASA hosts a welcome- home ceremony and presentation by the crew members of memorable slides and videos from their time on board for the personnel (and their families) who supported the mission. Terrestrial Challenges Getting Home After more than 24 trips to return astronauts to Houston, the Aircraft Operations Division within the Flight Operations Directorate has proven to be successful in its mission to get the crews back quickly and safely. However, the flights are rarely routine. Weather can create challenges for pilots, such as delays in departure and en route. Since a relief crew is staged at a particular location, the G3 has to pass through or very near that town. Even the best planning can run afoul, as was the case when the Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland erupted in May 2011 while the G3 was in Kazakhstan awaiting the Soyuz landing. The team had to scramble to move the Europe crew to a location in England, which involved planning new routes at the last minute to complete the missions. NASA replaced the G3 with a G5 aircraft with longer range to eliminate some of these challenges. The increment lead flight director and any lead flight directors for major complex ops during the increment have a difficult task at the end of the mission: they have to pick the flight controllers who will “hang the plaque” in Mission Control. This is a time-honored tradition in Houston. A flight controller who distinguished himself or herself through work supporting the mission gets to climb a ladder and hang the