ISS Status Report #04-3, 2 p.m. CST, Monday, Jan. 12, 2004 With the help of Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, flight controllers traced the apparent cause of a tiny pressure decay on the International Space Station Sunday to a braided flex hose that is part of the window system in the U.S. Destiny Laboratory. After extensive pressure checks on Saturday and Sunday in the Russian Progress resupply ship, the Pirs Docking Compartment, the Soyuz return vehicle and the U.S. Quest Airlock revealed no leaks, the crew used an ultrasound leak detector device for a second time at the Lab window, and detected an audible hissing noise emanating from the flex hose. That hose is hooked up to quick disconnect devices as part of a system

Veteran NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao (right) will replace William S. McArthur, Jr., as the commander of Expedition 9, the next mission aboard the International Space Station. The change in crew assignment is a result of a temporary medical issue related to McArthur's qualification for this long duration flight. Because of medical privacy considerations, no information about McArthur's condition will be made public. As a member of the Expedition 9 backup crew, Chiao has been training alongside McArthur for months. Chiao joins Russian Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Valery I. Tokarev for the six-month mission. The Expedition 9 crew is scheduled for launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in April. European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers is the Board Engineer rounding out the