NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 16 November 2004
SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2004) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
The crew set up the ADUM (Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Micro-G) equipment, including video and electronic still cameras, and the CDR performed a Scan A investigation on FE Sharipov as subject. [With Salizhan strapped down on the CMRS (crew medical restraint system) and wearing electrodes for ECG (electrocardiogram) recording, Leroy Chiao performed the ultrasound scans (Scan A), entirely without help of the “patient”, so as to mimic an incapacitated state of the subject. Afterwards the hardware was deactivated and the scan heads were cleaned and stowed. For the session, the ground activated the ER2 HRF (EXPRESS Rack 2/Human Research Facility) and the video tape recorder, while Leroy powered up the HRF computer and cleaned off the ADUM hard drive. The data were recorded, and the scanning and post-scan activities were videotaped and still-photographed for downlink.]
Working on the Elektron electrolysis system, Sharipov accessed the faulty (and currently bypassed) ZLVK hydrogen vacuum vent valve that had been left “soaking” in special Triol coolant fluid for internal filter cleaning. Protected by half-mask respirator, goggles and rubber gloves, Salizhan used a syringe to check on the viability of any remaining Triol in the valve fitting by measuring its pH-value with a reference strip (pH=9). [If pH>9 or no Triol present, he was to refill the ZLVK valve filter with fresh fluid; if pH<9, he was to leave it alone and re-cap the fitting. Triol coolant fluid consists of water with a 30 percent solution of glycerin (to lower the freezing point to 7 degC) plus biocide and UV-light-sensitive additives to aid in leak detection. It is nontoxic and poses no hazard to the crew. One liter of Triol can absorb about 14 cubic cm of air, with contaminants.]
CDR Chiao meanwhile had ~3 hrs scheduled for gathering and preparing U.S. equipment designated for disposal in 15P/Progresss-350.
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Sharipov continued upgrading the Russian laptops 2 and 3 (LP2 & 3). [Following up on yesterday’s “ghosting” of hard disk drive (HDD) 6093 on LP2 with software upgrade vers. 7.02, Salizhan today “cloned” a second HDD (6156) in LP3 with vers. 7.02. Supported by tagup with ground specialists, he then reestablished LP3’s MS Windows configuration and finally recovered all saved Inc. 10 “Profilaktika” data from PCMCIA memory card to the new HDD.]
As Part 3 of the current RS (Russian segment) wall panel inspection, first in the FGB, then in the Service Module (SM), FE Sharipov today used the Nikon D1 electronic still camera to take flash photography of holes in specific interior panels in the SM, along with a ruler to allow later size and location estimation.
At ~9:20am EST, the crew participated in a educational PAO TV event set up jointly with the U.S. Dept. of Education at Forest Oak Middle School in Gaithersburg, MD. In attendance were Education and school officials, NASA Astronaut Carl Walz and students and teachers from Forest Oak Middle School. [The Education Dept. considers this downlink as an excellent opportunity to partner with NASA on educational opportunities for the community (particularly schools in the D.C. area), which allows the Dept. to perform outreach to the education community in a way that is unique to NASA’s specific capabilities. The event highlighted the benefits of international relationships and cooperation during the fifth annual International Education Week and emphasized the importance of a solid education including math and science skills and the learning of other languages and cultures. A list of questions from the students was uplinked beforehand. “What is the most interesting experience in space for you?” (Question to Leroy Chiao, in Mandarin). “What are your main responsibilities as Soyuz commander and ISS flight engineer?” (Question to Sharipov, in Russian).]
Salizhan completed the regular daily maintenance/inspection of the SM’s environment control & life support systems (SOZh) and prepared the regular IMS (inventory management system) Delta file for export/import to the IMS databases.
The crew performed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser, and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer.
Station reboost is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:12am EST. [In preparation for the maneuver, attitude control will be transferred from the U.S. (USOS) to the Russian segment (RS) at ~6:45am, followed by TsUP-commanded maneuvering to LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal) attitude at ~7:00am and transition to reboost attitude at 9:00am. Station attitude control will return to USOS at ~9:35am, to remain in LVLH TEA (torque equilibrium attitude) until about mid-December.]
The crew was commended on yesterday’s excellent cleaning job on the AR AAA (atmosphere revitalization/avionics air assembly). Not much debris was reported in the AAA, and its airflow afterwards was measured at ~1100 ft/min, as is normal for a healthy AAA.
Science Officer Chiao has expressed his interest to continue the highly popular “Saturday Science” sessions originally introduced last year by FE-2/SO Don Pettit of Expedition 6. [Suggestions for possible science demo activities for the each weekend will be uplinked in an options list on Monday evenings, so Leroy will have all day Tuesday to decide on what to select for the weekend. Options for next Saturday (11/20) are ISSI (In-Space Soldering Investigation) familiarization, MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Micro-G) familiarization, FMVM (Fluid Merging Viscosity measurement) familiarization, and FMVM honey merging.]
Update on RPC-4 trip: On special crew request, troubleshooting of the tripped Lab RPCM (remote power controller module LA2A3B) is focusing first on exonerating the CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation) as the cause of the 22-amps overcurrent trip of RPC4, so that it will be available again for exercise. [CEVIS troubleshooting will consist largely of a thorough inspection of all cables and connectors for damage or FOD (foreign object debris). Dumped data loads from the RPCM will be looked at next, with the more involved UOP4 (utility outlet panel 4) troubleshooting to follow.]
Update on SIGI GPS2 upgrade: Failure investigation of the newly upgraded SIGI-2 (space integrated GPS/inertial navigation system) continues, and today’s scheduled SIGI-1 upgrade with R2 firmware has been postponed. [While state vector solutions from SIGI-2 are good, as indicated by comparison with SIGI-1 and Russian data, specialists are continuing today to assess the attitude output performance and to verify the full set of memory parameters against the ground configuration in the test facility. Tomorrow morning, ISS will be transitioning to LVLH attitude following the planned reboost maneuver, and the new attitude will then provide a different environment in which to characterize the firmware performance. Meanwhile, both SIGI-1 and Russian attitude sources remain available.]
Today’s CEO photo target, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the science window, which is available for only ~1/4 of each orbit when not facing forward (in ram), were Internal waves, Vietnam, S. China Sea (this ISS overpass provided an opportunity for internal wave photography off the northwestern coast of Borneo. Looking to the left and slightly behind for the sunglint point), Salamat Basin fans, Chad (weather was clear over the Salamat Basin for oblique photography of megafans. Looking to the left of track for divergent drainage patterns and presence of wetlands. High resolution oblique photographs provide useful context images for fan mapping), Muglad Basin fans, SW Sudan (this overpass provided an opportunity for oblique photography of the Muglad megafan complex. Looking to the right of track for highly complex drainage patterns and presence of wetlands that define the fan boundaries), and Lake Poopo, Bolivia (weather was predicted to be clear for photography of Altiplano lakes. Looking to the right of track for Lake Poopo. Imagery of the lake shoreline is useful for monitoring of water levels; this data acquired over time is a useful indicator of regional climate shifts).
CEO images can be viewed at these websites:
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:
To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 10 crew visit:
- http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-9/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.
Expedition 10 Flight Crew Plans can be found at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/timelines/
Previous NASA ISS On-orbit Status Reports can be found here. Previous NASA Space Station Status Reports can be found here. Previous NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Reports can be found here. A collection of all of these reports and other materials relating to Return to Flight for the Space Shuttle fleet can be found here.
Upcoming Key Events:
- Current station attitude of sun-pointing XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) will be maintained until 11/17.
- Station reboost will be on 11/17, 9:12am EST (backup opportunity 11/18).
- Soyuz relocation is scheduled for 11/29 (“no earlier than”), preceded by a hot-fire test of its thrusters on 11/27.
- Progress 15P is scheduled for undocking and destructive reentry on 12/22.
- Progress 16P launch: 12/23; docking: 12/25 (GMT).
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ISS Location NOW |
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:10am EST [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 355.8 km
- Apogee height — 361.5 km
- Perigee height — 350.2 km
- Period — 91.66 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0008377
- Solar Beta Angle — 11.0 deg (magnitude decreasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 140 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 34224
ISS Altitude History
Apogee height — Mean Altitude — Perigee height
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html. In addition, information on International Space Station sighting opportunities can be found at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website. The current location of the International Space Station can be found at http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Additional satellite tracking resources can be found at http://www.spaceref.com/iss/tracking.html.
