NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 March 2005

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2005) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.

Onboard preparations for EVA-13 on Monday morning moved into the home stretch with a successful suited dry-run by Chiao and Sharipov in the DC1 docking compartment.

CDR/SO Chiao started the activities at ~4:15am EST by configuring communications to support the DC1 activities.

Afterwards, Leroy and Salizhan tore down and removed the air ducts between the Service Module Transfer Compartment (SM PkhO) and DC-1, leaving ventilation fan V3 in, and checked out the Orlan suits, their equipment and BSS interface units via USI data output device. All EVA preps were monitored by the ground via S-Band and VHF.

Donning of EVA gear began at ~5:40am, starting with checkout of the comm hookups & biomedical parameter telemetry via the BSS interface systems and equipment monitoring, then culminating in complete ingress in the Orlans at ~7:25am and closure of backpacks.

DC1 hatch closing (isolation) and start of partial depress for subsequent leak checks was timelined at ~7:40am.

Next came functionality checkout of the suits and their BSS controls, preliminary fit checks at 0.4 at (5.9 psi) suit pressure, particularly for glove size adjustment (an EVA-12 issue), and half an hour of testing/training of suited mobility and translation.

The suited mobility and translation exercises began shortly after 8:00am [These included moving to VL1 (EVA hatch #1), translating to the POV (EVA support panel) and BSS, checking out rotation capability with and without lights on, retrieving the camera from the KPU tool carrier and stowing it temporarily on a handrail, then back in the KPU, mating electrical connectors, moving payload bundles, and operating with OTAs (Orlan tether assemblies).]

Egress from the Orlans was around 8:40am, followed by the midday break.

After lunch (~9:05am), the crew had a two-hour period of post-training cleanup activities, which included restoration of communications settings to nominal operation and re-installation of the air duct between SM PkhO and DC1.

Working off the discretionary Russian task list, Sharipov completed the routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including ASU toilet facilities and today also the weekly inspection of the air/liquid condensate separator apparatus (BRPK).

After some adjustments during yesterday’s testing by TsUP/Moscow of the onboard ASN-M satellite navigation equipment, good agreement between the US and Russian attitudes and state vectors was achieved. There was no impact to the ISS attitude or navigation system during the test activities.

Checkout sessions were again conducted by TsUP on the ACT (American Contingency Telemetry) system and its connection between Moscow and Houston.

Ground-controlled testing from the Russian onboard command sequencer (SPP) was also again performed on the ESA/German commercial “RokvISS” robotics experiment, exercising its BSPN (biological coordination unit) server, CUP (communication unit for payloads) and OBC (onboard controller).

The cabin atmosphere repressurization with ~10 mmHg/Torr of oxygen (O2) from Progress 17 was completed yesterday as planned, resulting in a total pressure of 748 mmHg, with an O2 fraction of 22.2%. The Elektron is still inactive, and its repair is scheduled for right after EVA-13, focusing at first on a functionality check of the unit’s gas analyzer (GA).

Yesterday morning the PLD-1 MDM (Payload-1 Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) computer unexpectedly switched to “diagnostic” mode. PLD-2 automatically took control and is currently operating nominally. Troubleshooting on PLD-1 is underway.

The PPL (pre-planned load) software patch for the newly reconditioned P6 2B2 battery pack was uplinked successfully. The capacity test on 2B2 is still scheduled for 3/28 after the EVA (1:00pm EST), but is currently under review. [At the scheduled time, the ITCS (internal thermal control system) will still be in the dual-loop configuration required for Monday’s “unmanned” mode. Single LT (low temperature) setting is preferred, but will not be configured by the crew until a day later (3/29), where the capacitance test would conflict with current S-band switching plans.]

Preparations are underway for the station reboost tomorrow morning, required for Soyuz 10 rendezvous & 9S landing phasing. [Target data: At 11:45pm tonight (Daily Orbit 12) Russian ground commands will switch the Progress 17’s combined propulsion system (KDU) to manifold #2 and to its #2 set of prop tanks. Attitude control handover to the Russian segment (RS) follows at ~1:50am. Turn to reboost attitude: 3:35am. The one-burn maneuver of ~385 seconds duration, using 17P RCS (reaction control system) thrusters controlled from the SM computer via the US-21 matching unit, will take place at ~5:00am, for a target delta-V of ~1.65 m/s and a boost in mean altitude boost of 2.86 km. Attitude control returns to the US CMGs at ~5:40am.]

Update on CMGs: ISS attitude control on two US control moment gyros (CMG-3 & -4) continues to be nominal. Plans are now to uplink a PPL software patch for reconfiguring an external patch panel during the LF-1 (STS-114) mission. This will re-enable powering up CMG-2 by bypassing the failed-open RPC-17 (remote power controller #17) and return ISS to four fully functional CMGs after successful installation of the new CMG-1 during LF-1. Actual replacement of RPC-17 will not be requiring until Flight 12A.1.

Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Cairo, Egypt (this nadir pass provided an opportunity for wide-field imagery of the Cairo metropolitan area. A mapping swath across the metro area will provide context for more detailed imagery and provide a snapshot of the current extent of urbanization), Saharan Dust, Western Africa (Dynamic Event. A dust plume originating from the Western Sahara desert should have been visible as ISS passed to the W of the Cape Verde Islands. Looking to the ENE between the islands and the African coastline for a dust cloud edge), and Navassa Island reef, Caribbean (this nadir pass provided an opportunity to image this island and associated reef. Detailed imagery of the reef is useful for updating of geographic maps and general assessment of reef ecosystem health).

CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:

• http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AstronautPhotography/

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:

• http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 10 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-10/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:

• __Reboost — 3/25 (5:00am EST; ~1.65 m/s, for 10S rendezvous & 9S landing phasing);
• __EVA-13 — 3/28 (hatch open~1:33am; hatch close~7:12am);
• __Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) launch — 4/15 with Expedition 11 (CDR Sergei Krikalev, FE/SO John Phillips & VC8 cosmonaut Roberto Vittori/ESA-Italy);
• __ Soyuz TMA-6 docking – 4/17;
• __Soyuz TMA-5 (9S) undocking — 4/25 with Exp. 10 crew (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS) and VC8 cosmonaut Vittori;
• __LF1 (STS-114) launch — 5/15;
• __Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/10;
• __ULF1.1 (STS-121) launch — NET 7/12;
• __Progress M-54 (19P) launch — 8/24;
• __Soyuz TMA-7 (11S) launch — 9/27.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:15am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 355.2 km
• Apogee height — 357.6 km
• Perigee height — 352.7 km
• Period — 91.64 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0003583
• Solar Beta Angle — -19.9 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 85 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 36235

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.