NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 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. A light-duty day after yesterday’s busy but fully successful suited/pressurized dry-run for EVA-13.

Onboard preparations for the Orlan spacewalk on Monday morning focused today on a final review of the EVA ops sequence, supported by tagup with ground specialists and followed by a teleconference with TsUP/Moscow on timeline, procedures, and updates. [In order to better manage attitude control incl. Russian thruster inhibits during the spacewalk, specialists have defined a “thruster safe zone”, i.e., any location forward of the Service Module (SM) large diameter section (PO2) including the conical transition segment between PO2 and the small diameter section (PO1). With two good CMGs (control moment gyros), momentum “saturation” and subsequent free drift could occur as early as 30 minutes after the CMGs take over attitude control right after the Nanosatellite has been “launched”. Thruster-inhibited free drift may then last for ~3 hours (2 orbits) until US-side temperature constraints are approached, but the timelined EVA work on the SM PO2 segment outside the safe zone would be long completed before that point is reached. Also, any crew transitions into the thruster region of the SM and back must await explicit Go-ahead from the ground to confirm unambiguously that thrusters are disabled and not prematurely re-enabled.]

FE Sharipov also worked on another Russian IPK-1M gas mask, upgrading it with a new nozzle attachment. The work was supported by tagup with TsUP. [This upgrading is a longer-term activity that started with the first mask on 3/10.]

Working from the discretionary task list, Salizhan performed the daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) experiment, including filling its water canister as required. [Rasteniya researches growth and development of plants under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-5 greenhouse.]

The crew completed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser, and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer. [Salizhan’s daily protocol currently prescribes a four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill and one hour on VELO (today: Day 1 of a new set).]

Leroy then transferred the daily TVIS and RED exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data, which he then erased on the HRM storage medium.

At ~10:30am EST, the crew held their standard (once every two weeks) teleconference with the JSC Astronaut Office (Kent Rominger), via S-band S/G.

The regular (nominally weekly) teleconference of the crew with the ISS Flight Director at MCC-H will take place at ~2:10pm.

At ~3:25pm, CDR/SO Chiao is scheduled for his weekly PFC (private family conference) via S-band/audio and Ku-band/NetMeeting video.

The station reboost this morning (5:00am) was completed as planned, with nominal burn data. Actual delta-V yielded by the Progress thrusters (manifold #2) was 1.686 m/s (1.68 planned), with an altitude increase of 2.92 km/1.6 nmi (2.9/1.6 planned). [Structural dynamics data were collected before, during, and after the ~7 min. burn by the US SAMS (space acceleration measurement system), MAMS (microgravity acceleration measurement system) and SDMS (structural dynamics measurement system).]

In preparation for the early-morning EVA-13 on Monday, the crew’s sleep cycle will shift the day before. [After wakeup on Sunday (3/27) at their regular 1:00am EST, sleep time begins already 7 hours later (8:00am), followed by second wakeup on that day at 4:30pm. After spacewalk conclusion, bedtime on Monday starts after noon (12:30pm) and ends at 1:00am Tuesday, returning to the regular cycle.]

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 Urumqi, China (this center of oil exploration can be located at the foot of the mountain chain right of track, and at the focus point of several transport routes), Caracas, Venezuela (looking just right of track), St. Croix reefs, Virgin Islands (global reef mapping site. Looking just left of track), St. John reefs, Virgin Islands (global reef mapping site. Looking just left of track), St. Thomas reefs, Virgin Islands, (global reef mapping site. Looking just left of track), and Central America fires (Dynamic event. Smoke from fires in Guatemala and Yucatan, Mexico, is spreading hundreds of miles north into the Gulf of Mexico. Shooting fires for mapping smoke sources [oblique views are very effective in capturing smoke masses in the atmosphere]. Looking mainly left).

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 (Eastern dates/times added):

• EVA-13 — 3/28 (hatch open~1:33am; hatch close~7:12am);
• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) launch — 4/14 (8:46pm EDT); with Expedition 11 (CDR Sergei Krikalev, FE/SO John Phillips & VC8 cosmonaut Roberto Vittori/ESA-Italy); launch time at Baikonur: 6:46am on 4/15.
• Soyuz TMA-6 docking — 4/16 (10:17pm EDT);
• Soyuz TMA-5 (9S) undocking — 4/24 (2:36pm EDT) with Exp. 10 crew (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS) and VC8 cosmonaut Vittori;
• Soyuz TMA-5 landing — 4/24 (6:01pm EDT (Kustanai: 4:01am on 4/25);.
• 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, 8:36am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 358.0 km
• Apogee height — 362.3 km
• Perigee height — 353.6 km
• Period — 91.70 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.000644
• Solar Beta Angle — -24.1 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.70
• Mean altitude gain in last 24 hours — 2800 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 36253

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.