NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 April 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.

CDR/SO Leroy Chiao started another round of monthly preventive maintenance on Russian segment (RS) air ventilation systems, today working an hour in the Funktsionalnyi-Grusovoi Blok (FGB) for the regular cleanup of the detachable fan screens of the three SOTR (thermal control system) gas-liquid heat exchangers (GZhT).  While in the FGB, Chiao also cleaned the protective mesh screens of the two TsV ventilation fans.

FE Salizhan Sharipov worked an extensive task, continuing to install and connect the cabling of the MBRL space-to-space radio for the European ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) in the RS.  The equipment, part of the ATV PCE (proximity communication equipment), will enable comm between the RS and the approaching ATV during docking.   [The work was supported by tagup with ground specialists who monitored it via BITS2-12 onboard telemetry system hookup.]

Both crewmembers completed another ADUM session (Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Micro-G).  The Science Officer set up the equipment, including video and electronic still cameras PD100, DCS 760).  Chiao and Sharipov each spent about 20 min. performing Z-scans (bone) on each other, taking turns as operator and subject.  Afterwards, Leroy deactivated the hardware and cleaned up.   [The session required an active HRF (Human Research Facility) plus video tape recording of the full cabin scene, followed by power-up of HRF computer and ADUM hardware & software by the crew.  Using the CMRS (crew medical restraint system) for strapping down the subject, scans were taken, their images recorded and the scanning & post-scan activities videotaped and still-photographed for downlink.  ADUM investigates the diagnostic capability of ultrasound (U/S) in medical contingencies relevant to the space environment and demonstrates the ability of minimally trained crewmembers to perform and interpret advanced sonographic examinations. The U/S images are downlinked to the ground for interpretation.  This telemedicine has important applications to emergency medical care in remote areas of the earth, as well as for astronaut crews traveling beyond low earth orbit.  See also the paper on remotely guided FAST (Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) in the January issue of the Journal of Trauma (http://www.jtrauma.com).]

Also on the HRF rack, Leroy conducted another checkout of the MedOps cardiac defibrillator.   [This periodic routine task is scheduled as soon as possible from Expedition start and every 60 days thereafter.  For the checkout, the defib is connected to the 120V outlet, equipped with its battery (#1012) and then allowed to charge, for about five seconds, to a preset energy level (e.g., 100 joules).  After the button-triggered discharge, a console indicator signals success or failure of the test.  The pacing signal is downlinked via S-band for 2 min.  The HRF is powered down afterwards.]

After deactivating the Vozdukh carbon dioxide (CO2) removal system, Salizhan replaced one of its two regenerative absorbent filter cartridges (PP) and activated it.  The second lifetime-expired PP will be replaced tomorrow.   [During operation, the CO2 absorbed by the cartridges is periodically vented overboard through the BVK valve by heating (and thus regenerating) the filters.]

Leroy Chiao 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).  Later, Salizhan prepared the regular IMS delta file for the daily automated export/import to the three IMS databases on the ground.

The FE also had about an hour to continue making preparations of equipment and personal items for return on Soyuz TM-5/9S.

The crew conducted 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 4 of a new set).]

Chiao 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, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium.

Leroy also performed the weekly maintenance on the TVIS treadmill, primarily checking the condition of the SPDs (subject positioning devices) and recording time & date values.

The missing RED fastener was located by the crew over the weekend (it was just floating by ).  The fastener was successfully installed, and the unit is back in the nominal configuration.

A new item added to Sharipov s discretionary task list was to set up the Halley electrode equipment and the EGE-2 laptop for another session with the European Neurocog experiment.   [By researching the integration of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive cues in the perception of body position in space, Neurocog studies how humans perceive space, what role the sensory information of sight, balance, motion and position plays in this, and how human perception is affected by weightlessness.]

A new list of Saturday Science options for Dr. Chiao was uplinked for his selection later tonight.   [The options for 4/9 are (1) close-up photos of SEM (Space Experiment Module) satchel & vials; (2) MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Microgravity) Experiment (Test 4 of 4); (3) EPO (Educational Payload Operation) Living Area Demo; and (4) FMVM (Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement) Experiment Operations.]

At ~2:30am EDT, Salizhan conducted another TV and voice loop comm check between ISS and Roskosmos in Moscow, activated from the automated onboard events sequencer (SPP).   [The crew downlinked a message of greetings for the Days of Russian Culture in Austria, which open on 4/7 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of WWII Victory Day and the 50th Anniversary of Austria s independence.  Austrian researcher Franz Viehboeck was a guest cosmonaut on a Soyuz flight to Mir (with Alexander Volkov and Toktar Aubakirov).]

At ~1:25pm, Leroy Chiao held a 10-min. ham radio session with amateur radio fans at Maple Avenue Elementary School in Goffstown, New Hampshire.   [Maple Avenue Elementary School has an enrollment of 528 students in grades 1-4 with a staff of 67 adults.]

During a 5-min window today at 1:29pm researchers on the ground again conducted the European/Russian laser-beam experiment SPQR (Specular Point-like Quick Reference).   [SPQR, installed at SM window #3 along with its Nikon D1X camera, tests a ground-based imaging system, using special optics and image processing, to determine the feasibility of detecting external damage to a spacecraft in orbit from the ground. It uses a pyramidal corner reflector (CCR, Cube Corner Reflector) at the SM window, to reflect a laser beam emitted by a ground station back to the ground.  The crew was advised not to look out the portholes during the sessions, the times of which were uplinked, and there are no CEO targets scheduled during the brief sessions.  The SPQR Hazard Report indicates that the laser power at the ISS remains well below the threshold for injury.]

Update on Elektron:   After running in 64 amp mode for approximately 30 hours this weekend, the Elektron shut down again because of primary and backup pump failures,- the typical failure mode in recent days.  TsUP/Moscow is scheduling time tomorrow (4/6) and 4/8 to perform a functional checkout of the presently installed BZh liquid unit (#6), but there will be no attempts at further Elektron operation before 4/13 due to power concerns at the current solar Beta angle combined with scheduled battery cycling operations. 

Volatile Organic Analyzer (VOA):  The difficult but smoothly conducted in-flight failure diagnosis of the VOA has confirmed the root cause of its premature failure in July 2003, viz.: two thermal fuses (one of which protects one of the compound traps and one that protects one of the ion mobility cells) failed, leading to open circuits for the heaters that they protect.  This clears the way for a future repair of the VOA by replacing these in-series thermal fuses with two parallel sets of two switches in series (four total).  The switches have been ordered and when delivered will be sent to the ISS for a future IFM (in-flight maintenance) activity.   [The VOA detects trace organic compounds in the atmosphere by taking in air samples, dividing it between two channels, and then concentrating the compounds in an adsorption bed called a trap.  The trap is then quickly heated to 300° C to desorb the compounds.  The compounds proceed through a 60 meter tightly wound gas chromatograph column to separate out different molecules based on their rate of diffusion.  Finally, the compounds reach the IMS (Ion Mobility Spectrometer) detector where they are ionized and further separated based on differences in their rate of mobility through an electric field.]

Medical Equipment Computer (MEC):  The MEC hard drive was replaced over the weekend, but it did not resolve the failure.  The original MEC hard drive was then installed in a spare IBM ThinkPad 760XD shell, which successfully recovered the MEC capability.   [This leaves two 760XD shells easily available for PCS (Portable Computer System) spares,- one already configured and stowed and one attached to an EXPRESS rack which would need a PCS-software-configured hard drive installed prior to use.  There are other 760XD units onboard but they are not the type authorized for PCS use and would require significant reconfiguration if that became a necessity.]

Rollout of Discovery, the Return-to-Flight Orbiter for the LF-1/STS-114 mission, is currently set for tomorrow morning not earlier than 6:00am EDT.

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 Internal waves, Sea of Okhotsk (on this pass lighting and weather should have favored sun glint views of Bo Hai Bay and the Yellow Sea), and Hyderabad, India (this mega city has proved to be a very challenging target for ISS crews.  Weather, atmospheric turbidity, and a generally low-contrast urban boundary in an area with few landmarks have all been factors.  As ISS approached from the NW, the crew was to try to spot the deltas of the Krishna and Godvari Rivers on the Bay of Bengal and then look for the city roughly 150 miles inland to the WNW).

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: 

• 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 (2:38pm 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 (6:04pm EDT (Kustanai: 4:04am 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, 5:45am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 356.9 km
• Apogee height — 361.2 km
• Perigee height — 352.6 km
• Period — 91.68 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0006417
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 36424

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.