NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 6 June 2005

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All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Underway: Week 7 for Increment 11.

CDR Sergei Krikalev and FE/SO John Phillips performed their fourth session of the periodic Russian biomedical assessment of Calf Volume Measurement (PZEh-MO-7). [Calf measurements (left leg only) are taken with the IZOG device, a custom-sewn fabric cuff that fits over the calf, using the knee and lower foot as fixed reference points, to provide a rough index of deconditioning in zero-G and effectiveness of countermeasures. No Body Mass Measurements (PZEh-MO-8) today — yet).]

As TsUP/Moscow has now given the Go for US trash stowage on Progress 17, Phillips used three hours on his schedule to gather and prepare US hardware destined for disposal, while Krikalev spent time between the Russian segment (RS) and the cargo ship transferring and stowing discarded material, supported by the IMS (Inventory Management System) and an uplinked 96-items list. [Trash transfers continue throughout this week.]

Sergei also completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, and prepared the regular IMS (Inventory Management System) “delta” file for export/import to update the IMS databases.

In preparation for his second data collection session with the FOOT (Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight) experiment, scheduled for tomorrow, the Science Officer assembled the equipment in the Lab, including preparations for the EMG (electromyography) calibration with camcorder/video recording, which is to precede the day-long ops. [Feedback from John’s last run was uplinked by the FOOT team with strategic tips to avoid snags encountered during the previous session.]

The CDR broke out and set up the equipment for tomorrow’s scheduled Russian PZEh-MO-9 “Urolux” biochemical urine test, his second on this Increment.

Both crewmembers conducted their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, RED resistive machine and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer. [Sergei’s daily protocol prescribes a strict four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 2 of a new set).]

Afterwards, the FE transferred the exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

At his discretion for today, Krikalev worked two tasks from the “job jar” work list. First, he conducted another session with the “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program, focusing the Nikon D1X No. 3 digital camera with 800-mm lens on targets called out on an uplinked list. [Today’s targets included scenic imagery of Byelorussian Polesye, the Chernobyl area, a series of overlapping images of Russia, imagery along water-filled ravines west of Astrakhan, the southern bank of the Volga River, the eastern part of Mangyshlak Peninsula, imagery along both banks of the Amu-Darya River from the Aral Sea to Afghanistan, and the Kuril Islands.]

As a second “job jar” suggestion, the CDR conducted the regular daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 experiment, including filling its water canister as required. [Rasteniya (“plants”) researches growth and development of plants (currently horse radish) under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-7 greenhouse.]

Overnight, Progress 17 propellants from the cargo ship’s KDU fuel and oxidizer tanks were successfully transferred to the low-pressure storage tanks in the FGB module. [Monitored by Moscow on Daily Orbits 2-4, the SM’s automated daily timeline sequencer (SPP) commanded transition to propellant transfer mode, then commenced transfer from the prop tanks of Progress to the four FGB tanks via prop lines passing through the SM, lasting about 1-1.5 hrs.]

At ~8:45am EDT, MCC-Houston performed the periodic 30-min. “zero” calibration on the MCA (Major Constituents Analyzer). [The MCA is a mass spectrometer with a magnetic field to separate ionized air sample constituents in a work chamber that is kept at vacuum by a high-performance ion pump. Determined are partial pressures of major cabin air constituents (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, water, and methane). A zero calibration re-zeroes its sensors; a full calibration uses a gas standard internal to the MCA as reference.]

Update on Elektron: The onboard testing on Liquid Unit #5 (BZh-5) over the weekend has confirmed that the unit is indeed leaking nitrogen (N2) pressurization gas, and it has been declared no longer usable. TsUP is planning to have the crew perform more work on the remaining BZh-7 this week (6/9-10) before it can be retested. If the troubleshooting is successful, Elektron reactivation will be attempted after arrival of 18P (6/18), which is expected to deliver new filters for the Elektron’s gas lines, but BZh-7 installation and electrolyte servicing will be done pre- 18P.

No CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets today.

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 11 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-11/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 11 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.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:18am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 351.6 km
• Apogee height — 354.8 km
• Perigee height — 348.4 km
• Period — 91.57 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0004733
• Solar Beta Angle — -23.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 100
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 37400

Some Increment 11 Main Events (not final):

• Progress M-52 (17P) undock — 6/15 (4:13pm EDT);
• Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/16 (7:09pm EDT, Baikonur: 6/17, 5:09am)
• Progress M-53 (18P) dock — 6/18 (8:46pm EDT);
• Reboost — ~6/22 (delta-V 1.5 m/s);
• LF-1/STS-114 launch — 7/13 (18-day window opens);
• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) relocate (from DC-1 to FGB) — ~8/16;
• Progress M-54 (19P) launch — 8/24 (dock 8/26);
• ULF1.1/STS-121 launch — NET 9/9 (launch window opens);
• 12A/STS-115 launch — NET 2/16/06;
• 12A.1/STS-116 launch — NET 4/23/06;
• 13A/STS-117 launch — NET 7/13/06.

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.