NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 26 July 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. Godspeed, Discovery!
STS-114/Discovery lifted off on time (10:39am EDT) on ISS Mission LF-1, carrying the crew of Commander Eileen M. Collins, Pilot James M. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Andrew S. W. Thomas, Charles J. Camarda, Wendy B. Lawrence, Stephen K. Robinson, and Soichi Noguchi, plus 29,725 lbs. of equipment & supplies, to return on 8/7 with 25,121 lbs. of equipment in its cargo bay. Docking at the station is scheduled for 7/28 (FD3) at 7:18am EDT, undocking at 8/5 at 4:27am, and landing at KSC on 8/7 at 5:46am.
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The CDR conducted the fifth experiment session with the Russian/German Plasma Crystal-3 (PK-3) payload, activating the evacuation turbopump and starting the evacuation of the vacuum chamber (ZB) and subsequent PK-3 operations. Supported by ground specialist tagup, the experimented was later terminated and the data transferred from hard disk drive for subsequent downlink. The turbopump was deactivated again at ~5:00pm EDT, and a hard disk drive cloned with its data yield. PK-3 was then disassembled and stowed, supported by ground specialist tagup. [The experiment is performed on dusty plasma, i.e., fine particles charged and excited by RF/radio frequency power inside the evacuated work chamber as it crystallizes. Experiment ops were automated.]
In preparation for the upcoming RPM (Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver), Krikalev started the charging process on the batteries for the handheld Kodak 760 DCS (digital camera system) cameras, four at a time. After about three hours of charging, the batteries were then moved to the SM. [Cameras #1011 and #1010 will be used as prime in-cabin cameras and also as prime cameras for the RPM (Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver) photography. In addition, for the RPM the crew will set up two backup cameras, #1013 and #1040, for the RPM instead of one as previously planned.]
After the ground had opened the LNS (Lab Nitrogen System) valve for the following calibration session, Phillips set up the video equipment and began today’s FOOT experiment (Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight), his fourth data collection session, by donning the specially instrumented LEMS (lower extremity monitoring suit) pants garment and performing electromyography (EMG) calibration (i.e., electric muscle currents recording) on the right arm and leg. With the N2 valve closed again, the FE/SO conducted the data collection session during the course of the day, including special pedaling on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (a first). After ~8.5 hours of activity, the equipment was stowed again. [The LEMS pants are black Lycra biking tights with 20 electrodes and shoes fitted with insoles that measure impact forces on the bottom of the foot for the 12-hr session. After the calibration, John completed a typical on-orbit day while his reaction forces against the ISS structure were recorded passively on 14 channels to determine how much stress his legs and feet endure. This provides better understanding of the bone loss and muscle mass loss experienced by astronauts in zero-G (recent studies have shown that as much as 1.58% per month of bone mineral is lost from the proximal femur during 4- to 14-month flights and that greater than 20% of knee-extensor strength is lost in 60- to 80-day flights). The experiment, by the biomedical engineering department at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, was also conducted previously by Mike Foale and Ken Bowersox.]
The CDR ghosted (cloned) two HDDs (hard disk drives) with the new SM software version 7.03.
The FE set up the VDS video system for the docked Shuttle configuration by connecting two video hard lines for Orbiter-to-ISS data and one video line for ISS-to-Orbiter transmission
Phillips also set up the DOUG (Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics) software for the upcoming SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) activities during LF-1. [The new Version 1.61 for the OpsLAN SSC (Operations Local Area Network Station Support Computer) A31p laptops was uplinked on 6/8 to upgrade the onboard Robotics DOUG software. DOUG is a software application that provides a graphical birdseye-view image of the external station configuration and the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System), showing its real-time location and configuration on a laptop during its operation.]
John collected water samples for analysis from the Lab condensate storage tank.
Sergei worked in the SM to replace the condensate water processor s air/liquid condensate separator unit (BRPK) in the #1 line with a new one, stowing the old unit for disposal. [There are two redundant BRPK condensate separation lines in the Russian SRV-K condensate water processor, each BRPK with an expected service life of ~300 L. After the liquid condensate is removed from the air/liquid mixture, the condensate flows through the BKO purification column unit which removes harmful mineral and organic contaminants. Depending on its quality, it then goes either to a potable water container (KPV), or to a technical water container (KTV) for further use or regeneration. The separated air from the BRPK enters a liquid carryover indicator (IPZh) and is released into the cabin atmosphere.]
John performed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including the weekly inspection of the BRPK air/liquid condensate separator apparatus, and he ll prepare the IMS delta file for automated export/import top the three IMS databases.
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 4 of a new set).]
Afterwards, John 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).
The missing ITCS PPA (Internal Thermal Control System Pump Package Assembly), removed during Increment 6, was located over last weekend, and protective caps were installed.
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On his voluntary time available task list, Sergei had another session with the “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program, focusing the Nikon D1X digital camera with f400 or 800 mm lens and a video camcorder from an SM window on targets specified by an uplinked list, some of them downlinked to TsUP/Moscow via the new BSR-TM data channel. [Today’s targets included the Altai mountains and their western-most portion enclosed by a bend of the Katun river, Irkut river valley from Khubsugul Lake to the western point of Baikal, following the lake shore line to the head of Angara river, the forest range between the right bank of Angara and Baikal shore, the eastern shore of Lake Baikal from the estuary of Selenga river to the north, populated areas in nadir (Chita, Shilka, Nerchinsk, etc.), the left Russian bank of Argun river and of the Amur river up to Tatar Strait, the coast of the Khabarovsk Territory, the south shore of Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands etc.]
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:
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 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.
