NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 August 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. Saturday — off-duty day for Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips, except for some housekeeping and voluntary work.
The crew’s sleep cycle remains shifted two hours to the right, with wakeup this morning at 4:00am EDT. Sleep period begins at 7:30pm tonight. The crew will remain on this schedule until Tuesday, August 16.
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CDR Krikalev and FE/SO Phillips completed the regular weekly 3-hr. task of thorough station cleaning, wearing protective garment. [“Uborka”, done every Saturday, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, damp cleaning of the Service Module (SM) dining table, other surfaces and the CDR’s sleep station with “Fungistat” disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]
Continuing preparations for next week’s EVA-14, the crew reviewed updates to standard procedures for using the “Pirs” Docking Compartment (DC1) as spacewalk egress/ingress airlock. The review was supported by ground specialist tagup.
Also for the EVA, John Phillips began the recharging process on four EHIP (EMU helmet interchangeable portable) lights in the BSA (Battery Stowage Assembly). [The batteries (##1009, 1016, 1018, 1020) will power the US helmet lights installed on the Russian Orlan-M spacesuits (#25 & #27). John is using a new “streamlined” charging procedure from the SSC/computer-based MPV (manual procedure viewer), and the voltages are being monitored from the ground.]
Sergei performed the daily routine maintenance of the Service Module (SM)’s environment control & life support system (SOZh), including the ASU toilet facilities.
At ~8:45am, the crew engaged in their regular weekly planning conference (WPC) with the ground, discussing next week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (prepared jointly by MCC-H and TsUP/Moscow timeline planners), via S-band/audio, reviewing upcoming activities and any concerns about future on-orbit events.
Working from his discretionary “time available” task list, Krikalev used the automatic temperature logger (ART) for the regular temperature check on the BIO-11 “Statokonia” payload with the ULITKA (“snail”) incubator, set up in the SM with new material delivered on Progress 18. [BIO-11 studies the composition of statoconia, i.e., the organ of equilibrium in snails, and other phenomena exhibited by “ulitka” in zero-G and post-flight.]
Also added to the CDR’s job list as a new task was another session of the regular monthly ETD experiment (=Eye Tracking Device, to investigate the coordination of eye and head movements in zero-G), his fifth, taking place in the DC-1 docking module’s center sphere at his discretion. [After a calibration with the calibrating unit, the experiment investigates horizontal eye and head movement coordination, measured Listing’s plane, and determined the orientation of the vestibulo-ocular coordinate system, using five target marks on the horizontal plane. Each step required another prior calibration run, using visual target cues or the calibration unit.]
Both crewmembers conducted their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, CEVIS cycle ergometer, 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, 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).
After Thursday’s failure of the Russian Vozdukh CO2 (carbon dioxide) removal system, MCC-Houston yesterday activated the CDRA (CO2 removal assembly), after which CO2 partial pressure (ppCO2) decreased as expected. TsUP/Moscow has asked the crew to locate a diagnostic control panel for use in trouble-shooting the Vozdukh this weekend.
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Eleven — 16th):
When Discovery/STS-114 landed, it carried the first significant downmass of science data and samples since December 2002. Although some ISS experiments send data to the ground electronically, researchers were anxiously awaiting samples and data from a number of experiments done over the last 2 1/2 years. [These returns include biological samples from the Renal Stone experiment (to help determine whether Potassium Citrate is successful in reducing the risk of kidney stones on orbit); samples of the Yeast-GAP (Group Activation Packs) experiment (for investigating genetic changes in cells grown in micro-G); Viscous Liquid Foam – Bulk Metallic Glass Experiment (foam samples made in orbit to be examined for strength and uniformity); ISSI (In-Space Soldering Investigation) samples (to determine how the unique behavior of rosin observed in on-orbit video of soldering influenced the final state of the cooled solder); MISSE PEC 1,2 (Materials on the ISS Experiment Passive Experiment Containers 1&2) with a wide variety of test materials exposed to the environment outside the ISS for four years; SEM (Space Experiment Module) with a set of materials tested inside the station as part of an educational experiment; samples of tomato seeds from EPO (Educational Payload Operations) for return to the student “Tomatosphere” project; samples of protein crystals grown in space as part of the PCG-STES (to help determine the structure of complex proteins); plus data tapes from a number of physical science experiments, including CFE (Capillary Flow Experiment), FMVM (Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement), and MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Microgravity), as well as educational demonstrations from EPO.]
Human Research Facility/Gas Analyzer System for Metabolic Analysis Physiology (HRF GASMAP): After the recent GASMAP “health” check, payload specialists expect that it was the last in HRF Rack 1, with the next one after GASMAP’s move to the newly arrived HRF Rack 2.
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Advanced Ultrasound (ADUM): Continuing.
Renal Stone (RS): In progress.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight (FOOT): Complete.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS is nominal and receiving acceleration data.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS remains in nominal operations.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): “STES got back home safe and sound.” The unit was returned to the Principal Investigator (PI) on Tuesday night (8/9). The DCAM trays were transferred from the STES to a refrigerator and separated from the trays on Wednesday morning. The PI is currently performing an analysis on the ground. The STES team passed on their thanks to the Science Officer for his support.
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): BCAT-3 Slow Growth Sample Module will be left undisturbed in its current location by the E11 crew. In order for the samples to potentially grow crystals that can be photographed during Increment 12 operations, the Sample Module must be left undisturbed.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. New MISSE-5 “suitcase” deployed and unfolded during EVA outside on the U.S. Airlock. Nominal and collecting data. Old unit was returned on LF-1.
Dust and Aerosol Measurement Feasibility Test (DAFT): Nothing new.
Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Complete.
Serial Network Flow Monitor (SNFM): Complete.
Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM): Nothing new.
Space Experiment Module (SEM): Nothing new. Experimenters and kids are working to get the next two satchels on ULF1.1.
Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG): MFMG payload operations are finished.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Complete.
Crew Earth Observations (CEO): To date 4,810 of the crew’s CEO images were received on the ground. Investigators are “continuing to see improvement in the sharpness and quality of your long lens views. Practice is working!” One of their earlier photos of the Aral Sea has been published this weekend on NASA/GSFC’s Earth Observatory site in an article comparing sea level changes in photos from 1988, 1996, and 2005.
Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude not limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Internal waves, W Azores, Atlantic (this pass was in fair weather well to the SW of the Azores. Looking of glint-enhanced sea surface features just left of track), Puerto Rico (today’s pass offered near-nadir views of the western end of Puerto Rico. Using the long lens settings to document the relatively sparse coral reef structures there as well as the sediment plumes from streams and bays related to the island’s development), Andrews Forest, Washington (fine weather for photography persists over the Pacific Northwest. For this pass the crew was to begin a nadir mapping strip at Eugene Oregon and work east-southeastward across the forests of the Cascades to the Deschutes River Valley), and Beni River dynamics, Bolivia (once more, excellent viewing conditions were likely for this pass for the upper floodplain of the Beni River. Using the long lens settings to map in detail the meander scars and lake patterns).
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.
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ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 11:44am EDT [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 354.1 km
- Apogee height — 354.7 km
- Perigee height — 353.5 km
- Period — 91.62 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0000873
- Solar Beta Angle — 4.5 deg (magnitude increasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 55 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 38472
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.
