NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 October 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 Bill McArthur & Valery Tokarev, except for housekeeping and voluntary work.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Valery! What a fantastic place to spend your 53rd in!
The crew completed the regular weekly 3-hour 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.]
Troubleshooting continued this morning on the Elektron oxygen generator’s primary pump (the Elektron has been working satisfactorily on 24A on its backup micropump since the crew restored it on 10/22. [After turning off the BMP micropurification unit, the FE worked on the Elektron control panel, using de-ionized water from the KOV EDV container to get the primary pump circuit started, while monitoring sensor readouts. The ground is now evaluating downlinked telemetry.]
The CDR performed the weekly maintenance on the TVIS treadmill, primarily checking the condition of the SPDs (subject positioning devices) and recording time & date values.
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Both crewmembers completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS, RED resistive machine and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer. [Valery’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 the first set).]
Later, Bill McArthur transferred 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 of his RED workout, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).
At ~8:30am EDT, Valery Tokarev had his weekly PFC (private family conference) via S-band/audio and Ku-band/NetMeeting video (undoubtedly a special birthday chat).
At ~8:55am, the crew held their regular weekly planning conference (WPC) with the ground, discussing this week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (prepared jointly by MCC-H and TsUP/Moscow timeliners), via S-band/audio, reviewing upcoming activities and any concerns about future on-orbit events.
At ~11:55am, Bill and Valery also conducted their weekly 20-min. teleconference with ISS Program Management at JSC/Houston via S-band/audio.
The crew received thanks for yesterday’s successful checkout of the USND (Ultrasound) equipment on the HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1) by the Science Officer and for Tokarev’s video record. [“Your regular feedback and attention to detail throughout the procedure was very helpful. A special thanks for the cabin video, the visual was informative.”]
Starting at 8:00am this morning, POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center)/Huntsville is closed down for 7.5-hours of planned facility maintenance. [During the downtime, all MSFC-HOSC (HuntsvilleOperations Support Center) external voice, video and data communications are unavailable.]
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Twelve — 3rd)
Human Research Facility/Gas Analyzer System for Metabolic Analysis Physiology (HRF GASMAP): Planned.
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Pulmonary Function System (PFS): The PFS team thanked the crew for their enthusiastic support of the PFS project. The ground is continuing to investigate several of the anomalies noticed during the PFS check-out.
Advanced Ultrasound (ADUM): The Science Officer was thanked for performing the once-per-Increment check out of the Ultrasound (USND).
Renal Stone (RS): The Principal Investigator has confirmed receipt of all barcode reader data for the first Renal session.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight (FOOT): Complete for this Increment.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS is nominal.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS is nominal.
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): BCAT-3 Slow Growth Sample Module was 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.
Dust and Aerosol Measurement Feasibility Test (DAFT): Nothing new.
Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Planned for February.
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.
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Crew Earth Observations (CEO): Through 10/24, the ground has received and reviewed a total of 609 of Increment 12 CEO images. The excellent shots of the Pinacates Biosphere Site met all requirements for this target for this season. The crew also had a fine session with the Pilcomayo River Dynamics Site. Their striking oblique view of Navajo Mountain in southern Utah has been published on NASA/GSFC’s Earth Observatory website this weekend. This well-composed view with shadows nicely illustrates this uplifted feature in its geologic context. “Way to go! You are off to a great start with Crew Earth Observations. We hope more target opportunities will appear next week as your daylight returns to the Northern Hemisphere”.
Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, which is available for only ~1/4 of each orbit when not facing forward (in ram), were Internal waves, Northern Patagonian Shelf (patchy clouds were present, but conditions were still favorable for internal wave photography. Looking to the left of track along the coastline for the sunglint point), and Internal waves, Southern New Zealand (looking to the left of track to the south of North Island for internal wave patterns. The sunglint point was to the left of track. The crew may also have seen some interesting patterns between North and South Islands).
To date, over 177,000 of CEO images have been taken in the first five years of the ISS.
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 12 crew visit:
- http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-12/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.
Expedition 12 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 Events (all dates Eastern):
- 11/02/05 – Fifth Anniversary of permanent ISS occupancy
- 11/07/05 — EVA-4 (U.S.; hatch open ~9:30am; hatch closing ~3pm EDT)
- 11/15/05 — ISS Reboost (from 19P; manifold #2)
- 11/18/05 — Soyuz TMA-7/11S relocation (from DC-1 to FGB nadir port)
- 12/07/05 — EVA-15 (Russian; under review)
- 12/20/05 — Progress M-54/19P undocking & reentry
- 12/21/05 — Progress M-55/20P launch
- 12/23/05 — Progress M-55/20P docking
- 01/09/06 — 100 days for Expedition 12.
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.
