NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 31 December 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 New Year’s Eve! For Bill McArthur & Valery Tokarev, this is the first day of the second half of their Expedition and the conclusion of an impeccable first half.

The crew completed the regular weekly three-hour task of thorough station cleaning, wearing protective garment.  [“Uborka”, normally 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 FE’s sleep station with “Fungistat” disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]

For his second “Saturday Science” activity today, the Science Officer reviewed the BCSS-FDI (Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage – Fluid Dynamics Investigation) task, and then worked on removing bubbles from the TCM (Tissue Culture Module) and syringe, while retaining as much of the solution as possible. The activity was video recorded for educational ground use.

As new standard early-morning task, FE Tokarev checked the operation of the Japanese experiment GCF-JAXA (Granada Crystallization Facility) in the Russian TBU incubator, maintained at 20 degC, including a temperature check on its ART (automatic temperature recorder).  [This daily monitoring/temp checking, carried on the Russian voluntary “time available” task list, will continue until 4/30 next year.]

Also working from his discretionary task list, Valery used the 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 20P.  [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.]

Both crewmembers completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, RED resistive exerciser 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 in unmotorized mode and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 3 of the first set).]

Afterwards Bill transferred the 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 from the workouts, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

At ~4:15am EST, the crew used the Sputnik-SM Kenwood D700 amateur radio station in the SM to conduct a 10-min. ham radio session with scouting attendees of the 25th Asia Pacific Scout Jamboree 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand.  [The Asia Pacific Jamboree (APJ) is regularly held once every four years within Asia. The current 25th APJ is taking place 12/28 1/3, with about 250,000 participants and scouts mainly from 23 countries inside Asia, plus some others from all over the world. The Jamboree is organized for young people, both boys and girls, 12-17 years old. Eak: “In your immigration form to space, where did you say you are going to?”; Chompoo: “Which planet would you like to visit the most?”; Karn: “If you will come to Thailand, which place would you like to visit?”; Nui: “After Harry Potter, what other movies would you like to watch?”]

The FE performed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s environment control & life support system (SOZh), including its toilet system (ASU).

The flexible air ducting between Progress 20 and the DC1 docking compartment tends to collapse despite crew efforts to stretch it open. The crew was instructed to turn the heater off but leave the fan on, and to try to keep the duct propped open to prevent moisture condensation in the Progress. According to Moscow, there is no spare ducting onboard.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Twelve — 12th)

Human Research Facility/Gas Analyzer System for Metabolic Analysis Physiology (HRF GASMAP): In progress.

Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.

Pulmonary Function System (PFS): Complete.

Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device (SLAMMD):  In progress.

Renal Stone (RS): The crew was thanked for the completion of their 2nd session. One more session remains.

Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight (FOOT):  Next week Bill McArthur will perform two activities to prepare for his upcoming Foot Data Collection sessions: a CBT (computer-based training) to refresh his Foot memory, and a dry run of the EMG calibration (Electromyography, =electric muscle currents recording), which precedes the data collection period and “can be a little tricky on-orbit with cords and scales flying about”. The Foot ground team will be available for support if Bill has any questions.

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS is powered off.

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS is powered off.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): In progress.

Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. New MISSE-5 “suitcase” deployed and unfolded during LF-1 EVA outside on the U.S. Airlock.

Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Planned for February.

Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems-Fluid Dynamics Investigation (CBOSS-FDI): Today’s “Saturday Science” program.

Serial Network Flow Monitor (SNFM): Complete.

Educational Payload Operations (EPO):  In progress.

Today’s CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Georgia Coast at night (suggested were overlapping near-nadir images of city lights on the Georgia coast. Inclusion of the coastline, even in night images, allows easier identification), and Northern Andes, Colombia, Venezuela (clear weather over the inboard [east] side of the Northern Andes. Suggest panoramas looking oblique left towards the Andes, including the riverine plains [inland deltas] in the foreground).

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:

• http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

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.

ISS Orbit  (as of this morning, 6:24am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 348.5 km
• Apogee height — 355.8 km
• Perigee height — 341.2 km
• Period — 91.51 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0010884
• Solar Beta Angle — 18.6 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.74
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 127 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 40673

Events Ahead (all dates Eastern; tentative):

• 01/09/06 — 100 days for Expedition 12
• 02/02/06 — Russian EVA-15
• 03/03/06 — Progress M-54/19P undocking & reentry
• 03/22/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S launch (Exp. 13 + Marcus Pontes/Brazil)
• 03/24/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S docking (DC1)
• 04/01/06 — Soyuz TMA-7/11S undocking & return (Exp. 12 + Marcus Pontes)
• 04/06/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S relocation (DC1 to FGB nadir port)
• 04/09/06 — Progress M-55/20P undocking & reentry
• 04/10/06 — Progress M-56/21P launch
• 04/12/06 — Progress M-56/21P docking
• 06/28/06 — Progress M-57/22P launch
• 06/30/06 — Progress M-57/22P docking
• 09/12/06 — Progress M-56/21P undocking & reentry
• 09/13/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S launch
• 09/15/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S docking
• 09/23/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S undocking & reentry
• 09/28/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S relocation (DC1 to FGB nadir port)
• 10/18/06 — Progress M-58/23P launch
• 10/20/06 — Progress M-58/23P docking
• 12/19/06 — Progress M-57/22P undocking & reentry
• 12/20/06 — Progress M-59/24P launch
• 12/22/06 — Progress M-59/24P docking.

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.