NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 7 February 2010

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – crew rest day. Ahead: Week 11 of Increment 22

This morning’s planned launch of STS-130/Endeavour (20A) was scrubbed at ~4:30am EST (T-9 min) due to inclement RTLS (Return to Launch Site) weather.

Sleep shift in effect: The crew’s workday began last evening at 5:40pm and ended this morning at 9:10am.

At wake-up, FE-1 Suraev began his day with the regular daily checkup of the aerosol filters at the Elektron O₂ generator. [The filters were installed by Suraev on 10/19/09 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). Photographs are to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]

After breakfast, CDR Williams & FE-5 Noguchi supported the weekly U.S. “Bisphosphonates” biomedical countermeasures experiment, ingesting an Alendronate pill before breakfast. [The Bisphosphonates study should determine whether antiresorptive agents (that help reduce bone loss) in conjunction with the routine in-flight exercise program will protect ISS crewmembers from the regional decreases in bone mineral density documented on previous ISS missions. Two dosing regimens are being tested: (1) an oral dose of 70 mg of Alendronate taken weekly starting 3 weeks prior to flight and then throughout the flight and (2) an intravenous (IV) dose of 4 mg Zoledronic Acid, administered just once approximately 45 days before flight. The rationale for including both Alendronate and Zoledronic Acid is that two dosing options will maximize crew participation, increase the countermeasure options available to flight surgeons, increase scientific opportunities, and minimize the effects of operational and logistical constraints. The primary measurement objective is to obtain preflight and postflight QCT (Quantitative Computed Tomography) scans of the hip. The QCT scans will provide volumetric bone density information of both cortical and trabecular (spongy) bone regions of the hip.]

In the SM (Service Module), FE-4 Kotov did the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS), including the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]

Oleg also checked up on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for reporting to TsUP.

An additional task for the FE-4 in the SM was the routine inspection of the SVO SRV-K2M (Condensate Water Processor) hoses from the MF-R Diaphragm Separator Filter to the BRPK Condensate Separation & Pumping Unit (having replaced the latter on 12/21/09).

In the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), Williams set up the VCA1 (portside) video camera assembly and zoomed it in on the FOCUS experiment location. After preparing the hardware, Jeff supported the dynamic session of the ESA experiment “Foam Stability”, followed by two static sessions, replacing camcorder battery, rewinding the tape and exchanging cell arrays (cartridges 1, 2, 3) between runs. The equipment was then closed out and stowed. [The project aims at the study of aqueous and non-aqueous foams in micro-G environment. The behavior of foams in micro-G and on earth are very different, because the process of drainage is absent in space. The effective enhancement of the “foamability” of liquid solutions without this drainage effect of gravity is investigated. Other fundamental questions addressed are: how long can those foams be stable? What is the role of solid particles in the liquid in water foam stabilization? Is it possible to create very "wet" foams in microgravity?]

The entire crew had their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Oleg at ~3:10am, Maxim at ~4:25am, TJ at ~7:35am, Jeff at ~6:35pm, Soichi at ~8:10pm & again at 2:00am EST.

The crewmembers worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise on the TVIS treadmill (FE-1, FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-1, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-5), and VELO bike ergometer with bungee cord load trainer (FE-4).

• Sleep shifting started with the Progress docking on 2/4. Last night (2/6), crew wake shifted earlier, to 5:40pm EST. 20A Undock will drive Crew Wake one and a half hours earlier to 4:09pm by FD12. This shift is accomplished by moving Crew Sleep 30 min earlier on FDs 6-10, and then again on FD11 and FD12. Wake/Sleep table:

No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets uplinked for today.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:11am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude — 342.4 km
Apogee height – 349.6 km
Perigee height — 335.2 km
Period — 91.38 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0010708
Solar Beta Angle — -38.3 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.76
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 115 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 64305

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
02/08/10 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 “Tranquility”+Cupola (launch 4:14am EST)
02/010/10 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A docking

• 02/12/10 — EVA-1 (10:35pm)
• 02/13/10 — EVA-2 (10:05pm)
• 02/14/10 — Cupola relocation
• 02/16/10 — EVA-3 (10:05pm)

02/18/10 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A undock
02/20/10 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A KSC landing
03/18/10 — Soyuz TMA-16/20S undock/landing
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/18/10 — STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC (launch ~1:30pm EST)
04/02/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S launch – Skvortsov (CDR-24)/Caldwell/Kornienko
04/04/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————–
04/27/10 — Progress M-03M/35P undock
04/28/10 — Progress M-05M/37P launch
04/30/10 — Progress M-05M/37P docking
05/14/10 — STS-132/Atlantis/ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM-1 (~2:00pm EST)
05/10/10 — Progress M-04M/36P undock
05/31/10 — Soyuz TMA-17/21S undock/landing
————–Three-crew operations————-
06/14/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S launch – Wheelock (CDR-25)/Walker/Yurchikhin
06/16/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————–
07/xx/10 — US EVA-15
07/xx/10 — Russian EVA-25
06/28/10 — Progress M-06M/38P launch
07/02/10 — Progress M-06M/38P docking
07/26/10 — Progress M-05M/37P undock
07/27/10 — Progress M-07M/39P launch
07/29/10 — Progress M-07M/39P docking
07/29/10 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) (~7:30am EST)
08/30/10 — Progress M-06M/38P undock
08/31/10 — Progress M-08M/40P launch
09/02/10 — Progress M-08M/40P docking
09/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S undock/landing
09/16/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) (~12:01pm EST)
09/18/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) docking
09/22/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) undock
09/30/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S launch – Kelly (CDR-26)/Kaleri/Skripochka
10/xx/10 — Russian EVA-26
10/26/10 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
10/27/10 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
10/29/10 — Progress M-09M/41P docking
11/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing
11/18/10 — ATV2 launch– Ariane 5 (ESA) U/R
11/30/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli
12/15/10 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
12/17/10 — ATV2 docking
02/08/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
02/09/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
02/11/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking
03/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S launch
xx/xx/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S launch
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.