NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 2 October 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew off duty. Ahead: Week 3 of Increment 29 (three-person crew).
FE-4 Sergei Volkov performed the routine checkup of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of the regular Daily Morning Inspection.
CDR Fossum serviced the running BCAT-5 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-5) experiment, checking camera operations during the day and changing the camera battery in the morning and before sleeptime (change required after 8 hrs). [The new experiment session is with a Harvard University phase separation sample using a different setup than for the recent crystal samples 9 & 10, mainly requiring an SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop with EarthKAM timing software, power cables and camera USB cable. For illumination, the Mini-MagLite and Flash batteries do not need to be changed yet, but the camera will need a freshly charged battery. After Mike started the run on 9/21 by mixing the sample (#4) for phase separation and taking test photos, the EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) software on the SSC-13 laptop began taking pictures of Sample 4 for 13 days at different intervals throughout the run. This requires camera battery changes twice a day and image check with a battery change once per day. BCAT-5 is operating in the JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) because some time ago the crew deemed the US Lab too crowded for running it.]
Volkov conducted the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. This included the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow, as well as the weekly checkup on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s & FGB’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for calldown. [SOZh servicing includes 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].
Fossum set up the equipment for his 2nd 24-hour urine collections under the Generic HRF (Human Research Facility) NUTRITION/Repository protocol, beginning tomorrow morning with the first void. [Based on crew feedback, new cold stowage hardware, and IPV (International Procedures Viewer) capabilities, the generic blood & urine procedures were created to allow an individual crewmember to select their payload complement and see specific requirements populated. Individual crewmembers will select their specific parameter in the procedures to reflect their science complement. Different crewmembers will have different required tubes and hardware configurations, so they should verify their choice selection before continuing with operations to ensure their specific instruction.]
Mike also turned on MPC (Multi Protocol Converter) routing and started the playback to the ground of accumulated HD video recordings, with POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) routing the onboard HRDL (High-Rate Data Link). After about an hour, MPC routing was turned off again. [This is a routine operation which regularly transmits HD onboard video (live or tape playback) to the ground.]
CDR & FE-5 had their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences) on their schedule, via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Satoshi at ~1:30pm, Mike at ~4:00pm EDT.
Tasks listed for Sergei Volkov on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
Continuing the preparation & downlinking of more reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb),
A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of bio-luminescent glow of high-production zones in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop, and
Another ~30-min. session for Russia’s EKON Environmental Safety Agency, making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on Earth using the NIKON D3X camera with the RSK-1 laptop.
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-5), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-5), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-4).
No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 9:19am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 387.2 km
Apogee height – 398.2 km
Perigee height – 376.1 km
Period — 92.30 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0016376
Solar Beta Angle — 17.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 85 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 73,767
Time in orbit (station) — 4699 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 3986 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations (Increment 29)————-
10/19/11 — ISS Reboost
10/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/30/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
11/01/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/14/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon — Target date
12/26/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit — (date “on or about”)
12/28/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S docking (MRM1) — (date “on or about”)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
TBD — Progress M-13M/45P undock
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P launch
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
02/29/12 — ATV3 launch readiness
TBD — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov
04/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/05/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – launch on Proton (under review)
05/06/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
05/07/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) – docking (under review)
05/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-07M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-08M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-
