NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 15 March 2012
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
After breakfast, FE-2 Anatoly Ivanishin performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
FE-4 Oleg Kononenko conducted the regular (weekly) inspection of the replaceable half-coupling of the 4GB4 hydraulic unit of cooling loop KOB-2, checking for coolant fluid hermeticity (leak-tightness).
In the ESA COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), CDR Burbank performed an onboard science session with the ESA PASSAGES experiment, the 3rd onboard run and his 2nd, setting up the VCA1 (Video Camera Assembly 1) to cover the activities as he operated the experiment from the EPM (European Physiology Module) laptop. Afterwards, the PASSAGES PCMCIA (Portable Computer Memory Card International Adapter) memory card was inserted into the EPM laptop for downlinking. [After installing the experiment equipment (NeuroSpat light shield, trackball) on the MPL (Multipurpose Laptop) in front of the EPM, Dan conducted the science data collection as subjects (no glasses allowed). The CDR later stowed the equipment. The objective of the PASSAGES experiment is to study the effect of the absence of gravity on a body-related action such as the passage through a restricted opening. Participants estimate the “passability” in making verbal judgments as to whether they can fit through a doorway depicted in a virtual reality environment (by responding to “Yes/No” questions). Through this experiment, our aim is to better understand how astronauts must adjust perceptual strategies in order to efficiently perform simple tasks (such as passing through an open doorway). This experiment tests a fundamental hypothesis about human perception while at the same time helping researchers to understand how astronauts adjust to the novel conditions of space flight. These experiments may lead to training paradigms using virtual reality that could be used to better prepare astronauts for space. The first onboard run was performed by Paolo Nespoli on 1/3/11.]
In the JAXA JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), working on the MSPR (Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack) work bench set up by FE-6 Pettit earlier in the day, FE-5 Kuipers spent several hours on the removal of the MS (Marangoni Surface) fluid physics experiment from the FPEF (Fluid Physics Experiment Facility) and changing FPEF to non-operation mode. Afterwards, Don Pettit joined in for closing out the MSPR work bench site. [Activity steps included disconnecting IPU user video cables from FPEF, removing the experiment cover plate and the FPEF payload bus cable, then removing the silicon filter hose and the Marangoni Surface hardware.]
CDR Burbank unstowed & gathered equipment & tools required for tomorrow’s scheduled cable routing for the HRCS (High Rate Communications System) in the Lab FWD endcone and prepared a new generic CTB (Cargo Transfer Bag) that will be used to house loose electrical caps and plugs.
FE-1 Shkaplerov performed troubleshooting activities on a light fixture (RAO SSD307) in SM that has shown off-nominal behavior. [Anton checked two associated fuses and used the Elektronika MMTs-01 Multimeter for testing electric resistance in the cable between the light and its switchboard and in internal switchboard circuits.]
After switching STTS RS (Russian Segment) comm system to support MRM1 Rassvet occupancy, FE-1 continued the outfitting activities in the module, constructing two glovebox sliding shelves on the new framework installed yesterday on the curved shell wall. STTS was then restored to nominal again.
FE-2 Ivanishin continued the current round of the periodic preventive maintenance of RS ventilation systems in the FGB (Funktsionalnyi-Grusovoj Blok) by cleaning the detachable VT7 fan screens of the three SOTR gas-liquid heat exchangers (GZhT4), plus the vent screens of panels 116, 316, 231 & 431.
After terminating overnight charging of its battery, Oleg Kononenko installed & started the equipment of the GFI-1 “Relaksatsiya” (Relaxation) Earth Observation experiment at SM window #9 for another run, using it to observe the Earth surface and atmosphere at terminator crossing in two parts, with spectrometer adjustment in between (6:45am-7:05am & 7:35am-7:55am EDT). Later, Oleg dismantled the equipment and dumped the data from Laptop 3 via the RSS1 terminal. [By means of the GFI-1 UFK “Fialka-MV-Kosmos” ultraviolet camera, SP spectrometer and SONY HVR-Z7 HD (High Definition) camcorder, the experiment observes the Earth atmosphere and surface from window #9, with spectrometer measurements controlled from Laptop 3. “Relaxation”, in Physics, is the transition of an atom or molecule from a higher energy level to a lower one, emitting radiative energy in the process as equilibrium is achieved.]
FE-6 Pettit serviced the two MERLIN (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator) freezers, first equipping MERLIN-2 in Lab O4_D1 with two fresh desiccant packs and transferring all food items and the tray assembly from the nearby MERLIN-1 (LAB1O4_B1) to MERLIN-2. Later, he removed the old desiccant packs from MERLIN-1 and left the front door open for a 24-hr dryout. [MERLIN is used for cold storage of crew food and drink. Telemetry data from MERLIN-1 had indicated that its desiccant packs were approaching saturation.]
Later, Don performed routine maintenance on the WRS (Water Recovery System) using the LFTP (Low Flow Transfer Pump) to transfer the contents of two CWCs (Contingency Water Containers) to the WPA WWT (Water Processor Assembly / Waste Water Tank), emptying them via a particulate filter. [Don set up CWC #1062 first, then Andre swapped it later with CWC-I (-Iodine) #1016. Max. allowable quantity in WWT: 89%.]
In the RS, Ivanishin conducted the regular transfer of US condensate water from CWC to the RS for the periodic (about twice a month) replenishing of the Elektron’s water supply for electrolysis, filling the designated KOV EDV container (#1000). Once filled, the EDV was connected to the BPK transfer pump for processing through the BKO water purification (multifiltration) unit. [Condensate was drawn from CWCs #1072 & #1039. The 40-minute procedure is specially designed for gas/liquid separation, i.e., to prevent air bubbles larger than ~10 mm from getting into the Elektron’s BZh Liquid Unit where they could cause Elektron shutdown.]
In support of his subsequent SLICE (Structure & Liftoff In Combustion Experiment) activities, FE-6 Pettit performed a visual inspection of the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) facility and activated it.
Later, Pettit configured the SLICE pyrometry hardware and performed the 9th flame test operation, today using the 2nd and last bottle of 20% ethylene. Later, FE-6 ran the flame tests one more time, with a new burner installed. Before powering off, Pettit performed SLICE fan calibration to evaluate the air flow. MSG was later deactivated again. [The research goal is to gain unique data to extend scientists’ predictive capability. Earth application: Increased efficiency and reduced pollutant emission for practical combustion devices, improved numerical modeling, hence improved design tools, hence improved practical combustion on Earth (currently, the good modeling-experiment agreement breaks down when flames are lean or heavily sooting). Measurements: still images (with camera that was blackbody calibrated for pyrometry), video & radiometer. Hardware: SLICE is conducted in the MSG using the SPICE hardware.]
For his on-going 3rd (FD75) Ambulatory Monitoring session of the ESA ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular) Alternate experiment, Don Pettit reached midpoint at about 8:45am EDT, after which he began the second 24h data collection period. [For the second 24 hr period, the Cardiopres was temporarily doffed and the HM2 HiFi CF Card and AA Battery were changed out to allow continuation of the session for another 24 hours. After data collection is complete, the Actiwatches and both HM2 HiFi CF Cards are downloaded to the HRF PC1, while Cardiopres data are downloaded to the EPM (European Physiology Module) Rack and transferred to the HRF PC1 via a USB key for downlink. The sessions are scheduled at or around FD14, FD30, FD75, FD135 and R-15 (there will be fewer sessions if mission duration is less than six months). (ICV activities consist of two separate but related parts over a one-week time period: an ultrasound echo scan & an ambulatory monitoring session.)]
After clearing the front of the HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1) rack in COL of stowage bags to make room for using the SLAMMD (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device), Andre Kuipers set up the SLAMMD equipment and used it for determining his body mass, followed in suit by Don Pettit. Afterwards, Andre powered off, disassembled and temporary stowed SLAMMD hardware including the SLAMMD Accessories Kit.
In the Lab, Dan Burbank worked at a closeout panel (S0-02) to be removed tomorrow during his HRCS activities, inspecting it for stuck or damages Dzus fasteners and re4moving/repairing hardware as required. [Dzus (pronounced Zooss) is a proprietary name for a type of quarter-turn fastener often used to secure skin panels on airplanes. It was invented and patented by native Ukrainian William Dzus in the early 1930s. Quarter-turn fasteners are used to secure panels in equipment, aircraft, motorcycles and racing cars that must be removed often and/or quickly. These fasteners are of an “over-center” design which requires positive sustained torque to unfasten (“push in to take out”). Thus, any minor disturbance to the fastener will correct itself rather than proceed to further loosening as it would in threaded fasteners.]
Ivanishin performed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]
FE-2 also took care of the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, updating/editing its standard “delta file” including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur)
The crew had time set aside for commemorative (“symbolic”) activities, viz., stamping and signing ~60 Expedition 30 envelopes, Baikonur flags and 9 paintings by Shilov with certificates for Roskosmos and GRO/Russian Postal Service. Burbank, Pettit & Kuipers participated in the signing of the Shilov paintings (backside) and their certificates. The envelopes, flags and paintings were packed into kits for return on Soyuz TMA-22/28S spacecraft next month (4/30). [Alexander Maxovich Shilov, born 10/6/1943 in Moscow, is a prominent Soviet and Russian painter. In 1996 he donated to the Russian Government 365 portraits painted by him. Since 2001 he is a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts.]
Pettit again had a time slot reserved each for making entries in his electronic Journal on the personal SSC (Station Support Computer). [Required are three journaling sessions per week.]
At ~3:15pm EDT, CDR Burbank, FE-5 Kuipers & FE-6 Pettit are scheduled for a 15-min teleconference with the ground, to discuss the Program Science information products which the crew is receiving at this time. Questions will pertain to their responses, evaluation and inputs to the products, based on the WSS (Weekly Science Summary) for this week (25).
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-5, FE-6), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-1, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-2, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-4) and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-1, FE-4). [FE-6 is on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions, followed by a USND leg muscle self scan in COL. Today’s exercise called for CEVIS, with T2 (Treadmill Kinematics) following tomorrow. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day.]
Before Presleep, the CDR will turn on the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) and start the Ku-band data flow of video recorded during the day to the ground, with POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) routing the onboard HRDL (High-Rate Data Link). After about an hour, Dan turns MPC routing off again. [This is a routine operation which regularly transmits HD onboard video (live or tape playback) to the ground on a daily basis before sleeptime.]
Tasks listed for Shkaplerov, Kononenko & Ivanishin on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
* A ~30-min. run of the GFI-8 “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X digital camera with Sigma AF 300-800mm telelens, focusing on the Caspian & Aral Seas, Allalin Glacier, Kolka Glacier, the glaciers of the Pamirs: RGS, Bear & Mabuza, volcanoes Tambora & Ranak, the Kerch Strait, Laganakskoe plateau, and Krasnaya Polyana,
* A ~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, and
* More preparation & downlinking of reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb).
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Irrawaddy River Sand Bars North, Myanmar (the sand bars around the Irrawaddy River have a tendency to erode and rebuild periodically depending on the time of year. Currently this area is in the dry season, which is ideal for observing the eroded river sand bar. As ISS tracked SE over the Himalayas, the crew was to look near nadir for this river, using a long lens to capture the river beds along the Irrawaddy), Chaing Mai, Thailand (weather was predicted to be fairly clear for this rare target as ISS tracked SE over the Indochina region. Chaing Mai is the largest and mostly culturally significant city in northern Thailand, and is the capital of the Chaing Mai Province. Looking nadir as ISS passed over this target to acquire context shots of Chaing Mai), Amsterdam, Netherlands (Capital Cities Collection: Clear weather was expected as ISS approached this capital city. Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands, with a population of over 2 million. As the crew travelled E over the United Kingdom and the English Channel, they were to look just left of track to capture long lens shots of this city), Luxembourg (Capital Cities Collection: Weather conditions were predicted to be clear over central Europe at the time of this overpass. Looking just left of track for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – the world’s only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country is landlocked and borders Belgium, France, and Germany. Overlapping and mapping frames were requested), Vaduz, Liechtenstein (Capital Cities Collection: Looking just left of track for the capital city of the principality of Liechtenstein. The city is located in a large valley on the banks of the Rhine River. Overlapping mapping frames were suggested to obtain imagery of this capital city), Zagreb, Croatia (Capital Cities Collection: The Croatian capital city is located in the NW of the country and lies in the valley of the Sava River on the southern slopes of Medvednica Mountain. ISS had a fair weather pass in early afternoon light with its approach form the WNW. At this time, looking nadir for this target for a context view of the entire city in a single frame, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Capital Cities Collection: Look nadir for this capital city of 5.25 million people. The industrial areas of Riyadh, with some of the world’s largest factories related to oil production, lie on the northeast side of the city and contrast with the residential areas. Desalinated drinking water for the city is pumped from the Persian Gulf 470 km distant).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:44am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 389.9 km
Apogee height – 401.5 km
Perigee height – 378.3 km
Period — 92.35 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0017193
Solar Beta Angle — -45.8 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 131 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 76,341
Time in orbit (station) — 4864 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4151 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
03/23/12 — ATV3 launch (12:34am EDT)
03/28/12 — ATV3 docking (~6:34pm EDT)
04/19/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
04/20/12 — Progress M-15M/47P launch
04/22/12 — Progress M-15M/47P docking
04/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-22/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/S.Revin
05/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
07/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
07/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
07/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking
07/31/12 — Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 — Progress M16M/48P docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/01/12 — Progress M-17M/49P launch
11/03/12 — Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/05/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/26/12 — Progress M-18M/50P launch
12/28/12 — Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/19/13 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
04/02/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
04/04/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/16/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/31/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-
