NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 8 May 2015

The crew was scheduled for a half-duty day today to catch their breath following a week of heavy maintenance and in advance of activities to come.
NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Scott Kelly completed the work they’ve been doing this week on one of the station’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Assemblies (CDRA) by reconnecting power, data and fluid lines to the unit. Ground controllers then performed a series of checkouts before the unit was powered back on. The CDRA system works to remove carbon dioxide from the cabin air, allowing for an environmentally safe crew cabin.

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti focused on a mix of experiment work including the Skin-B study and completing her runs with the Triplelux-A experiment. Skin-B is seeking to better understand the process of skin aging, which is greatly accelerated in microgravity, which could provide insight into the aging process of similar bodily tissues. Triplelux-A is investigating immune suppression in space.

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) reported the Progress 59 cargo craft reentered the Earth’s atmosphere at 10:04 p.m. EDT on Thursday over the Pacific Ocean. Full Update.

On-Orbit Status Report

Crew Half-Duty Day: Today was a half duty day for the USOS crew following a week of CDRA operations and activities associated with SpX-6 unberthing, currently scheduled for May 21.

Gene, Immune and Cellular Responses to Single and Combined Space Flight Conditions – A (Triplelux-A): Cristoforetti closed out the Triplelux-A experiment today. She unstowed and removed the Experiment Container (EC) from Biolab, removed the EC Handling Mechanism (HM) Interface and photo documented the Interface bags, then retrieved the Automatic Ambient Stowage (AAS). All hardware was then stowed per the plan. Triplelux-A uses a rat macrophage cell line to investigate and compare the ability of macrophages to kill pathogens under normal gravity and microgravity conditions. The goal is to gain a better understanding of immune suppression in spaceflight.

Rodent Research-2 Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (RR-2 CASIS): Virts and Kelly performed gather and setup for Monday’s RR-2 sample collection, the third of four collections. The crew configured the Bone Densitometer, as well as the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). The primary objective of this research is to monitor the effects of the space environment on the musculoskeletal and neurological systems of mice as model organisms of human health and disease.

Skin-B: Cristoforetti repeated the Skin-B activity performed earlier this week (Flight Day 150 session), having found a missing cable. She performed Corneometer (measuring the hydration level of the stratus coreum, or outer layer of the skin), Tewameter (skin barrier function measurement), and Visioscan (skin surface topography) measurements in support of the Skin-B experiment. The Skin-B investigation aims to improve the understanding of skin aging which is slow on Earth but greatly accelerated in space. This will also provide insights into the aging process in other (similar) bodily tissues in general.

Node 3 (N3) Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Operations: Yesterday Virts and Kelly completed N3 CDRA reassembly and installed CDRA back in the rack. Today the crew completed maintenance by reconnecting the power/data and fluid lines. The ground attempted to activate CDRA with no joy following the crew’s activity. Error messages were received during an Active Built-in-Test (ABIT). Ground teams are investigating the ABIT error messages. Until the N3 CDRA is recovered, Vozdukh, Lab CDRA and Amine Swing Bed will continue to remove CO2.

Dragon Cargo Transfer Operations: The crew continued loading return cargo and trash into the Dragon vehicle. As of tonight’s crew report we are approximately 70% complete with SpX-6 cargo operations.

Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

TWIN – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage
HRF – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage
HRF Urine Sample Collection
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
Closing USOS Window Shutters
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
HRF – Equipment stowage after sample collection
Chibis-M Repairs. / r/g 8760
Urine Transfer from EDV-U to EDV-M / r/g 8763
?3 Fan Screen Cleaning in DC1 r/g 8393
Air Heater Fan (???) Screen Cleaning
ISS Crew and ???? r/g 8736
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Cleaning FGB Gas-Liquid Heat Exchanger (???) Detachable Screens 1, 2, 3
Rodent Research (RR) – Hardware Gathering for the Experiment Ops
Cleaning FGB ??1 Circulation Fan Screens
Flushing water conditioning unit water purification columns r/g 8765
Rodent Research (RR) – Dissection procedure review
Life On The Station Photo and Video / r/g 8544
Crew removes desiccant from Glacier-1 and replaces with fresh desiccant, then repeats for Glacier-2
TPLXA – Hardware Retrieval
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Food Frequency Questionnaire
MSG – Activation of MSG glove box
PAO Event
Video Footage of Greetings / r/g 8761
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Rodent Research (RR) – Camcorder Node2 Setup
Rodent Research (RR) – Experiment Setup
IMS and Stowage Conference
Life On The Station Photo and Video / r/g 8544
Cleaning ???4 (Gas-Liquid Heat Exchanger) ??-7 fan screen
Rodent Research (RR) – Dissection procedure review
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Medical Kit Stowage
TPLXA – Removal from Incubator
Collect SM and FGB Air Samples Using ??-1? Sampler r/g 8759
BAR Experiment Ops / r/g 8756
Dragon Transfer Ops
TPLXA – Taking pictures of EC HM Interface
TPLXA – AAS Removal
TPLXA – Equipment Stowage
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
MSPR Components Deactivation
IMS Delta File Prep
Completed Task List Items

None
Ground Activities
All activities were complete unless otherwise noted.

2B3 Battery Reconditioning [In Work]
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Saturday, 05/09: Crew off duty, housekeeping, Twin Studies saliva collection
Sunday, 05/10: Crew off duty, Space Aging, Bone Densitometer startup/calibration
Monday, 05/11: Rodents Research
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component – Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – On
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Operate
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Standby
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Shutdown
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up