NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 July 2015

The three-member Expedition 44 crew explored microgravity science today while maintaining the systems of the International Space Station. Back on Earth, a Soyuz rocket rolled out to its launch pad today before Wednesday’s launch of three new crew members to the orbital laboratory.
One-Year crew member Scott Kelly worked throughout Monday primarily on station life support maintenance after some plant photography. His fellow One-Year crew member, Mikhail Kornienko, worked on the Kaskad and Motocard experiments. Commander Gennady Padalka conducted research for the Fluid Shifts and the Vibrolab studies.

A new trio of Expedition 44 crew members saw their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft roll out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui will launch July 22 at 5:02 p.m. EDT from Kazakhstan (July 23, 3:02 a.m. Baikonur time) for a five month mission on the space station.

On-Orbit Status Report

Habitability: Kelly used the iShort application on the iPad to document his observations on the habitability of the ISS. Habitability assesses the relationship between crew members and their environment in order to better prepare for future long-duration spaceflights to destinations, such as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA) and Mars. The ultimate goal is to understand how much habitable volume is required for vehicle internal design and layout, and if mission duration impacts the volume needed. Observations during the 1-year mission, as well as 6-month missions, can help spacecraft designers understand how much habitable volume is required, and whether a mission’s duration impacts how much space crew members need. The iShort application will enable ground support teams and human factor engineers to study and evaluate the design of the ISS and use these results for future spacecraft.

Reaction Self-Test (RST) Sleep Shift: This week, both Kelly and Kornienko continued with their 1YM protocols, beginning a week of Reaction Self-Tests to document any changes due to the sleep shift required for the 43Soyuz docking. The crew will perform a test upon wakeup and a second test prior to their scheduled sleep period. Reaction Self-Test is a portable, five-minute task that enables astronauts to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while in space. Sleep restrictions and residual effects from sleep medications, slam shifts that change the sleep/wake cycle, and effects from spacewalks can cause fatigue and degrade astronaut performance. Periodically during the mission, and in association with major events, an astronaut performs a reaction-time test on a computer to measure changes in responses.

Node 3 Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Activities: Today, Kelly replaced the N3 CDRA Air Selector Valve (ASV) 104. The valve was successfully checked out by the ground. This newly installed valve is the last pristine spare on-orbit, one more will arrive on HTV-5 (Aug 2015). The crew will also perform an inspection with Ultrasonic Leak Detector (ULD) today, to locate a leak discovered following the installation of the new CDRA beds back in May of this year. The ground team will review the ULD data from today’s operations and develop a leak repair task for the crew to perform in the next few weeks. Ground teams will be performing N3 CDRA activation overnight.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Robotics ground controllers are planning to stow the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) from the LAB Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF). As part of the procedure ground controllers will be checking out the Gearbox Limping feature on the Special Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and characterizing the Latching End Effector (LEE) Force Moment Sensor under loaded operations.

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

Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time Test (morning)
RSS1,2, Reboot / r/g 7437
Laptop RS1(2) Reboot / Onboard Computer System
Voice check in S/G1 from Baikonur
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor / r/g 9277
RGN – Transfer and Swap
ABOUT GAGARIN FROM SPACE. Ham radio session. / r/g 9371
Auxiliary Laptop Anti-Virus Update / r/g 8247
Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Battery Recharge Terminate
Start BSA Battery Charge
DAN. Experiment Ops. / r/g 9083
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
HABIT – Hardware activation
VEG-01 PLANT – Plant Photo
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
VIBROLAB. Monitoring hardware activation / r/g 9365
N3 CDRA Valve R&R
N3 CDRA leak check
MOTOCARD. Experiment Ops / r/g 9366
MOTOCARD. Assistance with the Experiment / r/g 9367
Recovery of ??? ????-4? Analyzer / r/g 9373
Maintenance activation of Vozdukh Emergency Vacuum Valves [???]
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Maintenance Activation of Spare Atmosphere Purification System Emergency Vacuum Valves [??? ???]
Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products (CSA-CP) Alkaline Battery Build
SM Ventilation System Preventive Maintenance r/g 8393
RGN – Remove depress hose for nominal operations
Cleaning ventilation screen in JEM
FLUID SHIFTS. ???? cable installation and connection – Equipment setup / r/g 9363
VIBROLAB. Copy and Downlink Data / r/g 9365
JRNL – Journal Entry
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
RGN – Initiate drain into EDV
Exercise Data Downlink / r/g 6797
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor / r/g 9277
Preparing for Antivirus scan on Auxiliary Computer Laptops / r/g 8247
Close Lab window shutter
Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time Test (evening)
Completed Task List Items

60P US unpack
Crew arrival prep
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

CDRA ops
METERON
VDS survey
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Tuesday, 07/21: SPRINT, JEM Return Grill Cleaning, JEM A/L pressurization, VEG-01 maintenance
Wednesday, 07/22: 43S launch/dock, RS EVA Tool gather and transfer, Fine Motor Skills, N1 stowage reconfig
Thursday, 07/23: Crew off duty following 43S dock
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

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