NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 September 2015

Crew members practiced an emergency evacuation drill and conducted long-term biomedical research today onboard the International Space Station. Japan’s fifth resupply ship is also being loaded with trash before its mission ends early next week.
Station Commander Scott Kelly teamed up with his fellow One-Year Crew member Mikhail Kornienko and cosmonaut Sergey Volkov to review the procedures they would use to evacuate the station in the unlikely event of an emergency. Kelly then moved on to exploring fluid physics and more Twins studies. Kornienko, Volkov including cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko worked on Russian science and systems maintenance.

Meanwhile, astronauts Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren are preparing a Japanese cargo craft, the “Kounotori” HII Transfer Vehicle-5, for its release and destructive entry Monday over the Pacific Ocean. Another cargo craft, Russia’s ISS Progress 61 (61P), is being readied for its Oct. 1 launch and six-hour delivery mission to the station’s Zvezda service module. Kornienko and Volkov practiced the telerobotic rendezvous techniques they would use if it became necessary to manually dock the 61P.

On-Orbit Status Report

Ocular Health: Lindgren and Yui continued with their Flight Day 60 Ocular Health activities this morning by performing their Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), each acting as the Crew Medical Officer (CMO) for the other. Later in the day, the crew performed fundoscopy, again taking turns as the CMO. OCT is used to measure retinal thickness, volume, and retinal nerve fiber layer, and the fundoscope is used to obtain images of the retinal surface. The Ocular Health protocol calls for a systematic gathering of physiological data to characterize the risk of microgravity-induced visual impairment/intracranial pressure in ISS crewmembers. Researchers believe that the measurement of visual, vascular and central nervous system changes over the course of this experiment and during the subsequent post-flight recovery will assist in the development of countermeasures, clinical monitoring strategies, and clinical practice guidelines.

Cognition: Kelly performed his Flight Day 180 session of the Cognition experiment. Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) is a battery of tests that measure how spaceflight-related physical changes, such as microgravity and lack of sleep, can affect cognitive performance. Cognition includes ten brief computerized tests that cover a wide range of cognitive functions, and provides immediate feedback on current and past test results. The software allows for real-time measurement of cognitive performance while in space.

Twins Study: Kelly collected Flight Day 180 physical samples today in support of the Twins Study. This investigation is an integrated compilation of ten different studies led by multiple investigators. The studies take advantage of a unique opportunity to look at the effects of space travel on identical twins, with one of them experiencing space travel for a year while the other remains earth-bound for that same year. The study looks at changes in the human body in the fields of genetics, psychology, physiology, microbiology, and immunology.

HTV Cargo Transfer Status: Yui and Lindgren continued working on HTV-5 Cargo transfer operations today. Cargo specialist estimate the crew will need approximately 1 hour to complete the HTV-5 cargo operations.

44 Soyuz (44S) Emergency Descent Drill: Kelly, Volkov, and Kornienko participated in an emergency decent drill this morning. This training session focused on off-nominal procedures that would be used in the event the crew needed to egress the ISS and perform an emergency descent.

Sound Level Meter (SLM) Ops: Lindgren obtained acoustic readings of Treadmill 2 (T2) at various speeds which will be compared to the readings Kelly took yesterday before the T2 Yearly Maintenance.

Possible Conjunction with Object #81934: Ground teams are evaluating tracking data for a possible conjunction with object #81934. The time of closest approach is Wednesday, 23 September at 1:03pm CDT. Concern level on the item is currently high and teams are evaluating the potential for a Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM).

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

Body Mass Measurement
??-8. Closeout Ops
Ocular Health (??) – ??? Hardware Setup
WRS – WPA Waste Water Tank Offload into CWC (start)
OBT – ISS Emergency Soyuz Descent
WRS – WPA Waste Water Tank Offload into CWC (end)
Ocular Health (??) – ??? Examination
BAR. Experiment Session
ISS Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Computer Based Training (CBT)
Ocular Health (??) – ??? Hardware Restow
??? Off-Nominal Operation Diagnostic
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) – WSTA Refill
Post-Exercise Hygiene Ops
??? Maintenance
FS1 Laptop Maintenance – Handover
??? Cleaning – Handover
Life on the ISS Photo/Video
FS1 Laptop Maintenance (Cleaning and Reboot)
??? Cleaning
Logistics and Maintenance Debrief
HTV Cargo Transfer Ops
HTV – Cargo Transfer Conference
T2 – Quarterly Inspection
TWIN – Urine Sampling Prep
TORU Test with Docked Progress 428.
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) – WSTA Fill
IMS Delta File Prep
Post-Exercise Hygiene Ops
Ocular Health (??) – Fundoscope Examination Prep
Time and Date Synch of Six RS Cameras with ISS
CONTENT. Experiment Session
Ocular Health (??) – Fundoscope Examination (???)
Ocular Health (??) – Fundoscope Examination (Subject)
Post-Exercise Hygiene Ops
Ocular Health (??) – Hardware Restow after Fundoscope Examination
COGN – Battery Test
Handover Conference
Preparation of reports for Roscosmos website
EKON-M. Observation and Photography

Completed Task List Items

MWA Tether Locate
Airlock ATU Relabel
ISSPresso Experiment Ops [Active]

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Battery Capacity Test for Battery Set 3A1

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 09/23: Sprint, Ocular Health, EVA Tether Inspect, EVA Safer Swap, RMCT Swap
Thursday, 09/24: Cardio Ox Ultrasound, Cell Biology Experiment, HTV Cargo Ops, Hatch Seal Inspect, RMCT Swap
Friday, 09/25: HTV GLA/LED Light Removal, HTV Departure OBT, Cell Biology Experiment

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 – Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up