NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 28 September 2015
Following a slight delay, Expedition 45 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA, backed up by NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, commanded the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-5 from the International Space Station at 12:53 p.m. EDT while the spacecraft was flying 256 miles above the Southern Pacific, after it unberthed from the space station at 7:12 a.m. EDT.
The HTV-5 will now move away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe location where it will fire its engines to begin a controlled deorbit to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. The intense heat of reentry will cause the vehicle to burn up over the Pacific Ocean.
HTV-5 carried a variety of experiments and supplies to the space station, including the NanoRacks External Payload Platform, which can house multiple investigations in the open-space environment of the station, and the CALorimetric Electron Telescope investigation, an astrophysics mission that measures high energy particles to search for dark matter and the origin of cosmic rays.
HTV-5 also delivered materials to support the Twins Study, a compilation of 10 investigations designed to gain broader insights into the subtle effects of and changes that occur in the environment of space as compared to that of Earth by studying two individuals who have the same genetics, but are in different environments. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is participating from the space station while his identical twin Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut, is participating on Earth. The study includes a suite of integrated human space physiology and cellular-level experiments.
On-Orbit Status Report
H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-5 Departure: This morning Yui and Lindgren finished closing out the Node 2 vestibule by demating all umbilicals to HTV-5. Meanwhile, Kelly depressurized the vestibule between HTV-5 and Node 2 in preparation for the unberth. Commands were then sent to release Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) bolts prior to unberth. Robotic Flight Controllers then maneuvered HTV-5 to the release position utilizing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). The first attempt to release HTV-5 at 10:20am CDT was aborted due to SSRMS Latching End Effector (LEE) B safing just as de-rigidization of the snare cables began. Ground teams quickly recovered from the fault which allowed for Yui and Lindgren to release HTV-5 one revolution later at 11:53 am CDT. HTV-5 is scheduled for destructive re-entry on Tuesday, September 29.
Fine Motor Skills Experiment: Kelly completed a session of the Fine Motor Skills experiment. During the experiment he performed a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet. This investigation is the first fine motor skills study to measure long-term microgravity exposure, different phases of microgravity adaptation, and sensorimotor recovery after returning to Earth gravity. The goal of Fine Motor Skills investigation is to identify trends or variations in fine motor performance in microgravity over the duration of a year-long space mission; how fine motor performance on orbit compares with that of a closely matched participant on Earth; and how performance changes before and after gravitational transitions, such as during early flight adaptation and after return to Earth.
Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Mouse Habitat Unit (MHU) Removal: Yui replaced the MHU with JAXA’s Plant Gravity Sensing 2 (PGS2) in the CBEF inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). The PGS2 investigation supports the study of cellular formation of the gravity sensors and the molecular mechanism for gravity sensing in plants grown in microgravity conditions.
Multi-Purpose End-to-End Robotic Operations Network (METERON) SUPVIS-E Surveyor Rover Operations: Using the ELIOS application running on the METERON-2 laptop in the ISS, Yui commanded the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Surveyor Rover located in Germany. He utilized video streams from the Lander, Surveyor Rover, and the Eurobot to perform a 360 degree inspection of the Eurobot. He also filled out and downlinked a questionnaire about the Surveyor Rover free driving. METERON examines the benefits of an astronaut controlling surface robots in real time from an orbiting spacecraft, and investigate how’s best to explore a planet through a human-robotic partnership.
Systems Operation Data File (SODF) Procedures Deploy: Lindgren, updated Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Systems procedures within the US Airlock and In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Hatch Mechanism procedures within Russian Segment FGB module. The new hardcopy procedures arrived onboard HTV-5.
External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) Network Communication Unit (NCU) Troubleshooting and Remove and Replace (R&R): The EWIS NCU, which allows for commanding and data retrieval from the EWIS sensors, had an anomaly on August 18th. Today, Kelly configured an Station Support Computer (SSC) client to directly connect to a suspect EWIS NCU via serial interface prior to troubleshooting the EWIS NCU then deconfigured following execution of troubleshooting. Following this troubleshooting session to gather data, the NCU was replaced. The new NCU is communicating on the network nominally.
Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM): In order to avoid a conjunction with Object 40241, ISS performed a successful 0.3 m/s PDAM on Sunday using Progress 60P docked to Docking Compartment (DC)-1. The PDAM did not impact HTV5 release today, and will not impact the 61P 4-orbit rendezvous scheduled for this Thursday, October 1st.
Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Calf Volume Measurement
Morning Inspection
RWS – Cupola Crew Restraint (CCR) Installation
Closing USOS Window Shutters
LAB Camcorder Setup at LAB RWS Mon 3 Observation
HTV – Demating of the Power Jumper Line of Pressurized Logistic Carrier (PLC)
KORREKTSIYA. Logging liquids and food (medicine) intake data
FINEMOTR – Experiment Session
[???] Laptops Antivirus Software Update
Fine Motor Skills Experiment
COSMOCARD. Preparation. 24 Hr ECG Recording
SPHERES – Batteries Changeout
HTV and Node 2 Vestibule Depressurization
HTV – Hardware Control Panel (HCP) Setup
CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Session
TORU Drill. Tagup with the instructor
HTV – Hardware Control Panel (HCP) Selftest
HMS – Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire
Lower Extremities Veins Examination
Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) – Hardware Removal
Node 2 Nadir CBM Demate
SPHERES – Batteries Changeout
Connecting EWIS to SSC for Troubleshooting
Forward Ventilation Shutdown and Release of Hardware for Voltage Shedding
Stowing SODF Books Delivered by HTV5
METERON – Review
METERON – Experiment Ops
ESPANDER Exercise
Potable Bus Sampling
KORREKTSIYA. Logging liquids and food (medicine) intake data
MSS – HTV5 Release Setup
IMS Delta File Prep
HTV – Departure Preparation
SPHERES – Batteries Changeout
HTV – Monitoring of Release by SSRMS and Departure
Video Footage of Station Life
RWS CUP Monitoring Camcorder Deactivation and Restow
NANO – Hardware Stow
Searching for Unit II of the Soyuz Ventilation System
ARED Bolts Tightening
External Wireless Information System Network (EWIS) Control Unit R&R
Monitoring of [ACH-K] Data Exchange Status and Data Recording on the Laptop
VZAIMODEISTVIYE-2. Experiment Ops
HTV – Hardware Command Panel (HCP) Deactivation
Post-Exercise Hygiene Ops
Hardware Command Panel (HCP) Restow
IMMUNO. Preparation of Saliva-IMMUNO Kit for the Experiment
??? Maintenance
Evening Work Prep
HTV – JPM PROX Switch Off
Condensate Tank Offload to CWC Initiate
EVA LEE Review
VZAIMODEISTVIYE-2. Experiment Ops
Evening Work Prep
HMS – Vision Test / See OPTIMIS Viewer for Procedure
Condensate Tank Offload to CWC Terminate
CIR – Hardware Gather
RWS Teardown
MDCA – Work Surface Area Prep
HMS – Vision Questionnaire
ARED Exercise Video Setup and Stow [Deferred]
[???] Laptops Antivirus Scanning Prep
KORREKTSIYA. Logging liquids and food (medicine) intake data
Preparation of reports for Roscosmos website
ECON-M. Observation and Photography
Completed Task List Items
JAXA Report 8
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
System Commanding in support of HTV-5 Departure
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 09/29: MCDA H/W Replace, Fundoscope, Node 1 Berthing Port / Galley Rack power cable route, LEE A Survey,
Wednesday, 09/30: SPHERES, Node 1 Berthing Port / Galley rack power cable route, AMS Survey
Thursday, 10/01: 61P Launch and Dock, Cubesat Deployer install on MPEP, SPRINT VO2, NPV O-Ring Install, Col PWS R&R
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 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Standby
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up
