NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 26 October 2015

Two astronauts are getting ready for a six-hour, 30-minute spacewalk Wednesday morning. They and the rest of the Expedition 45 crew also worked on international science and laboratory maintenance.
Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren are preparing for two spacewalks on Oct. 28 and Nov. 6 to upgrade and service the International Space Station. Lindgren was assisted by Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui checking out the SAFER spacesuit jetpacks a spacewalker would use in the unlikely event they became untethered from the station. Kelly collected and organized the spacewalk tools he and Lindgren will use during both spacewalks. Watch a 3D animation illustrating the Oct. 28 spacewalk activities.

Kelly started his day with Mikhail Kornienko, his One-Year mission crewmate, as they swapped turns on the Fine Motor Skills experiment. Yui spent his morning stowing a small satellite deployer that ejected 14 Cubesats outside the Kibo lab module a few weeks ago.

Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov explored human metabolism in space and charged a satellite phone. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko looked at microgravity’s effects on a crew member’s cardiac and respiratory behavior before testing remotely controlling a rover on the ground from space.

On-Orbit Status Report

NanoRack Cubesat Deployer 6 (NRCSD#6) Removal: Today Yui has removed NRCSD#6 from the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock Slide Table and has stowed it. He also reinstalled the Lamp Housing Assembly (LHA) inside the Airlock. (The LHA had been removed prior to safing the NRCSD Deployer #6, which contains two unlaunched cubesats.) The Slide Table was then retracted back into the Airlock and the inner hatch was closed.

Plasma Kristall-4 (PK-4) Operations: Kononenko continued PK-4 preparations begun over the weekend by connecting the gas supply flexhose to the Argon gas supply and then opening a valve to pressurize it. An experiment run in PK-4 is planned to start tomorrow. Plasma Kristall-4 is a complex European Space Agency (ESA) plasma laboratory installed in the Columbus European Physiology Module (EPM) rack and operated by Russian crewmembers. PK-4 supports research in the field of Complex Plasmas: low temperature gaseous mixtures composed of ionized gas, neutral gas and micron-sized particles. The micro-particles become highly charged in the plasma and interact strongly with each other, which can lead to a self-organized structure of the micro-particles (i.e., “plasma crystals”).

Microbiome: Lindgren and Yui completed survey questionnaires and performed body sampling on Saturday as part of their Flight Day 90 session of the Microbiome investigation. Microbiome investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time).

Fine Motor Skills: Kelly and Kornienko completed sessions of the Fine Motor Skills experiment today. During the experiment they 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.

Journals: Kelly completed a Journals entry yesterday and made another one today. The Journals investigation obtains information on behavioral and human issues that are relevant to the design of equipment and procedures used during astronauts during extended-duration missions. Study results provide information used in preparation for future missions to low-Earth orbit and beyond.

Sleep Log: Kelly and Kornienko recorded Sleep Log entries on Saturday and Sunday and Kornienko made another entry today. The Sleep ISS-12 experiment monitors ambient light exposure and crew member activity and collects subjective evaluations of sleep and alertness. The investigation examines the effects of space flight and ambient light exposure on sleep during a year-long mission on the ISS.

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: The crew continued with preparations for the ISS Upgrades EVA. Kelly and Yui participated in pre-EVA periodic health assessments. Kelly then continued to configure tools to support the EVA. Lindgren and Kelly used Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) Software to review the translation paths. Yui and Lindgren also performed a checkout of the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) System. The ISS Upgrades EVA is scheduled to occur Wednesday, October 28th with hatch opening taking place at approximately 7:10am CDT.

Fluids Control and Pump Assembly (FCPA) Removal and Replacement (R&R): Last Tuesday, the Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) faulted during a reprocess cycle. Subsequent troubleshooting indicated an error code associated with the FCPA. Today, Lindgren performed an R&R of the FCPA. Afterwards, Ground Controllers successfully checked out the FCPA valves. A UPA process run is planned for tomorrow.

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

MORZE. Measuring Bioimpedance Using SPRUT-2
CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medication) Intake
Pre-EVA Crew Health Status
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Tsentrovka, SENSOR Tests
Fine Motor Skills – Subject
PLAZMENNIY KRISTALL. Big Picture
JEMAL- Window Cleanup
?? 717 IRIDIUM Phone Charging – Setup, Start Charging
JEMAL – Slide Table extension
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: SUPOS Test
CUBESAT – hardware stow
Pre-EVA Crew Health Status – CMO
Periodic Health Evaluation before EVA – Subject
Soyuz 717 IRIDIUM Phone Charging
Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Fluids Control and Pump Assembly (FCPA) Remove and Replace
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Cattell’s Test
FINEMOTR – Experiment Ops
PLAZMENNIY KRISTALL. Connecting hardware and reporting chamber pressure
DAN. Experiment
Soyuz 718 IRIDIUM Phone Charging – Initiate Charge
DAN. Photography During the Experiment
Soyuz 718 IRIDIUM Phone Charging
??? Maintenance
Reconnecting SM KURS-P cables to DC1 -Y port Antenna Feeder
JEMAL- Hardware Setup
JEMAL- Hardware Checkout
JEMAL – Slide Table Retraction
Auxiliary Laptop Computer System Virus Definition File Update
Exercise Data Downlink via OCA
WRS Water Sample Analysis
HMS – Health Maintenance System (HMS) Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire
JRNL – Journal Entry
DOUG Software Review
Progress 429 (SM Aft) Transfers and IMS Ops
CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medication) Intake
On Board Training (OBT) ISS Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Computer Based Training (CBT)
SAFER Checkout
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Strelau Test
CONTUR-2. P/L Assembly Setup on panel 418
EVA Tool Prep
CONTUR-2. Experiment Session Ops
Replacement of CQMK battery in Crew Quarters
MORZE. Closeout Ops
NEIROIMMUNITET. CORRECTSIA. Experiment setup
ARED Flywheel Cylinder Evacuation
TOCA Data Recording
TOCA Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout
24-hour ECG Monitoring
Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion (CSA-CP) Checkout Part 2
Evening Work Prep
WHC Cue Card Print
Evening Work Prep
24-hour Blood Pressure Monitor
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Airlock Lamp Housing Assembly (LHA) Recovery
IMS Delta File Prep
Air Removal from ??? and Water Transfer from EDV 1198
EDV Fill from Progress #429 (Propulsion Compartment) ??2 Water Tank
P/TV of Life on ISS (during ??? activities)
CONTUR-2. De-installation of master arm with adapter from panel 418
CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medication) Intake
NEIROIMMUNITET. Saliva Test
NEIROIMMUNITET. Preparation. Starting 24-hr ECG Recording
Preparing for Antivirus scan on Auxiliary Computer Laptops
Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media
ECON-M. Observation and Photography
URAGAN Observations and Photography

Completed Task List Items
PHA Cap Replacement
JAXA Report 9 (Impression of space flight)

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
FCPA Checkout
Node 1 CBM Checkout

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 10/27: 1/2 Duty Day, EVA Preparation
Wednesday, 10/28: ISS Upgrades EVA
Thursday, 10/29: 1/2 Duty Day, Post EVA activities, Plant gravity Sensing 2, VIABLE Training

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 – Off
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) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up