ISS Expedition Two Science Operations Weekly Science Status Report 18 Apr 2001

The focus of payload activities on the Space Station this week will be the
upcoming Space Shuttle mission.

Controllers at the Payload Operations Center in Huntsville, Ala., and
Mission Control in Houston are preparing to support the transfer of several
science facilities and experiments from the Endeavour to the station. The
STS-100 mission is carrying several continuously-powered payloads – such as
plant growth and biological materials – that must be unplugged from shuttle
power, transferred to the Destiny lab module and plugged into station power
within about 30 minutes.

The EarthKAM and Crew Earth Observations Earth photography experiments are
on the crew’s task list to accomplish this week as their schedule allows.

Activation efforts continued during the past week with the Ku band antenna
used to transmit science data and the MCOR computer used to temporarily
store data on board during loss-of-signal periods. Activation of the Human
Research Facility science rack remains on hold until after the Shuttle
docked phase. A partial activation of the Ku antenna allowed the crew to
transmit data from a space structures experiment called the Middeck Active
Control Experiment. MACE could lead to lighter, stronger space structures.
Experiments with MACE are continuing during Expedition Two.

During the past week, the crew continued to monitor and maintain the
Dosimetric Mapping and Bonner Ball Neutron Detector radiation-measuring
experiments. Last weekend, the crew successfully transferred radiation data
from a pair of Dosimetric Mapping – or DOSMAP – sensors to a personal
computer so that more data could be recorded by the sensors. They also
switched one of the DOSMAP sensors from Mode 1 to Mode 2 operation in
response to a major solar flare last week. Mode 2 allows it to collect data
at 60 times the normal rate, corresponding to higher radiation levels due to
the flare. DOSMAP, developed by the German Space Agency, is one of three
radiation experiments on Expedition Two. Measuring the radiation
environment is the science theme of the Expedition.

Science facilities and equipment scheduled for launch on the STS-100 mission
are:

Express Rack 1, a refrigerator-sized rack, which provides power, fluids,
gasses and data services to experiments. Experiments in this rack are: two
space station vibration measuring experiments called MAMS and SAMS; the
ADVASC plant growth experiment; two temperature controlled protein
crystallization experiments called PCG-STES, and two commercial payloads,
known as CPCG-H and CGBA, both related to the study of growing biological
materials;

Express Rack 2, containing a vibration damping device called ARIS to improve
the environment for delicate science experiments and an experiment called
ARIS-ICE to test the efficiency of the isolation system; the Physics of
Colloids in Space experiment for studying the behavior of particles
suspended in a fluid; and a SAMS control unit;

additional hardware to complete the setup and activation of the Phantom
Torso experiment and supporting hardware and additional equipment for the
Dosimetric Mapping experiment, both used to study the radiation environment
on the station. Elements of both were launched to the Station on the
STS-102 mission in February;

a second Payload Equipment Restraint System, which allows the crew to move
their tools to various locations for ready access.

Editor’s Note: The Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages all science research experiments aboard
the International Space Station. The center is also home for coordination
of the mission-planning work of a variety of international sources, all
science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and payload
safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel.