NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 19 February 2016

The Expedition 46 crew took out the trash today when it released the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft from the grips of the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. In less than two weeks, another spacecraft will leave returning three crew members back to Earth.
The Cygnus was filled with trash and discarded gear over the last few days before the hatches were closed Thursday. Ground controllers then remotely guided the Canadarm2 to grapple Cygnus and detach it from the Unity module.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra commanded the Canadarm2 to release Cygnus today at 7:26 a.m. EST when it began gracefully departing the vicinity of the station. Orbital ATK controllers in Virginia will guide Cygnus into the Earth’s atmosphere Saturday morning where it will safely burn up high over the Pacific Ocean.

Kelly and a pair of cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov now turn their attention to their March 1 homecoming. They will be packing the Soyuz TMA-18M with science experiments and personal items for the ride home. Kelly and Kornienko will be completing 340 consecutive days in space, while Volkov will be wrapping up 182 days in orbit.

On-Orbit Status Report

Cygnus Departure: Today, Robotics Ground Controllers used the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to unberth Cygnus from the Node 1 nadir berthing port and maneuvered the spacecraft to its release position. Kopra and Kelly subsequently released Cygnus at 6:26 am CST and monitored its nominal departure. Cygnus is scheduled for a destructive re-entry tomorrow, February 20th. Cygnus was berthed to the ISS for 72 days.

Biological Rhythms 48 Hours: Today, Kelly completed his third and final Biological Rhythms experiment, removing the Holter Electrocardiogram and transferring data from the Holter and Actiwatch to the Medical laptop. This Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) investigation studies the effects of long-term microgravity exposure on heart function by analyzing an astronaut’s electrocardiogram for 48 hours. While the ISS schedule follows Greenwich Mean Time, it is not known whether a separate biological rhythm is imposed on long-term flight crews. To study this, astronauts wear an Actiwatch and a Holter electrocardiograph.

Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack 2 (MSPR2): Peake performed troubleshooting for an issue with the Workbench locking mechanism on the JAXA MSPR2.

RADI-N: Kopra completed the final Canadian Space Agency (CSA) RADI-N run for Increments 45 and 46. He collected the 8 detectors that were deployed in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and handed them over to Russian crewmember Malenchenko. The objective of this investigation is to better characterize the ISS neutron environment and define the risk posed to the crewmembers’ health and provide the data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future space flight.

Ocular Health: With Peake acting as Chief Medical Officer, Kelly performed his last testing for the Ocular Health investigation by completing an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) test today. 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.

NeuroMapping: Kelly completed his Flight Day 330 NeuroMapping neurocognitive test on a Human Research Facility laptop. The Neuromapping experiment studies whether long-duration spaceflight causes any changes to the brain, including brain structure and function, motor control, and multi-tasking; as well as measuring how long it takes for the brain and body to recover from those possible changes. Previous research and anecdotal evidence from crewmembers returning from a long-duration spaceflight suggests that movement control and cognition are affected in microgravity.

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Water Conductivity Test: Kelly tested the conductivity of water samples obtained earlier this week from EMUs 3003 and 3010. The results will be downlinked for ground teams to review.

Crew Departure Preparation: Kelly packed his personal items for return to the ground. The items will be split between Soyuz 44, SpaceX-8, and SpaceX-9 vehicles.

Sidekick Checkout: Kelly worked with ground controllers to prepare Sidekick’s Microsoft HoloLens devices for this weekend’s initial checkout of the on-board and ground components of the system. The goal of Sidekick is to investigate the use of this new technology to increase the efficiency of crew activities related to the daily execution of science, maintenance, and other ISS operations.

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

Biochemical Urine Test
Closing USOS Window Shutters
Eye Imaging (Ocular Health) – OCT Setup
URISYS Hardware Stowage Microbial Removal Filter (MRF) Purge
Vestibule Depress. Cygnus/Node 1 Vestibule Depress and Leak Check
ISS crew and ???? (RSA Flight Control Management Team) weekly conference
Closure of window shutters 6,8,9,12,13,14
IMS Tagup
Cygnus – PCS Command and PROX Link Verification
Progress 431 (DC1) Transfers and IMS Ops
Camcorder Setup to View LAB RWS Monitor 3
MSPR – Laptop Hard Drive Exchange
EMU – Conductivity Test
MSPR – Laptop Setup
Node 1 – CBM docking port – Detachment
MSPR – Laptop Activation
LBNP Exercise (PRELIMINARY)
MICB Photography
BLR48
Cygnus/Node 2 – terminate vestibule depress
MICB – Samples Insertion into MELFI
Water separation through Separation Assembly
Microbial Removal Filter (MRF) Purge
NMAP – Experiment Test
PILOT-T. Experiment Ops
??? Maintenance
SSRMS – Cygnus Grapple Release
MSPR Components Deactivation
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
Water separation through Separation Assembly
PHS Evaluation Setup
Stow Syringes used in ?2? Conductivity Test
Periodic Health Status – Subject
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Periodic Health Status (PHS) – CMO
Water Sampling
Periodic Health Status (PHS) Data Entry and Stowage of All Hardware Used in PHS
Terminate transfer of water to water storage tank via MRF filter
Pre-pack cargo items for return or disposal via Soyuz 718
COSMOCARD. Closeout Ops
Cygnus – PROX Power OFF
HAM radio session from Columbus
MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter gathering and measurements
Food Frequency Questionnaire
Water Recovery System (WRS) Drain Waste Water Tank, initiate
Retrieval of ECCO containers
On-orbit Hearing Assessment using EARQ
PILOT-T. Experiment OpsTransfer of thermal container MiniEcco No.3 to the RS and change the barcode to Russian barcode
Handover of thermal container MiniEcco to Russian crew
RADIN – Detector Removal
MATRYOSHKA-R. Photography of BUBBLE-Dosimeter During gathering and measurements
MATRYOSHKA-R. Receiving BUBBLE-dosimeter detectors from USOS
RADIN – Handover of Detectors to RS
Water Recovery System (WRS) Drain Waste Water Tank, initiate
Crew Departure Prep
RWS Power Down
Water Recovery System (WRS) Drain Waste Water Tank, terminate
IFM – Temporary Removal of Pivot Fitting
PILOT-T. Closeout Ops
WRS Maintenance Big Picture Words
SHD – Weekly Questionnaire
IMS Delta File Prep
HAM radio session from Columbus
MSPR2 – Friction Adjustment
Transfer of ELF P/L Laptop
NAPOR-miniRSA. Cleaning ???-? vents
WRS Maintenance Big Picture Words
PCS Laptop Relocation

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
System commanding associated with Cygnus departure

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 02/20: Cygnus Re-entry, Crew Off Duty, Weekly Cleaning
Sunday, 02/21: Crew Off Duty
Monday, 02/22: WPA CAT Reactor R&R Prep, Soyuz OBT, 44S Prepack, CARDOX, ACE H2 Samples

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 – Override
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Idle
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