NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 9 March 2016

This morning the three Expedition 47 crew members practiced evacuating the International Space Station in the event of an emergency. Afterward, it was back to work on advanced space science and orbital lab maintenance.
Several times a year the station residents get together to practice the communication and procedures necessary to escape an emergency situation. The crew practiced departing the space station quickly today and entering their docked Soyuz spacecraft for use as a lifeboat.

Before the emergency drill, Commander Tim Kopra of NASA and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) participated in a series of tests on a touchscreen tablet for the Fine Motor Skills study. The experiment is helping researchers understand how astronauts concentrate and work on detailed tasks and sensitive equipment during and after a long-term space mission.

After the drill, the trio split up as Kopra studied liquid crystals to help engineers design better display screens for use on Earth and in space. Peake moved on to the Magvector experiment and studied magnetic fields and electrical conductivity, possibly setting up the space station for future astrophysics research. Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko investigated the forces the station experiences during orbital reboosts, spacecraft dockings and spacewalks among other activities.

On-Orbit Status Report

MAGVECTOR: Peake performed a data transfer from the jump drive to an SSC folder and reconfigured the switches on the portable power supply 1 (PPS1), completing the 7th run of European Space Agency’s (ESA) MAGVECTOR experiment. Run #8 scheduled for next week will be the last experiment run for Increment 47. MAGVECTOR qualitatively investigates the interaction between a moving magnetic field and an electrical conductor. The expected changes in the magnetic field structure on the ram and wake side of the electrical conductor are of interest for technical applications as well as for astrophysical research.

Fine Motor Skills: Kopra and Peake each completed a session of the Fine Motor Skills experiment by completing 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.

Dose Tracker: Kopra and Peake completed entries for medication tracking. This investigation documents the medication used by crew members before and during their missions by capturing data regarding medication use during spaceflight. The data is expected to either support or counter anecdotal evidence of medication ineffectiveness during flight and unusual side effects experienced during flight. It is also expected that specific, near-real-time questioning about symptom relief and side effects will provide the data required to establish whether spaceflight-associated alterations in pharmacokinetics (PK) or pharmacodynamics (PD) is occurring during missions.

Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) Gylcerol/Water Fill: Kopra successfully performed troubleshooting to resolve pneumatic commanding capabilities that were identified during yesterday’s video checkout. He then began the next science run of the OASIS Gylcerol/Water Fill activity by filling the Inkjet droplet device with glycerol/water for the final experiment protocol on each sample container and exchanged the hard drive. OASIS studies the unique behavior of liquid crystals in microgravity, including their overall motion and the merging of crystal layers known as smectic islands. Liquid crystals are used for display screens in televisions and clocks, and they also occur in soaps and in cell membranes. The experiment allows detailed studies of the behavior of these structures, and how microgravity affects their unique ability to act like both a liquid and a solid crystal.

Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2): Peake reviewed Big Picture words in preparation for tomorrow’s planned hardware installation. Following the review, Peake and Kopra gathered tools that will be required for the installation.

On Board Training (OBT) 45 Soyuz (45S) Emergency Drill: All 3 crew members participated in this OBT to practice emergency departure of the ISS. This drill is scheduled when a crew has been on onboard the Station for 12-14 weeks and once every 2.5 months thereafter.

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Status: The UPA is operational and has completed its first process run. The second process run is currently in progress. The data looks nominal so far.

Robotics Offset Tool (ROST) Freespace Checkout: On 2/4/16 the ROST objective had to be deferred from the Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) demonstration due to an issue with the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) ORU Tool Changeout Mechanism (OTCM) grasping the ROST. The OTCM gripper stalled before reaching the minimum capture position. A checkout is currently in progress and is using new capture envelope parameters. The activity will continue until late this evening.

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

Fine Motor Skills – Experiment Ops
ISS Emergency Descent Training r/g 1610
C2V2 Hardware Install Big Picture Words
Camcorder setup to capture ??-2 exercise / r/g 1615
C2V2 – Gathering equipment for the activity with LAB1P5
On MCC Go Testing ??-2 Treadmill. ??-2 Exercise Day 3
DOSETRK – Questionnaire Completion
Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) – Fill the Inkjet droplet device with water
Remove Video Equipment Used to capture ??-2 Exercise and Downlink the file / r/g 1615
Multi Omics (MO) – Saliva collection equipment setup
DOSETRK – Questionnaire Completion
COSMOCARD. Setup. Starting 24-hr ECG Recording / r/g 1611
Taping NAS Payload Power Cable
Food Frequency Questionnaire
NMAP – Experiment Ops
Filling (separation) of EDV (KOV) for Elektron or EDV-SV
MAGVEC – Data Export
??? Maintenance
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill from EDV
EPO – Copying files from Micro CD to SSC
IMS Conference
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Nutritional Assessment (ESA)
IDENTIFICATION. Copy ???-? micro-accelerometer data to laptop / r/g 1589
NINJA. Document Printout
IMS Delta File Prep
Post-Exercise Hygiene Procedure
HAM-VIDEO Power Up

Completed Task List Items
WHC EDV-Y R&R

Ground Activities
All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.
MSS powerup [Complete]
ROST checkout/unstow/stow
MSS powerdown

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 03/10: C2V2 H/W install. LAB1P5 RPCM R&R, SPRINT Ultrasound
Friday, 03/11: C2V2 comm unit install, LAB1P5 reconfig, OBT Cygnus conference
Saturday, 03/12: Crew off duty, housekeeping

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component – Status
Elektron – Off
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – Off
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – On
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) – Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up