NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 October 2018 – Setting up the SPHERES Tether Slosh Experiment

Two Expedition 57 astronauts are working to understand what happens to fluids being transported by spacecraft today. Another crew member also worked on combustion science gear as well as Japanese and Russian systems.
Fluid physics and combustion research on the International Space Station helps scientists understand how well-known phenomena on Earth behaves in microgravity. For instance, fluids sloshing around inside fuel tanks can impact how a spaceship steers in space. The way flames burn and create soot in space can also create safety issues for crews.

Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) explored how fluids affect spacecraft maneuvers today. The duo set up a pair of tiny mobile satellites known as SPHERES for the test inside Japan’s Kibo lab module. The SPHERES Tether Slosh experiment is observing what happens when the satellites tow a liquid-filled tank versus a solid mass body with a Kevlar tether.

Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos opened up the Combustion Integrated Rack in the afternoon and replaced manifold bottles that contain gases for flame experiments. The flight engineer also packed items for disposal on a Japanese cargo ship and checked on Russian ventilation and air conditioning systems.

On-Orbit Status Report

Food Acceptability: An ISS crewmember performed the Questionnaire. The Food Acceptability investigation seeks to determine the impact of repetitive consumption of food currently available from the spaceflight food system. Results will be used in developing strategies to improve food system composition to support crew health and performance on long duration missions

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR): The ISS crew swapped out CIR Manifold #4 (1-letre) Bottles. One bottle contains 100% C2H4 and the other contains 40% CH4. The CIR includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion experiments in microgravity.

Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) Tether Slosh: Crew performed test runs of the SPHERES Tether Slosh test points. SPHERES Tether Slosh combines fluid dynamics equipment with robotic capabilities aboard the ISS to investigate automated strategies for steering passive cargo that contain fluids. In space, the fluid fuels used by spacecraft can slosh around in unpredictable ways making space maneuvers difficult. This investigation uses two SPHERES robots tethered to a fluid-filled container covered in sensors to test strategies for safely steering spacecraft such as dead satellites that might still have fuel in the tank

Completed Task List Activities:

None
Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Nominal System Commanding

Two-Day Look Ahead:

Friday, 10/19:

Payloads:
Plant Habitat Harvesting (NASA)
METEOR Inverter R&R (NASA)
BioServe Protein Crystallography Microscope setup
NanoRacks Platform 1&2 Relocate (NASA)
Atomization-MSPR activation (JAXA)

Systems:
LSR Umbilical Mate
EMU LLB Auto cycle Initiate
HTV Cargo Transfer

Saturday-Sunday, 10/20-21:

Payloads:
No Crew Payload activities

Systems:
Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty

Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Record COP24 script
AC Dry Vacuum Cleaner Cue Card Update
Combustion Integrated Rack Manifold #4 Bottle Replacement
Combustion Integrated Rack Upper Rack Doors Close
Combustion Integrated Rack Upper Rack Doors Open
Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cylinder Flywheel Evacuation
Delta file prep
ECON-M. Observations and photo (Task list)
EVA Procedure Review for Suit IV
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Training Review
Flight Director/ISS CREW CONFERENCE
Food Acceptability Questionnaire
Gathering Russian Equipment for Disposal via CYGNUS HTV-7
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
International Procedure Viewer Tablet Questionnaire
Inventory Management System (IMS) Conference
ISS HAM Service Module Pass
Life On The Station Photo and Video
Maintenance Activation of RS СРВ-У Centrifugal Multi-Purpose Vacuum Distiller (ЦМВД)
Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media
Preventive Maintenance of SM Ventilation Subsystem. Group А
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – Lab
Record UN Forum Script
Record VDE Summit Script
Recorded Greeting Request
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill
SCENARIY. Observation and photography using Photo Equipment
SPHERES Tether Slosh Run
Test transmission of log files from the Central Post Laptop via telemetry.
URAGAN Observations and Photography
Visual inspection and leak check, using US leak detector ULD in the orbital compartment [БО] of Soyuz №739. Report to MCC during comm pass
Visual inspection and leak monitoring using US ULD Leak Detector in Soyuz 739 БО. Report to MCC
Water Recovery Management (WRM) Condensate Pumping Initiation
СОЖ maintenance