NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 October 2018 – Botany Science and Solar Array Photography

Botany science and solar array photography were on the Expedition 57 crew’s schedule today including ongoing maintenance of the orbital lab.
The research and photo surveys help scientists and engineers understand how life and International Space Station systems adapt to microgravity.

Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor is helping NASA and its international partners understand how plants grow in microgravity to promote humans living longer and farther in space. She set up the Veggie plant growth facility today to grow a variety of edible plants such as kale and lettuce inside Europe’s Columbus lab module. Botanists are also exploring how cultivating plants to provide a fresh food supply affects crew morale.

Commander Alexander Gerst started his day familiarizing himself with the botany experiment. The German astronaut from of ESA (European Space Agency) then worked throughout the day photo-documenting the station’s port side solar arrays. The photos will be downloaded so ground specialists can inspect the condition of the arrays for damage sites.

On the Russian side of the space lab, cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev checked on power supply systems inside the Zarya cargo module before moving on to science and life support work. Zarya was the first station module launched into space and will reach its 20th anniversary on Nov. 20.

On-Orbit Status Report

Veg-03G: Today, the crew installed a Root Mat and Plant Pillows, then powered up Veg-03G and set light intervals. They then filled the Plant Pillows and Root Mat with water in order to initiate the Veg-03G experiment. This is the first day of a 28 day growth cycle for the Red Russian Kale and Dragoon Lettuce plants. The primary goal of the Veg-03G testing is to demonstrate plant growth in the Veggie hardware using leafy green vegetables as test crops, benefitting future long-duration space missions which will require crew members to grow their own food.

Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM): EarthKAM mission 64 is continuing nominally. As of this report, 242 schools representing 20,445 students and 37 countries have signed up to request images. 17,360 image requests have been submitted, 3,437 images have been downlinked, and 2,879 images have been posted to the web. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables them to photograph the Earth’s coastlines, mountain ranges and other geographic items of interest from the unique vantage point of space. The EarthKAM team then posts these photographs on the Internet for viewing by the public and participating classrooms around the world.

Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) DC/DC Converter Unit 2 (DCU2): The ground has detected an issue with the assembly of DCU2 on MSPR2. The checkout scheduled for tomorrow, October 26, will be cancelled and the ground teams are considering a forward plan. The MSPR is a multipurpose payload rack system used in the JEM equipped with two workspaces and a worktable that can be used for wide fields of space environment utilization, including science and educational missions.

Crew Quarters (CQ) Clean: A USOS crewmember cleaned the Overhead CQ today. During this activity, the crew cleaned behind panels, intake and exhaust ducts, fans and airflow sensors as required.

Port Solar Array Imagery: The crew obtained photographs of all four Port Solar Array mast structures and blankets. These images will provide data that can be compared to baseline imagery to obtain a better understanding of the current physical condition of the arrays and the potential rates that structural degradation of the mast occurs due to Micro Meteor Orbital Debris (MMOD) damage.

HII Transfer Vehicle (HTV)7 Cargo Transfer: Today, the crew completed loading of all currently available cargo items. Any remaining trash to be loaded will consist of common trash and KTOs which will be loaded as they become available.

Completed Task List Activities:
None

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
CQ deactivation and activation in support of cleaning
Port SARJ positioning in support of imagery

Three Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 10/26:

Payloads:
BCAT camera activity
Food acceptability
Echo External Hard Disk connection to SSC 11
Team Task Switching
Wireless Compose reconfiguration

Systems:
EMU 3004 and 3006 Loop Scrub
Periodic Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurements
Saturday-Sunday, 10/27-28:

Payloads:
No Crew Payload activities

Systems:
Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty

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

Biochemical urine test
URISYS Hardware Stowage
Wanted Poster for CSA-CPs Not Returned On SpX-15
VEGGIE Display On-Board Training
Diagnostics of FGB СУБК instruments 11М156М.
VEG Series Experiment On-Board Training.
MELFI 3 Electronic Unit Install into Spare Location
Mini Coldbag Stow
Diagnostics of FGB Power Supply System Filter Units (БФ-2) and Main Bus Assembly (БСШ-2).
RYUTAI Microgravity Measurement Apparatus (MMA) Cable Connection
Photo T/V (P/TV) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video Setup
Photo/TV SAW and MAST Camera Setup
Scheduled monthly maintenance of Central Post Laptop. Laptop Log-File Downlink via OCA per r/g 0130.
Port Solar Array (SA) Photos
Transfer Operations – Pack and stow items on HTV
On Board Training (OBT) ROBoT T&C Self Study
Port Solar Array (SA) Photos
Filling ЕДВ (KOВ) for Elektron
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Crew Quarters (CQ) Overhead Cleaning
Stowing of ESA Power Bank
СОЖ maintenance
Countermeasures System (CMS) Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Isolator Replacement
QD Cap/Plug Pantry Photo Document
Nikon still camera sync with station time
Port Solar Array (SA) Photos
VEG-03 MWA Preparation
VEG-03G Experiment Install
Station Support Computer (SSC) 8 Load Preparation
Port Solar Array (SA) Photos
INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops
Photo/TV SAW and Mast photography equipment teardown
Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification
IMS Update
VEG-03G MELFI Insertion #1
MATRYOSHKA-R. Monitoring Tritel Readings
HTV Cargo Operations Conference