NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 November 2018

A pair of Expedition 57 astronauts trained for the release of a Japanese resupply ship Wednesday after a 41-day mission at the International Space Station. Japan’s seventh cargo ship, H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7), has one more mission though after it departs the orbital lab.
If all goes as planned, astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the HTV-7, also called the Kounotori, Wednesday at 11:50 a.m. EST. Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor will back up Gerst in the cupola monitoring the vehicle and its telemetry as it slowly backs away from the space station. The two astronauts reviewed departure procedures and practiced robotics controls on a computer today. NASA TV will broadcast live the space freighter’s departure beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Kounotori was captured Sept. 27 and delivered external station batteries and hardware to be configured during a pair of upcoming spacewalks. The resupply ship also replenished the station with advanced science experiments and equipment to benefit humans on Earth and in space.

However, it has one more payload to deliver for splashdown on Earth before the vehicle burns up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean. The HTV-7 will release a small reentry capsule packed with test cargo for retrieval by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The splashdown mission is a test of JAXA’s ability to return small payloads from space for quick delivery to researchers on Earth.

Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev worked on science and maintenance tasks throughout Monday in the orbital lab’s Russian segment. He started out researching how the space environment and solar radiation affects plasma-dust crystals. Prokopyev finished up his day photographing the condition of the Zvezda service module interior panels before disposing of obsolete hardware in the Progress 70 resupply ship.

On-Orbit Status Report

Plant Habitat: Today, the crew wrapped plant samples into foil packs and placed them into Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)-3 and the Plant Habitat facility was cleaned. Plant Habitat is a fully automated facility conducting plant bioscience research on the ISS. The space environment is stressful for all living organisms. Understanding how plants respond will help crews on future missions successfully grow plants for food and oxygen generation. The Plant Habitat-1 investigation compares differences in genetics, metabolism, photosynthesis, and gravity sensing between plants grown in space and on Earth. This investigation is expected to provide key insights on major changes occurring in plants exposed to microgravity.

HTV Small Re-entry Capsule (HSRC): The crew completed Part 1 of the HTV Capsule Assembly including the assembly of the Cylindrical Support Cone Section, Capsule Plate Section and the acceleration/pressure data logger which was taped to the sample box lid. The HSRC is designed to return relatively small payloads to the ground. The HSRC is 840mm in diameter, 190kg in weight, and contains roughly 30L pressurized volume for sample return.

Plasma Kristall (PK)-4: The crew performed video setup and checkout, connected Gas Supply hoses (Argon and Neon) and verified valve functionality. PK-4 is a scientific collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), performing research in the field of “Complex Plasmas” which are low temperature gaseous mixtures composed of ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles. The micro-particles become highly charged in the plasma and interact strongly with each other which can lead to a self-organized structure of the micro-particles – so-called plasma crystals. Experiments in the facility aim to study Transport Properties, Thermodynamics, Kinetics and Statistical Physics, and Non-linear waves and Instabilities in the plasmas.

H-II Transfer Vehicle 7 (HTV7) Departure Preparation: The crew reviewed HTV-7 departure materials including HTV Rendezvous Review and HTV Departure Review. They also completed Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Release Session. Additionally, the crew removed the smoke detector from the vehicle prior to departure. HTV-7 is scheduled to unberth from the ISS on Wednesday, November 7.

Completed Task List Activities:
None

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
HTV Prep for Departure from N2N
Plant Habitat Facility Clean

Two Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 11/06:

Payloads:
LT PCG Transfer (JAXA)
HTV-SRC Assy and sample insert Part2 and 3 (JAXA)
PK-4 Experiment Runs (ESA)

Systems:
HTV SRC Assembly
HTV Cargo Transfer
HTV Vestibule Configure for Demate
Node2 CPA Install

Wednesday, 11/07:

Payloads:
HTV-SRC departure photo (JAXA)
VEG-03 Plant check (NASA)
BEST Sample retrieve and Experiment ops pt3 (NASA)
PK-4 Experiment runs (ESA)

Systems:
HTV Vestibule Configure for Demate
HTV/Node2 Vestibule Depress and Leak Check
HTV Departure/release

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

Vacuum cleaning of filters on dust ПС1, ПС2 in ФГБ (panels 203, 403)
PCS Laptop Relocate
PK-4 Video Monitor Installation
PCS Laptop Relocate
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – Cohesive Sedimentation Camera Activities
Flushing В2 connector of БВ2 RODNIK tank in Progress 439 (DC1
СОЖ maintenance
PK-4 Video Monitor checkout
Veg-03 Water Syringe Marking
PK-4 Neon Gas Supply manipulation
On-board Training (OBT) HTV Rendezvous Review
БД-2 carriage position check БД-2 carriage position photography relative to the pop-up roller, after lifting БД-2 curtain. Downlink via ОСА per r/g 0130
On-board Training (OBT) HTV Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Release Session
PE data downlink via ОСА per r/g 0130
Photography of SM interior panels ##122, 126, 128, 129, 131, 134, 135, 137, 138
VEG-03G Plant Check/Water
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
Robotic Workstation (RWS) Setup
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
Plant Habitat-01 Glacier to MELFI Sample Transfer #3
Plant Habitat-01 Glacier to MELFI Sample Transfer Assist
Plant Habitat Facility Clean
HTV Smoke Detector Scavenge
Placing hardware for disposal on Progress 439 (DC1) with IMS update
Node 2 Standard Definition (SD) Video Camera Setup
Node 2 Nadir Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK) and Handrail Gather for HTV-7 Small Re-entry Capsule
Ghost Camera Setup for HTV Small Re-entry Capsule (HSRC) Assembly
HSRC (HTV SMALL RE-ENTRY CAPSULE) ASSEMBLY
HSRC (HTV SMALL RE-ENTRY CAPSULE) SAMPLE INSTALL FROM JPM
Robotics Work Station (RWS) Display and Control Panel (DCP) Checkout