NASA Space Station Status Report 13 May, 2022 – Starliner Training, Astrobee Activation

The International Space Station is getting ready to welcome Boeing’s new Starliner crew ship due to lift off next week on the company’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission.
Meanwhile, the seven-member Expedition 67 crew continued its human research and robotics work today.

NASA Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines continued training for the arrival of the Starliner spacecraft targeted for 7:10 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 20. The duo reviewed the OFT-2 mission profile and practiced the remote commanding of Starliner on a computer. The device that sends and receives data from approaching commercial crew vehicles, Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2), was activated earlier this week. Starliner will lift off atop the Atlas-V rocket from United Launch Alliance at 6:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 19, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Lindgren and Hines also started the day collecting and stowing their blood samples for later analysis. Hines then activated the Astrobee robotic free-flyer assistants inside the Kibo laboratory module. Lindgren later stowed the toaster-sized, cube-shaped robots after the autonomous devices spent the day demonstrating ways to detect and repair faulty station hardware.

Astronaut Jessica Watkins familiarized herself with Astrobee procedures and swapped components in the station’s waste and hygiene compartment located in the Tranquility module. Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti from ESA (European Space Agency) spent all day Friday testing the rHEALTH ONE medical device for its ability to identify cells, microorganisms, and proteins in microgravity.

Over in the station’s Russian segment, Commander Oleg Artemyev worked throughout Friday transferring water from the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft into the Zvezda service module. He also packed old station gear for disposal inside the ISS Progress 79 resupply ship. Flight Engineer Denis Matveev worked on ventilation systems and photographed the condition of panels inside Zvezda. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov continued testing the mobility of the European robotic arm attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Astrobee/Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking (ISAAC)-SoundSee: An Astrobee session was performed using navigation capabilities of the ISAAC investigation and the sound monitoring capabilities of the SoundSee investigation. ISAAC is a research project to develop technology for autonomous caretaking of human exploration vehicles, especially during extended periods when astronauts are away. Investigation of Deep Audio Analytics on the International Space Station (SoundSee Mission) tests monitoring of the acoustic environment using an audio sensor on Astrobee. Microphones collect acoustic information, and the Astrobee determines the sensor’s position.

Bio-Monitor: New configuration files were loaded in support of upcoming Bio-Monitor and Vascular Aging science. Bio-Monitor is a Canadian onboard instrument that serves as a platform for scientific experiments on the ISS. The instrument performs on-orbit monitoring of crew member physiological parameters, with wearable sensors that only minimally interfere with crew member daily activities.

Photocatalyst: Following the completion of the month-long experiment, the Photocatalyst hardware was removed and stowed. Photocatalyst demonstrates the use of a photocatalyst device to clean the cabin air and remove odor caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The device converts VOCs into carbon dioxide and water. The device and a non-photocatalyst control device will operate for at least four weeks before returning to Earth for analysis of the photocatalyst device’s effectiveness.

rHEALTH demo: The rHEALTH systems was set up, and a series of demonstration runs were performed. The rHEALTH ONE Microgravity Demonstration (rHEALTH) is intended to establish whether the technology used by this modified, commercial off-the-shelf device can identify and analyze biomarkers, cells, microorganisms, and proteins in the spaceflight environment. The device uses flow cytometry technology to sort and identify cells. This technology could be used to provide quick and accurate measurements of biological indicators related to disease, infection, or environmental exposure on future long-duration exploration missions.

Systems:

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Dose Pump and Pretreat Tank Remove and Replace: The crew performed WHC troubleshooting today, steps included changing out the dose pump, pre-treat tank and ?? hose. At the end of today’s troubleshooting the WHC continues to be no-go for use. Ground teams are developing additional troubleshooting steps to be performed tomorrow.

Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (Boe-OFT2) Mission Prep: Today the crew reviewed the OFT mission procedures and Starliner vehicle rendezvous and departure computer based training. Teams continue to prepare for a Boe-OFT launch on 19-May-2022.

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cable Out of Pulley: This morning the crew reported hearing a clunk during ARED exercise and discovered that a cable had come out of its pulley. Crew took photos and ARED was declared GO for bar exercise only while the detents are engaged. Ground specialist are investigating the forward plan to restore the cable exercise capability.

Completed Task List Activities:

None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

IDA2 Survey [Upcoming]
Look Ahead Plan

Saturday, May 14 (GMT 134)
Payloads:

AWP watch doff
Systems:

Crew Off Duty
Reboost
WHC Troubleshooting
Sunday, May 15 (GMT 135)
Payloads:

Astrobee Prep
AWP watch doff
Systems:

Crew Off Duty
Monday, May 16 (GMT 136)
Payloads:

Astrobee ops
CIR/SoFIE connection tightening
HRF saliva setup
rHEALTH demo
Standard Measures
Vascular Aging review
XROOTS nutrient ops
Systems:

ExtraVehicular Activity Secondary Oxygen Pack Study
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

HRF Generic Urine Collection
HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval and Insertion
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Setup and Frozen Blood Collection
Waste Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pretreat Tank (PTT) Remove and Replace (R&R)
Astrobee Stowage Clear
Waste Hygiene Compartment (WHC) EK Hose Remove and Replace
rHEALTH Hardware Demo Setup
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Waste Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Dose Pump Remove and Replace
Cold Atom Lab MTL Jumper Leak Check
rHEALTH Hardware Demo Practice Run
ISAAC SoundSee Installation
Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations
Station Support Computer 22/20 Network Cable Fix
Swap SSC (Station Support Computer) 20 and 22 Swap
SoundSee Record Start
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT Procedure Review (3 CBTs)
Photocatalyst Filter Check
Photocatalyst Hardware Remove
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in Columbus
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Brine Filter Changeout
Astrobee OBT Review
rHEALTH Hardware Demo Operations
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT Rendezvous Monitoring CBT 1
Bio-Monitor Application Configuration File Upload
Inventory Management System (IMS) Conference
JPM Window Shutter Close
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS EveryWear (EVW) Nutrition Tracking
HRF Generic Urine Collection Stow
SoundSee Hardware Stow
Microgravity Science Glovebox Power Down
SSC (Station Support Computer) 7 ZBook Shell Swap
Astrobee Stowage Clear
rHEALTH Hardware Demo Stow [Deferred]