ISS On-Orbit Status 8 Sep 2002
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously.
The crew had a regular Sunday schedule: only a few mandatory duties, some optional "job jar" tasks and much unscheduled rest time on the OSTP (on-board short-term plan). [Crew timelines aboard the ISS are built both by MCC-Moscow (TsUP) and MCC-Houston, and jointly agreed upon to yield the final OSTP version. The Russian "cyclogram" (Form 24), its English translation and the OSTP are uplinked via OCA. OSTP is then executed by the crew from their laptop-based OSTP program which enables on-line access to planned station activities, providing the capability to view and edit up to seven days of planned activities.]
Besides the scheduled daily tasks, the crew regularly holds morning and evening planning conferences (DPCs) with MCC-H (on weekends only evening), reboots the laptops most every morning, checks the station pressure twice per day using pressure gauges (MV), reports its health during the first comm session after wakeup and its completion of physical exercises during the evening DPC. Nominal worktime for systems work and science research is 6.5 hours each day.
FE-1 Peggy Whitson worked on the MSG/SUBSA (microgravity science glovebox/solidification using a baffle in ampoule) experiment, deactivating the SUBSA furnace, SAMS-II (space accelerations measurement system) and MSG video system. She then removed the finished SUBSA09 sample from the thermal chamber, changed the microdrive unit and removed the videotape. [The stored data on the micro harddrive unit were transferred to diskette for subsequent download to the ground by S-band/medium data rate. Finally, the MSG was powered down. Whitson was requested to leave samples 09 and 01 in the work volume (WV) until sample 01 is processed (scheduled for 9/10, Tuesday).]
CDR Valeriy Korzun did the weekly collection of SP toilet flush and SVO water supply counter data for calldown to the ground.
He also performed the daily routine maintenance of the SOSh life support system, while Peggy completed the regular day-off payload status checkup.
At 6:10am EDT, the crew participated in a live interactive TV event via KU- and S-band with attendees of the annual German "Space Day" at the DLR German Aerospace Center near Cologne. [The Q&A interchange with Edelgard Bulmahn, Minister for Research and Education, and three high school students from Bremen was moderated by ESA astronaut Gerhard Thiele. ESA astronaut (and future ISS crewmember) Christer Fuglesang was also in attendance. Both the European and German Space Agencies later asked MCC-H to pass along their heartfelt thanks for a great PAO event.]
MCC-M uplinked a preliminary list of Russian replaceable Orlan spacesuit components which the crew is to excess by stowing them on Progress 246 (8P) for disposal. [The items include nine BK-3M oxygen tanks, storage batteries, spacesuit moisture collectors, pressure gloves, filter cartridges, replaceable parts kits and visor lubricant.]
All crewmembers had their PFCs (private family conferences) today, via audio/S-band.
They also performed their regular physical exercise on TVIS, RED and CEVIS.
Targets for the Russian Diatomeya ocean observation program today were the Black Sea (a ribbonlike color-contrast formation), Indian Ocean (bioproduction south of Madagascar), Atlantic Ocean (a major fishing region west of the Republic of South Africa, a convergence zone along the Brazilian current’s southern boundary), and Pacific Ocean (an aquatic region south-west of Oahu, Hawaii).
Target areas for the Russian Uragan earth-observing program today were the city of Kaspiysk, cities in Turkmeniya along the Karakum channel, the Danube flood bed with flooded areas, and river beds (mostly dry wash) in Ethiopia.
Today’s targets for the U.S. CEO (crew earth observations) program were Tigris-Euphrates, Turkey (detailed views of the several new lakes and flanking valley sides of the Euphrates River, in Turkey’s largest development project [involves building 22 new dams]. Rapid changes being documented on the ground. Views mainly left), Kuwait City, Kuwait (nadir view. ESC (electronic still camera) requested), Toshka Lakes; Egypt (nadir pass over these new lakes in the remotest Western Desert), Bamako, Mali (nadir view, ESC),and Chicago, Illinois (nadir view, ESC).
CEO images can be viewed at the website http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
ISS Orbit (as of this afternoon, 2:23 pm EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 388.8 km
Apogee — 398.9 km
Perigee — 378.7 km
Period — 92.3 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0014957
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
Altitude decrease — 250 m (mean) in last 24 hours
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 21706
Current Flight Attitude — LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal = "earth-fixed": z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch: 7.8 deg, roll: 0 deg]). Transition from LVLH (Russian: OSK) back to XPOP (Russian: RSO) will be on 9/16.
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times, see
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html
