ISS On-Orbit Status 19 Nov 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.

After crew wake-up at 11:00am EST, their main task today was installation of ARIS (active rack isolation system) in EXPRESS rack #3 (ER3), an activity that should take FE-1/SO Peggy Whitson and CDR Valery Korzun an estimated five hours.  Originally intended for Expedition 6, the task was rescheduled this week because of the 11A launch delay.   [After assembling tools and parts, Peggy and Valery  rotate the rack down  around a pivot, install a pushrod fitting, two pushrods and two actuators atop the rack, connect cabling, unlock six pushrods and actuators at the bottom (two each left, right and bottom) and the two on top, then rotate ER2 upright again, remove launch restraints and fittings, and install four snubbers with their cups and four alignment guides.  Designed to attenuate external vibration disturbances of payload racks, ARIS is quite different from traditional shock absorbers by working with active feedback control using accelerometers to measure vibration disturbances, an electronic unit to process the data, pushrods for applying compensatory (counteracting) forces against the framework of the station in response to signals from the electronic unit that are calculated to “counteract” vibration disturbances measured by the accelerometers, and microgravity rack barriers (snubbers) that prevent accidental disturbance of the active ARIS rack.  After installation, ARIS will be activated and calibrated by the ground at a later time in order to fine-tune the multiple-component system.]

Another scheduled MO-4 ODNT training round in the Russian „Chibis‰ suit for Korzun and FE-2 Sergei Treschev was deferred.

After lunch (5:45pm), Treschev will terminate the regeneration of filter bed #1 of the BPM micropurification unit.  Later, he starts the bake-out process for absorbent bed #2.  Bed #1 will then again be in Purify mode.

Another periodic maintenance task for Sergei today is the cleaning of ventilation grilles in interior panels of the FGB/Zarya module.

Treschev is also scheduled to perform the regular daily routine maintenance of the SM environment control and life support system (SOSh) as well as the preparation of the IMS (inventory management system) update file for downlink, while Whitson conducts the daily status inspection of the autonomous Lab payloads (PCG-STES007, CGBA, PGBA), after having filled out her periodic FFQ (food frequency questionnaire) that keeps a running account of her nutritional intake for U.S. health care monitoring.

The Vozdukh CO2 removal system in the Russian segment (RS) suddenly stopped working last night (3:58pm EST), shut down by its circuit protector switches (resettable fuses).  No telemetry was received at the time, but TsUP considers it an electrical problem, perhaps due to a short circuit somewhere.  Procedures to isolate the problem are being finalized, which will require crew time.

The CDRA (carbon dioxide removal assembly) in the Lab was successfully restarted last night and has been running on several half cycles (one absorbent bed only) until this morning when it stopped again.  MCC-H assumes that the unit can be kept operating indefinitely with repeated manual restarts, so that at present the important physical exercise protocol to prepare the crew for return to Earth, does not have to be curtailed, and the use of LiOH (lithium hydroxide) canisters during 11A, required if Vozdukh remains down for longer, can be kept at a minimum.

After the recent (11/14) failure of its subset 1, the SM TVM (Terminal Computer system) continues to run nominally on the two remaining lanes.  Moscow plans to let it continue in this state until a second channel fails, before reinitializing the triple-redundant set.

Deactivation, disassembly and stowage of EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle schools) was deferred from its original date of 11/15, due to the launch delay, and the remotely controlled camera system system is still up.  [Images received from it after the lens change by Peggy on 11/15 turned out spectacular, and the ground now wants to capture also some high-magnification images before the system is deactivated.  To do so, an activity was placed on Peggy’s “job jar” task list for her to add the 2X teleconverter to the 400 mm lens already on the EarthKAM camera.]

After the crew reported noises from the aft Flexpack canister of the RED (resistive exercise device) on 11/16, the canister failed and became unusable on 11/17 (Sunday).  The crew is using the remaining new canister, while engineers are assessing the situation in a concerted effort to develop an optimum IFM (in-flight maintenance) strategy.

A second item added to the task list by MedOps is a test to isolate a grounding fault of the CHeCS TEPC (crew health care systems/tissue equivalent proportional counter) radiation spectrometer, with a due date of 11/22. If successful, this test, which uses an ohmmeter to check resistance values at various pins of the TEPC power/data connector, will lift the current restriction on relocating the TEPC.

All necessary paperwork has been finished to return the Russian GCF-B payload (Granada Crystallization Facility B) on 11A/Endeavour, as requested by RSC-Energia.  [GCF-B was delivered by Progress 9P for use by ESA guest cosmonaut Frank De Winne in experiments with counterdiffusion crystallization of biological macromolecules.]

The two-hour job by Korzun and Treschev on 11/14 to install two new cables for the BITS2-12 onboard measurement telemetry system behind Service Module (SM) panels was not completed as planned, due to a missing connector (806A).  TsUP decided to abort the task for the time being.  [BITS2-12 is the primary means for monitoring SM systems and science equipment.  It also monitors FGB parameters, via the message acquisition equipment (ASS).]

Soyuz 5S/TMA-211, the new CRV (crew return vehicle) docked at the DC-1 compartment, currently has no altimeter (VP) for the terminal landing phase.  The missing instrument will be delivered by Progress 10P/M-47 in February next year. Meanwhile, CDR Korzun was advised to make appropriate changes in the pertinent flight procedures book.

Pending final sign-off by MCC-H design and safety engineers, the jointly agreed-on flight attitude for the upcoming high solar Beta angle period, starting 12/21 and extending for six days, will be YVV/”Barbecue” (y-axis in velocity vector, i.e., vertical body axis Y facing forward, in flight direction).  [This will protect the Progress batteries from overheating and allow the Russian BOKS star mapper take navigation sightings, instead of the U.S. GPS/SIGI system, but it is not a “certified” attitude.  However, it permits easy transition back to XPOP (X-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) without a major maneuver, if it causes concern.  Choice of this attitude is predicated on a symmetrical ISS configuration, i.e., P1 truss installed opposite to current S1.  Without P1, propellant use during YVV/”Barbecue” would increase considerably.]

ISS-11A/STS-113 Launch:  Work on the replacement of the OV-105/Endeavour gaseous oxygen and nitrogen lines has been completed.  In the ongoing Shuttle RMS/manipulator investigation, three options are being considered: (a) fly as is (and use the arm as planned); (b) repair the arm; (c) fly without the arm (and use the station’s SSRMS only).  Decision is due late evening tomorrow (11/20), to allow start of countdown and cryo loading for launch on 11/22 evening for Option (a).  Options (b) and (c) would require launch slip to early December (before the “prohibited” Beta cutout period from 12/9-12/25).  For Option (c), alternate SSRMS transfer/install trajectories have already been determined, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) is in the process of converting them into appropriate computer files in time for testing, upload and crew training.

The station residents reported “spectacular views” of the Leonid meteor shower last night.

Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program were Tuamotu Archipelago (nadir pass.  Shooting coral reefs around islands and atolls), Mariana Islands (interesting early morning sun glint opportunity for island and lagoon coastal detail), Irrawaddy River Delta (sun glint opportunity to capture detail of the many mouths of this major Asian river delta), Bangkok, Thailand (nadir pass; ESC [electronic still camera] requested), and Bombay, India (ESC.  Good sun glint opportunity left of track of this city built on the largest bay on the coast.  Crew was also to look obliquely around the city to document any city-generated smog, or haze blowing into the Indian Ocean from the subcontinent).
CEO images can be viewed at the website
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:45pm EST).

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):

• Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is Off.  U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is On. TCCS is operational.  BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Regeneration mode.

• SM Working Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 751; temperature (deg C) — 23.8; ppO2 (mmHg) — 138.9; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 4.9.
• SM Transfer Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 19.9.
• FGB Cabin:  Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 2130.
• Node:  Pressure (mmHg) — 745.80; temperature (deg C) — 22.4 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• U.S. Lab:  Pressure (mmHg) — 747.75; temperature (deg C) — 22.7; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
• Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock):  Pressure (mmHg) — 747.85, temperature (deg C) — 25.6; shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.7, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• PMA-1:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.1
• PMA-2:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 19.8

        (n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS):  

• Total propellant load available (SM + FGB + Progress) — 3793 kg (8362 lb) [as of 11/14/02].

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

• Both P6 channels fully operational.  Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and BGA 4B both in dual-angle mode (directed position).
• SM batteries:  Battery #3 is in “Cycle” mode; all other batteries (7) are in “Partial Charge”: mode.
• FGB batteries:  Battery #3 is offline; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
• Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

Thermal Control Systems:

• Air conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

• C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.
• GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup (new patches loaded on both).
• EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is off.
• LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
• PL-1 MDM is On (primary); PL-2 MDM is off (diagnostic
• APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
• SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Lane 1 is down.
• SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:

• 3 CMGs on-line.
• State vector — U.S. SIGI-1
• Attitude — Russian segment (RS)
• Angular rates — U.S. RGA-1 (from RS attitude)

Communications & Tracking Systems:

• All Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
• S-band is operating nominally.
• Ku-band is operating nominally.
• Audio subsystem operating nominally.
• Video subsystem operating nominally.
• MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:

• SSRMS/Canadarm2 at MBS PDGF3 (mobile base system/power & data grapple fixture 3) and mated to PDGF1 (11A park position), with Keep Alive power on both strings.
• MBS: Keep Alive power on both strings.  POA: Keep Alive power on both strings.
• RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:46am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 389.8 km
• Apogee — 399.0 km
• Perigee — 380.5 km
• Period — 92.35 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0013612
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
• Solar Beta Angle — 26.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Altitude loss — 240 (mean) in last 24 hours
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 22819
• Current Flight Attitude — LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal = “earth-fixed”: z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -13 deg, pitch: -9 deg, roll: 0 deg]). LVLH until 11A docking.

For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times, see
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html