ISS On-Orbit Status 25 Nov 2002
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. The station again plays host to ten occupants and one Shuttle.
STS-113 Commander Jim Wetherbee completed a very smooth linkup maneuver at 4:59pm (all times Eastern) with his trademark glacially slow approach, 33 min later than scheduled. Over the comm channel came the traditional ringing of the ship’s bell by Peggy Whitson and her call “Endeavour arriving!” Endeavour is now docked at ISS/PMA2 (pressurized mating adapter #2) for the next seven days. It is the 16th ISS/STS mission, bringing the total of ISS assembly and logistics flights to 33.
After configuring of the Orbiter docking system (ODS) and hatch/vestibule leak checks from both sides, hatches between Shuttle and ISS were opened at 6:31pm, followed by “howdies”, handshakes, and a “welcome aboard” ceremony in English and Russian.
Next timeline items for tonight are: mandatory safety briefing for all, logistics transfer begin, transfer of the IELKs (individual equipment and liner kits) for the Soyuz couches, and relocation of the two large EMU spacesuits delivered by 11A to the Airlock (A/L). Other regular tasks are EMU-Airlock (A/L) interface checkout, EVA procedure review, and Sokol spacesuit leak check and dryout.
IELK transfer marks the end of Stage 9A and begin of Stage 11A, with its own set of crewmembers (Ken Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin, Don Pettit) and trained mission evaluation specialists on the ground. Expedition 6 is now in charge of the station.
Coming up tomorrow: Transfer of the massive P1 truss segment from the Orbiter payload bay to its portside attachment points at the central S0 truss tomorrow morning at 10:20am (when Shuttle robotarm RMS grapples P1) to 3:25pm (when station robotarm SSRMS ungrapples P1). “Handover” of the 14.5-ton structure from the RMS to the SSRMS takes place at about 11:45am (has been done once before, with a small carrier platform). At the conclusion of transfer ops, spacewalkers Mike Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington will egress the A/L at 3:25pm to conduct the first of three 6.5-hr. EVAs (EVA-2 and EVA-3 will be on 11/28 and 11/30, resp.).
During the docked mission, Endeavour will perform three reboosts of the mated stack, on 11/27 (12:30pm), 11/29 (12:10pm), and 12/1 (12:00pm). The impacts of the reboosts on the rendezvous altitude for flight ULF-1/STS-114 in March next year, which is a performance-critical mission, is under continuing study.
FE-1/SO Peggy Whitson, who will maneuver the SSRMS along with CDR Valery Korzun, prepares for the P1 installation tonight (~7:44pm) by first verifying that the Shuttle-to-ISS video connection configured by the Shuttle crew works properly on the Lab RWS (robotic workstation), and then one more time reviewing the well-rehearsed P1 install timeline and procedures.
Earlier today, prior to the docking, the crew completed a number of preparatory tasks. Whitson activated the EVARM (EVA radiation monitoring) reader and performed another badge reading of the background radiation environment in the cabin for the upcoming spacewalks.
She also initiated and later terminated the transfer of accumulated water from the Lab condensate collection tank to a portable CWC (contingency water container), to relieve the tank for increased use during the docked phase.
The A/L was prepared for crew ingress by activation of its CCAA (common cabin air assembly) air conditioner. Along with it, Whitson also activated the ARS (air revitalization system) rack in the Lab.
To get the MSS (mobile service system) and SSRMS ready for power-up by the ground, Peggy reconnected UOP (utility outlet panel) power cables to the Lab and Cupola RWS DCP (robotic workstation/display and control panel).
CDR Sergei Korzun meanwhile performed pre-docking air sampling in the SM, FGB and Lab using the Russian AK-1M air sampler. A second air sampling was to be conducted in the Orbiter with AK-1M at 6:05pm after hatch opening (but before air ducts installation), and a third sampling, with the Draeger tube sampler (IPD) for CO (carbon monoxide), in the SM at five to six hours after ventilation ducts installation.
Daily routine tasks were completed by Korzun (SOSh life support systems maintenance), Whitson (Lab payload status checkup), and Treschev (IMS inventory delta file preparation).
Sleep period begins after midnight, at 12:20am, for both crews. Wake-up will be tomorrow morning at 8:50am.
Today’s targets for the earth observations from the station were Andes, Chile & Argentina (ISS orbit passed over the Andes and the Pampas of Argentina. Of interest: documenting the lakes of the Andes, esp. water color and level. Continuing on through the Pampas, ISS passed over two major rivers, first the Parana and then the Uruguay. The Rio Uruguay is the border between Uruguay and Argentina, then Uruguay and Brazil. Crew was to note land use along the rivers and country boundaries. Using DCS (digital camera system) with 180mm lens), Perth, Australia (nadir pass and a touch right; using DCS camera), Tuamotu-Austral Islands (clear weather persists), Tuamotu Archipelago (clear weather persists), and Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (early morning light enhances the ability to image aerosol loadings).
CEO images can be viewed at the website http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 4:15am EST).
Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):
- Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (manual mode 5, cycle time 10 min). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS is operational. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.
- SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 739; temperature (deg C) — 25.7; ppO2 (mmHg) — 139.8; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.4.
- SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 751; temperature (deg C) — 19.5.
- FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 744; temperature (deg C) — 20.7.
- Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 734.54; temperature (deg C) — 22.4 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
- U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 736.43; temperature (deg C) — 25.1; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
- Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 736.43, temperature (deg C) — 26.0; shell heater temp (deg C) — 22.5, ppO2 (mmHg) — 161.3; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 4.1.
- PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.4
- PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 20.0
(n/a = data not available)
Propulsion System (PS):
- Total propellant load available (SM + FGB + Progress) — 3808 kg (8395 lb) [as of 11/21/02].
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: Batteries #4 is off line; battery #3 is in “Cycle” mode; all other batteries (4) 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:
- FGB MDM-1 failed; FGB MDM-2 is operating.
- All other 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, 7:20am EST [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 388.5 km
- Apogee — 397.7 km
- Perigee — 379.4 km
- Period — 92.33 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0013481
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
- Altitude loss — 190 (mean) in last 24 hours
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 22913
- 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.
