Status Report

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 Sep 2003

By SpaceRef Editor

September 21, 2003

Filed under ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA HQ, US

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 Sep 2003 — iss

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. It was a regular Sunday for the crew, with plenty time off.

CDR Yuri Malenchenko collected the weekly counter readings of the Service Module (SM)’s toilet flush system (with inspection of the SP urine collection and pretreat assembly) and SVO water supply status, both for calldown to TsUP/Moscow.

Yuri also performed the regular inspection/maintenance of the BRPK-2 air/liquid condensate separator in the SM.

FE/SO Ed Lu prepared the daily IMS delta file for automatic export/import to update the database, while Malenchenko attended to the daily routine maintenance of the SM SOZh life support system (including ASU toilet facilities).

Both crewmembers worked out with their daily 2.5-h program of physical exercise, on TVIS treadmill, RED expander, and VELO cycle with load trainer.

The crew had their regular weekly PFCs (private family conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/video.

Today’s CEO (crew earth observation) targets, taking into account the current LVLH attitude, and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, were Angola Biomass Burning (ISS tracked diagonally across Angola, traditionally the most flammable part of the planet. Apart from obliques of fires and smoke, crew was to look for pasterns of highly irregular fire scars closer to track [mapping swath for ~2 mins]. Strong color differences of different aged scars [as vegetation recovers] serve as a multiyear record of burning), Patagonian Glaciers (nadir pass over the northern of the two southern Andes ice fields. Views of the east and west side of the Andes were requested. The opposing sides are very different in terms of precipitation and hence ice flow behaviorthe west side has very high rainfall and the west is dry, lying in the “rain shadow” of the Andes), Amazon smoke pall (Dynamic event. Looking left towards the bend of the Andes in Bolivia to document the great smoke pall drifting south from Brazil. High obliques were best), High Central Andean Glaciers (looking for snow- and ice-covered volcanoes near nadir. Tropical glaciers are of high interest in climate change studies), and Lima, Peru (offshore air flow in the afternoons removes coastal fog banks and improves visibility. Looking a touch left just inland from the coast).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

You know you live on the ISS when…
…a minor problem with your email account results in 10 software engineers working overtime for a week (upbeat uplink from Flight Control).

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 1:09am EDT [= epoch]):