NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 January 2016

The six-member Expedition 46 crew participated in a range of long term space science Wednesday to benefit life on Earth and future astronauts. The crew is also gearing up for the second spacewalk of 2016 planned for early February.
Astronauts Tim Kopra and Tim Peake participated in eye and blood pressure checks for the Ocular Health vision study. Kopra then scrubbed spacesuit cooling loops before reconfiguring their hardware. Peake set up gear for the Airway Monitoring experiment to determine how gravity and microgravity influence the lungs. Commander Scott Kelly collected blood and urine samples and took ultrasound and blood pressure measurements for the Cardio Ox and Twins Study experiments.

Cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Yuri Malenchenko are getting ready for a Russian spacewalk planned for Feb. 3 that will be broadcast live on NASA TV. The duo prepared their Orlan spacesuits and the airlock inside the Pirs docking compartment. The spacewalkers will spend about five hours and 30 minutes installing hardware and science experiments on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

On-Orbit Status Report

Cardio Ox: Kelly performed his Flight Day 300 (FD300) Cardio Ox ultrasound and blood pressure measurement session with Peake acting as operator. Throughout the day today, Kelly collected urine samples that will be used by the Cardio Ox and Twins Studies. Tomorrow, he will collect blood samples and store them in Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) until their return to ground for laboratory analysis. The goal of Cardio Ox is to determine whether biological markers of oxidative and inflammatory stress are elevated during and after space flight and whether this results in an increased, long-term risk of atherosclerosis risk in astronauts. Twelve crewmembers provide blood and urine samples to assess biomarkers before launch, 15, and 60 after launch, 15 days before returning to Earth, and within days after landing. Ultrasound scans of the carotid and brachial arteries are obtained at the same time points, as well as through 5 years after landing, as an indicator of cardiovascular health.

Airway Monitoring: Peake configured equipment in the Lab for the Ambient Pressure monitoring session of the Airway Monitoring Experiment. Peake changed out the sensor for both the Low and High Nitric Oxide (NO) Analyzers. He then configured camera views and activated the Portable Pulmonary Function System (PPFS) prior to a software update performed by ground teams. The primary goals of the Airway Monitoring experiment is to determine how gravity and microgravity influence the turnover of NO in the lungs. During future manned missions to the Moon and to Mars, airway inflammation due to toxic dust inhalation is a risk factor. Since dust may cause airway inflammation and since such inflammation can be monitored by exhaled NO analysis the present study is highly relevant for astronaut health in future space programs.

Ocular Health: This week Kopra and Peake are performing their FD30 Ocular Health activities. Today, the crew performed tonometry to measure intraocular pressure, blood pressure measurements, vision tests and a vision questionnaire. The Ocular Health protocol calls for a systematic gathering of physiological data to characterize the risk of microgravity-induced visual impairment/intracranial pressure in ISS crewmembers. Researchers believe that the measurement of visual, vascular and central nervous system changes over the course of this experiment and during the subsequent post-flight recovery will assist in the development of countermeasures, clinical monitoring strategies, and clinical practice guidelines.

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Loop Scrub: Kopra configured EMU suits 3008 and 3011 for loop scrubbing. During EMU 3011 loop scrub, a leak was observed at the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) to water processing jumper connector. Photographs of the leak were taken and the area dried. An attempt to recreate the leak during iodination was unsuccessful. After the scrubbing activity was completed, he reconfigured hardware and performed Iodination of Ion Filters for both suits. Finally he performed a dryout of the EMU Fan Module and Vent Loop. Samples containing 250 mL of the water were obtained after the loop scrub activity to determine the effectiveness of the filtering. 10 mL of this water sample will be used for a conductivity test on Friday onboard ISS and the remaining water will be sent to the ground for chemical analysis.

Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) Oxygen Transfer: The NORS Oxygen transfer to the high pressure O2 tanks was successfully completed yesterday. Early this morning, the ground teams commanded the NORS Oxygen transfer to the low pressure O2 tanks. Transfer to the low pressure tanks is complete and the crew has closed the transfer valve.

Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Laptop RS1(2) Reboot
SLEEP – Questionnaire
SM ??? (Caution & Warning Panel) Test
TWIN – Urine Sample Collection
??-8. Configuration Setup
Body Mass Measurement
HRF – Sample Insertion into MELFI
Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) – Oxygen Transfer to Low Pressure O2 Tank
Fine Motor Skills
Soyuz 718 Samsung Tablet Recharge
Eye Test (Ocular Health) – Blood Pressure Operations
CRHYT – Hardware Removal
HAM radio session from Columbus
HMS Visual Testing Activity
BIOCARD. Experiment Ops.
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Tonometry Test Configuration
Eye Imaging (Ocular Health)
Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) – Cable Installation
Preparation of spacesuit replaceable elements, service and personal gear.
USND2
CARDOX
Airway Monitoring (AIRMON)
EMU cooling loop scrub
RADIN – Handover of Detectors to RS
MATRYOSHKA-R. Handover of BUBBLE-dosimeters from USOS
HRF Blood Collection
RS ??28-120Power Converter Checkout.
??? and DC1 config for EVA 42
EMU Cooling Loop H2O Sample
PAO Event with the 1 Year Mission crew
Inspection and Cleaning of Laptops RS2, RS3
IPAD Configuration for Dose Tracker
VEG-01
HABIT
RS1 Laptop Inspection and Cleaning.
JRNL – Journal Entry
INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops
IPAD Configuration for Dose Tracker
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Nutritional Assessment (ESA)
??? Maintenance
EMU – Long Dryout
ISS Emergency OBT Review
COGNITION
Completed Task List Items

WHC KTO Replace
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

TRRJ Survey, Nominal System Commanding
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Thursday, 01/21: ISS Emergency Training, Fundoscope, Airway Monitoring
Friday, 01/22: RRM Taskboard 4 Removal from JEMAL, ELF, OcularHealth, HMS Ultrasounds, Airway Monitoring Stow
Saturday, 01/23: Crew Off Duty, Weekly Housekeeping

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component – Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – On
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Operate
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Override
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off