NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 October 2016
Astronauts Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi are having a light day today ahead of the arrival of three new crewmates Friday morning. The duo also is waiting for Sunday morning’s cargo delivery aboard the Cygnus resupply ship.
NASA TV will broadcast the Soyuz MS-02 space ship docking to the International Space Station beginning Friday at 5:15 a.m. EDT. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will dock to the Poisk module, beginning their Expedition 49-50 mission which will last until February.
Two days later on Sunday morning, the Cygnus resupply craft from Orbital ATK will arrive with more than 5,100 pounds of cargo, including gear to support dozens of science investigations. Onishi and Rubins will be stationed in the cupola at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple Cygnus following its journey to the complex.
On-Orbit Status Report
Group Combustion Troubleshooting: FE-5 resumed the troubleshooting on the Group Combustion Experiment Module (GCEM). The crew removed the GCEM Combustion Chamber Element (CCE) from the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) rack and installed it on the Work Bench to verify the air supply line Quick Disconnect (QD) connections. FE-5 then reinstalled the Combustion Chamber and performed leak checks with the GCEM installed in the MSPR. Ground teams are reviewing data and high-resolution images prior to proceeding with further troubleshooting steps. The Group Combustion investigation tests a theory that fuel sprays change from partial to group combustion as flames spread across a cloud of droplets. In the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack in the Kibo module, droplets of decane, a component of gasoline or kerosene, are arranged randomly on thin-fiber lattice points, and the flame and droplet positions and temperature distribution are measured as the flame spreads. Microgravity blocks convection, which on Earth would quickly disperse the droplets and combustion products before such measurements could be made.
USOS Crew Off Duty: FE-5 and FE-6 have a reduced work day in preparation for a busy weekend. Soyuz Operations are continuing nominally to support a 48S docking to the MRM2 Zenith port on Friday 21-October at 9:59 GMT. Cygnus operations remain on track for capture and berthing to the ISS on Sunday 23-October. Cygnus is carrying more than 2300 kg of supplies, crew provisions, and science experiments to the ISS. Cygnus Unberth is currently planned for 18-November.
Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
ISS Crew and ???? (RSA Flight Control Team) weekly conference
Hardware prepack for return and disposal on Soyuz 731
??? maintenance
CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Ops.
Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Combustion Chamber (CC) Retrieval
Measuring Partial CO Pressure at RS Central Post using US portable CSA-CP device
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
LBNP Training (PRELIMINARY)
Combustion Chamber (CC) Air Supply Line Check
Combustion Chamber (CC) Top Plate Attachment
HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection Setup
Vozdukh Atmosphere Purification System switchover from mode 3 to mode 4.
Microbial Capture Device (MCD) and Coliform Water Sample Analysis 44 +/- 4 hours post processing
Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Combustion Chamber (CC) Installation
Air Heater Fan (???) Screen Cleaning in Soyuz 731
Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Combustion Chamber (CC) Leak Check 1 Trouble Shoot
Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ)
CALCIUM. Experiment Session 10
Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Setup – Subject
Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Combustion Chamber (CC) Leak Check 2 Trouble Shoot
ISS Crew departure preparation
???????. Experiment Run
Completed Task List Items
PMM Stowage Consolidation and Organization
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal Ground Commanding
N2 Distribution System Leak Check post MSPR operations
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 10/21: 48S Docking, Airlock prep for Airway Monitoring
Saturday, 10/22: Cygnus Capture OBT, Emergency Roles/Responsibilities Review, Crew Adaptation
Sunday, 10/23: Cygnus Approach and Capture, Vestibule Outfitting
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:
Component – Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – Off
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Idle
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Shutdown
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up
