NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 26 January 2016

The International Space Station will raise its orbit Wednesday afternoon before a pair of crews swap places and a cargo ship arrives in March.
One-year crew members Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos are set to return home March 1 along with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Then, Expedition 47 will begin and three new crew members will arrive March 19. New supplies are scheduled to be delivered to the crew March 31 aboard a Progress 63 cargo craft.

The orbiting Expedition 46 crew was back at work Tuesday on a series of life science and physics experiments to benefit life on Earth and crews living in space. Commander Scott Kelly explored maximizing the effects of exercise in space while British astronaut Tim Peake studied how living in space affects using touch-based technologies, repairing sensitive equipment and a variety of other tasks. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra researched how materials burn in space.

Two cosmonauts resized their Russian Orlan spacesuits today, checked them for leaks and set up hardware before next week’s maintenance spacewalk. Flight Engineers Sergey Volkov and Yuri Malenchenko will work outside Feb. 3 in their Orlan suits to install hardware and science experiments on the orbital lab’s Russian segment.

On-Orbit Status Report

Burning and Suppression of Solids – Milliken (BASS-M) Preparation: In preparation for BASS-M operations this week, Kopra reconfigured the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Facility and installed Smoke Point In Co-flow Experiment (SPICE) hardware into the MSG work volume. He will perform the BASS-M ignitor test tomorrow, prior to BASS-M sample testing. The BASS-M investigation tests flame-retardant cotton fabrics to determine how well they resist burning in microgravity. Results benefit research on flame-retardant textiles that can be used on Earth and in space.

Sprint Ultrasound: Kelly performed his Flight Day 300 thigh and calf ultrasound scans today with assistance from Kopra and guidance from the Sprint ground team. Ultrasound scans are used to evaluate spaceflight-induced changes in the muscle volume. The Sprint investigation evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function in ISS crewmembers during long-duration missions. Upon completion of this study, investigators expect to provide an integrated resistance and aerobic exercise training protocol capable of maintaining muscle, bone and cardiovascular health while reducing total exercise time over the course of a long-duration space flight. This will provide valuable information in support of the long term goal of protecting human fitness for even longer space exploration missions.

Payload Data Handling (PDH) Removal and Replacement: Peake removed the Payload Data Handling (PDH) unit in the JEM and replaced it with PDH2. The PDH unit being replaced is an engineering model flown up on ATV5 to replace a failed PDH. PDH2 provides added capability for support of a hot-standby backup and automatic switchover for contingencies. The PDH units handle commanding to JAXA payloads, downlink channels and High-Rate payload data downlink.

Observation Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) Removal: Kelly completed OASIS removal from the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), an activity begun last week. Kopra then inserted the Burning and Suppression of Solids-Milliken (BASS-M) experiment into the MSG.

Orbital ATK (OA)-4 Cargo Operations: Peake and Kopra continued transferring Cygnus cargo to ISS today. Approximately 22 hours of transfer operations remain to be completed. Cygnus is scheduled to unberth from ISS on February 19th.

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

OTKLIK. Hardware Monitoring
USND2 – Hardware Activation
Cygnus Cargo Operations
ER4 – Insertion of USB drive to allow starting of the SW load
Fine Motor Skills – Examination
OASIS – Observation and Analysis
Glisser-M Video Hardware Battery Charge
JPM – Payload Data Handling (PDH) Unit R&R
BIOCARD. Experiment Ops
VIZIR Experiment
SPRINT – Scanning Ops
Orlan suit No.4 Height Sizing
SPRINT – Operator Assistance with the Experiment
Orlan 4 Backup Bladder Leak Check
Orlan No.4 and ??? (Orlan Interface Unit) leak checks and valve tests
ER4 – Insertion of DVD drive to allow starting of the SW load
Orlan 6 Backup Bladder Leak Check
SAMS – Sensor Removal
Orlan No.6 and ??? (Orlan Interface Unit) leak checks and valve tests
Bag consolidation in Columbus
USND2 – Hardware Deactivation
Photo/TV – LAB coder power cycle
SAMS Installation in Columbus
24-hour ECG Monitoring (termination)
Glisser-M Video Hardware Battery Charge (terminate)
Preparation of Glisser-M Video Hardware used during USOS EVA
Terminate EMU LLB Battery Autocycle
Columbus Bag Restow
24-hour BP monitoring (terminate)
IMS Delta File Prep
????-3 Micro-integrator Changeout (?507, ?607, ?707). Install Nos.10395332, 10343135, 10343136. Dismantled ????-3 10368557, 10368558, 10368560
Cygnus Cargo Operations
BASS – Crew Conference
INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops
Cleaning FGB Gas-Liquid Heat Exchanger (???) Detachable Screens 1, 2, 3
Cygnus – Cargo Operations Tagup
BASS Equipment Setup
??? Maintenance
Air Heater Fan [???] Screen Cleaning in ?? 719
ER4 – DVD Removal and Stowage
BASSM – Payload Ops Overview
IFM – Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) – Full Fill

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal System Commanding
PDH2 Checkout

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 01/27: Cyclops Install, BASS M, Water Mist PFE Deploy, Cygnus Cargo Transfer
Thursday, 01/28: Cygnus Cargo Transfer, PS120 J Install, JPM Int Port Camera Relocation
Friday, 01/29: Cygnus Cargo Transfer, BASS-M Ops, Lonestar Deploy, Kelly Off Duty

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