NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 26 October 2016

Three Expedition 49 crew members are winding down their stay in space this week, as a new trio gets used to its new home on orbit. While all six International Space Station residents are in the midst of a crew transition, they are still continuing advanced space research and orbital lab maintenance.
Commander Anatoly Ivanishin spent the morning getting the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft ready for its Saturday night departure. He and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi will board the Soyuz, undock from the Rassvet module and land in Kazakhstan ending a four-month mission. The trio spent Wednesday afternoon practicing their Soyuz descent procedures and packing gear.

Rubins also explored how living in space can affect brain functions such as perception, memory and motor control for the NeuroMapping study. Onishi spent some time on an education demonstration video for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

New station resident and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough is getting ready for the crew handover as he prepares to assume station control. He will become station commander during a change of command ceremony Friday afternoon. Expedition 50 will officially begin when the Soyuz MS-01 undocks Saturday night. Kimbrough is staying in space until February with fellow crewmates Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko.

On-Orbit Status Report

Meteor Operations: FE-6 exchanged the hard drive then removed and replaced the grating in the Meteor Camera located in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The Meteor payload is a visible spectroscopy instrument with the primary purpose of observing meteors in Earth orbit. Meteor uses image analysis to provide information on the physical and chemical properties of the meteoroid dust, such as size, density, and chemical composition. Since the parent comets or asteroids for most of the meteor showers are identified, the study of the meteoroid dust on orbit provides information about the parent comets and asteroids.

Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) Sample Cartridge Assembly (SCA) Exchange: FE-3 was unable to locate the calibration cartridge and was directed to cap the cable connectors on the MSL chamber. The MSL was left in a safe configuration while ground teams investigate the potential locations for the cartridge. The cartridge that FE-3 removed was used for Metastable Solidification of Composites (METCOMP1) Run 4 and completed on October 20. The calibration cartridge must be installed prior to the next science run. The Batch-2b of the Materials Science Laboratory Sample Cartridge Assemblies (MSL SCA-Batch 2b-ESA) serves two projects investigating how different phases organize in a structure when metallic alloys are solidified. The METCOMP project studies the phase formed by the reaction of the remaining liquid phase with an already formed solid, to form a second solid phase on cooling. For this purpose, Bronze (Copper-Tin Alloys) of different compositions will be processed. The other project, Solidification along a Eutectic path in Ternary Alloys (SETA), looks at how two phases that form together organize into lamellar, or fibre, structures when cooling Aluminum (Copper-Silver Alloys). Both projects will provide benchmark samples that will enable to test numerical models that aim to predict these structures.

Radiation Area Monitor (RAM) Retrieval: FE-2 retrieved the RAMs that are located throughout ISS and package them for return on 47 Soyuz (47S).

Soyuz 47 (47S) Nominal Descent Drill: The 47S crew participated in a nominal Soyuz Decent Drill. As part of the training they reviewed preliminary undocking and descent data and worked through the descent timeline from Soyuz activation through post-landing activities. The 47S crew is scheduled to return to Earth on Saturday, October 29th.

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

NEUROIMMUNITET. Saliva Collection
NEUROIMMUNITET. Closeout Ops
MICROVIR. Removal of Cassetta-M No.1-3 and No.1-4 from ???-? No.04 and setup in Cryogem-03 at +37 deg C
COSMOCARD. Setup. Starting 24-hr ECG Recording
PRODUTSENT. Removal from ???-? No.02 and Transfer to ???-? No.04 at 4 deg C
MICROVIR. Squeezing out and photography of Cassetta-M No.?1-3, No.1-4 bottom cells. Setup in Cryogem-03 at +37 deg C.
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
Soyuz 731 Samsung Tablet Recharge, Initiate
EVA Find Payload Water Reservoir Degas Tool
ISS CREW/SSIPC CONFERENCE
Filling (separation) of ??? (???) for Elektron or ???-??
Soyuz 731 Return Stowage Ops
Dose Tracker Data Entry Subject
Handover of Increment 49 Crew
??? maintenance
DOSIS 3D Passive Detectors De-Installation from Columbus (10 PDPs and 1 TDP).
Meteor Hard Drive Swapout
DOSIS 3D Passive Detector Pouch handover to Russian crew for download of dosimeters with Soyuz.
MICROVIR. Glovebox-S Closeout Ops
MICROVIR. Photographing the state of the cells of the lower cassette-M ? 1-1, 1-2. Final operations.METEOR Grating Configuration
Soyuz 731 Samsung tablet recharging, end
LBNP Training (PRELIMINARY).
PRODUTSENT. Deactivation and Removal of ???-? S/N 02
JAXA Education Payload Observation Communication Event
MICROVIR. Photography of bottom cells
CALCIUM. Bioekololgiya containers: Photography, Processing, and Photo Downlink, Pre-pack for Return
Soyuz 732 Samsung Tablet Recharge, Initiate
Verification of ??-1 Flow Indicator Position
BIOPLENKA. Removal of Samples from the Thermostat, fixation of Constanta cassette No.4-4 biofilm.
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
Crew Prep for TV Conference
TV PAO event with participants of International Space Olympiad for Schoolchildren
Scheduled monthly maintenance of Central Post Laptop Log-File Downlink from the Laptop.
MICROVIR. Photography of bottom cells
Material Science Laboratory SCA Exchange2B #4
Soyuz nominal descent training 2
Soyuz 731 descent OBT.
Download Pille Dosimeter Readings
IDENTIFICATION. Copy ???-? micro-accelerometer data to laptop
Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation
MICROVIR. Photography of bottom cells
Radiation Area Monitors (RAM) Retrieval
Dose Tracker Data Entry Subject
SODI DSC Flash Disk Exchange
NeuroMapping Experiment Neurocognitive Test – Subject
Dose Tracker Historical Documentation Photography
Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
Habitability Human Factors Directed Observations – Subject
IMS Delta File Prep
MICROVIR. Photography of cell condition. Start of video recording
Soyuz 732 Samsung tablet recharging, end
MICROVIR. Photography of cell condition. End of video recording

Completed Task List Items
Biomolecule Sequencer Sample Stop and Restow Flow Cell
Biomolecule Sequencer MELFI Insert

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
SSRMS Unstow SPDM

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 10/27: Airway Monitoring, Handover
Friday, 10/28: Cygnus Cargo Transfer, 47S Prepack, Change of Command
Saturday, 10/29: 47S Undock and Landing

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”) – Off
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