NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 April 2016

The International Space Station crew is wrapping up the week after working on a series of ongoing life science and robotics studies. The SpaceX Dragon is also nearing the end of its stay and preparing for a return to Earth.
The astronauts have been helping scientists gather data on what happens to the human body when exposed to microgravity to help NASA plan longer missions farther out into space. Observations from the human research studies help doctors design exercise techniques, diets and other countermeasures to keep astronauts healthy.

British astronaut Tim Peake collected tap water and body samples for the Energy experiment today. That study is aiding doctors’ efforts to determine an astronaut’s energy requirements to improve crew health and performance. He also tested the ability of controlling a rover on Earth, or any planetary surface, from a computer on a spacecraft. The METERON experiment may benefit future missions to Mars or hazardous tasks on Earth.

Experiment samples, gear and other hardware is being packed inside the Dragon space freighter attached to the Harmony module. Dragon will be released from Harmony May 11 ending a month-long stay. After its departure it will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later where the spacecraft and its cargo will be retrieved by SpaceX engineers.

On-Orbit Status Report

Energy Operations: The crew completed the 8th day of a 10 day European Space Agency (ESA) Energy experiment run by collecting ISS tap water samples taken from the Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) and body samples. This investigation will help determine the crewmembers’ energy requirements for long-term space flight. Energy also measures adaptations in the components of total energy expenditure of crewmembers so that an equation to determine energy requirements during space flight may be derived. Such knowledge of is of a great importance to ensure health, good performance and the overall success of a mission, and also ensures adequate exercise load and cargo allotments for food during space flight.

Multi-purpose End-To-End Robotic Operations Network (METERON) Supervisory Control Test: Using the Rover Control Software, the crew successfully controlled the Bridget Rover located in London, England from a computer onboard the ISS. The ESA investigation supports the implementation of a space internet, examines the benefits of controlling surface robots in real time from an orbiting spacecraft, and investigates how best to explore a planet through a partnership between humans and robots. This is of importance in planning future human exploration missions to Mars and feeds into Earth-based technologies such as handling radioactive material.

Wet Lab Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) SmartCycler Session 3: The crew completed the third of four Wet Lab RNA SmartCycler sessions by conducting the validation operations and processing a cell sample to extract the RNA. Following the RNA extraction, the samples will be placed into the SmartCycler for data collection. The Wet Lab RNA SmartCycler is a research platform for conducting real-time quantitative gene expression analysis aboard the ISS. The system enables spaceflight genomic studies involving a wide variety of biospecimen types in the unique microgravity environment of space.

Cell Mechanosensing- 3(CMS-3) Closeout: The crew completed closeout activities by removing the memory card and disassembling Microscope components from the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack Work Volume (MSPR WV). The CMS-3 microscope observations were completed last week.

Habitability Human Factors Directed Observations: The crew recorded and submitted a walk-through video documenting observations of an area or activity providing insight related to human factors and habitability. The Habitability investigation collects observations about the relationship between crew members and their environment on the ISS. Observations can help spacecraft designers understand how much habitable volume is required, and whether a mission’s duration impacts how much space crew members need.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations/HTV-6 Get-ahead Tasks: Yesterday evening Robotics Ground Controllers successfully completed all 1A battery bolt operations. Additional attempts will be made this evening to release Battery 3A1-2 bolt with a higher torque as recommended by engineering teams.

Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Reconfiguration: To maintain ppCO2 below 3.0 mmHG using a single CDRA (N3 or Lab) without having to also use Amine Swingbed, 2nd CDRA or LiOH canisters, the crew completed reconfiguration of Node 1 IMV to set up for the planned IMV split with the Russian segment. The actual ventilation split will be performed on Monday following crew wake via ground commanding. Monitoring of ppC02 will take place on each segment to find the stabilization levels on both USOS and Russian segments. If required, a backout of the ventilation split can be accomplished by commanding to the IMV fan and valve with no crew intervention required. Teams will meet after Monday’s split activities to review initial results.

Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) Radio Frequency (RF) Checkout Day 5: C2V2-A RF Checkout test F and C2V2 B test A were successfully completed with all objectives met. In today’s test, C2V2-A successfully sent GPS Auxiliary Data (GAD), Broadcast Auxiliary Data (BAD), Audio, sent a command on the forward link and received cyclic telemetry, encrypted Pass Thru telemetry, and Audio on the return link. This pass also included a successful voice check on Space to Ground 2 (S/G2) between the Electronic Systems Test Laboratory (ESTL) and the crew. In test A, C2V2-B successfully sent FILL data to ESTL on the forward link.

LS1 Server Status: Yesterday, the LS-1 server shell was replaced using the previous hard drive resulting in file system corruption. The old drive was re-installed in the old shell and displayed evidence of frozen applications. A replacement shell and drive were installed and a manual restore was performed. The LS1 server is back on the domain and performing nominally.

Treadmill 2 (T2) Inspection: The crew inspected the two bottom Snubbers, re-tapeed the Y-axis isolators, checked all four Snubber Arms for signs of free play and inspected the Bungee Shackle Key Mount witness marks. This is routine monthly maintenance.

Dragon Cargo Transfer Operations: The crew has completed 31:45 hours of cargo transfer. Approximately 17 hours remain to be completed.

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

HRF Sample cold stowage insert
HRF Blood Collection Operator
HRF Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration
ENERGY Diet Log of Breakfast
Daily Planning Conference (S-band)
ISS crew and ???? (RSA Flight Control Management Team) weekly conference / r/g 2077
HRF Blood sample removal in preparation for cold stowage insertion
HRF – MELFI Sample Insertion
DUBRAVA. Observation and Photography using [???] hardware. r/g 2103
SmartCycler (SCYC) Operation with Samples
SmartCycler (SCYC) Sample Transfer
ISS-HAM Radio Session with students
VIZIR. Experiment setup and start r/g 2102
HRF Closeout Ops
ENERGY – Water Sampling
Replacement of FGB Dust Collector ??1, ??2 Filters
ENERGY Urine Sample Collection
DRAGON Transfers
CMS3 Experiment Ops
Greetings Video Footage / r/g 2101
IMS Tagup
SmartCycler (SCYC) Session 2 Overview
Camcorder setup to capture ??-2 exercise / r/g 2071
Download Pille Dosimeter Readings / r/g 2094
SM Ventilation Subsystem Preventive Maintenance
SmartCycler (SCYC) Experiment Ops
On MCC Go Testing ??-2 Treadmill. ??-2 Exercise, Day 3
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
Removal of Video Equipment Used to capture ??-2 Exercise and Downlink the file / r/g 2071
IMV Reconfiguration
SmartCycler (SCYC) Hardware Ops
SmartCycler (SCYC) Video downlink
MSPR ELT CARD memory card installation.
Laser Eye Protection Disk Removal from Cupola windows Part 3
C2V2 Voice Check
VIZIR. ???? Closeout Ops r/g 2102
ENERGY Diet Log of Lunch
SHD Weekly Questionnaire
METERON Laptop Prep
METERON SUPERVISORY CONTROL Ops
ALGOMETRIA. Experiment Ops / r/g 1808
Rodent Research (RR) Camcorder Setup
METERON SUPERVISORY CONTROL Ops
Food Frequency Questionnaire
BD-S/U Bone Densitometer Setup and Calibration
Searching for P/L data storage devices (6) in Soyuz 720 / r/g 2092
Replacement of Condensate Collector (???) Install ??? No.132 ?.12
HABIT Conference Ops
Ammonia Chip Replacement
Monthly Inspection of T2 Treadmill System
VIZIR. Experiment Ops. r/g 2104
IMS Delta File Prep
METERON SUPERVISORY CONTROL Ops
Installation of Personal CO2 Monitor iPad Application
SmartCycler (SCYC) Experiment Session Setup
??? Maintenance
Collecting ??2 Samples in SM and Airlock
EXPRESS Rack 2 Laptop Battery Swap
EXPRESS Rack 8 Laptop Replacement
IDENTIFICATION. Copy ???-? micro-accelerometer data to laptop / r/g 1589
HRF Hardware Setup
IMS Conference
Food Frequency Questionnaire
HMS Defibrillator Inspection
ENERGY Diet Log of Lunch

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
3A Battery bolt ops
C2V2 checkout
Nominal ground commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 04/30: Crew off duty; housekeeping
Sunday, 05/01: Crew off duty
Monday, 05/02: PGS3 sample fix, Smartcycler Session 4, RR CASIS setup, Nano Racks Module 51 status, SS1 1B pack/stow for return on SpX-8

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 – Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
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 – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up