NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 June 2016

Three Expedition 48 crew members worked on a variety of science experiments today before this weekend’s cargo ship maneuvers. On the ground in Kazakhstan, another set of crew members is getting ready for a two-day trip to the International Space Station next week.
Commander Jeff Williams worked on the 3-D Printing in Zero-G experiment inside the Destiny lab module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. Ground controllers also remotely operated the experiment creating a pair of 3-D objects. NASA is demonstrating the ability to manufacture parts in space using a 3-D printer on the International Space Station.

A Russian cargo ship, Progress 62, will back away from the Pirs docking port Friday morning before redocking 34 minutes later. Progress 62 will depart for the final time Saturday evening, re-entering the atmosphere a few hours later for a fiery destruction over the Pacific Ocean.

The redocking maneuver will test an upgraded telerobotically operated rendezvous system (TORU) installed last year inside the Zvezda service module. Cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin will test the new TORU and manually guide the cargo ship back to its port during the test. Normally, a Progress resupply ship performs automated rendezvous and docking maneuvers, but the TORU is used in the event of an emergency.

Three Expedition 48-49 crew members are in the final days before a July 6 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the space station. After launch, veteran cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and first time astronauts Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi will take a two-day ride to the station testing the new systems inside their upgraded Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft.

On-Orbit Status Report

Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) #1-2 Operations: Following the JEMAL depressurization, venting, and leak check yesterday, today ExHAM was installed on the JEMAL Slide Table and extended to the JEM Exposed Facility (JEF) side. ExHAM is a cuboid mechanism equipped with a grapple fixture on the upper surface for the Kibo’s robotic arm, Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System Small Fine Arm (JEMRMS SFA) for fixation to the handrail on the Kibo’s EF. There are 7 loadable experiments on the upper surface and 13 on the side surfaces.

Liberated particles: After ExHAM installation had already been completed but while the external cameras were still configured, loose particles were observed crossing the field of view of one of the cameras in the JEM EF area. The source of these particles is not known at this time. Ground teams are investigating.

3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment Operations: Following yesterday’s activities to print the calibration and compression coupons in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), today the ground team remotely operated the 3D printer to produce two more 3D printed test coupons, after which the crew removed and stowed them. The 3D Printing In Zero-G experiment demonstrates that a 3D printer works normally in space. A 3D printer extrudes streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create 3 dimensional objects. Testing a 3D printer using relatively low-temperature plastic feedstock on the ISS is the first step toward establishing an on-demand machine shop in space, a critical enabling component for deep-space crewed missions and in-space manufacturing.

Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) Work Area Setup: In preparation for SPHERES maintenance operations tomorrow, the crew participated in a training session and crew conference with the payload developer before completing setup activities. The crew then configured the work area to activate and check out the hardware and the EXPRESS Laptop Computer ELC before testing begins. Upon inspection, it was found that two of the five beacons as well as the spare beacon had corrosion in their battery compartments. Ground teams are developing a cleaning procedure.

Dose Tracker: The crew completed entries for medication tracking which documents the medication usage of crewmembers before and during their missions by capturing data regarding medication use during spaceflight, including side effect qualities, frequencies and severities. The data is expected to either support or counter anecdotal evidence of medication ineffectiveness during flight and unusual side effects experienced during flight. It is also expected that specific, near-real-time questioning about symptom relief and side effects will provide the data required to establish whether spaceflight-associated alterations in pharmacokinetics (PK) or pharmacodynamics (PD) is occurring during missions.

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

JEMRMS Activate and Start Bus Monitor
SEISMOPROGNOZ. Downlink data from Control and Data Acquisition Module (????) HDD (start) r/g 2224
JEMAL ST Extension to JEF Side
DUBRAVA. Observation and Photography using VSS / r/g 2668
SPHERES – Battery Charging
3DP Printed Coupon Removal and Stowage
Filling EDV (KVO) for Elektron r/g 2660nu
Separation Assembly Ops r/g 2673
Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) Tank Drain
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position / SM Pressure Control & Atmosphere Monitoring System
TOCA Calibration
PILOT-T. Preparation for the experiment r/g 2666
Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain Part 2
SPHERES Battery Replacement
MELF2 Stowage
PILOT-T. Experiment Ops r/g 2666
JEMAL Slide Table Retraction
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill from EDV
3DP Printed Coupon Removal and Stowage
WRS Recycle Tank Fill from EDV
DOSETRK Questionnaire Completion
SPHERES Experiment OBT
VELO Exercise, Day 3
SPHERES Battery Replacement
SEISMOPROGNOZ. Download data from Control and Data Acquisition Module (????) HDD (end) and start backup r/g 2224
SPHERES tagup with PD
TOCA Calibration
ARED Cylinder Flywheel Evacuation
Stopping JEMRMS Arm Bus Monitoring
Progress 432 [AO] Transfers and IMS Ops / r/g 1812, 1832
Replacement of ????-2? Gas-Liquid Mixture Filter r/g 2671
JEMRMS USB Memory Stick Virus Check
JEMRMS Data Transfer
SPHERES Battery Replacement
USOS Window Shutter Close
PILOT-T. Experiment Ops r/g 2667
PILOT-T. Closeout Ops Tagup with specialists / r/g 2667
SPHERES Battery Replacement
Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3
SPHERES. Maintenance Run
IMS Delta File Prep
Video Footage of Greetings / r/g 2670
WRS Recycle Tank Fill from EDV
SPHERES Battery Replacement

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
JEMAL/EXHAM ops
Nominal ground commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 06/30: SPHERES Docking Port test/maintenance run
Friday, 07/01: 3D Printer Coupon prints and retrievals, ARED quarterly maintenance, T2 acoustic blanket install & SLM measurements
Saturday, 07/02: Crew day off, housekeeping

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 – 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