NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 4 January 2016

The Expedition 46 crew begins its first full week of the New Year planning for a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 15. The orbiting residents are also busy with numerous science experiments benefitting life on Earth and future astronauts.
A pair of spacewalkers will replace a failed voltage regulator to return power to one of eight power channels next Friday. Two crew members will exit the Quest airlock and work outside for 6.5 hours for the replacement work. They will also rig cables for the future installation of docking adapters that will enable commercial crew vehicles to dock at the International Space Station. Final spacewalking roles will be confirmed following spacesuit hardware checkouts taking place today.

NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Commander Scott Kelly collected and stowed blood and urine samples this morning for the Fluid Shifts study. That experiment observes the headward fluid shift caused by microgravity that increases brain pressure and pushes back on the eye. British astronaut Tim Peake also explored particles suspended in fluids, or colloids, which could benefit the design of advanced materials on Earth.

On-Orbit Status Report

Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts): This morning, Kelly began his Return-45 (R-45) Fluid Shifts Dilution Measurements. Upon wakeup he collected saliva, blood and urine and inserted them into the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) prior to ingesting a Sodium Bromide (NaBr) tracer. Throughout the day, he performed more urine, blood, and saliva collections, inserting those samples into MELFI as well. The Dilution Measurements are the first of three parts in the series of R-45 Fluid Shifts measurements. Fluid Shifts investigates the causes for severe and lasting physical changes to astronaut’s eyes. Because the headward fluid shift is a hypothesized contributor to these changes, reversing this fluid shift with a lower body negative pressure device is investigated as a possible intervention. Results from this study may help to develop preventative measures against lasting changes in vision and eye damage.

Biological Rhythms 48-Hour: Kopra began his Biological Rhythms experiment today by preparing and starting the Actiwatch. Tomorrow, he will don a Holter Monitor to collect Electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements for 48 hours. Biological Rhythms 48 hours studies the effects of long-term microgravity exposure on heart function by analyzing an astronaut’s electrocardiogram for 48 hours. While the ISS station maintains Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as its time zone, it remains unknown whether a separate biological rhythm is imposed on long-term flight crews. To study this astronauts wear an Actiwatch sleep monitor for 96 hours and a Holter electrocardiograph for 48 hours in the middle of that sequence.

Advanced Colloids Experiment (ACE)-Heated-2 (H2): Peake activated ACE-H2, which was delivered on Orbital ATK (OA)-4. He configured the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) for the next series of science runs with an ACE Heated Sample. He also cleaned up residual oil and removed the ACE Heated Sample currently installed inside the LMM Auxiliary Fluids Container (AFC). At three times during the day, Peake mixed the samples using a magnet from the BCAT experiment. The ACE-H2 experiment involves the design and assembly of complex three-dimensional structures resulting from the interaction of different sized particles suspended within a fluid medium. These so-called “self-assembled colloidal structures”, are vital to the design of advanced materials. In the microgravity environment, insight will be provided into the relationship between particle interactions and their shape, surface charge, and concentration. Their resulting structure and stability is a fundamental issue in condensed matter science. The use of the LMM on the international space station will enable insight into finer control of the self-assembly (as well as directed-assembly) of such colloidal-based structures.

Cardiac and Vessel Structure and Function with Long-Duration Space Flight and Recovery (Vascular Echo) Checkout: Peake installed the Cardiolab Portable Doppler Driver on the European Physiology Module (EPM) laptop. Peake and ground teams then checked the functionality of the drivers in advance of the Vascular Echo Doppler Ultrasound protocol, scheduled for Thursday. The Vascular Echo experiment investigates the stiffening of the arteries and increased blood pressure (hypertension) observed in some returning ISS crewmembers. By observing the changes in blood vessels, and the heart, while the crew members are in space and following their recovery on return to Earth, investigators hope to provide insight into potential countermeasures to help maintain crew member health, and quality of life.

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3008 Checkout: Kopra performed a checkout of EMU 3008 in order to verify all systems on the suit were functioning properly after its launch on OA-4. During the activity, Ground teams monitored EMU telemetry and performed successful communication checks with the suit’s UHF Radios and hardline audio system. This EMU is planned for use during the Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) EVA currently scheduled for January 15th.

Retractable Equipment Tether (RET) Inspection: Kopra performed an inspection for damaged cords on mounted and unmounted RETs. Each RET cord must be inspected prior to EVA use.

Waste & Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pre-Treat Tank Remove & Replace (R&R): Kelly performed this maintenance activity to R&R the WHC pre-treat tank.

Mobile Transporter (MT) Translation to Work Site 2 (WS2): This afternoon, ground controllers successfully commanded an MT translation from WS4 to WS2. The move positions the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for robotic operations this week to retrieve Robotics Refueling Mission (RRM) Taskboard (TB) 4.

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

Morning Inspection. Testing ??? ??
Laptop RS1(2) reboot
Inspect cnctrs ??-?, ??2, ??4, ??5 on ???-?? behind panel 139 of ??? and pipeline 5182-03 from ???? to ??? in its transparent section
Fluid Shift experiment ops
Fine Motor Skills
BLR48 – equipment config
Video coverage for Science 2.0 TV channel
CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment run. Tagup with specialists
BSA battery charging
Preparation of items for disposal on Cygnus OA-4
ACE experiment ops
DOS3D – photo of DOSIS passive sensors after installation
FIR ops
SEISMOPROGNOZ. Info d/l from [????] hard drive
CMS – replace batteries
EMU – reconfig after retrieval from transport container
MOTOCARD. Experiment run
VEG-01 – seedlings imagery
HMS – inspect defibrillator
Unstow Progress ?431 (on DC1) and IMS update
ER2 ops
HABIT – video coverage
WRS – recycle tank fill
Tighten clamps of QDs between MRM2 and Soyuz ?718
JRNL – log entry
Repair works. Installation of cover sheets on SM interior panel ?334
WHC tank and hose changeout
EMU – reconfig after retrieval from transport container
Replace [??1], [??2] dust filters and clean [?1], [B2] fan grilles in MRM2
Unstow Progress ?431 (on DC1) and update IMS
VECHO
Refill (separation) of [??? (???)] for ELEKTRON or [???-??]
SOZh maintenance
IMS update
Update anti-virus base on [???] laptops
Daily Planning Conference (S-band)
Preparation for anti-virus scanning on [???] laptops
Preparation of reports for Roskosmos site and social networks
Video coverage for [?????] TV company
ECON-?. Observation and imagery

Completed Task List Items

EPO GV MX Kick Off (Completed on Saturday)
EVA ECWS OBT (Completed on Saturday)
EPO-GV RS (Completed on Sunday)
EPO-GV-S2EC (Completed on Sunday)
ESA-PAO-REC-DOMLIFE (Completed on Sunday)
45S USOS Unpack
EVA RET inspection

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal system commanding
MT Powerup and Translate (Worksite 4 – Worksite 2), SPDM Unstow

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 01/05: EVA loop scrub/RET inspection/EMU water conductivity measurement/DOUG review/Tool Build, MSS File Uplink for RRM TB4 return
Wednesday, 01/06: Fluid Shifts Ultrasound, JEMAL depressurization/vent, EMU Resize, EVA ECWS OBT/Tether Inspection, Sprint setup, RRM TB4 removal
Thursday, 01/07: Sprint VO2 ops, EVA procedures review/conference, MT Translate (WS4 – WS7)

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component – Status
Elektron – Off
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 Full – Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off