NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 11 June 2015
Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts of NASA, Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos landed their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 9:44 a.m. EDT. Russian recovery teams will help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and adjust to gravity after their stay in space.
The trio arrived at the International Space Station on Nov. 24, 2014, and spent more than six months conducting research and technology demonstrations. Virts, Cristoforetti and Shkaplerov spent 199 days aboard the space station and clocked almost 84 million miles during their time in space.
Virts has logged 212 days in space on two flights, the first of which was on space shuttle mission STS-130 in 2010. Shkaplerov has spent 364 days in space on two flights, the first of which was on Expedition 29/30 in 2011. This was Cristoforetti’s first flight into space.
The station now is occupied by Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos. Kelly and Kornienko are two and half months into their year aboard the complex collecting valuable biomedical data that will inform future deep space, long-duration missions.
The remainder of the Expedition 44 crew, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in late July.
Some items returning on this Soyuz were used as part of research investigations aboard the International Space Station. Equipment that supports various studies which use dosimeters will return with the crew. Dosimeters are devices that measure radiation. Several investigations employ the dosimeters to gather information about space radiation to help manage exposure and provide protection to crew members.
Both the Area Passive Dosimeter for Life-Science Experiments in Space (Area PADLES) and the Dosimetric Mapping (DOSMAP) investigations aboard the space station help researchers collect data to design radiation monitoring equipment for astronauts. This knowledge may improve design for spacecraft structures that shield internal occupants from radiation. Scientists also may use the data to develop protection devices for people who work in medical or industrial areas with potential radiation exposure.
Samples from the ongoing Study of the Impact of Long-Term Space Travel on the Astronauts’ Microbiome investigation also will return. The Microbiome study looks at the impact of space travel on the immune system and on human microbiomes – microbes living in and on the human body at any given time. Samples from crew members’ bodies and the space station environment are taken periodically to monitor changes in the immune system and microbiomes. The results of this study may add to research on health impacts to people who live and work in extreme environments on Earth, and help with research on early disease detection, metabolic function and immune system deficiency.
On-Orbit Status Report
41 Soyuz (41S) Undock/Landing: 41S undocked and landed today at approximately 8:44 CDT, bringing Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov and Samantha Cristoforetti back to Earth. The undock began 3-crew operations on the ISS until the arrival of 43S currently planned for late in July.
41S Return Sample Collections Transfer: Kelly collected saliva, buccal, urine, and blood for Twins Study, Biochemical Profile, CardioOx, Salivary Markers, and Microbiome. Cristoforetti collected ambient collections for Microbiome and Salivary Markers. The samples to be frozen were inserted into Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on a future flight. The ambient samples were handed over to be packed in the Soyuz. Additionally, Cristoforetti packed the Stem Cell Differentiation (SCD) samples from MELFI into the SCD Experiment Pouches and transferred them to Shkaplerov for final packing in the Soyuz.
Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
TWIN – Saliva Sample Collection
HRF Blood Draw and Stow Prep
Morning Inspection
TWIN – Saliva Sample Collection
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
HRF Urine Sample Collection
TWIN – Urine Sample Collection
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
?? 715 Return Cargo Ops / r/g 8970
Setup GoPro HERO3 camera in ?? 715 [??]
Closing window shutters 6,8,9,12,13,14 / r/g 6965
Data Prep for Return
EHS – IV-TEPC Transfer
Stem Cell Differentiation (SCD) – Container Retrieval from MELFI
Separation of EDV (KOV) (Separate EDV (KOV) No.1106 to EDV (KOV) No.1104) for Elektron or EDV-SV
Stem Cell Differentiation (SCD) – Experiment Container Packing for Return
Personal Medication Stowage
SALMARK – Questionnaire Completion
SCD Transfer
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
HRF Closeout Ops
TWIN – Blood Collection
TWIN – Blood collection operator
JRNL – Journal Entry
HRF – Blood collection operator
HRF Blood Draw
Photo of ?? 715 [??] and items prior to undocking / r/g 8970
TWIN – Gathering and pre-packing blood samples for return
SALMARK – Questionnaire Completion
Soyuz 715 Loading Complete Report (S-band) / r/g 8970, 8650
RR-HABITAT-STOW
Photography of the external surface of Soyuz 715 [??] ?? hatch cover to assess slot antenna r/g 0284
Downlink photo of the outer side of ?? 715 [??] ?? hatch/manhole cover / r/g 0284
Glacier 5 – Desiccant Pack Swap
GLACIER5 Battery Changeout
HRF Urine Sample Collection
Comm Config for ?? 715 Undocking and Descent r/g 8229
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
Disconnecting TVS Camera ??-153 from ?RM1 TVS / r/g 7144
Soyuz 715 Activation, Comm Check from Soyuz 715 via S/G2 / Ascent and Descent r/g 9020, 9045,9067
ISS HAM RADIO Power Down
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Food Frequency Questionnaire
TWIN – Equipment Stowage
Gathering and Connecting ???? Equipment for Hatch Closure coverage from MRM1 with simultaneous recording to CF card in mpeg2 format via Ku-band
Closing USOS Window Shutters
Soyuz 715 – MRM1 Hatch Closure r/g 9067
TV coverage of ?? 715-MRM1 Hatch Closure
?? 715- MRM1 hatch leak check / Ascent and Descent
Downlink of TV coverage Hatch Closure data from MRM1
???? hardware Deactivation and Closing Applications on ?? SSC
?? 715 ODF Ops; Undocking and Descent Ops
HAP2 – Hardware Stowage
Monitoring Soyuz 715 Undocking, photos of ?? docking assembly / r/g 9066
Video of ?? 715 Undocking and Departure from ISS / r/g 9065
SPRINT. System Setup [Deferred]
Reconfigure MRM1-Soyuz PEV to CLOSED position
ISTOCHNIK-M Preparation For Measurements. / r/g 9068
ISTOCHNIK-M. Activation of ?? 715 TLM Recording Mode. / r/g 9068
ISTOCHNIK-M Closeout Ops / r/g 9068
?? 715 comm reconfig for nominal ops after landing
Completed Task List Items
None
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
41S undock operations
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 06/12: Sprint VO2 ops, Radiation Dosimetry
Saturday, 06/13: Crew off duty, housekeeping
Sunday, 06/14: Crew 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 – Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Standby
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up
