NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 19 March 2015

The International Space Station raised its orbit on Wednesday evening, placing it in the correct orientation for the docking of a new Soyuz spacecraft and crew next week. Inside the station the multinational Expedition 43 crew stayed focused on long-term microgravity studies and the upkeep of their orbital laboratory.
The ISS Progress 58 spacecraft, docked at the aft end of the Zvezda service module, fired its engines Wednesday afternoon for four minutes, 18 seconds. The orbital boost readies the station for the arrival next Friday of the Soyuz TMA-16M, which will carry to the station Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and One-Year crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko.

– Read more about the upcoming Soyuz launch

Meanwhile, Commander Terry Virts put on his high-flying plumber’s cap and replaced hardware on the Waste and Hygiene Compartment. He also participated in the Astro Palate study investigating how food affects the mood of crew members during a spaceflight.

– Read more about the Astro Palate study

After troubleshooting the BioLab earlier in week, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti began the first of two runs of the TripleLux-B experiment inside the BioLab glovebox. TripleLux-B studies cellular mechanisms that cause impairment of immune functions in microgravity.

– Read more about the TripleLux-B experiment

On-Orbit Status Report

Gene, Immune and Cellular Responses to Single and Combined Space Flight Conditions-B (TripleLux-B): Following Monday’s successful recovery of the Columbus Biolab (BLB) facility, Cristoforetti continued with TripleLux-B activities today. She inserted the Experiment Container (EC) Handling Mechanism (HM) into the BLB Glovebox and installed the TripleLux and Viability Test ECs into the left rotor for EC characterization. TripleLux compares the mechanisms of vertebrate and invertebrate cells at a cellular level which causes impairment of immune functions in microgravity through induction of gene activation, phagocytosis (ingestion of foreign material), and DNA repair in vertebrate and invertebrate immune cells. TripleLux-B examines the immune function of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), hemocytes (cellular component of invertebrate blood), compared to rodent macrophages (white blood cells responsible for eating foreign material) to function in microgravity.

Factors Contributing to Food Acceptability and Consumption, Mood and Stress on Long-Term Space Missions (Astro Palate): Virts performed the third of four Part-A Astro Palate sessions. He took his blood pressure and salivary samples before his midday meal, then unstowed his meal selection, choosing duplicate items to consume on a later date. Following lunch, he took another blood pressure reading and salivary sample then inserted the saliva samples in MELFI. The objective of Part A is to determine whether eliminating the need to choose menu items within a meal will reduce stress and improve mood. Crew members’ stress levels and moods are compared before and after a meal on four days. Day 3 involves the crew member’s choice of menu items for lunch and will be compared to Day 4. The changes in measures for days 1 and 3, when the crew members choose their meal components, are compared with the changes in the measures on days 2 and 4, when the crew members do not choose their meal components. Astro Palate studies the relationship among emotions, mood, stress and eating during spaceflight. The study explores ways to minimize stressful aspects of the eating situation so that individuals consume more food and are more satisfied with it. Additionally, the experiment examines ways to use eating itself to reduce stress or negative moods that crew members might normally experience in flight.

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Urine Hydraulic Components Remove & Replace (R&R): Virts performed this scheduled preventive maintenance to R&R the urine valve block, urine lines, urine pressure sensors and WHC flush water tank empty pressure sensor.

ISS Reboost: A reboost using 58P thrusters was successfully performed last evening to set up for 42S 4-orbit rendezvous scheduled on March 27. Burn duration was 4 minutes, 18 seconds with a delta-V of 0.58 meters/second.

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

NINJA – Update JSL Password document
Circadian Rhythms Deinstrumentation and Cleaning
??? Maintenance
HAM radio session from Columbus
WHC System Maintenance
ARED – flywheel cylinder evacuation
FS1 Test Activation.
TPLXB. activities
WRS – PWR fill
SpX-6 Payload Cleanup
Camcorder setup to capture ??-2 exercise
ESA – weekly crew conference
Astro Palate Mood Questionnaire, Blood Pressure Ops, and Temp Stowage (Subject)
Removal of Video Equipment Used to capture ??-2 Exercise and Downlink the file
Astro Palate Saliva – Pre-operations (Subject)
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
AP-MEAL – Label and Stow
[????] Replacement.
TPLXB. Transfer of EC HM Interface from Glovebox to TCU 2
AP-MOOD/BP – Questionnaire, Blood Pressure Operations and Closeout (Subject)
TPLXB. Hardware Stow
IMS and Stowage Conference
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Astro Palate Saliva – Close-out ops (Subject)
WHC Fill
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Food Frequency Questionnaire
Psychological Evaluation Program (WinSCAT)
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Completed Task List Items

JSL-SSC18-CBL-R&R
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Battery 2B2 reconditioning [In work later today]
Solar Array Voltage Maximum Power Test
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Friday, 03/20: Triplelux, Columbus Centralized Cabin Filter R&R, JPM window inspect, LAB IMV Diffuser inspection
Saturday, 03/21: Crew off duty, housekeeping
Sunday, 03/22: Crew off duty
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component – Status
Elektron – Off
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 – Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up