Space Stations

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 3 March 2015

By Marc Boucher
Status Report
March 4, 2015
Filed under , ,
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 3 March 2015
One of four Dovesat NanoRacks satellites is seen launching from the deployer mechanism outside the Kibo laboratory. Credit: NASA TV.
NASA

As a pair of astronauts cleans up their spacesuits after completing a set of spacewalks, more nanosatellites were deployed from Japan’s Kibo lab module. The International Space Station also raised its orbit Tuesday morning to set the stage for the upcoming crew departure.
Astronauts Barry WiImore and Terry Virts scrubbed the cooling loops inside the spacesuits after their third and final spacewalk on Sunday. They also sampled the water from the loops and talked about their experiences with spacewalk experts on the ground.

Wilmore is also getting ready to return home March 11 with Soyuz crewmates Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova. Samokutyaev and Serova spent Tuesday getting their Soyuz spacecraft ready for next week’s undocking and packing gear for the return home.

On-Orbit Status Report

Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD): Overnight, 4 Dove satellites were successfully launched from Deployers 5 and 6. Two additional deploys are scheduled for this evening.

Cardio Ox: The Crew set up and configured ultrasound hardware. Cristoforetti acted as Crew Medical Officer (CMO) to support Wilmore’s return minus 15 days (R-15) Cardio Ox session. With guidance from the Cardio Ox ground team, ultrasound scans and blood pressure measurements were performed on Wilmore. The objective of Defining the Relationship Between Biomarkers of Oxidative and Inflammatory Stress and the Risk for Atherosclerosis in Astronauts During and After Long-duration Spaceflight (Cardio Ox) is to determine whether biological markers of oxidative and inflammatory stress are elevated during and after space flight and whether this results in an increased, long-term risk of atherosclerosis in astronauts. Twelve crewmembers will provide blood and urine samples to assess biomarkers before launch, 15 and 60 days after launch, 15 days before returning to Earth, and within days after landing. Ultrasound scans of the carotid and brachial arteries will be obtained at the same time points, as well as through 5 years after landing, as an indicator of cardiovascular health.

Aniso Tubule: Cristoforetti prepared an Aniso Tubule sample by injecting water into an Aniso sample chamber and stowed the sample chamber into MELFI cold stowage. This begins Run #9 which will continue for 9 days. The crew removed the sample from run #8 from the Microscope Scanning Stage and stowed. Experimenters will examine growth modifications of Arabidopsis hypocotyls and the changing orientation of cortical microtubule under microgravity conditions in space. Scientists will further observe changes in dynamics of cortical microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins by observing Arabidopsis hypocotyls and microtubule-associated proteins with a fluorescence microscope.

Astro Palate: Virts retrieved a special Astro Palate prepackaged meal, consumed as his midday meal and completed the Mood and Food Consumption/Satisfaction Questionnaires. Factors Contributing to Food Acceptability and Consumption, Mood and Stress on Long-Term Space Missions (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 better satisfied with it. Additionally, the experiment examines ways to use eating itself to reduce the stress or negative moods that crewmembers might normally experience in flight.

Post Extravehicular Activity (EVA): USOS crew members and ground teams conducted a debrief to discuss last Sunday’s successful EVA. The crew completed loop scrubs and Airlock deconfiguration.

Fluids Control and Pump Assembly (FCPA) Remove & Replace (R&R): In response to Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) failure that occurred on February 17th, this morning Wilmore R&Rd the FCPA. Ground teams have since reactivated the system and have started a process cycle without issue.

40 Soyuz (40S) Return Prep/ISS Reboost using 58 Progress (58P): Earlier this morning, Mission Control Center-Moscow (MCC-M) performed an ISS reboost to complete the ISS phasing for 40S landing in the southern zone next week. The initial test burn using 58P was successfully performed last Thursday.

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

Verification of antivirus scan results on Auxiliary Computer System (???) laptops
Sokol Suit Leak Check in ?? 714
Atmosphere Control and Supply (ACS) High Pressure Oxygen Temporary Bypass Configuration
EMU Cooling Loop Maintenance.
Acoustic Dosimeter Setup for FE-1 and FE-5
TPLXB – Hardware Retrieval
TPLXB – Preparation for EC Assembly
Replacement of urine receptacle (??) and filter-insert (?-?) in ???.
LBNP Exercise
Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Fluids Control and Pump Assembly (FCPA) ORU R&R
TPLXB – Retrieval of Culture Tube from GLACIER and Transfer to Glovebox
TPLXB – Thawing of Culture Tube and Assembly of EC
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor
Crew Departure Prep
BAR. Experiment Ops
EMU Water Sample
Drying Sokol Space Suits
Drying out EMU vent loops
EMU Cooling Loop Maintenance.
WRM Condensate Pumping Start
Sampling condensate water [???] before ???-?2? Gas-liquid mixture filter (???) to drink bags
ANISO – Sample Setup
SPLANH. Blood Biochemistry Analysis Repeat
ANISO
WRM Condensate Pumping Terminate
SPLANH. Closeout Ops
Sampling condensate water [???] upstream of ???-?2? ???
TPLXB – Transfer of Triplelux EC from incubator to TCU 2
Post-Exercise Hygiene Procedure
USND2 – Hardware Activation
CARDOX – Preparation Steps and Hardware Setup
AP-MOOD – Preparation Ops
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
AP-SAL – Preparation Ops
Sampling condensate water [???] before ???-?2? ??? – sampler swap.
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
TPLXB – Hardware Stowage
Routine Maintenance of ??, ??, and ?? Valves in SM Rodnik Tanks
Terminate Drying of Suits 1,2
Start Drying Spacesuit 3 and Set Up the 1st Pair of Gloves for Drying
Terminate IODINATION of EMUs
CARDOX Ultrasound Ops
CARDOX – Experiment Ops
AP-MOOD – Closeout Ops
Finish drying the first pair of gloves and start drying the second pair
ABOUT GAGARIN FROM SPACE
CARDOX. Blood Pressure Operations
AP-SAL – Closeout Ops
Terminate drying the second pair of gloves
Replacement of BRI configuration file
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
Pre-pack cargo items for return or disposal on ?? 714
CARDOX. Blood Pressure Operations
EVA Debrief
Terminate IODINATION and reconfigure the EMUs for dryout
USND2 – Close-out Ops and Stowage
Sampling Condensate Water [???] before ????-2? ???
HRF – Hardware Setup
Finish Drying the 3rd suit, Start Drying the 3rd Pair of Gloves
Crew Departure Prep
Buttoned EMU Dryout
Crew Departure Prep
Crew handover conference
Terminate drying the 3rd pair of gloves
Stow suits and gloves after drying
Hardware prepack for return and disposal on ?? 714
EMU Cooling Loop Maintenance.
Bringing Atmosphere Control and Supply (ACS) to Nominal Configuration
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor
Air Lock Deconfig after EVA
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill from EDV
Terminate EMU METOX Regeneration
Start EMU Metox Regeneration
Completed Task List Items

None
Ground Activities
All activities are completed unless otherwise noted. UHF Activation in support of EMU Loop Scrub

CubeSat Deploys
PEP R11.1 Software load onto Payload MDMs
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Wednesday, 03/04: 40S prepack, IDA ethernet cable install, Soyuz OBT
Thursday, 03/05: Airway Monitoring AirLock prep, EVA tool stow, 40S prepack
Friday, 03/06: Airway Monitoring AirLock activities, OBT Soyuz Drill, crew departure prep
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:

Component- Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – On
[???] 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) – Normal
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full up

SpaceRef co-founder, entrepreneur, writer, podcaster, nature lover and deep thinker.