NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 6 May 2015

Maintenance and experiment work continued on Wednesday for the Expedition 43 crew. NASA astronauts Terry Virt spent the second consecutive day replacing components inside one of the station’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Assemblies (CDRA.) The CDRA system works to remove carbon dioxide from the cabin air, allowing for an environmentally safe crew cabin.
Virts also did some preparatory work on a payload rack for a cellular biology experiment scheduled to launch on the next SpaceX mission.

One-Year crew member Scott Kelly participated in the Fine Motor Skills study and took some time out of his schedule to speak with the “Today Show” and his twin brother Mark Kelly.

Watch Scott Kelly talk to the “Today Show”

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti continued the Triplelux-A experiment which aims to gain a better understanding of immune suppression in spaceflight. She also Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov in a checkout of the Sokol launch and entry suits that she, Shkaplerov and Virts will wear when they return to Earth next week.

On-Orbit Status Report

Gene, Immune and Cellular Responses to Single and Combined Space Flight Conditions – A (Triplelux-A): Cristoforetti installed the three Triplelux Reservoir A into the Automatic Ambient Stowage (AAS) inserts. She retrieved the second Culture Tube A from Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), thawed it in the Biolab glovebox and installed it in the EC. Following crew activities, ESA ground control teams performed bioluminescence measurements. Triplelux-A uses a rat macrophage cell line to investigate and compare the ability of macrophages to kill pathogens under normal gravity and microgravity conditions. The goal is to gain a better understanding of immune suppression in spaceflight.

Cell Mechanosensing-3 Preparation: Virts configured and performed a checkout of the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Thermal Container and the Microscope in the rack in advance of the Cell Mechanosensing experiment launching on SpX-7. The experiment clarifies the mechanism of how tension fluctuation in cell membrane regulates activities of such transducers during microgravity conditions. The experiment cultures L6 myotubes/myoblastic cells on extracellular matrix with different rigidity in ‘Kibo’ module of the ISS so that microgravity conditions induce distinct tension fluctuation in cell membranes.

JEM Airlock (JEMAL) Operations: Virts repressurized the JEMAL and performed a leak check. The Robotics Refueling Mission (RRM) Task Board-2 and Safety Cap Tool (SCT) will be brought into the ISS habitable volume and removed from the JEMAL Slide Table later in May.

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Hose Install: Due to recent high pressure signuatures the UPA has not been processing. The data indicates that there is a restriction preventing the Pressure Control Pump Assembly (PCPA) to maintain the purge to the Distillation Assembly (DA) during operation. Since the DA is new with only 29 hours of operation, the restriction is expected to be in the purge line between the DA and PCPA. This morning Kelly replaced this purge line with a pristine contingency hose. UPA is currently processing nominally.

Node 3 (N3) Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly Bed Remove & Replace (R&R): Virts continued CDRA maintenance operations by removing both of the N3 CDRA Adsorbent/Desorbent (AD/DES) beds and installing the new beds that arrived on SpX-6. The old CDRA beds will be returned on SpX-6 for refurbishment.

ISS Reboost: This morning, the ISS performed a reboost using 58P thrusters to set up phasing requirements for 41S landing scheduled on May 13. Burn duration was 12 minutes, 17 seconds with a Delta-V of 1.34 meters/second.

SpaceX (SpX)-6 Cargo Transfer Operations: The crew continued loading return cargo and trash into the Dragon vehicle. As of tonight’s crew report we are approximately 67% complete with SpX-6 cargo operations.

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

THERM – Container Insertion
CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Ops
Fine Motor Skills – Experiment Ops
Crew prep for departure
Crew Departure Prep
PAO Hardware Setup
Crew Prep for PAO
TPLXA – Hardware Retrieval
TV Conference with Russia Today TV Channel Correspondent
TPLXA – EC Removal from Incubator
COSMOCARD. Preparation Ops. Starting 24-hr ECG Recording
Dragon Transfer Ops
COSMOCARD. Photography of the Experiment Ops
Bone Densiometer troubleshooting [Aborted]
JEMAL – Pressurization
BAR. Testing Ultrasound Analyzer [??-1] and Leak Indicator [??].
Acoustic Dosimeter Ops
Symbolic Activity [Deferred]
TPLXA – Installation of Glove Box
PAO Hardware Setup
JEMAL – Leak Check after Pressurization
Crew Prep for PAO
Crew prep for departure – Virts [Aborted]
MSPR Activation
PAO Event
?? 715 Transfer Ops
EHS – In-flight Microbiology Water analysis and data recording
Physical Fitness Evaluation (on treadmill)
TPLXA – Installation of Reservoir
?? 715 Loading of Equipment for Disposal Completion Report
Sokol Space Suit leak check
Sokol Suit Drying – Set up Suits 1 and 2 for Drying
Crew OBT – Crew Medical Officer (CMO) – Computer Based Training
TPLXA – Preparation Ops
TPLXA – Retrieval of Culture Tube from MELFI
TPLXA – Tube insertion into the Glovebox
Review procedure on measuring air flow speeds using anemometer
THERM – Thermal container check
Crew prep for departure
Photography of SM Power Supply System Devices ??-50-1?
Dust Filter Replacement and ?1, ?2 Fan Grille Cleaning in DC1
TPLXA – Installation of Culture Tube into EC
Dragon Transfer Ops
VIBROLAB. Clearing Sinus-Accord P/L Card.r/g 8738
CDRA – Bed R&R in Node 3
TPLXA – Equipment Stowage
Filling EDV-SV No.1142 From SM Rodnik Water Tank 2
Crew Departure Prep
ESA Weekly Crew Conference
EXPOSE-R ???? (Payload Server) data download to RSS1 Laptop
HRF – Hardware Setup
Terminate Drying of Suits 1,2
??? Maintenance
Start Drying Spacesuit 3 and Set Up the 1st Pair of Gloves for Drying
VZAIMODEISTVIYE-2. Experiment Ops
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
PAO TV Hardware Setup
Finish drying the first pair of gloves and start drying the second pair
Video Footage of Address
HRF – Hardware Setup
TWIN – Saliva Collection Hardware Setup
Terminate drying the second pair of gloves
Applying Ultrasound gel to Bluetooth HRM electrodes
TV PAO Event (Ku + S-band)
VZAIMODEISTVIYE-2. Experiment Ops
IMS Delta File Prep
Dragon -Installation of Door Panels and internal rear closeout
Finish Drying the 3rd suit, Start Drying the 3rd Pair of Gloves
Terminate drying the 3rd pair of gloves
Cognition – Experiment Ops
Stow suits and gloves after drying
Completed Task List Items

KTO Replace
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

JEMAL pressurization monitoring
ACE ops
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Thursday, 05/07: CDRA chassis replace, BCAT, MERLIN prep for SpX-6 return
Friday, 05/08: Rodents Research, TripleLux A, Dragon transfer ops, OBT CMO training
Saturday, 05/09: Crew off duty, 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 – Operate
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Standby
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Shutdown
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