NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 7 May 2015

Maintenance and experiment work continued on Thursday for the Expedition 43 crew. NASA astronauts Terry Virt and Scott Kelly finished the work they’ve been doing on 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 also took time to collect a number of acoustic dosimeters which measure noise levels around the station.

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti did some troubleshooting with the bone densitometer unit and prepared samples for the Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-Low Gravity Phase Kinetics Platform (BCAT-KP) experiment. The BCAT-KP experiment aims to help materials scientists develop new consumer products with unique properties and longer shelf lives.

On-Orbit Status Report

Bone Densitometer (BD) Imaging On-orbit Replacement Unit (ORU) Remove and Replace (R&R): Following a failed checkout of the BD, ground controllers determined that the Imaging Unit had failed. Cristoforetti R&R’ed the unit today in advance of Rodent Research sample collections next Monday. Ground controllers successfully calibrated the unit and are ready to proceed with Rodent Research operations on Monday. Per experiment requirements, ground controllers will perform another calibration within 24 hours of operation.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-Low Gravity Phase Kinetics Platform (BCAT-KP) Sample Initiation: Cristoforetti transferred images taken from Sample #5, reset the intervelometer, and initialized Sample #3 for a three week session run. Following this sample, two more samples are planned before all the BCAT-KP samples are initialized and stowed for approximately 6 months while the colloids are left undisturbed to allow for continued growth. The BCAT-KP experiment aims to help materials scientists develop new consumer products with unique properties and longer shelf lives. Colloids are mixtures of small particles distributed throughout a liquid, which include milk, detergents and liquid crystals. Gravity affects how the particles clump together and sink, making the International Space Station an ideal platform to study their fundamental behaviors.

Cell Mechanosensing-3 Thermal Container Reconfiguration: Virts configured the Thermal Container to the Microscope in the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) for the Cell Mechanosensing-3 experiment, scheduled for delivery on SpaceX-7. Ground controllers received off-nominal health and status from the Microscope and Thermal containers and are investigating the cause prior to proceeding with the checkout. The investigation identifies gravity sensors in skeletal muscle cells to develop countermeasures to muscle atrophy, a key space health issue. Scientists believe that the lack of mechanical stress from gravity causes tension fluctuations in the plasma membrane of skeletal muscle cells, which changes the expression of key proteins and genes, and allows muscles to atrophy. Muscle cells from rats, and kidney cells from African clawed frogs are tagged with fluorescent gene markers, and attached to an extracellular matrix to study their performance under different tensions, simulating use on earth.

Node 3 (N3) Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly Bed Remove & Replace (R&R): Today Virts and Kelly completed CDRA reassembly and installed CDRA back into the rack. Tomorrow the crew will complete the maintenance by reconnecting the power/data and fluid lines.

Acoustic Dosimeters: Kelly retrieved 3 acoustic dosimeters that were deployed in various locations throughout the ISS. He downloaded the data for review by ground teams and stowed the dosimeters.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Today, the Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and reconfigured the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) for translation. Next they translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Worksite 2 (WS2) to WS4. Finally the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the SSRMS/SPDM to a park position.

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

HRF Urine Sample Collection
HRF – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
COSMOCARD. Closeout Ops. r/g 8731
Video camera GoPro HERO3 Setup and Adjustment for Operation during ?? 715 Descent
ABOUT GAGARIN FROM SPACE. r/g 8744
Acoustic Dosimeter Stow
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
SM Ventilation System Preventive Maintenance. Group ?2 r/g 8393
Measuring air flow speeds on 800? using anemometer. r/g 8669
WRM Condensate Pumping Start
Charging GoPro HERO3 Camcorder Battery – start
Crew Departure Prep
WRM Condensate Pumping Terminate
HRF Urine Sample Collection
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
CDRA Component Replacement
IDENTIFIKATSIYA r/g 8732
Crew Medical Officer (CMO) – Computer Based Training (OBT)
Physical Fitness Evaluation (on treadmill) r/g 8728
Applying Ultrasound gel to Bluetooth HRM electrodes to assist in acquiring better heart rate data
Dust Filter Changeout r/g 8393
BCAT-D2XS – Battery Charge Initiation
Charging GoPro HERO3 Camcorder Battery – end
ESA Weekly Crew Conference
Life On The Station Photo and Video / r/g 8544
CDRA – NODE 3 CDRA Chassis Removal
Changeout of ???-?2? purification column assembly (???) / r/g 8751
Stowage of Camcorder for Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video
Dragon Transfer Ops
RS Lights Audit (SM, MRM1, MRM2, DC1) / r/g 8737
BRI Log Dump from RSS1
HRF Urine Sample Collection
Post-IFM CDRA Hardware Stowage
HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion
OTKLIK. Hardware Check / r/g 8408
Replacement of ??0501 Gas Analyzer ??2 Filter Units r/g 8729
MRLN2 – MERLIN Preparation for SpX-6 Descent
VIBROLAB. Copy and Downlink Data / r/g 8739
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
IMS Delta File Prep
Bone Densitometer Troubleshooting Part 2
Photography of Plume Impingement and Deposit Monitoring Unit Position on MRM2 r/g 8748
BCAT – Transfer of images from the camera
BCAT – Sample Initialization
FMK Deployment Ops
Grab Sample Container (GSC) Sampling Operations
THERM – Container Reconfiguration
Completed Task List Items

ESA PAO Event
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

MT Translation
BCAT ops
SSRMS maneuver to park position
Three-Day Look Ahead:

Friday, 05/08: Rodents Research, TripleLux A, Dragon transfer ops, OBT CMO training, CDRA maintenance closeout
Saturday, 05/09: Crew off duty, housekeeping, Twin Studies saliva collection
Sunday, 05/10: Crew off duty, Space Aging, Bone Densitometer startup/calibration
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”) – Off
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 – Shutdown
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