NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 8 April 2015
The six-member Expedition 43 crew spent Wednesday conducting more medical science and later training for a simulated emergency practicing their response skills.
Astronauts Terry Virts and Samantha Cristoforetti participated in another round of eye checks for the ongoing Ocular Health study. One-Year crew member Scott Kelly scanned his legs using an Ultrasound for the Sprint high intensity, low-volume exercise study.
Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov continued studying ways to detect pressure leaks inside the station for the Bar experiment. Four-time space station resident Gennady Padalka researched the formation of coulomb crystals and liquids from macroparticles trapped in a magnetic field. Kelly’s fellow One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko worked maintenance throughout the International Space Station’s Russian segment.
Monday, April 13, is launch day for SpaceX’s sixth operational cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch is slated for 4:33 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Visit the SpaceX blog for the latest updates.
On-Orbit Status Report
Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study (Sprint) Ultrasound: Kelly, with Cristoforetti’s assistance, donned reference marks on his thigh and calf and performed an ultrasound scan with remote guidance from the ground team. The Sprint investigation evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function in ISS crewmembers during long-duration missions. Upon completion of this study, investigators expect to provide an integrated resistance and aerobic exercise training protocol capable of maintaining muscle, bone and cardiovascular health while reducing total exercise time over the course of a long-duration space flight. This will provide valuable information in support of investigator’s long term goal of protecting human fitness for longer space exploration missions.
Ocular Health: Virts and Cristoforetti completed the first of 3 days of their Return-30 (R-30) Ocular Health activities. Today both crewmembers performed tonometry and vision tests, each acting as the Crew Medical Officer (CMO) for the other crewmember. The Ocular Health protocol is a systematic gathering of physiological data to characterize the risk of microgravity-induced visual impairment / intracranial pressure in ISS crewmembers. Researchers believe the measurement of visual, vascular and central nervous system changes over the course of this experiment and during the subsequent post flight recovery will assist in the development of countermeasures, clinical monitoring strategies, and clinical practice guidelines.
Rodent Research (RR) preparations: Virts performed a calibration of the Bone Densitometer (BD), a new capability for the upcoming RR investigations. The BD payload measures bone density using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). The BD and integrated laptop is a fully integrated densitometer designed for the estimation of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in units of g/cm2, and body composition using DEXA.
Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) Slide Table Troubleshooting: Following the installation of the Robotics Refueling Mission (RRM)-2 Taskboards on the JEMAL slide table in late March, the crew initially had trouble fully retracting the slide table and closing the hatch and reported a scraping noise. Today Virts inspected various portions of the slide table mechanism in an effort to find the source of the noise. No anomalous condition was observed during the visual check, however, a grinding noise was heard at almost the same timing during the slide table retraction (no noise was heard during the table extraction). The JAXA engineering team is evaluating today’s results.
On-Board Training (OBT) Emergency Response: All 6 crew members participated in this emergency simulation when they physically translated through the ISS to the appropriate response locations; practiced procedure execution and associated decision making; and practiced communication/coordination with Mission Control Centers (MCC)-Houston and Moscow for a given emergency scenario. Following the session, the crew and ground teams held a conference to discuss results.
Node 3 (N3) Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Hardware Fault: This morning the N3 CDRA faulted during operation due to Air Selector Valve (ASV) 104 failing to transition between half cycle 2 and half cycle 1. ASV 104 was recovered following an Active Cool Down. N3 CDRA is currently operating.
Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Apace Station Computer (SSC) Deploy: Cristoforetti relocated a T61p Laptop in N3 that will be dedicated for ARED use and associated hardware. The ARED software loaded on this SSC will be used to record the load and number of repetitions for each set of a crew member’s exercise session and allow the ground to access this data via Orbital Communications Adapter (OCA).
Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Crew Prep for TV Greetings Vision Test
PAO TV Hardware Setup
Ocular Health (OH) – Tonometry Test Configuration
TV 80th Birthday Greetings to N.S. Korolyova
24-hour BP Monitoring (start)
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor
On-orbit Hearing Assessment using EARQ
Ocular Health (OH) – Tonometry Test
Vision Test
USND2 – Hardware activation
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
SPRINT – Ultrasound Ops
Purging Elektron-VM Liquid Unit (??) after Shutdown
SPRINT – Assistance with the Experiment
Ocular Health (OH) – Blood Pressure (BP) Operations – Subject
Ocular Health (OH) – Assistance with the Experiment
Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation
Ocular Health (OH) Tonometry Ops – Test
Vision Questionnaire
BAR.
Filling (separation) of EDV (KOV) No.10 ?.36 for Elektron or EDV-SV
MRM2 comm config to support the P/L Ops
KULONOVSKIY KRISTALL
??? Maintenance
Kulonovskiy Kristall Experiment Run
USND2 – Hardware Deactivation
ARED bolt inspection
Post-Tonometry Stowage
Vision Questionnaire
MRM2 Comm Reconfig for Nominal Ops
KULONOVSKIY KRISTALL. Copy and Downlink Data
PAO Hardware Setup
Crew Prep for PAO
PAO Event
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
JEM A/L troubleshooting
Preparing for Emergency OBT
OBT ISS Emergency Drill
OBT ISS Emergency Drill Debrief
Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation
WHSC Urine Receptacle and Insert Filter Changeout
URAGAN
DCP in Cup and Lab – Power Down
Replacement of ??-50-1? No.7 (?207)
IMS Delta File Prep
ISS Emergency Drill Conference.
CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor
First time nominal journal entry
SCD – Hardware Temperature Check
24-hour ECG Holter Monitoring (termination)
WRS – Recycle Tank Fill
Completed Task List Items
None
Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Sprint ultrasound ops
OBT emergency sim
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 04/09: Ocular Health, MSG setup for Rodents Research
Friday, 04/10: Ocular Health, Sprint, Lab P5 cleanout
Saturday, 04/11: MOON imagery, Housekeeping and 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”) – On
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) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Full Up
