NASA ISS Weekly Space to Ground Report – February 13, 2018
Carrying more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the International Space Station Expedition 54 crew, the Progress 69 cargo spacecraft launched at 3:13 a.m. EST (2:13 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
At the time of launch, the International Space Station was flying over the south Atlantic north of the Falkland Islands at an altitude of 252 miles. Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned.
The Progress 69 cargo vehicle will dock automatically to the aft port of the Zvezda service module of the station at 5:43 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. Watch live coverage beginning at 5 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website: www.nasa.gov/live
The new Progress spacecraft will remain at the orbiting laboratory until late August.
On-Orbit Status Report
69 Progress (69P) Launch: 69P launched from the Baikonur, Kazakhstan this morning at 2:13am CST and achieved nominal insertion with all antennas and solar arrays deployed. Due to orbital phasing, this will be a 34-orbit rendezvous profile. 69P docking is scheduled for Thursday morning at 4:43am CST.
Lighting Effects: Upon wakeup, a 53S subject began a two-week long sleep session by providing daily sleep log entries to track his sleep patterns and wakefulness. The Lighting Effects experiment hopes to better quantify and qualify how lighting can effect habitability of spacecraft. The light bulbs on the ISS are being replaced with a new system designed for improved crew health and wellness. The Lighting Effects investigation studies the impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with adjustable intensity and color and aims to determine if the new lights can improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance. Results from this investigation also have major implications for people on Earth who use electric lights.
Transparent Alloy: The crew set up the Transparent Alloy hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Work Volume and installed the Transparent Alloy cartridges to begin the payload investigation. The aim of this experiment is to study the morphological instabilities of directional solidified, transparent binary eutectic alloys under purely diffusive conditions. It is planned to observe real-time the dynamics of eutectic front structures with a micron-scale resolution, over a large (centimetric) space scale, and over long periods of time. Such observations would be strongly sensitive to convective motions in the liquid, which, in ordinary conditions on earth, entail a detrimental redistribution of the solute on a scale comparable to the container size. Such convective motions are suppressed in microgravity. The specific goals of the experiment are to study the formation and the relaxation of topological defects in rod-like structures, to study the rod-to-lamellar transition of eutectic growth patterns, to study the forcing effects of the distortions of the thermal gradient.
Veg-03 Initiation: Following the initiation of the 5th and 6th Veg-03 experiment runs last week, today the crew thinned the plants as needed to one plant per pillow and added water to the small plant pillows. This is first time the Veg investigation has conducted two plant grow outs at the same time. The overall goal of Veg-03 is to further demonstrate proof-of concept for the Veggie plant growth chamber and the planting pillows. Future long-duration missions into the solar system, finally culminating on Mars, will require a fresh food supply to supplement crew diets, which means growing crops in space. Previous investigations focused on improving productivity in controlled environments, but the limited quarters of the space shuttle and International Space Station made it difficult to conduct large-scale crop production tests. Veg-03 expands on previous validation tests of the new Veggie hardware, which crew members will soon use to grow cabbage, lettuce and other fresh vegetables in space.
Education Payloads Operations (EPO) – Try Zero-Gravity: The crew participated in a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) EPO event by demonstrating Try Zero-Gravity experiments proposed by Asian countries. Try Zero-Gravity (Try Zero-G) allows the public, especially kids, to vote for and suggest physical tasks for JAXA Astronauts to demonstrate the difference between 0-G and 1-G for educational purposes. Some of tasks include putting in eye drops, performing push-ups on the ceiling, arm wrestling, and flying a magic carpet.
Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) Controller Replacement: To control the airflow over the flame, the crew removed and replaced an ACME controller. CIR provides sustained, systematic microgravity combustion research and it houses hardware capable of performing combustion experiments to further research of combustion in microgravity. The ACME investigation is a set of five independent studies of gaseous flames to be conducted in the CIR. ACME’s primary goal is to improve fuel efficiency and reduced pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability.
Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Configuration Operations: The crew continued CBEF configuration activities that began two weeks ago by reconfiguring the video cables to support the Mouse Stress Defense investigation arriving on SpaceX-14. The CBEF is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sub-rack facility located in the Saibo (living cell) Experiment Rack. The CBEF is used in various life science experiments, such as cultivating cells and plants in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and consists of an incubator and control equipment for control and communications.
Earth Imagery from ISS Target (EIISS): Using the Nikon camera, the crew captured images of Thailand boats and with the RED camera, they captured images of the east coast of the Unites States, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Galapagos to Caribbean. EIISS is used to support creation of a series of videos showcasing Earth views taken from space. The videos are taken with cameras on the ISS in 6K hi-resolution and are integrated into videos for screensavers for public enjoyment, exploration, and engagement.
Soyuz (52S) Return Cargo Packing: Today, the crew started packing the cargo that will be returning on 47S. The remaining packing will be completed prior to undocking.
Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS) Hardware Replacement: The crew replaced the CEVIS Ergometer, Inertial Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (IVIS) Boxes, and CEVIS Display Cable due to the end of Braking Band life within the Ergometer. After the replacement of the hardware, the crew performed a successful checkout of CEVIS.
Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) Tank Installation and Repressurization: Today the crew attached a new oxygen tank to NORS and initiated a repressurization of the ISS with gas from that tank. NORS is a system to attach nitrogen or oxygen tanks to the station through the joint airlock plumbing system for resupply of station. Tanks are launched on cargo vehicle flights and installed by the crew as needed.
Today’s Planned Activities
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Lighting Effects Sleep Log Entry – Subject
??-8. Setup
Body Mass Measurement
MORZE. Evaluation using SPRUT-2.
Body Mass Measurement – BMMD
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Tsentrovka, SENSOR Tests
MORZE. Log Entry of Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake
Asia Try Zero G Experiment
Countermeasures System (CMS) Max CEVIS Portable PFS Set-Up
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
Max Cycle Ergometer w/Vibration Isolation & Stabilization (CEVIS) Portable PFS Power Up
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Pre-pack cargo items for return or disposal on Soyuz 734
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Inspection
Max CEVIS Portable PFS Subject
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: SUPOS Test
RED Camera Setup.
Collecting condensate water samples from ???-?2? before Gas-Liquid Mixture Filter (???) into Russian Samplers, initiate
Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Monthly Inspection
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Cattell’s Test
Transparent Alloys Hardware Setup
On MCC Go Water Transfer to ??? from Progress 437 (DC1) Rodnik tanks No.2 Using Compressor
Countermeasures (CMS) CEVIS Ergometer Gather
MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Strelau Test
Max CEVIS Portable PFS Partial Stow
Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Video Cable Reconfiguration to Video Compression and Recording Unit 2 (VRU2)
Cleanup ops after water transfer from Progress Rodnik 437 (DC1) H2O Tank 2 to ???
VEG-03E Plant Thin
Mouse Habitat Unit(MHU) Experiment Laptop Terminal 2 (ELT2) Setup
IMS Update
VEG-03E Plant Pillow Prime.
EIISS Crew Preference RED Camera Target Operations
CMS Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation Stabilization (CEVIS) Ergometer Swap
CALCIUM. Experiment Session 11
Photo TV GoPro Setup
Crew Choice Event
ISS Crew departure preparation
Transparent Alloys Cartridge Installation
CMS CEVIS Ergometer Stow
CMS Max CEVIS Portable PFS Conclude
Atmospheric Control System (ACS) Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) Oxygen Transfer Initiation
MORZE. Closeout Ops
CMS CEVIS Activation and Checkout (ACO) Set-up
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Countermeasures (CMS) CEVIS Activation and Checkout (ACO)
VEG Series Experiment On-Board Training.
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
Countermeasures (CMS) CEVIS Activation and Checkout (ACO) Stow
RED Camera Deactivation.
Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Battery Swap
MORZE. Experiment setup
Tropical Cyclone Untended Operations
Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open
Combustion Integrated Rack Front End Cap Open
ACME Controller Replace 1
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Review
Combustion Integrated Rack Front End Cap Close
Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Close
Completed Task List Activities
None
Ground Activities
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Node3 MCA Full Calibration
SSRMS Prime LEU Grapple Test Troubleshooting
Standard Commanding
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 02/14: EVA prep (tool config, proc review, Eq Lock prep), Microbial Tracking, Plant Gravity, Biolab, NR Rock Candy
Thursday, 02/15: 69P docking
Friday, 02/16: USOS EVA #48 (swap POA LEE with ESP2 degraded LEE, return POA LEE to airlock, CLA swap, FMS grounding strap install)
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 – Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off
