NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 August 2019 – Station Hosts Five Spacecraft

The International Space Station is hosting five spaceships today as August ramps up for more orbital traffic activity. Six Expedition 60 crewmembers are also unloading U.S. and Russian cargo, activating new science experiments and stocking the station’s galley.
Russia’s Progress 73 (73P) cargo craft completed a fast-track delivery mission early Wednesday docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment just three hours and nineteen minutes after launching from Kazakhstan. Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov opened the 73P hatch shortly afterward starting its four-month stay. He and station Commander Alexey Ovchinin then began unloading nearly three tons of new consumables, fuel and supplies.

Two U.S. space freighters occupy the station’s Earth-facing Harmony and Unity module ports. Harmony will open up Tuesday when Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply ship departs after 109 days in space. The Canadarm2 robotic arm installed the SpaceX Dragon to Unity on Saturday after its arrival and capture beginning a month of cargo operations.

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague are tending to mice today shipped aboard Dragon for ongoing biological research. The reusable vehicle will return the mice back to Earth at the end of the month, including other cargo, so scientists can analyze a variety of changes that only occur in microgravity.

Dragon also delivered a new commercial crew vehicle port, the International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3), in its unpressurized trunk. Robotics controllers will soon extract the IDA-3 before two spacewalkers install it to Unity’s space-facing port a few days later.

A few days before Dragon departs, Russia will launch an unpiloted Soyuz MS-14 crew ship to the orbiting lab for a test of its upgraded 2.1a Soyuz booster. It will dock to the Poisk module for a two-week stay before parachuting back to Earth in the vast steppe of Kazakhstan.

On-Orbit Status Report

Gravitational References for Sensimotor Performance: Reaching and Grasping (GRASP): The crew performed a series of tests for the GRASP experiment which consists of 3 components including VM (visual stimulus – manual response), VV (visual stimulus – visual response), and MM (manual stimulus – manual response) series of tests. The purpose of the experiment is to better understand how the Central Nervous System (CNS) integrates information from different sensory modalities, encoded in different reference frames, in order to coordinate movements of the hand with objects in the environment. When reaching to grasp an object, a human subject must orient the hand so as to align it with the orientation of the object to be grasped.

Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL): The JEMAL was depressurized today in preparation for the Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (EXHAM) activities planned next week. Taking advantage of Kibo’s unique function of having both an airlock and a robotic arm, the ExHAM facility enables space experiments to be performed in the exposed space environment, by attachment to the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo’s Exposed Facility (EF).

Rodent Research-17 (RR-17): Today the crew restocked the rodent habitat and cleaned the access unit. RR-17 uses younger and older mice as model organisms to evaluate the physiological, cellular and molecular effects of the spaceflight environment. Some responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble accelerated aging. This investigation provides a better understanding of aging-related immune, bone, and muscle disease processes, which may lead to new therapies for use in space and on Earth.

Standard Measures: A saliva collection was completed in support of the Standard Measures investigation. The aim of the investigation is to ensure consistent capture of an optimized, minimal set of measures from crewmembers until the end of the ISS Program in order to characterize the adaptive responses to and risks of living in space. Ground teams perform analyses for metabolic and chemistry panels, immune function, microbiome, etc. These measures populate a data repository to enable high-level monitoring of countermeasure effectiveness and meaningful interpretation of health and performance outcomes, and support future research on planetary missions.

Team Task Switching (TTS): The crew performed experiment surveys in support of the TTS investigation, the objective of which is to gain knowledge about crewmembers’ ability to switch tasks. Results will contribute to both the reduction of any negative consequences, and improvement of individual and team motivation and effectiveness.

Thermal Amine Scrubber (TAS) Test: Ground teams are conducting the final TAS Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack 2 Space Station Power Control Module (SSPCM) converter imbalance today. The EXPRESS team has noted SSPCM imbalance since initial commissioning of TAS and testing has been in work to limit the imbalance to reduce impacts to SSPCM operational life. Results of these tests will be used to adjust TAS operations in the future.

Water Storage System (WSS) Water Transfer: The crew transferred 4 Contingency Water Containers Iodine (CWC-I) with a total transfer of ~77 liters to the WSS storage tanks. Post transfer, the containers were disposed of as part of the larger plan to transition from CWC-I to the WSS for water storage.

Completed Task List Activities:
Food Intake Tracker install on iPad
Cygnus cargo transfer ops

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
JEMAL depressurization/vent
WSS CWCI tank resupply
SSRMS Dragon ungrapple
Payloads ops support

Look Ahead:
Friday, 8/2 (GMT 214)

Payloads:
BFF test print
Bioculture/Cell Science-02
ELF controller installation
GRASP
Repository
Lighting Effects
Nanoracks Mod-82 photos
Slingshot
TReK video s/u

Systems:
Starboard SAW blanket/mast imagery
Saturday, 8/3 (GMT 215)

Payloads:
Cell Science-02
Food Acceptability
Lighting Effects
Repository
Standard Measures

Systems:
Crew off duty, housekeeping

Sunday, 8/4 (GMT 216)

Payloads:
ADSEP OBT review
BFF OBT and procedure review
Lighting Effects
Repository

Systems:
Crew off duty

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

HRF Generic Sample MELFI Retrieval And Insertion Operations
JEM Airlock Depressurization
Increment 60 Crew handover
Rodent Research Habitat 1 & 2 Restock
ABOUT GAGARIN FROM SPACE. Hardware Setup And Activation in SSTV Mode
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Equipment setup
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Experiment Ops (Individual Strategy Test) in lieu of Exercise
Water Storage System Contingency Water Container Iodinated Pumping Initiate
JEM Airlock Vent
Telescience Resource Kit Laptop Setup
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Medical Accessories Kit (IMAK) Unpack from SpX-18
JEM Airlock Vent Confirmation
Water Storage System Contingency Water Container Iodinated Pumping Swap
Photo/TV SAW and MAST Camera Setup
Photo/TV STBD SAW and Mast Survey
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Closeout Ops
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Hygiene Procedures
Water Storage System Contingency Water Container Iodinated Pumping Swap
Team Task Switching Experiment Survey
SEPARATION. Activation of [???-?-??] system. Starting distillation cycles
Team Task Switching Experiment Survey
Photo/TV STBD SAW and Mast Survey
Water Storage System Contingency Water Container Iodinated Pumping Terminate
??? maintenance
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
Rodent Research Habitat 3 & 4 Restock
Photo/TV STBD SAW and Mast Survey
FOTOBIOREACTOR. Visual inspection with photography
Bringing ODF up to date using Progress 442 delivered files
Photo/TV STBD SAW and Mast Survey
Photo/TV SAW and Mast photography equipment teardown
BioFabrication Facility Procedure Review2
Rodent Research Access Unit Clean
SEPARATION. Deactivation of [???-?-??] system. Log-file downlink