NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 July 2019 – More CubeSat Deployment Preparation

The Expedition 60 crew is configuring more CubeSats for deployment and working on space plumbing aboard the International Space Station today. Back on Earth, three crewmembers from the U.S., Italy and Russia are in training for their launch to the station on July 20.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague installed hardware that will deploy seven CubeSats outside of the Kibo laboratory module this week. Engineers and students from around the world designed the series of seven microsatellites for a variety of experiments and technology demonstrations.

NASA Flight Engineer Christina Koch relocated a science freezer before some space gardening during Monday morning. She and Hague then took turns during the afternoon swapping filters and components in the station’s Water Recycling System.

Commander Alexey Ovchinin worked throughout the day in the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. The two-time station visitor tested laptop computer batteries, transferred urine to a Russian cargo craft and maintained life support systems.

In Russia, three upcoming station residents from NASA, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos are in final preparations ahead of their historic July 20 launch. Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov are launching 50 years to the day humans first landed on the Moon. The trio will liftoff aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to their new home in space.

On-Orbit Status Report

NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) Installation: In preparation for the planned satellite launch on Wednesday, the crew installed the NRCSD-16 hardware on the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) which is attached to the Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) slide table. The slide table was subsequently retracted, and the JEMAL was closed and depressurized. The NRCSD is a self-contained CubeSat deployer system for small satellites staged from the ISS. The NRCSD is transported to orbit inside the Pressurized Cargo Module of ISS cargo resupply vehicles and utilizes the ISS Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) as a staging facility for operation. The NRCSD is integrated with payloads (CubeSats) on the ground.

Veg-04A: The crew performed a routine plant check, watered the plants as appropriate, and weighed any broken leaves using the Mass Measurement Device. Another crew member completed a review of the on-board training material for the investigation. The Mizuna plants are currently on day 27 of a planned 28 day growth period, but due to some slow growth, the plants will be given an extra week to grow and will be harvested next week. A healthy, nutritious diet is essential for long-duration exploration missions, which means that the typical pre-packaged astronaut diet needs to be supplemented by fresh foods during flight; the Veggie Vegetable Production System (Veggie) has begun testing aboard the ISS to help meet this need, and validation tests have demonstrated that leafy greens can be grown in spaceflight. The research of Veg-04A focuses on the impact of light quality and fertilizer on leafy crop growth for a 28-day grow-out, microbial food safety, nutritional value, taste acceptability by the crew, and the overall behavioral health benefits of having plants and fresh food in space.

Water Recovery System (WRS) Multifiltration Bed: The Crew reconfigured the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) from a dual-bed Multifiltration configuration to single-bed. Multifiltration Bed Unit 1 was removed and Unit 2 was replaced with a new unit. The updated single bed operations are based on on-orbit experience with the Multifiltration Beds and ground testing to confirm the behavior of ionic breakthrough through the beds indicating one bed is sufficient for filtration. Additionally, the reduced bed configuration tests a concept for reducing the Multifiltration Bed size for exploration to match the mission duration.

Catalytic Reactor Remove & Replace (R&R) Preparations: In preparation for the Catalytic Reactor replacement planned tomorrow, the crew removed portions of Treadmill 2 (T2) in Node 3 and installed Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) pivot fittings to the Water Recovery System (WRS) Rack. This activity allows access to rotate WRS-1 Rack. T2 will not be available for exercise until after the Catalytic Reactor replacement.

Remote Power Controller Module (RPCM) Trip to Lab Deck 6 Rack Smoke Detector: RPCM LAD62B_A’s RPC 2 tripped on June 30, resulting in a loss of smoke detection in the Lab Deck 6 (LAD6) rack. Five re-closures of the RPC were attempted and all resulted in immediate trips. Data shows no evidence of an overcurrent event for any of the trips which indicates a known RPCM Field Effect Transistor Controller Hybrid (FCH) issue. LAD6 is the Air Revitalization System 1 (ARS-1) rack, housing the Lab Avionics Air Assembly (AAA), Lab Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA), Lab Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) as well as various Lab Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) hardware. Flight Rule for Rack Smoke Detection Management requires racks with AAA fans to be powered down in the event of loss of smoke detection, hence ground teams have powered down all equipment in the rack. As of now, Thermal Amine Scrubber (TAS) is prime for Carbon Dioxide removal, and the Node 3 MCA and TCCS are prime. Teams are investigating the anomaly.

Completed Task List Activities:
Pregather Connector Insulating Sleeve for IDA3 EVA
VSee account status check
ISS Experience reading
ISS Experience Playing With Water
Crew arrival prep
N3-Panel Fastener RED

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
CubeSat deployer hardware install on MPEP
LSR troubleshooting on WWB interface

Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 7/2 (GMT 183)

Payloads:
VEG-04 check and MMD

Systems:
Catalytic Reactor R&R

Wednesday, 7/3 (GMT 184)

Payloads:
FIR/LMM confocal camera replacement
ISS Experience
ISS HAM pass
MELFI Ice brick insertions
NRCSD-16 satellite deploy
PBR nutrient exchange/sample
Radi-N2 detector deploy
Two-phase flow
Team Task Switching
VEG-04 chk and MMD

Systems:
WRS Restow

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

XF305 Camcorder Setup
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side
NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer Installation on the MPEP
Auxiliary Computer System laptop battery test
RS2, RS1, REMOTE RS laptop battery test.
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side
JEM Airlock Depressurization
On MCC Go Purging Elektron-VM Liquid Unit (??) after Shutdown
A/L Adapter Plate (JCAP) and NanoRacks Kaber Plate (STEP) Stow.
Glacier Express Rack Relocate
VEG-04 Water Check and Mass Measurement Device Operations
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3
Brine/urine transfer to Progress 441 (DC1) Rodnik H2O Tank 2
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Water Processing Assembly (WPA) Hardware Gather
JEM Airlock Vent
(ACS) Oxygen Manual Valve Close
JEM Airlock Vent Confirmation
VEG Series Experiment On-Board Training.
Treatment of FGB structural elements and shell areas with Fungistat
In-flight Maintenance (IFM) Water Recovery System (WRS) Big Picture Words Review
In-flight Maintenance (IFM) Pivot Fitting Scavenge
Water Processor Assembly (WPA) Process Line Demate
WHC Stall Removed before WRS-2 MF Bed Maintenance
WRS Multifiltration Bed Reconfig
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – Lab
In-flight Maintenance (IFM) Treadmill 2 and Water Recovery System 1 Rack Prep
Replace Stall following WRS-2 MF Bed Maintenance