NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 10 November 2020

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top rolled out to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center overnight. Meanwhile aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 64 crew was busy setting up a variety of research and communications gear today.
Four Commercial Crew astronauts from the United States and Japan are in Florida in quarantine and getting ready for their launch to the space station. Their Dragon crew ship is standing vertical at Launch Complex 39A counting down to a Nov. 14 lift off.

Commander Michael Hopkins, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi will blast off on Saturday at 7:49 p.m. EST. Eight hours and 30 minutes later the quartet will dock to the Harmony module’s forward-facing international docking adapter. They are scheduled for a five-and-a-half-month research mission aboard the station.

Back in space, NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins spent Tuesday morning setting up a specialized microscope that uses fluorescence to study biological processes in microgravity. During the afternoon, she installed wireless instrumentation gear in the Zvezda service module and handed over radiation detectors to cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov checked out communications systems and biomedical sensors inside a pair of Russian Orlan spacesuits this morning with assistance from Kud-Sverchkov. The cosmonaut duo then spent the rest of the day servicing life support hardware and re-pressurizing the station’s atmosphere with air from the Progress 76 resupply ship.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads

Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons (RADI-N2) – The crew retrieved the eight Radi-N2 bubble detectors from the JEM Panel FD3/JPM1F3 location and handed the detectors to the Russian crew for processing and data download. The objective of this Canadian Space Agency investigation is to better characterize the ISS neutron environment, define the risk posed to the crew members’ health, and provide the data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future spaceflight. It’s been recognized that neutrons make up a significant fraction (10-30%) of the biologically effective radiation exposure in low-Earth orbit. The bubble detectors used in the investigation are designed detect neutrons and ignore all other radiation.

Standard Measures – The crew performed Saliva collections in support of the Standard Measures study. 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. Among other things, the 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.

Space Organogenesis – The crew performed a partial setup of the microscope that will be used for experiment samples arriving on SpaceX-21. The Development of Advanced 3D Organ Culture System Utilizing the Microgravity Environment (Space Organogenesis) investigation demonstrates growth of organ buds from human stem cells in three-dimensional (3D) cultures in microgravity. Researchers plan to use these cultures to observe growth of the organ buds and analyze changes in gene expression. Cell culture on Earth needs supportive materials or forces to achieve 3D growth, but in microgravity cell cultures likely can expand into three dimensions without those devices.

Systems

Node 3 Port Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Inspection – In preparation for SpaceX-21 and the arrival of the NanoRacks Airlock (NRAL), ground teams performed an inspection on the Node 3 Port CBM. There was a very small torque spike noted on one of the latches during both deploy and retract functions. It is not considered an issue going forward, but will be monitored by ground teams during future use. The checkout was considered successful and the Node 3 Port is ready for NRAL installation.

Install Internal Wireless Instrumentation System Remote Sensor Unit (IWIS RSU) in SM-PRK – The Crew installed the IWIS Accelerometer Interface Plate, Accelerometer, and RSU in the PRK and connected the accelerometer and power cables. This sensor unit will be used to monitor structural response changes possibly induced by a crack causing atmosphere leak.

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Direct Drive Test – Today, ground teams continued to execute a series of commands to complete direct drive testing on the redundant command string for SSRMS wrist joints 1, 2, and 3. The purpose of these direct drive tests is to collect a set of data at regular intervals to trend mechanism health of the SSRMS joints.

Completed Task List Activities:

None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Vacuum System (VS) Limit Configuration
SSRMS Direct Drive Test
Look Ahead Plan

Wednesday, 11/11 (GMT 316)
Payloads:

Standard Measures Saliva Collect (NASA)
Plant Hab-02 Plant Thinning (NASA)
Systems:

Install Ammonia Cartridges on Emergency Masks for Crew-1
Station Support Computer Power Chain Build
Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System O2 Repress Part 2
Build Emergency Cargo Transfer Bags for Air Portable Breathing Apparatus
Thursday, 11/12 (GMT 317)
Payloads:

GRIP Harddrive Install (ESA)
Standard Measures Saliva Collect and fecal setup (NASA)
EKAM N2 85 lens changeout (NASA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
Plant Hab-02 Leaf Harvest review (NASA)
EML Program cable removal and installation (Joint)
Systems:

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygeine Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) and Insert Filter (IF) Remove and Replace
Dragon SSC Deploy Part 1
Node 2 Forward Hardware Unstow
SSC Client Troubleshooting for SSC 11
Friday, 11/13 (GMT 318)
Payloads:

Standard Measures Saliva collect (NASA)
Repository (NASA) and Phospho -Aging (JAXA) Urine setup
Standard Measures-Body and Fecal collect (NASA)
Plant Hab-02 Leaf gather (NASA)
ISS Experience Node2 setup (NASA)
Systems:

Dragon Forward – Station Support Computer Relocate
Docking Dragon Monitoring Tools Setup
PMA Ventilation Prior to Ingress
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Auxiliary Computer System [???] laptops anti-virus scan and report
On MCC GO: Regeneration of ??? Micropurification Cartridge ?1 (termination)
Microscope (MS) Item Gathering
Connecting cable 17??.42?8242?-9050 to local analog switch ???1? (?147).
Microscope (MS) Familiarization
VGA-NTSC Converter CLOSEOUT
ORLAN systems, ??? and checkout. Orlan comm and biomed parameters checkout.
Experiment Laptop Terminal 2 (ELT2) cable disconnection
Microscope Setup in Multi purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Work Volume (WV)
Comm reconfig after Orlan comm check
On MCC GO: Replacement of FGB Power Supply System 800A unit
Preventive maintenance of SM ventilation subsystem. Group ?2. Inspection of Air Conditioning System [???1, ???2]
IMS audit of FGB internal lighting system
Microscope (MS) Test Sample Install [Deferred]
On MCC Go ISS air repress from Progress 444 (DC1) ???? Section 2, start
Install IWIS RSU (Internal Wireless Instrumentation Sytem Remote Sensor Unit) in SM-PRK
MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter gathering and measurements.
On MCC Go ISS air repress from Progress 444 (DC1) ???? Section 2 terminate
Filling two ??? containers from SM Rodnik H2O tank 2
Radi-N Detector Retrieval/Readout
Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons Hardware Handover
MATRYOSHKA-R. Handover of BUBBLE-dosimeters from USOS
MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter gathering and taking measurements.
??? Maintenance
MATRYOSHKA-R. Tritel Hardware Monitoring
Cleaning air heater fan [???] screen in Progress 444 (DC1)
IWIS setup photo in ???