NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 12 March 2020 – Setting up External Science Payload
The Expedition 62 crew took a break today from its weeks-long space biology research aboard the International Space Station.
Instead, the orbital residents focused on setting up an external science payload and maintaining life support systems.
Research takes place not only inside the space station, but also outside as scientists study how extreme temperatures and space radiation affect a variety of materials. NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan configured hardware today containing a materials science experiment for installation outside the orbital lab. He placed the gear inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock where it was depressurized. The Canadarm2 robotic arm will retrieve the experiment and externally install it on the station.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir started her day collecting samples of the station’s water for microbial analysis. In the afternoon, she serviced an experiment module that can generate artificial gravity environments before working on orbital plumbing at the end of her shift.
Veteran cosmonaut and station Commander Oleg Skripochka continued more communication tests today checking two-way audio and video satellite links. He also wrapped up a study that observed Earth’s upper atmosphere in visible and near-infrared wavelengths. At the end of the day, Skripochka shared his inputs for the long-running experiment researching the interactions between crews and mission controllers.
The new Expedition 63 crew is in Russia getting ready for its launch on April 9 aboard the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy with Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner are wrapping up two days of final qualification exams. The trio will soon head to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final preparations before beginning their 195-day mission aboard the orbiting lab.
On-Orbit Status Report
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): The crew installed three MISSE Sample Carriers (MSCs) onto MISS Transfer Tray 2 (MTT 2), and installed the MTT onto the JEM airlock slide table. This is in preparation for a subsequent robotic external exchange of several MISSE Flight Facility MSCs later this week. The MISSE-FF platform provides the ability to test materials, coatings, and components or other larger experiments in the harsh environment of space, which is virtually impossible to do collectively on Earth. Testing in low-Earth orbit (LEO) allows the integrated testing of how materials react to exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV), atomic oxygen (AO), ionizing radiation, ultrahigh vacuum (UHV), charged particles, thermal cycles, electromagnetic radiation, and micro-meteoroids in the LEO environment.
MVP-2 (Multi-use Variable-g Platform-02): In preparation for the Cell-03 investigation tomorrow, the crew replaced the hard drive and installed a new door on the MVP-2 unit. The commercially developed, owned and operated Techshot MVP includes 2 internal carousels that simultaneously can produce up to 2 g of artificial gravity. MVP is used to conduct research in space with a wide variety of sample types, such as fruit flies, flatworms, plants, fish, cells, protein crystals and many others.
Nanoracks Module-9 (Mod-9) ops 2: The crew performed the second set of operations (“Ops 2”) on the Nanoracks mod-9 tubes. Ops 2 involved only the deactivation of Mixture Tube #1, which looks at double-stranded DNA break repair in haploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae under spaceflight conditions. The deactivation is accomplished by opening the blue clamp and missing the contents by shaking the tube. The experiments use NanoRacks MixStix, miniature laboratories activated by ISS crew and eventually returned to the student teams on Earth for analysis.
Systems
Water Storage System (WSS) Acoustic Measurements: The Nitrogen (N2) vent cap o-ring was removed on January 3rd to help mitigate unacceptably loud noise that the WSS N2 vent generates when venting the Storage Tanks. Before this mitigation was implemented, the noise level was around 85 dBA with crew wearing hearing protection during the last vent operation after the tank equalizations, which was above the limit for intermittent noise which is 78 dBA for less than 2 minutes. Today the crew completed the first set of acoustic measurements on the WSS N2 vent following this mitigation. Crew photo documented the measurements and ground teams will review the imagery.
Completed Task List Activities:
None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Payload operations support
JEMAL Slide Table ops/MISSE install
WSS acoustic test
Lookahead Plan
Friday, 3/13 (GMT 073)
Payloads:
Food Acceptability
ISS HAM pass
MVP2-cell-03
OsteoOmics
Standard Measures
Phage Evolution
Systems:
WHC maintenance
Saturday, 3/14 (GMT 074)
Payloads:
CGBA stat check
ISS Experience SD c/o
MELFI icebrick insertions
MVP-Cell-03
Nanoracks Mod-51
Systems:
Crew off duty; housekeeping
Sunday, 3/15 (GMT 075)
Payloads:
MELFI icebrick insertions
Probiotics
Standard Measures
Systems:
Crew off duty
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Vacuum cleaning ventilation grille on FGB interior panels
Structures and Mechanisms (S&M) JEM ORU Xfer I/F (JOTI) Gather
XF305 Camcorder Setup
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side
JEM ORU Xfer I/F Install for MISSE Transfer Tray
SEPARATION. Activation of [СРВ-У-РС] system. Starting distillation cycles
On MCC Go RS2 Laptop Activation
Transfer of Version 08.11 SMCC (ЦВМ) and SMTC (ТВМ) Images to КЦП1 and RS3 Laptops
JEM ORU Xfer I/F Video Tour
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side
MTT/MSC Installation Review
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE) MSC Hardware Gather
MISSE-FF MSC Installation for JEM RMS Small Fine Arm Deployment
Transfer of Version 08.11 SMCC (ЦВМ) and SMTC (ТВМ) Images to КЦП1 and RS3 Laptop.
Environmental Health System (EHS) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collect
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side
On MCC Go RS2 Laptop Deactivation
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE) MTT Install
COL1D2 Rack Inspection
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side
JEM Airlock Depressurization
Environmental Health System (EHS) Coliform Water Processing
PCS Laptop Relocate
Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Analysis
MELFI 3 Ice Brick Insert 3
Setup and Activation of Crew Onboard Support Kit (КСПЭ) Equipment for mpeg2 TV coverage of Broadband Communication System (ШСС) Test
Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Manual Fill Initiation
Gathering and connecting КСПЭ hardware to ШСС video server
Dragon Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) Filter Bag Removal
Test comm sessions via Luch-5В Relay Satellite (95°) and 2-way audio/video comm check with ШСС smart station [АРМ]
Receiving files from ШСС MDM to RSS1
Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Manual Fill Termination
TERMINATOR. Removal from window and closeout ops with Terminator-Nadir PL
Food Acceptability Survey
Multi-use Variable-g Platform Hardware Configuration
Water Storage System (WSS) Acoustic Test Setup
SEPARATION. Deactivation of [СРВ-У-РС] system. Log file downlink
Test comm sessions via Luch-5В Relay Satellite (95°) and 2-way audio/video comm check with ШСС smart station [АРМ]. Tagup with specialists
Gather items for EDV and RT drain to RST sequence
Closeout ops after comm sessions via Luch-5В (95°) relay satellite
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System EDV Drain Initiation
On MCC Go Turn off camcorder, TV system monitoring equipment, close applications
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout
Regen EDV Drain Swap
Dragon F5A1 Locker Remove
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System EDV Drain Termination
Recycle Tank Drain to Resupply Tank (RST) Init
INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops
JEM Airlock Vent
Terminating Recycle Tank Drain to Resupply Tank (RST)
Water Storage System (WSS) Acoustic Test Data Transfer/Stow
Nanoracks Module-9 Ops Session 2
JEM Airlock Vent Confirmation
LSG Work Volume Deploy
High Definition (HD) Config JEM Camera Setup for Crew Choice Event
CCE Preparation
Crew Choice Event
