NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 July 2019 – New Crew Members Launch Saturday

A Soyuz rocket stands at its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ready to launch three new flight engineers to the International Space Station on Saturday.
NASA astronaut Drew Morgan will embark on his first space mission with veteran station residents Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov.

The Expedition 60-61 trio from the United States, Italy and Russia, is lifting off Saturday at 12:28 p.m. EDT aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft. They will dock less than six-and-a-half hours later to the Zvezda service module 50 years to the day NASA first landed humans on the Moon.

About two-and-a-half hours later the Soyuz and station hatches will open and they will enter their new home in space. NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch and station Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will greet their new crewmates then hold a ceremony with family, friends and mission officials on the ground.

NASA TV is broadcasting all the activities live with launch coverage beginning Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Docking coverage begins at 6 p.m. as the Soyuz begins its approach with the orbiting lab. Finally, NASA TV’s live coverage of the hatch opening and crew welcoming ceremony begins at 8 p.m.

On-Orbit Status Report

Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR): The crew set up the MSPR Payload Control Box and completed configuration for the Florescence Microscope. The MSPR is a multipurpose payload rack system used in the JEM. It has two workspaces and a worktable that can be used for wide fields of space environment utilization including science and educational missions.

Hermes Facility: The crew opened the vacuum valve and closed the circuit breakers to the SAMS Tri-axial Sensor Heads (TSH) in preparation for Hermes Operations. Hermes is an experimental microgravity facility that enables science experiments, microgravity exposure testing, testing of engineering components, testing of CubeSats, concept trials, and any payloads that fit within the Hermes design and operations constraints. It is open to any investigation that benefits from microgravity exposure.

Materials Science Laboratory (MSL): The crew replaced the motor valve and initiated a water loop check on the MSL facility. The MSL is used for basic materials research in the microgravity environment of the ISS. The MSL can accommodate and support diverse Experiment Modules. In this way, many material types, such as metals, alloys, polymers, semiconductors, ceramics, crystals, and glasses, can be studied to discover new applications for existing materials and new or improved materials.

SpX-18 Arrival Preparations: In preparation for the upcoming arrival of SpaceX-18 planned on July 23, the crew completed the following:

Commercial Orbital Transport Services (COTS) UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Checkout: The crew coordinated with ground teams to activate the CUCU System and performed a Crew Command Panel (CCP) checkout. CUCU provides a command and telemetry communications link between ISS and Dragon during free flight operations near ISS.
On-Board Training (OBT) Dragon Offset Grapple: The crew performed this OBT to practice grapple approaches during which the crew maneuvered over the pin to practice pulling the trigger once in the grapple envelope. Training points included how to best manage volumetric constraints in the Cupola, how lighting on the grapple fixture changes and how light varies inside the Cupola.
Thermal Amine Scrubber (TAS) Troubleshooting: Overnight, ground teams performed a blower test at different speeds to characterize the current profile following the high current faults that were experienced a day prior. Teams will review the TAS data to determine a forward plan.

Completed Task List Activities:
PWC stow
Emergency mask move
EVA EMU swap

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Offset Grapple OBT support
SSRMS checkouts
Payloads ops support

Look Ahead:
Friday, 7/19 (GMT 200)

Payloads:
CBEF video cable config and vent fan covering (JAXA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
Light Effects Performance test (NASA)
Team Task Switching (NASA
Actiwatch data downlinks (HRF)
MSRR Z-book setup and s/w load (NASA)
Cell Science-02 hardware setup (NASA)
PK-4 Campaign-7 Familiarization (Joint)

Systems:
WHC Pre-Treat R&R
Emergency Procedure Review OBT

Saturday, 7/20 (GMT 201)

Payloads:
Experience 59S arrival Recording (NASA)
59S AWS donning (NASA)

Systems:
59S Launch and Docking

Sunday, 7/21 (GMT 202)

Payloads:
No utilization activities

Systems:
Crew off duty

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

Standard Measures Post-sleep Questionnaire
Material Science Laboratory Procedure Review
Microscope Trouble Shoot in Multi purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Work Volume (WV)
JEMRMS BDS Deactivation Prep
Cleaning FGB Gas-Liquid Heat Exchanger (???) Detachable Screens 1, 2, 3
MSL Motor Valve Remove and Replace
Payload Control Box (PL Cntl Box) (S/N002) Relocate
Experiment Laptop Terminal 2 (ELT2) Closeout
Payload Control Box (PL Cntl Box) (S/N 002) Setup
FGB internal lighting system audit
Medical kits IMS Audit Part 2
Inventory Management System (IMS) conference
Closeout ops after [????] and Condensate Container (???) replacement
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
Kubik 5 setup on COL1D2
Kubik 6 setup on COL1D3
Hermes TSH Vacuum Activation
Glacier Desiccant Swap
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
Material Science Laboratory Waterloop Check Part A
On-board Training (OBT) Dragon Offset Grapple
Replacement of pre-treat container and hose in [???]. Activation after Replacement
??? maintenance
Material Science Laboratory Waterloop Check Part B
Water Resource Management Life Support Rack Flush Part 1
Packing Equipment for disposal in Progress 441 (DC1) and IMS Ops
Water Resource Management Life Support Rack Flush Part 2
Photo/TV CUCU HD Video Setup
COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Activation
COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Crew Command Panel (CCP) Checkout
COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Crew Command Panel (CCP) Stow
Photo/TV CUCU HD Video Deactivation