NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 August 2018 – Kickoff of the 2018/19 European AstroPi Competition
The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is packed with science and hardware ready for return to Earth on Friday.
NASA is also introducing a team of astronauts who will soon fly Boeing and SpaceX vehicles to the International Space Station.
The Expedition 56 crew has finished loading Dragon with sensitive research results and station gear for analysis and refurbishment back on Earth. Space station officials from around the world gave the “go” on Thursday for Dragon’s release from the orbital complex.
Mission controllers, with astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor monitoring, will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release Dragon at 12:37 p.m. EDT Friday. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean will occur less than six hours later under a trio of huge parachutes off the coast of Baja California.
NASA will introduce Friday at 11 a.m. on NASA TV new astronauts assigned to spaceflights launching from the United States for the first time since July 8, 2011. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is partnering with Boeing and SpaceX to launch humans on U.S.-built spaceships from Kennedy Space Center on test flights to the space station.
On-Orbit Status Report
Chemical Gardens: Today the crew removed the Chemical Gardens 2 ampoule kit from a Cargo Transfer Bag, broke the seal between the ampoules and mixed the contents of both. In the Chemical Gardens experiment, selected metal salts are added to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), resulting in the formation of inorganic structures that resemble plant growth in a time span ranging from minutes to hours. On Earth, gravity-induced flow due to buoyancy differences between the reactants complicates our understanding of the physics behind these “chemical gardens”. Conducting this experiment in the microgravity environment onboard the ISS removes the gravity effects, ensures diffusion-controlled growth, and allows researchers a better assessment of initiation and evolution of chemical gardens.
European Space Agency (ESA) Education Payloads Operations (EPO) AstroPi: Today the crew recorded a message to support the kickoff of the 2018/19 European AstroPi competition. AstroPis are augmented Raspberry Pi computers equipped with the mighty Sense Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) that measure the environment inside the ISS, detect how the station moves through space, and pick up the Earth’s magnetic field. One of the AstroPis has an infrared camera and the other has a standard visible spectrum camera.
Double Coldbag Packing: As part of the final Dragon packing operations, the crew packed time sensitive cold storage science items. The crew must pack these items late in the Dragon packing operations to minimize the amount of time the science samples are out of refrigeration prior to being delivered to the investigation teams on the ground.
Dragon Cargo Operations: Today the crew completed the last of the SpaceX-15 cargo transfer operations as they packed and loaded the final items slated for return on Dragon. As part of today’s cargo activities the crew ingressed the Bigelow Expandable Aerospace Module (BEAM) module to retrieve the degraded Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Latching End Effector (LEE) S/N 202 and packed it for return. While the crew had the hatch open to the BEAM module, they stowed the Treadmill Subject Loading System (SLS) into the BEAM.
United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) Hatch Depress Indicator (HDI) Zero G Testing: The USOS HDI is a new device that may be used in the future during a rapid spacecraft depressurization event to determine which side of a hatchway is the leak source. The first planned deployment into procedures and training will be for the first crewed demo mission of the United States Crew Vehicle (USCV). The USOS HDI has undergone ground testing; however, it is desired that the crew evaluate HDI behaviors in the zero-g environment so feedback can be supplied to future crews in training. This activity had the crew perform a demonstration of the USOS HDI in both flow and no-flow atmospheric conditions. They also performed a spatial-only assessment at other hatchways to check for interference and sufficient restraint/mobility aids.
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Educational Event: Today, Drew Feustel participated in a PAO event with High school students representing Virginia Space Coast Scholars – a STEM focused 9-month course, which culminates in a one-week residential program at Wallops and Middle school students representing Virginia Space Flight Academy – a STEM focused summer camp experience at Wallops.
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Inventory Management System (IMS) conference
Meteor Laptop Reboot
Soyuz 738 Kazbek Fit Check
DC1 EVA Support Panel Test.
Water Refill Kit Battery Charge
СОЖ maintenance
Chemical Gardens Procedure Review
Radio Frequency Identification Logistics CTB Relocate 2
Chemical Gardens MWA Preparation
ПхО EVA Support Panel (ПОВ) Checkout.
Chemical Gardens Mix Ops
EPO crew message recording
PEV Activation Test from DC1 EVA Support Panel.
PEV activation test from ПхО EVA Support Panel.
Micro-12 Sample Relocate
Cargo Transfer to Dragon
USOS Hatch Depress Indicator Demonstration
Setup and hookup of КСПЭ camcorder in DC1 for TV coverage of Gathering EVA Equipment
Staging EVA Equipment and EVA Tools, photo/video. TV Coverage Gathering EVA Equipment.
CIR Optics Tool Locate
Dragon Locker Install
Polar Express Rack Uninstall, Transfer, And Dragon Install
iPad Air 2 Charge
Flight Group 8 iPad Air 2 Initial Configuration
Double Coldbag Pack
Food Acceptability Questionnaire Subject
ARED Platform Fold
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Node 3 Aft Unstow
Robotic Workstation (RWS) Setup
Staging EVA Equipment and EVA Tools, photo/video. TV Coverage Gathering EVA Equipment.
BEAM Ingress
Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Monthly Inspection
Photo/TV Latching End Effector (LEE) Node 2 Video Setup
Latching End Effector (LEE) Flight Support Equipment (FSE) Assembly
Double Coldbag Transfer to Dragon
SLS Hardware Transfer
BEAM Cleanup and Egress
Photo/TV Latching End Effector (LEE) Node 2 Video Reconfig from JEM to Dragon view
Dragon LEE Installation Photos
Transfer Center Stack for LEE Install
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Node 3 Aft Stow
Food Acceptability Questionnaire Subject
Verification of ИП-1 Flow Sensor
ARED Platform Unfold Back to Nominal Position
Photo/TV Node 3 Camcorder Deactivation
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Rad Detector Rotate
Dragon LEE Installation Photos
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
Completed Task List Activities:
None
Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Dragon O2 Xfer and Flight Computer reboot
Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 08/03: CBM Vestibule Ops, Dragon Unberth/Release, BCAT, ACE-M2 Sample, Habitat H2O Fill, USOS EVA tool gather for RS EVA, mobiPV, Chemical Garden
Saturday, 08/04: Weekly Housekeeping, Crew Off-Duty
Sunday, 08/04: Crew Off-Duty
QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:
Component – Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – Manual
[СКВ] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – Off
[СКВ] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Operate
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Standby
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Idle
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off
