NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 March 2020 – New Hardware Headed to the ISS

The Expedition 62 crew is gearing up for next week’s space delivery aboard a U.S. cargo craft continuing the upkeep of International Space Station systems.
SpaceX has completed a successful static fire test of its Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center. The Dragon resupply ship will be perched atop the Falcon 9 when it blasts off toward the station on Friday at 11:50 p.m. EST.

Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir will be in the cupola Monday to capture Dragon at approximately 7 a.m. Morgan will command the Canadarm2 to reach out and grapple Dragon as Meir monitors its approach and rendezvous. NASA TV will broadcast both the launch and capture activities live.

The NASA duo practiced their robotics activities today and configured the station to receive the more than 5,600 pounds of cargo packed inside Dragon. Morgan started the day setting up a specialized habitat to house mice being delivered next week aboard the U.S. space freighter. Meir was also making space and organizing the Japanese Kibo laboratory module to make room for the new hardware.

Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos worked on Earth observation research today ending one experiment and starting another. He finalized a run of the student-operated EarthKAM investigation this morning shutting down gear and stowing hardware. In the afternoon, the veteran cosmonaut set up and activated an experiment that observes the atmosphere at nighttime in near-ultraviolet wavelengths.

On-Orbit Status Report

DOSIS 3D (Dose Distribution Inside the ISS – 3D): The crew swapped cables inside the DOSIS main box in order to remove the DOSTEL-1 unit and prep it for return on SpX-20. This experiment uses active and passive detectors to determine the radiation doses inside the ISS and provides documentation of the actual nature and distribution of the radiation fields. A concise three dimensional dose distribution map of all the segments of the ISS will be developed based on this data and data from JAXA and NASA monitoring devices.

EarthKAM (Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools): The crew de-installed and stowed the EarthKam Camera unit. This completes Mission 69 objectives. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables them to photograph the Earth’s coastlines, mountain ranges and other geographic items of interest from the unique vantage point of space. The EarthKAM team then posts these photographs on the Internet for viewing by the public and participating classrooms around the world.

JAXA Mouse Mission: The crew performed Mouse Mission-5 cage preparations for animal arrivals on SpX-20. This involved installation of the odor filter, food cartridges and water fills of the cage unit. The purpose of this mission is to analyze any alterations of the gene expression patterns in several organs and the effects on the germ-cell development of mice exposed to a long-term space environment.

STaARS BioScience-9: The crew inserted Cryotube kit S/N 1010 into the cold stowage. This is the third of five samples that are being processed. Tapping Microgravity to Enhance Biofuel Production (STaARS BioScience-9) aims to identify novel biological mechanisms using genetically modified Escherichia coli (E. coli) to improve the bio-production of isobutene to an extent that economically competes with petrochemical production processes.

OsteoOmics: The crew performed a BioCell Media Changeout in BioCell habitat S/N 3B. Millions of Americans experience bone loss, which results from disease or the reduced effects of gravity that can occur in bed-ridden patients. OsteoOmics tests whether magnetic levitation accurately simulates the free-fall conditions of microgravity by comparing genetic expression osteoblastic cells, a type of bone cell, levitated in a high-field superconducting magnet with cells flown in low-Earth orbit. This information helps scientists determine the molecular and metabolic changes that take place in magnetic levitation and real microgravity.

Systems

Dragon On-Board Training (OBT): The crew spent their afternoon participating in a robotics OBT session in preparation for the SpX-20 Dragon arrival later this week. Today’s session was the first in a series of Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) sessions designed to help the crew maintain their training proficiency. The ROBoT is an on-orbit version of the ground-based Dynamics Skills Trainer (DST) that simulates robotics operations with graphical feedback. Dragon launch is currently scheduled for March 7th at 10:49 CT. Capture and berthing is planned for the morning of March 9th, with an ISS/Dragon rendezvous time of ~6:00 am CT.

Completed Task List Activities:
Photographs of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Torch (Saturday).
Photographs of the Houston Rockets Jersey (Sunday).

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Solar Array Maximum Output Test
Port TRRJ Reposition
Fluids Integrated Rack Commanding
Lab CDRA Activation
Thermal Amine Scrubber Deactivation
HRF2 Rack Commanding
Dragon RoBOT OBT Support Ops
Mobile Servicing System File Uplink

Tuesday, 3/3 (GMT 063)
Payloads:
HISUI (Hyperspectral Imager Suite) Mission Data Recorder t/s (JAXA)
HRF Blood collection setup (NASA)
NRCSD-17 Deployer removal (NASA)
BFF Procedure Review (NASA)
OsteoOmics Media changeout (NASA)
Standard Measures Body and fecal collection (NASA)
ISS HAM Pass (River Ridge High School, New Port Richey, FL.) (NASA)
Transparent Allow H/W locate (NASA)

Systems:
Checkout of CUCU and the CCP
WHC Urine Valve Block R&R Hardware Gather.
Dragon RoBOT OBT

Wednesday, 3/4 (GMT 064)
Payloads:
HRF Blood collection (NASA)
BFF test cassette Installs and Cleaning Syringe swaps and photo (NASA)
Standard Measures saliva, and fecal collects and Blood setup (NASA)
OsteoOmics Media Changeout (NASA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)

Systems:
Dragon Cargo Operations Review
WHC Urine Valve Block R&R

Thursday, 3/5 (GMT 065)
Payloads:
FSL RUBI Swap Review (ESA)
BFF Test Cartridge removal (NASA)
Standard Measures Blood Collect (NASA)
OsteoOmics Media changeout (NASA)
Transparent Alloy hardware setup (NASA)

Systems:
Gather hardware for Node 2 Nadir Vestibule Outfitting and Dragon Ingress.
Clear out space in PPM for REDEYE experiment being brought up on Dragon.
Dragon Cargo Operations Conference
Dragon Offset Grapple OBT

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

HRF Generic Saliva Collection 10 Minutes
HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval And Insertion Operations
EarthKAM Node 2 Shutdown, Disconnect and Stow – Russian
JEM Common Gas Support Equipment (CGSE) Lower CO2 Gas Supply Start
32G SDHC Card preparation for Mission Data Recorder troubleshooting.
JEM Spx-20 Stowage Consolidation for SpX-20.
JAXA Mouse Mission 5 Cage Preparation before Sample Arrival
Preventive Maintenance of SM Ventilation Subsystem. Group ?1
MSG Drawer Audit 1
Standard Measures Cognition Testing HRF PC2
DOSIS 3D DOSTEL DATA CABLE SWAP
WRS High Flow Transfer Pump Tube Uninstall
On-board Training (OBT) Dragon Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Session 1
SEPARATSIA. Clamping down Urine Circulation Loop Hose.
SEPARATSIA. Urine Mixing in Circulation Loop.
STaARS Cryotube Kit MELFI Insertion #3
Standard Measures Fecal Collection Setup
MATRYOSHKA-R. Tritel Hardware Monitoring
Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPS) Inspection
Exercise Data Downlink via OCA
UF-ATMOSFERA. Hardware and electrical connections setup.
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
OsteoOmics-2 MELFI Sample Removal
Node 2 Nadir Hatch to Unlatch
UF-ATMOSFERA. PL Hardware Activation
UF-ATMOSFERA. HARDWARE MONITORING
Reminder Standard Measures Body Sampling And Fecal Collection