NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 October 2020 – Change of Command Ceremony

Two veteran International Space Station crew members will swap command of the orbiting lab during the traditional Change of Command Ceremony this afternoon.
The six-member space station crew will gather together at 4:15 p.m. EDT when Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA ceremonially hands control of the station to Expedition 64 cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos. Ryzhikov will officially begin his command on Wednesday when Cassidy and Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner undock from the station at 7:32 p.m. inside the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. All the activities will be broadcast live on NASA TV.

Meanwhile, science and maintenance activities are moving right along inside the space station. Cassidy and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins both had time set aside today collecting blood, saliva and urine for stowage and later analysis. Rubins then checked out research hardware and plumbing gear before familiarizing herself with station systems.

Ryzhikov and Vagner spent a couple of hours swabbing surfaces in the Russian segment of the station collecting microbial samples and placing them in petri dishes for incubation and analysis. Vagner also joined Ivanishin to test the Lower Body Negative Pressure suit for its ability counteract some adverse effects of long-duration spaceflight and prepare the duo for the return to Earth’s gravity.

New space flyer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov synchronized cameras with clocks on station laptop computers and worked on Russian plumbing tasks. The cosmonaut also is getting used to living and working in space for the first time.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads

Cold Atom Lab (CAL) Science Module 2 (SM2): The crew powered off the CAL SM2 to allow EXPRESS rack 6 updates to be performed, then powered the CAL SM2 back on. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero — much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures. In microgravity, researchers may be able to achieve even colder temperatures than what is possible on the ground, and observe these cold atom clouds for longer periods of time.

TangoLab-2 Cardcube Replace: The crew removed the card from slot 5 in TangoLab-2, then removed cube TNGO_SCP01 from the card. After taking photos of the removed cube, the crew attached cube QUST_NXT02 to Payload Card 012 and installed it in slot 5. TangoLab-2 is a reconfigurable general research facilities designed for microgravity research and development and pilot manufacturing in the ISS.

Veggie Monitoring Surface Sample: The crew collected Veggie surface samples for later microbial analysis and characterization. Culture-based Environmental Monitoring of Crop-based Space Food Systems (Veggie Monitoring) collects microbial samples from the surface of the station’s Veggie plant production system in conjunction with quarterly Environmental Health System (EHS) sample collection. Longer exploration missions require space-based systems for growth of plants, and this investigation is expected to help establish requirements to protect these systems, plants, and crew from contamination.

Systems

Change of Command Ceremony: Today, the ISS crew participated in a Change of Command Ceremony during which Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy handed over command of the ISS to Expedition 64 Commander Sergey Ryzhikov. Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin, and Ivan Vagner will return to Earth Wednesday night/Thursday morning on 62S. Undocking is scheduled for 6:32 pm CT Wednesday evening with the landing in Kazakhstan scheduled at 9:55 pm CT.

Crew Quarters (CQ) Audio Cable Reconfiguration: Crew reconfigured cabling to the CQ Audio Terminal Unit (ATU) Patch Panel to provide Caution and Warning (C&W) tones to Kate Rubins’s CQ. During crew sleep, at least one CQ shall be connected to an ATU to ensure proper C&W tone annunciation. The crewmember sleeping in the CQ connected to the ATU Patch Panel will be prime for alerting other crew of C&W tones when necessary.

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) In Flight Maintenance (IFM): As part of regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, the crew performed a manual WHC flush tank fill. By using a post-flight analysis bag to capture any pressure relief, also known as the burp, they depressurized the flush water tank and water valve block to protect the dose pump. This pump is critical as it injects the pre-treat required to properly recycle waste urine.

Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis & Data Record: Crew performed an analysis of the water processing assembly (WPA) using the TOCA. The TOCA unit oxidizes organic carbon species present in the water to carbon dioxide gas and measures the concentration using nondispersive infrared spectroscopy. Analysis of the potable water using the TOCA occurs on a weekly basis. The crew also replaced the TOCA Waste Water Bag (WWB) to preclude overfill.

Completed Task List Activities:

VECTION Hardware Deployment
VECTION Experiment Session
VECTION Hardware Teardown
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Internal Audio Subsystem (IAS) Crew Quarter (CQ) Audio Cable Configuration Support
Ground Support for RRM 3 Ops (Thruster Ops, Video Supt, LS FDIR Inh/Ena)
Look Ahead Plan

Wednesday, 10/21 (GMT 295)
Payloads:

Food Physiology
HERO Product Photo Ops
Standard Measures
Systems:

PEPS Inspect
HMS CMRS C/O
FMK Stow
Thursday, 10/22 (GMT 296)
Payloads:

No Utilization Activities
Systems:

Extended Sleep Period (Crew Off Duty)
Friday, 10/23 (GMT 297)
Payloads:

Food Acceptability
Food Physiology
Glacier Desiccant swap
Spectrum plate remove
Standard Measures
Turbine Ceramic Install
Systems:

EHS CSA-CP Ext Maintenance
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

OMIKi-SPK. Capillary blood collection
??? (Universal Bioengineering Thermostat). Checking ???-? No.07 thermostat temperature and unobstructed area near ???-? inlet/outlet vents
HRF Generic Blood, Urine & Saliva Collection
Regeneration of ??? Micropurification Cartridge ?1
Recharging Soyuz 745 U55 external batteries (2) prior to docking, terminate recharge
Opening [??]-??? hatch in SM
CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Session. Stage 3 (with photography to assess relative position of special markings on the subject’s belt)
ISS Crew departure preparation
Regeneration of ??? Micropurification Cartridge ?2
Soyuz 745 VHF2 comm test from via RGS
Filling (degassing) of ??? [???] for Elektron or ???-??
Assessment of ??? shell condition near the crack using ???-2? device
LBNP Training (FINAL)
Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis & Data Record
Synchronization of NIKON camera with station time
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Inspection
Veggie Monitoring Reference Material Review
Polar Hardware Remove from Express Rack
Veggie Monitoring Surface Sampling
TangoLab-2 Card Cube Replace
Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Manual Fill
Microbial sample collection
Soyuz 745 Stowage Ops for Return
TREK Laptop OFF/ON
CAL SM2 Power Off/On
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
LOR. Experiment Session
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout
Sanitary-Hygiene Status Monitoring
Handover of Increment 64 Crew
Soyuz 745 cargo container stowage completion report
Food Physiology Fecal Sample Collection
Change of Command
Internal Audio Subsystem (IAS) Crew Quarter (CQ) Audio Cable Configuration
Signing ISS RS Handover Protocol
Soyuz 745 [??] cooling down prior to descent