NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 October 2020 – Crew Heads Home Today
It is departure day aboard the International Space Station for three Expedition 63 crew members.
The entire six-member space station crew slept in and shifted their schedules to accommodate tonight’s homecoming activities. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will board their Soyuz MS-16 crew ship and undock from the Poisk module at 7:32 p.m. EDT, soar through Earth’s atmosphere and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 10:55 p.m. (Oct. 22, 7:55 a.m. Baikonur time).
All the activities will be broadcast live on NASA TV. Coverage of crew farewells and hatch closing will begin at 3:30 p.m. Undocking coverage will begin at 7 p.m., and Soyuz deorbit burn and landing coverage at 9:30 p.m.
The trio is wrapping up final cargo loading today as they pack station hardware, research samples and personal items inside the Soyuz. After landing, the crew will have logged 196 days in space and circled Earth over 3,100 times for a total of just over 83 million miles.
Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos will assume command of the orbiting lab at the moment the departing crewmates undock tonight. He will be leading Expedition 64 Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov during their planned 185-day space research mission.
On-Orbit Status Report
62Soyuz (62S) Undock/Landing: The 62S crew, Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, are preparing to depart the ISS today. 62S undock is scheduled for 6:30 PM CT with landing in Kazakhstan at 9:55 PM CT.
Payloads
Food Physiology: The crew collected blood, saliva and other samples in support of the Food Physiology investigation. The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) experiment is designed to characterize the key effects of an enhanced spaceflight diet on immune function, the gut microbiome, and nutritional status indicators. These factors are interlinked, but diet is the only one that can be easily and meaningfully altered on Earth or during flight. This investigation aims to document the effect of dietary improvements on human physiology and the ability of those improvements to enhance adaptation to spaceflight.
Standard Measures: The crew collected blood and saliva samples in support of the Standard Measures investigation. The aim of the SM investigation is to ensure consistent capture of an optimized, minimal set of measures from crewmembers until the end of the ISS Program in order to characterize the adaptive responses to and risks of living in space. Among other things, the ground teams perform analyses for metabolic and chemistry panels, immune function, microbiome, etc.
Systems
Environmental Health System (EHS) Operations: As part of routine semi-annual maintenance, the crew replaced the sieve cartridges in the AQM and vacuumed the vents for AQM S/N 1010. The crew also retrieved the formaldehyde monitors from their deployed locations and restowed them in the Formaldehyde Monitor Kit (FMK).
Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Portable Emergency Provisions (PEP) Inspection: Today, the crew performed the periodic PEP inspection, which involves utilizing a PEPs matrix and inspecting various emergency provisions such as the Portable Fire Extinguisher (PFE), Portable Breathing Apparatus (PBA), Quick Don Mask (QDM), and Extension Hose Tee Assemblies at multiple locations throughout the space station. The crew spends several minutes on each item and notes any visible damage. Inspections are performed routinely to ensure the PEPs are in good operational condition.
Completed Task List Activities:
None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
62S Undock Preparations
IAS Config for MRM Ops
Look Ahead Plan
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
Saturday, 10/24 (GMT 298)
Payloads:
Standard Measures
Systems:
Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 10/25 (GMT 299)
Payloads:
No Utilization Activities
Systems:
Crew Off Duty
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Ops
ISS HAM Kenwood Radio Power Down in Columbus
TBU. Check temperature
Regeneration of Micropurification unit (???) ?2 cartridge
Stowage of equipment to be returned to Earth
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Service Module
USOS Window Shutter Close
REFLEX. Deinstall and transfer BB-MKS kits to Soyuz
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Stow Operation
MSK-2. Disconnecting MSK-2 cultivator from station power supply
CASKAD. Disconnecting ??? from the Cascad thermostat. Thermostat Deactivation
HRF Generic Urine, Saliva, & Ambient Blood Collection
MSK-2. Transfer of MSK-2 cultivator for return
HRF Generic Ambient Blood Collection Pack And Handover
Food Physiology Fecal Sample Processing
KORREKTSIYA. Recharging Actimeter battery
CASKAD. BOP (???) Kit Transfer to Soyuz [??] for return to the ground
BIOMAG-M. MICROVIR. Retrieval of kits from ???-? #07 and transfer to Soyuz
[????] Configuration for MRM1
SEPARATION. [???-?-??] urine water regeneration system distiller recovery. Closeout ops
Food Physiology MELFI Sample Retrieval/Insertion
Connecting SSC1 and SSC3 laptops to station Ethernet cable network for setting personal accounts by MCC-H specialists
Soyuz 745 Transfers Status Report
Photography of the external surface of Soyuz 745 -[??]-?? hatch cover
Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cylinder Flywheel Evacuation
Air Quality Monitor (AQM) 6 Month Maintenance on AQM S/N 1010
KMATRYOSHKA-R. Tritel Hardware Monitoring
Downlink photo of external surface of Soyuz 745 [??]-?? hatch cover after completion of cargo ops
Checking cover closure on SM windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14
Comm config for Soyuz 745 undocking and descent
Comm check with Soyuz 745 in RSA2- S/G 2
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Crew Medical Restraint System (CMRS) – Checkout
Soyuz 745 activation (without activation of Gas Analyzer), removal of Unit II No.8 from Soyuz, Emer-1a book transfer. Transfer Atmosphere Purification & Filtration Unit (????-2?), ???-1? gas mask, and Portable Repress Tank (???) from Soyuz 745 ?? to MRM2.
Relocation and installation of Unit II No.8 in Soyuz 747 (MRM1)
Setup and activation of Crew Onboard Support Kit (????) camcorder in MRM2 for TV Mpeg2 coverage of “Transfer Hatch Closure” via Ku-band (HDV Sony camcorder HVR-Z7E)
Soyuz 745-MRM2 Hatch Closure
TV Coverage of “Soyuz 745-MRM2 Hatch Closure”
ISS Crew Orientation
Turning off camcorder, TV system controls, closing applications
Soyuz 745- MRM2 hatch leak check
Soyuz 745 ODF Ops; Undocking and Descent Ops
Elektron-VM purge after deactivation
Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPS) Inspection
Preparing for MPEG-2 TV coverage of “Soyuz 745 Undocking” in SM via Ku-Band
Switching DC1-Soyuz PEV in MRM2 to CLOSED position
BIOMAG-M. ???-? deactivation and teardown
ISTOCHNIK-M. Activation of Soyuz 745 telemetry recording mode
Soyuz 745 comm reconfig for nominal ops after landing
Soyuz 747 ???? No. 2 Test in mated configuration
