NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 September 2020 – Avoiding Space Debris

It was a busy day aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 63 crew members traded roles as an eye doctor, orbital plumber and scientist.
The station also boosted its orbit out of the way of an unknown piece of space debris today.

Once again, the U.S. commander and the two Russian flight engineers joined each other Tuesday afternoon for a series of eye checks planned for this week. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy took charge as the Crew Medical Officer and scanned the eyes of cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner using an ultrasound device. The scans look at the optic nerve, cornea and lens. The eye exams will continue through Thursday.

Cassidy is also readying the space station’s Tranquility module for a new toilet due to be delivered Oct. 3 on a Cygnus space freighter. The high-flying plumber installed a cable that will power the advanced toilet system, also called the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS). The new bathroom will support more personnel at the station and inform plumbing technologies for future deep space exploration missions.

The Combustion Integrated Rack’s fuel bottles were replaced today to support ongoing research into flames and fuels. Ivanishin serviced the science rack that provides insights helping scientists and engineers improve fire safety and fuel performance for both space and Earth systems.

Vagner set up Russian radiation detectors this morning and handed them off to Cassidy so he could deploy them in the U.S. segment’s seven-windowed cupola. The first-time cosmonaut also worked on plumbing tasks in the Russian side of the station transferring urine and collecting water samples from life support systems for analysis.

Using the ISS Progress 75 thrusters and with NASA and Russian flight controllers working in tandem, the International Space Station conducted a 150-second reboost Tuesday afternoon to avoid a possible conjunction with an unknown piece of space debris.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads

Combustion Integrated Rack/Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (CIR/ACME)/BRE-2: The crew exchanged a 40% oxygen/60% nitrogen bottle at the manifold 2 location for a new bottle with the same composition. They also replaced the ethylene manifold 4 bottle with a methane bottle, but were not able to open the bottle valve. CIR powered ops for today have been cancelled while the ground team discusses the issue. This was performed in support of the continuing BRE part 2 (Burning Rate Emulator) investigation, which is one of the ACME suite of five gas combustion experiments. The BRE experiment runs are focused on spacecraft fire prevention. More specifically, BRE’s objective is to improve our fundamental understanding of materials flammability and to assess the relevance of existing flammability test methods for low and partial-gravity environments.

Radi-N2 Deploy: Following retrieval from the Russian crew, the eight bubble detectors were deployed in the Cupola area where they will remain for one week. The objective of this Canadian Space Agency investigation is to better characterize the ISS neutron environment, define the risk posed to the crew members’ health, and provide the data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future spaceflight. It’s been recognized that neutrons make up a significant fraction (10-30%) of the biologically effective radiation exposure in low-Earth orbit. The bubble detectors used in the investigation are designed to detect neutrons and ignore all other radiation.

Systems

Toilet Power Cable Install: The crew routed a power cable to support the future installation of the new Toilet System. The cable was delivered on SpX-20 and was identified as a get ahead task in preparation for the new Toilet system arriving on NG-14. The Toilet Power Cable will provide power to the Toilet by connecting Node 3 power to the Toilet Power Box.

Ultrasound Eye Exam: Today the crew used an ultrasound device to perform an eye scan, one of several routine ultrasound eye exams during their stay on ISS. Eye exams are performed regularly onboard in order to monitor crewmember’s eye health. Eyesight is one of many aspects of the human body affected by long-duration stays in a microgravity environment.

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Ultrasonic Leak Detector Setup: Today, the crew setup and tested the Ultrasonic Leak Detector. The objective was to verify functionality of the PMA1 ULD in preparation for potential upcoming leak checks in the Russian Segment. The crew confirmed all components were functional.

Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement: As part of system health monitoring, the crew used a Velocicalc tool to measure the amount of airflow through selected ventilation inlets and outlets. Today’s measurements were taken in the Cupola and Bigelow Expandable Aerospace Module (BEAM).

Completed Task List Activities:

WHC Hardware Consolidate
Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Software upload Cable Disconnection
JEM Stowage Consolidation for NG-14 Part 2
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

IAS RAUI 3 Troubleshooting (ongoing)
IAS Config for MRM1 Ops
Lab MCA Zero Calibration
MSS Application Computer (MAC) Freespace Commissioning
Look Ahead Plan

Wednesday, 9/23 (GMT 267)
Payloads:

Astrobee
EML Gas Valve Open
MELFI Icebrick Insert
Vection Foam Pad Replacement
Systems:

PWD Water Collect
EHS CFM Process
Cygnus Rndz OBT
Cygnus OBT Conf
HMS OCT Exams
Cygnus OBT Robotics Rvw
Thursday, 9/24 (GMT 268)
Payloads:

Astrobee Battery Exchange
AWP Evaluation Setup
Food Physiology
MATISS 2.5 Remove
MELFI Icebrick Transfer
Kibo Robot Programming Challenge Rehearsal
SABL 3 CO2 Controller Install
Systems:

HMS OCT Exam – CMO
EHS TOCA Run
EHS WWB Changeout
Friday, 9/25 (GMT 269)
Payloads:

Astrobee
MELFI Dewar Clean & Icebrick Insert
SABL 1 Tray Insert
Systems:

MAX CEVIS
Cygnus ROBoT OBT
EHS CFM T+2
C2V2 Checkout
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

??? (Universal Bioengineering Thermostat). Checking ???-? No.07 thermostat temperature and unobstructed area near ???-? inlet/outlet vents
URAGAN. SOVA PL and photo equipment closeout ops and stowage
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test [ABORTED]
Combustion Integrated Rack Upper Rack Doors Open/Close
Combustion Integrated Rack Manifold #2 and #4 Bottle Replacement
[????] Comm Configuration for MRM1
SEPARATION. Urine distillation in auto mode using [???-?-??] urine water regeneration system.
Preparation for replacement of smoke detectors in FGB Fire Detection and Suppression Subsystem (?????)
Collecting atmospheric condensate samples [???] from [???-?2?] up to Gas-Liquid Mixture Filter (???) to Russian samplers, terminate
Vacuum Cleaning of Dust collectors ?C1, ??2 filter cartridges in FGB (panels 203, 403)
Collecting condensate water samples [???] up to [???-?2?] ???
Weekly Checkout of RS video recording
Toilet Power Cable Install
MATRYOSHKA-R. Tritel Hardware Monitoring
Adjusting pressure in MRM1 ??2 gas chamber compensator. Replacement of MRM1 ??1 compensator ??1 fitting gasket
MATRYOSHKA-R. Setup/initialization of BUBBLE-dosimeter sensors and handover to USOS
Filling (degassing) ??? [???] for Elektron or ???-[??
MELFI2 Dewar Cleaning Part 1
MELFI 1 Ice Brick Insert 3
Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons Hardware Handover
Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons
MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter initialization and deployment for exposure
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Ultrasonic Leak Detector Setup
Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Ultrasound 2 Scan
URISYS Setup