NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 April 2017 – President Trump Calls the ISS

Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson broke the U.S. record today for most cumulative time living in space, surpassing astronaut Jeff Williams’ record of 534 days set during his four spaceflights. She passed Williams’ mark at 1:27 a.m. EDT.
President Donald Trump called the International Space Station Monday morning and congratulated Whitson on her record-breaking career. Whitson and her newest crewmate NASA astronaut Jack Fischer discussed NASA’s research in space and its plans to go to Mars in the 2030’s.

Before today’s presidential call the Expedition 51 crew members joined together to review their roles and responsibilities in the unlikely event of an emergency aboard the International Space Station. If necessary, they could put on safety gear, evacuate the station into their docked Soyuz vehicles and quickly undock for a ride back to Earth.

The crew is also unloading gear today from two new spaceships that arrived last week. Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin has been transferring cargo from the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft he piloted to a docking last Thursday. Whitson and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet are working to offload new science experiments and crew supplies that arrived Saturday morning aboard the Cygnus resupply ship.

On-Orbit Status

Orbital 7 (OA-7) Capture/Berthing: Friday night, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to inspect the Node 1 Nadir Active Common Berthing Mechanism (ABCM). They then maneuvered the SSRMS to the Cygnus high hover position and powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) in “Hot Backup” mode in preparation for Saturday morning’s Cygnus capture.

On Saturday, Pesquet and Whitson monitored the Cygnus approach from the Cupola Robotic Workstation and with Pesquet at the controls, Cygnus was captured nominally. Ground Controllers then maneuvered Cygnus into position to support an inspection of its Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) then maneuvered and installed it to the Node 1 Nadir Active CBM. The Cygnus hatch was subsequently opened and cargo transfer was initiated.

Human Research Program (HRP) Collections (Marrow): A 50S crewmember performed the Flight Day 15 (FD15) blood and air sample collections in support of the Marrow experiment. A blood sample was collected, processed in the centrifuge and placed in the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). A breath sample and ambient air sample were also collected and stowed for return on a later flight. The Marrow investigation looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow.

NanoRacks Microscope-3 Instrument Operations: The crew performed NanoRacks Microscope-3 assembly and checkout for both microscopes. NanoRacks Microscope-3 will be used for viewing and capturing digital microscope photos of various science specimens.

Emergency Roles & Responsibilities Review: With the arrival of the 50S crew, all 5 crewmembers reviewed priorities during emergency response to ensure safety of the crew and safe configuration of the ISS. To meet these priorities the crew covered crew accountability, readiness of the Soyuz escape vehicle and communication and coordination among themselves as well as with ground teams during an emergency event.

Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS) Status: On Sunday, the crew reported a grinding noise in the CEVIS and were directed to stand down on CEVIS use. Ground teams met and decided that the crew can continue CEVIS use wearing hearing protection and will schedule an Ergometer Remove & Replace (R&R).

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Status: On Sunday, UPA experienced a Distillation Assembly Belt Slippage Fault and was moded to shut down. The same fault was experienced last Thursday. Ground teams met and recommends restarting the UPA which is in work.

Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Reminder 1 Fluid Shifts Baseline Imaging Measures
ODF Books Update on iPAD
Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media
EKON-M. Observations and photography
??-8. Setup
CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection 25 Minutes – Subject
Body mass measurement
CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection – Operator
CSA Generic Refrigerated Centrifuge Configure
??-8. Closeout ops
CSA Generic Refrigerated Centrifuge Spin Conclude
CSA Generic Sample MELFI Insertion
CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection Conclude And Stow
Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations
KARDIOVEKTOR. Execution experiment
Uninstall 50S [??1,2] TV cameras and [???-302] lights.
EveryWear Biometric Patch charging
On board Training Cygnus Emergency Procedure Review
Shift handover safety procedure review
Emergency Roles and Responsibilities Review
Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations
Auxiliary computer systems review Specialist conference when required
50S right seat container cargo handling
Daily electrocardiogram recording (start)
Daily blood pressure measurement (start)
ISS Crew Adaptation
Post Cygnus arrival emergency OBT
NanoRacks Microscope-3 Instrument Operations
50S equipment transfer, IMS update
KONSTANTA-2. Retrieve the cartridge from [???-?] and stow at panel 418 to warm up for one hour
Fluid Shifts CCFP Baseline Setup
50S delivered ODF replacement
Post Cygnus arrival emergency OBT
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – LAB
KASKAD. Manual stirring inside the bioreactor
Handover of Increment 51 Crew
NODE 1 GALLEY RACK MOD KIT MERLIN-1 INSTALLATION
KONSTANTA-2. 1st study setup and run. Specialist conference
Cygnus Cargo Operations Conference
KONSTANTA-2. Photography during the science operation
Polar Samples to Cold Stowage – Transfer 1
NanoRacks External Platform Operations Review.
NanoRacks External Platform Hardware Gather
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test
ISS Crew Orientation
Fluid Shifts Hardware Battery Installation
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test
HMS. Eye test
HMS. Eye test questionnaire fill-up
HMS Tonometry Test Setup
HMS Tonometry Test Crew Medical Officer (CMO)
HMS Tonometry Test Subject
HMS Tonometry Test Stow
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire

Completed Task List Items
ARED Right Upper Stop Cable Adjustment [Completed GMT 112]
Rendezvous and Prox Ops Program (RPOP) Setup [Completed GMT 112]
Lab Aft Hatch Stowage Latch Troubleshooting [Completed GMT 112]
Veggie 03 Pillow Watering and Photo [Completed GMT 112 and 113]
Expedition New Earth Video-CHOW TIME [Completed GMT 112]
Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) Software Review [Completed 113]
On board Training Cygnus Emergency Procedure Review [Completed 113]
Transfer 50 Soyuz USOS Unpack [Completed 113]
Expedition New Earth Video-CHOW TIME [Completed 114]
EXPRESS Rack 7 Laptop Computer battery changeout [Completed 114]

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal System Commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 04/25: NREP hardware swap, Fluid Shifts, Meteor hard drive swap/anti-virus update
Wednesday, 04/26: Fluid Shifts, sample transfer from Polars, National Assn. of Broadcasters 4K downlink
Thursday, 04/27: Fluid Shifts, P/TV 4K teardown, EVA DOUG review, Cygnus cargo transfer

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:
Component – Status
Elektron – Off
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – Off
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Operate
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Standby
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off