NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 May 2018 – Cygnus Cargo being Unloaded

The Cygnus resupply ship from Orbital ATK is now open for business and the Expedition 55 crew has begun unloading the 7,400 pounds of cargo it delivered Thursday morning.
The orbital residents are also conducting space research and preparing for a crew swap in early June.

There are now four spaceships parked at the International Space Station, the newest one having arrived to resupply the crew early Thursday morning. Astronauts Drew Feustel and Norishige Kanai opened Cygnus’ hatches shortly after it was installed to the Unity module. The cargo carrier will remain attached to the station until July so the astronauts can offload new supplies and repack Cygnus with trash.

NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, who caught Cygnus with the Canadarm2 robotic arm, swapped out gear inside a small life science research facility today called TangoLab-1. Tingle also joined Kanai later in the day transferring frozen biological samples from the Destiny lab module to the Kibo lab module.

The duo also joined Commander Anton Shkaplerov and continued to pack gear and check spacesuits ahead of their return to Earth on June 3 inside the Soyuz MS-07 spaceship. When the three crewmates land in Kazakhstan, about three and a half hours after undocking, the trio will have spent 168 days in space and conducted one spacewalk each.

Three new Expedition 56-57 crew members, waiting to replace the homebound station crew, are counting down to a June 6 launch to space. Astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Alexander Gerst will take a two-day ride to the space station with cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev inside the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft for a six-month mission aboard the orbital laboratory.

On-Orbit Status Report

NanoRacks-Remove Debris (RemDeb): The crew pressurized and performed a leak check of the Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) and then extended the Airlock slide table into the JEM this morning. They then removed the Handhold Experiment Platform (HXP) Adapter and the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) from the Slide Table. These activities are the initial preparation steps for the launch of the RemDeb, planned for June 19th. NanoRacks-Remove Debris demonstrates an approach to reducing the risks presented by space debris or “space junk”. Collisions in space may have serious consequences, but research has shown that removing the largest debris significantly reduces the chance of collisions. NanoRacks-Remove Debris uses a 3D camera to map location and speed of debris and then deploys a net to capture and de-orbit simulated debris that is up to 1 meter in diameter. Ground experts will then analyze video of the demonstration runs.

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Video Upgrade Equipment (VUE): Today, the crew replaced the VUE in the MSG that failed on March 1st. In concert with the ground they then performed a video checkout to verify MSG VUE functionality.

Multi-Use Variable-G Platform (MVP): As part of the ongoing validation of the MVP, the crew removed adherent cell modules that were installed in the MVP on May 18th. MVP is used to conduct research in space with a wide variety of sample types, such as fruit flies, flatworms, plants, fish, cells, protein crystals and many others. It includes internal carousels that simultaneously can produce up to 2 g of artificial gravity. Each carousel hosts 6 separate removable experiment modules on each carousel. Video and still imagery, including microscopy, can be included. The platform also provides temperature and humidity controls and monitors and records oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.

TangoLab: The crew swapped cards containing experiment cubes from the TangoLab-1 and -2 facilities today. TangoLab-1 and -2 are reconfigurable general research facilities designed for microgravity research and development and pilot manufacturing in the ISS.

Orbital ATK (OA)-9 Cygnus Ops: This morning, the crew continued transferring cargo, payloads, and trash between Cygnus and ISS. The day’s goal was to clear the inner core of stowage, creating a “corridor” within Cygnus for crew translation and to provide a workspace. The crew now has access to payloads and nearly all of the cargo inside the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM), allowing them to begin unpacking bays and loading them with trash as soon as they are cleared.

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

Microbial Tracking-2 Sample MELFI Insert
ISS Crew and ГОГУ (RSA Flight Control Team) weekly conference
Reconfigure AL Flexible Duct into Node 1
Multi-use Variable-g Platform Cell Module Removal
Cygnus Cargo Operations
Equipment transfers from СМ1РО_1_131_1 area
ТПК 53S stowage operations prior to undocking
EXPRESS Rack 7 Laptop Computer Software Load
MERLIN Sample Transfer (while MERLIN is in Cygnus)
Copy ИМУ-Ц micro-accelerometer data to laptop
TangoLab-1 Card Cube Replace
JEM Airlock Press
24-hour ECG Holter Monitoring
Restow Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK)
JEM Airlock Leak Check
SOKOL leak check
TangoLab-2 Card Cube Replace
Kazbek fit check (Soyuz 738)
Filling ЕДВ
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side
Soyuz Space suits 1,2 dry init
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
Handhold Exp Platform Adapter removal.
Microgravity Science Glovebox High Definition Video Drawer Install
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Social Media Event
LBNP (ОДНТ) training (preliminary)
Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) Removal JEM Airlock Slide Table
JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side
Polar Cygnus Uninstall, Transfer, And EXPRESS Rack Install
Activation of Windows 7 OS on RSK2 laptop.
Microgravity Science Glovebox Activation
Miniature Exercise Device Hardware Search
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Operations
Soyuz Space suits 1,2 dry terminate
Replacement of urine receptacle (МП) and filter-insert (Ф-В) in [АСУ].
Environmental Health System (EHS) Grab Sample Container (GSC) Sampling Operations
KUBIK Temperature Logger Deinstallation
Microgravity Science Glovebox High Definition Video Drawer Checkout
KUBIK Temperature Adjustment to 38°C
KENTAVR fit check
СТТС Reconfiguration in MRM1
SEPARATION. СРВ-У-РС Flush.
Drying Soyuz suit gloves
Photo TV Soyuz Imagery from Cupola and DC-1
Cygnus Cargo Operations Conference
Microgravity Science Glovebox High Definition Video Drawer Checkout
TangoLab-1 Card Cube Replace
EDV-Y Inspection and Photographs
EXPRESS Rack 7Laptop Computer Software Load
Acoustic Monitor Data Transfer and Stow
Polar Sample Transfer to MELFI
Drying the third Soyuz Spacesuit and Soyuz gloves
Soyuz Space suits and gloves closeout
Reconfigure AL Flexible Duct into Crewlock
Space Headaches – Weekly Questionnaire

Completed Task List Activities
None

Ground Activities
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Cygnus Cargo/Payloads Support
JEM Airlock Ops Support

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 05/26: Housekeeping, Crew Off-Duty
Sunday, 05/27: Crew Off-Duty
Monday, 05/28: Cygnus Cargo, Biomolecule Sequencer, ETVCG Teardown, Cygnus Emer OBT, NR Barrios PCG, Active Tissue Equiv Dosimeter, Subsa h/w gather, Soyuz OBT, KUBIK 6, MD Stow, ELF Cartridge Clean, RAM Retrieve

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