NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 July 2019
A new U.S. space freighter is open for business today after delivering its payload to the International Space Station on Saturday. Meanwhile, a Russian resupply rocket is processing for another space delivery mission on Wednesday that will take less than three and a half hours after launch.
NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague opened Dragon’s hatch early Sunday beginning a month of cargo operations. His fellow crewmates Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan are unloading critical research samples and stowing them inside the station’s science freezers and incubators for analysis.
The new experiments will be exploring microgravity’s effect on a variety of biological and physical processes benefitting humans on Earth and in space. The crew will be researching 3-D bio-printing, silica manufacturing, botany and tissue regeneration and a host of other space phenomena.
Robotics controllers will remove the International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3), a new commercial crew ship docking port, from Dragon’s unpressurized trunk in mid-August. A pair of spacewalkers will install the IDA-3 on the Harmony module’s space-facing Pressurized Mating Adapter a few days later.
Russia’s Pirs Docking Compartment port opened up today at 6:44 a.m. EDT when the Progress 72 (72P) cargo craft undocked completing a four-month stay at the orbiting lab. It will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere loaded with trash and discarded gear for a fiery, but safe disposal over the Pacific Ocean.
The new Progress 73 cargo ship will replace 72P after it launches Wednesday at 8:10 a.m. from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will dock to Pirs that same morning at 11:35 a.m. after just two Earth orbits packed with more food, fuel and supplies for the crew.
Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Alexander Skvortsov are training today on the tele-robotically operated rendezvous unit (TORU) for Wednesday’s arrival of the 73P. The duo will be in the Zvezda service module at the controls of the TORU monitoring the 73P’s approach ready to take over manual docking operations in the unlikely event of an emergency.
On-Orbit Status Report
72 Progress (72P) Undock: 72P undocked from the Docking Compartment (DC) 1 port today at 5:44 AM CT. The deorbit burn occurred at 8:50 AM CT followed by atmospheric entry and destruction.
Biofabrication Facility (BFF): The crew installed the test print cassette into the BFF in preparation for today’s test print. Using 3D biological printers to produce usable human organs has long been a dream of scientists and doctors around the globe. However, printing the tiny, complex structures found inside human organs, such as capillary structures, has proven difficult to accomplish in Earth’s gravity environment. To overcome this challenge, Techshot designed their BFF to print organ-like tissues in microgravity, acting as a stepping stone in a long-term plan to manufacture whole human organs in space using refined biological 3D printing techniques.
Cell Science-02 On-Board Training (OBT): In preparation for activities later this week, the crew reviewed procedures for the Cell Science-02 (CS-02) investigation which uses osteoblast progenitor cells isolated from mouse bones to investigate the effects of microgravity on osteoblast cellular processes at the molecular and biochemical level. CS-02 uses a computational biology omics approach to investigate how osteoblasts respond to treatment with two known osteo-inductive factors.
GRIP: The crew performed several GRIP science sessions today which will continue through the week. The GRIP experiment consists of 3 protocols: Dynamics Seated, References Seated and References Supine. They are performed in 3 separate sub-sessions. ESA’s Grip investigation tests how the nervous system takes into account the forces due to gravity and inertia when manipulating objects. Results from this investigation may provide insight into potential hazards for astronauts as they manipulate objects in different gravitational environments. They also support design and control of haptic interfaces to be used in challenging environments such as space, and provide information about motor control that will be useful for the evaluation and rehabilitation of impaired upper limb control in patients with neurological diseases.
Nanoracks Module 82: The crew took photos of the Palm Seed Flask from NanoRacks Module-82 and then installed it into NanoRacks Frame 3. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Palm Tree Growth Experiment examines germination of palm tree seeds in order to determine the best conditions for generating tissue samples for research. A process for growing healthy plant tissue in microgravity could be adapted for testing other indigenous plants of scientific, commercial or educational interest in the UAE. The investigation also observes and documents root growth in microgravity for educational purposes.
Rodent Research-17 (RR-17): The crew participated in a conference prior to transferring the animals from Dragon to their habitats on ISS. RR-17 uses young and old mice as model organisms to evaluate the physiological, cellular and molecular effects of the spaceflight environment. Some responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble accelerated aging. This investigation provides a better understanding of aging-related immune, bone, and muscle disease processes, which may lead to new therapies for use in space and on Earth.
SPHERES OBT: The crew performed a payload OBT in preparation for an upcoming SPHERES Zero Robotics (ZR) 2019 Middle School Summer Program series of runs. Zero Robotics consists of 3 parts: 1) The unit test looks at the ability to run the main code of the session; 2) The dry run tests various aspects of the actual completion; 3) The actual Zero Robotics science session. The premise of this ZR session is for one SPHERES satellite to retrieve a damaged SPHERES satellite from a virtual debris field in low Earth orbit. ZR allows middle school and high school students develop code to achieve the goals of the competition. The algorithms are tested by the SPHERES team and the best designs are selected for the competition to operate the SPHERES satellites on board the ISS.
Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collection: The crew collected water samples from the PWD for in-flight and post-flight analysis. Collection is scheduled multiple times throughout the increment to verify water quality.
Treadmill 2 (T2) Over Temperature Caution: T2 experienced an over temperature caution on Friday. As a result, ground teams subsequently shut down and declared T2 no-go for use. The team’s review of associated telemetry determined the thermistor sensor is providing nominal data to the T2 software. However, the parallel signal that is read by the Node 3-1 Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) is producing an errant overtemp caution indication. A troubleshooting plan is in-work to isolate the faulty caution signal within T2 or the Node 3-1 MDM.
Completed Task List Activities:
Tangolab 1 troubleshooting
Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
72P undock support
Rodent Research transfer
Payloads ops support
Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 7/30 (GMT 211)
Payloads:
BFF
Biorock
CIR/ACME manifold bottle exchange
Cell Science-02
GRIP
ISS Experience
Lighting Effects
Nanoracks Mod-9
POLAR3 desiccant swap
RR-17, SABL1 HD swap
Standard Measures
TReK video setup
Systems:
WHC flush tank fill
Wednesday, 7/31 (GMT 212)
Payloads:
Actiwatch setup/stow
BFF
Cell Science-02
ELF cartridge exchange
Food acceptability
GRIP
Ice Brick stow
ISS Experience stow
Lighting Effects
Nanoracks Mod-84 photo
SPHERES ZR unit test
TReK video setup
Systems:
Dragon Cargo Operations
73P Launch/Docking
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
On-board Training (OBT) Cygnus Review
BioFabrication Facility On-Board Training
Advanced Space Experiment Processor Overview On-Board Training
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Columbus
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Service Module
Verify cover closure on SM windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14
On MCC Go Regeneration of ??? Micropurification Cartridge ?1 (start)
MOTOCARD. Experiment Session
BioFabrication Facility Procedure Review1
Rodent Research Transfer Crew Conference
Rodent Research Animal Transfer 1
Photography of Docking Assembly from SM window No.7 while undocking from DC1
Environmental Health System (EHS) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collect
On MCC Go Mode DC1-Soyuz PEV to CLOSED position
TOCA Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Analysis
FOTOBIOREACTOR. ???-? No.05 setup and moding to +4 deg ?.
Environmental Health System (EHS) Coliform Water Processing
Advanced Space Experiment Processor Test Tissue Cassette Removal
BioFabrication Facility Test Print Without Cells Install
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
BioFabrication Facility MELFI Sample Retrieve
BioFabrication Facility Test Print Without Cells Install
INTER-MAI-75. Hardware Setup And Activation in SSTV Mode
Setup and Activation of Crew Onboard Support Kit (????) Equipment for MPEG2 TV Training (OBT) coverage from SM
Rodent Research Animal Transfer 2
TORU OBT
Cell Science 02 LSG OBT
Cell Science 02 Procedure Review
BioFabrication Facility Cleaning Syringe Install
SPHERES Payload OBT
On MCC Go Deactivation of camcorder, TV system monitoring equipment, closing applications
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Equipment setup
Telescience Resource Kit Laptop Setup
HRF Generic Saliva Collection Setup
Actiwatch Spectrum HRF Rack 1 Setup
LSG Work Volume Deploy
TOCA Sample Data Record
BioFabrication Facility Test Cassette Removal
Exercise Data Downlink via OCA
BFF MERLIN Sample Insertion
Actiwatch Spectrum HRF Rack 1 Stow
On MCC Go Regeneration of Micropurification Unit (???) ?1 Absorption Cartridge (end)
Reminder Rodent Research Thermal Consideration
Reminder Standard Measures Multi-day Saliva Collection
INTER-MAI-75. Hardware deactivation
HRF Generic Saliva Collection 10 Minutes
Lighting Effects Sleep Log Entry
