NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 30 May 2018 – Trio of Astronauts Head Home Sunday

International Space Station Commander Anton Shkaplerov will lead fellow Expedition 54-55 crewmates Scott Tingle and Norishige Kanai back to Earth early Sunday morning.
The trio will undock from the Rassvet module inside the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft on Sunday at 5:16 a.m. Just three and a half hours later the homebound crew will parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan after 168 days in space. NASA TV will broadcast live the undocking and landing activities.

Three more crew members are waiting in Kazakhstan to replace the Expedition 54-55 crew. Soyuz MS-09 Commander Sergey Prokopyev will launch with Expedition 56-57 Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Alexander Gerst on June 6 from Kazakhstan on a two-day ride to their new home in space.

The following week after the crew swap activities, NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will go out on their third spacewalk together this year. The duo will install new high definition cameras and route cables on the Harmony module during the 6.5-hour spacewalk planned for June 14. Tingle is readying some of the gear today that will be installed during that spacewalk.

Finally, Feustel and Arnold spent a little over half their day today setting up the new Cold Atom Lab (CAL). The duo installed the scientific gear in the Destiny lab module, connected cables and inspected fiber optics before powering up the low temperature research device. The CAL will chill atoms to temperatures barely above absolute zero allowing scientists to observe quantum behaviors not possible on Earth.

On-Orbit Status Report

Solidification Using Baffles in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA): Today the crew deactivated SUBSA, exchanged sample ampoules, and started SUBSA processing of the new sample. The objective of the SUBSA investigation is to advance understanding of the processes involved in semiconductor crystal growth. It offers a gradient freeze furnace for materials science investigations that can reach 850°C. Samples are contained in transparent quartz or ceramic ampoules with high definition video imaging available in real-time along with remote commanding of thermal control parameters.

Cold Atom Lab (CAL): The crew installed the CAL Science Instrument and Power Electronics (SIPE) into Express Rack 7, connected the SIPE to the Moderate Temperature Loop, and completed configuration of the SIPE for operations today. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero — much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures. In microgravity, researchers may be able to achieve even colder temperatures than what is possible on the ground, and observe these cold atom clouds for longer periods of time. CAL was activated from the ground and the CAL team is now starting a 6 week checkout of the payload.

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Camera Robot: The crew completed checkout of the JEM Camera Robot today in the JEM using varying light levels and a target marker on the JEM Airlock. The JEM Camera Robot is a free-flying camera robot that provides real time video downlink and photographs. It is expected to reduce the crew time requirements to support video recording of activities, especially in the blind spots of existing JEM internal cameras.

Lighting Effects: The crew obtained light meter readings in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) today. The Lighting Effects investigation studies the impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with adjustable intensity and color and aims to determine if the new lights can improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance.

Correction: The entry in yesterday’s IMC Daily Summary misstated return/trashing of EMCS components in SpX-15 and OA-9. The correct entry is: European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS): The crew removed ESA’s EMCS from EXPRESS Rack 3 today and de-assembled the hardware. The EMCS Holding Structure will be trashed with the Cygnus vehicle and other EMCS parts will be returned in the SpaceX-15 vehicle.

External TV Camera Group (ETVCG) Video Camera Luminaire (VCL) Bulb R&R: Today the crew replaced the primary metal halide light bulb in the ETVCG light that is scheduled to be taken outside and installed during next week’s US EVA. Following the bulb change, crew utilized a newly flown VCL test cable to perform a functional test of the assembly; both the new bulb and the backup bulb performed nominally during this checkout.

Orbital ATK (OA)-9 Cargo Status: After completing 10 hours of cargo operations yesterday, and additional work today, the crew has completed a total of 34 hours of cargo operations since last Friday. Cargo specialist estimate approximately 1.0 hour of cargo operations remain to complete Cargo Message #1. Cargo Message #1 will unload the Cygnus vehicle and load about 1/3 of the trash scheduled for disposal on the vehicle.

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

HRF Generic Saliva Collection
IMS Update
Making a documentary about life onboard the ISS
R PAO event report preparation
Video Recording of Greetings
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations
Tropical Cyclone Untended Operations
JPM1OF6 Lamp Housing Assembly (LHA) Replacement
COSMOCARD. Preparing for and Starting 24-hr ECG Recording
Powerdown Deck Crew Quarters Laptop
Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion (CSA-CP) Checkout
Clearing Psychological Support Files from Soyuz 737 Samsung tablet prior to undocking.
RADIOSKAF. Gathering and Assembly of Tanyusha-ЮЗГУ-3 and Tanyusha-ЮЗГУ-4 satellites.
RADIOSKAF. Photo/Video Ops
Powerdown Crew Quarters Laptop
Recycle Tank Drain Part 2
MERLIN1 Status Check
Powerdown Deck Crew Quarters Laptop
JEM OA9 Stowage Reconfiguration
STaARS Cryotube Kit MELFI Insertion #1
Tropical Cyclone Hardware Closeout
LBNP Training (PRELIMINARY).
VEGGIE Facility Removal From EXPRESS Rack
Cold Atom Lab Installation
SM Air Sampling for CO using ИПД Samplers
Soyuz 737 Return Hardware Stowage Ops
Collecting SM and FGB Air Samples Using АК-1М Sampler
Replacing СРВ-К2М (БКО) Multifiltration Unit. Install unit No.1702087 (00071356R), Pre-pack old БКО No.1612085 for disposal via Progress 438
Powerdown Deck Crew Quarters Laptop
Probiotics Item Gathering
Inspection and video recording of ВПТ, ВБП1, ВБП2 Fan Installation Location.
Temp Stowage of H/W for JEM Camera Robot Checkout
Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
DOSIS 3D Passive Detectors De-Installation from Columbus (10 PDPs and 1 TDP).
DOSIS 3D Passive Detector Pouch handover to Russian crew for download of dosimeters with Soyuz.
XF305 Camcorder Setup
JEM Camera Robot Checkout
CALCIUM. Bioekololgiya Cases No.№13-1 and No.№13-2; Photography, Processing, and Photo Downlink, Pre-pack for Return
External Television Camera Group (ETVCG) Bulb Remove and Replace
СОЖ maintenance
JEM Camera Robot Checkout Closeout
Lighting Effects Light Meter Setup Alternate
Replaces stowage in JEM that was removed before JEM Camera Robot Checkout
Lighting Effects Light Meter Readings
ISS Crew departure preparation
ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
Lighting Effects Light Meter Stow
VEGGIE1 Facility Removal From EXPRESS Rack
Cold Atom Lab Station Support Computer Relocate Part 2
Charging Soyuz 738 IRIDIUM Phone, start charge
Solidification Using Baffles in Sealed Ampoules Sample Exchange
ISS Medical Accessories Kit (IMAK) Unpack from OA-9
Soyuz 738 IRIDIUM phone charge, battery status check
Soyuz 738 IRIDIUM Phone Charge, Terminate Charge, Teardown

Completed Task List Activities: None

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Starboard FGB Solar Array and TRRJ Survey
CAL install support

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 05/31: ER3 IPEHG Install, Soyuz Descent Drill, WRS Pump Roller R&R, PEPS Inspect, WRS transfer pump tubing R&R
Friday, 06/01: CQ Cleaning, RFID Tag Install, EHDC Locking Mechanism Adjust, Change of Command Ceremony
Saturday, 06/02: Weekly Housekeeping, Crew Off-Duty

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:
Component Status –
Elektron – On
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) – Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off