NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 6 November 2020
Science, robotics training and lab maintenance took precedence Friday alongside ongoing spacewalk preparations aboard the International Space Station.
The Expedition 64 crew is also getting ready to expand with the addition of four Commercial Crew astronauts.
It is a busy period for NASA and its international partners as SpaceX gets ready to launch its next Crew Dragon vehicle with three U.S. astronauts and one Japanese astronaut on Nov. 14. Two Russian cosmonauts aboard the orbiting lab are also gearing up for their first spacewalk on Nov. 18.
Meanwhile, NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins stayed busy this week on a technology study that explores how water evaporation can keep spacesuits cool. Today, she collected and stowed water samples for analysis that could help engineers improve heat rejection and temperature controls in spacesuits.
Rubins started the day practicing her robotics skills on a computer before installing student-controlled camera gear that photographs Earth landmarks. The two-time station visitor also put on her technician cap today and serviced life support gear that removes carbon dioxide from the station’s atmosphere.
Commander Sergey Ryzhikov has been gearing up for his first spacewalk with Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. The duo from Roscosmos spent Friday activating and inspecting their Orlan spacesuits and checking control panels in the Poisk module. They will exit Poisk into the vacuum of space for a six-hour spacewalk for maintenance and science work on the Russian segment of the station.
Back on Earth, four astronauts are preparing to launch Saturday, Nov. 14, to the station aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The quartet, with Commander Michael Hopkins, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi, are in quarantine as part of routine “flight crew health stabilization.” They will head to Florida from Houston on Sunday for final mission preparations. For a launch on time, the first operational crew mission from SpaceX would dock about eight-and-half-hours later to the Harmony module’s forward-facing international docking adapter.
On-Orbit Status Report
Payloads
EarthKAM (Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools): The crew deployed the Camera hardware in Node 2. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables them to photograph the Earth’s coastlines, mountain ranges and other geographic items of interest from the unique vantage point of space. The EarthKAM team then posts these photographs on the Internet for viewing by the public and participating classrooms around the world.
SERFE (Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment): The crew performed a Water Sample collection and stowed the sample for return. SERFE demonstrates a new technology to remove heat from spacesuits and maintain appropriate temperatures for crew members and equipment during space walks. The technology uses evaporation of water for cooling. The investigation determines whether microgravity affects performance and evaluates the technology’s effect on contamination and corrosion of spacesuit material.
Systems
Lab Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Air Selector Valve (ASV) 102 Remove and Replace (R&R): The crew completed the R&R of the LAB CDRA ASV 102 and the Lab CDRA closeout procedure today. The CDRA selectively removes carbon dioxide from the ISS cabin atmosphere.
Robotics On-board Trainer (RoBOT): The crew completed nominally scheduled proficiency training needed to maintain Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) qualifications. ROBoT is an on-orbit version of the ground-based Dynamics Skills Trainer (DST) that simulates robotics operations with using SSRMS hand controllers with graphical feedback.
Joint Station LAN (JSL) Firewall R&R in Lab: Today the crew performed an R&R of the failed Lab Firewall #2. The Firewalls provide additional security to ISS computer assets and facilitate smoother integration of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware into the ISS JSL network.
Completed Task List Activities:
None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Initial Powerup and Checkout of Lab AR Rack and Lab CDRA
Lab IATCS Repress
Look Ahead Plan
Saturday, 11/7 (GMT 312)
Payloads:
Crew Off-Duty
Systems:
Crew Off-Duty
Sunday, 11/8 (GMT 313)
Payloads:
Crew Off-Duty
Systems:
Crew Off-Duty
Monday, 11/9 (GMT 314)
Payloads:
ELF cartridge Exchange (NASA)
HRF Saliva setup
Systems:
ARED Quarterly Maintenance
Emergency Equipment Staging – Part 1
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Lab Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Selector Valve Replace (R&R)
Hand Ergometry Assessment
US LAB Firewall Replacement
??? maintenance
On Board Training (OBT) ROBoT T&C Proficiency
EarthKAM Node 2 Setup and Activation
[????] Configuration for MRM2
IMS Delta File Prep
??? EVA Support Panel (???) Checkout.
SERFE Water Sampling for Post Flight Analysis
MRM2 EVA Support Panel (???) Checkout
SERFE MELFI insertion
Acoustic Monitor Data Transfer and Stow
Activation and Inspection of Orlan-MKS suit No.4, No.5.
Orlan Interface Unit (???) checkout in MRM2.
??? checkout in ???.
Degassing Orlan-MKS suits No.4 and No.5 and ??? in MRM2.
Lab Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Selector Valve 102 Closeout
PEV activation test from ??? EVA Support Panel. as necessary
PEV Activation and Checkout from MRM2 EVA Support Panel. as necessary
??? ??? cooling loop separation using Degassing Pump Unit (???).
Comm reconfig for nominal ops
Synchronization of Nikon camera with station time
