NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 6 October, 2021 – 10 Crew Members onboard Now

Ten people are living and working aboard the International Space Station today following the arrival of three Russian crewmates on Tuesday morning.
The five astronauts, three cosmonauts, and two spaceflight participants will work together on science, maintenance, and filmmaking activities until the departure of the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship on Oct. 16.

NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei joined new Expedition 65 Commander Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and spent the first half of the day on communications work. The duo connected cables and configured components on a newly-installed router in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. The pair split up in the afternoon as Vande Hei worked on Cygnus space freighter cargo transfers and Pesquet inspected U.S. spacesuit gloves.

The other two NASA Flight Engineers, Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, assisted Vande Hei with cargo work inside Cygnus which has been attached to the Harmony module since August. McArthur also serviced a variety of hardware throughout the day including a cordless vacuum cleaner, science rack light bulbs and a carbon dioxide monitor. Kimbrough worked on, then activated and checked out the Tranquility module’s treadmill.

Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was in the cupola during the morning photographing tiny satellites deployed outside the Kibo laboratory module. The Japanese astronaut, who swapped station command with Pesquet on Monday, also assisted McArthur with the vacuum work then moved on to ventilation work inside Tranquility.

Four-time station visitor Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos got right to work Wednesday following his three-and-half ride to the orbiting lab on Tuesday. He unpacked cargo delivered aboard the new Soyuz MS-19 crew ship and worked on video gear and a Russian science experiment with fellow cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy. Novitskiy then began collecting station hardware for return to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov worked on water transfers from the docked ISS Progress 78 resupply ship then moved on to hardware checks inside the Rassvet module. Dubrov also helped the new spaceflight participants, Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko, adapt to life on the station as the pair begin several days of movie filming work.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Immersive Exercise: A crewmember charged the Wireless VR Headset with the Pilote Headset Cable on the USB multiport in preparation for Immersive Exercise operations. The Immersive Exercise project focuses on the development of a virtual reality (VR) environment for biking sessions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The VR equipment is interfaced with the current bicycle exerciser aboard the ISS, Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS), located in the United States “Destiny” Laboratory Module.

JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-19 (J-SSOD-19): A crewmember took photos of the deployed satellite from JEM Launcher 1. The JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) provides a novel, safe, and small satellite launching capability to the ISS. The J-SSOD is a unique satellite launcher, handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), which provides containment and deployment mechanisms for several individual small satellites.

Systems:

LAB1D2 Joint Station Lan (JSL) Router Cable Connections: Today, the crew performed the JSL cable connections for the newly installed router in LAB1D2. The crew ran into some trouble while performing the cable connections but were able to work through the issues and complete the activity. The newly installed router and cable connections are part of the JSL 14.0 software transition. The transition to JSL 14.0 will provide updates to several systems as well as increase the capacity and speed of the JSL network.

T2 Rack Center and Crewed ACO: After discovering that three of the T2 Snubbers were out of alignment yesterday, today the crew centered the rack and reperformed the crewed ACO. Both activities went nominally, and the crew took pictures and video for ground teams to review. Due to the JSL outage associated with the JSL Ethernet Connections, the crew cannot downlink the pictures or video until after the activity is completed. The crew used one of the camcorders onboard to give ground teams a preliminary look at the T2 Snubbers. Based on this preliminary look, ground teams have declared T2 GO for use, contingent on their review of the actual video and pictures once they are downlinked.

Node 3 Fwd 3 IMV Screen R&R: After the crew inspected the Node 3 Fwd 3 IMV screen, ground teams decided to schedule an R&R. The crew replaced the IMV screen with a new 3D printed screen that will allow for better airflow and easier cleaning.

Completed Task List Activities:

None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) Ground Control CubeSat Deployment
Transition KCU 1 and KCU 2 to JSL 14.0 config
C2V2 Ethernet Device Configuration
Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) Pre-motion Survey
JEMRMS Ground Control Main Arm Maneuver to Stowed Position
JEM Airlock Slide Table Extension to JEF side
JEM Airlock Capture Mechanism Capturing
JEM Airlock Slide Table Retraction from JEF side
Look Ahead Plan

Thursday, October 7 (GMT 280)
Payloads:

Astrobee prep (NASA)
AWP setup for download (NASA)
DECLIC Hard drive and Alice Install (ESA)
ESA-EPO TOUCHS (ESA)
Immersive Exercise Session (ESA)
Technology Box T/S (ESA)
Systems:

Emergency Roles and Responsibilities Review
Portable PFS T/S
Cargo Operations
HMS Operations
PAO Events
Friday, October 8 (GMT 281)
Payloads:

Astrobee Perching Arm Install, stowage clear and crew conf and Astrobatics session (NASA)
BioLab Laptop checkout (ESA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
Food Physiology Brief (NASA)
HRF1 Supply Inventory (NASA)
JAXA Water Recovery Pump3 Exchange (JAXA) –
Technology Box Data transfer (ESA)
TELLAS (Tele-Luminescence) ops (JAXA)
Systems:

N1 20-Port JSL Switch Deploy
CASA Outfit
N3 Endcone Cleanout
PAO Events
NRAL Stowage Cleanout
Photo/TV N2 HD Encoder Ethernet Cable Swap
EVA Mag Gather
Saturday, October 9 (GMT 282)
Payloads:

Off-duty
Systems:

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

*Due to live network upgrade operations, the status of tasks completed today may be inaccurate*

Brine Filter CTB Replenish
Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 (T2) Manned Activation and Checkout (ACO)
T2 Photo Survey
Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Rack Centering
Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Usage Big Picture Words
CUP IMV Flow Measurement
EDV Build
Environmental Health System (EHS) Personal CO2 Monitor Data Transfer and Stow
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Glove Photos
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Wanted Poster
EXPRESS FAILED LIGHT BULB REPLACEMENT
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Respiratory Support Pack (RSP) – Checkout
Initial Cordless Vacuum Cleaner and Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Batteries Setup
Wireless VR Headset charging for Immersive Exercise
JEMRMS Small Satellite Deployment Observation
LAB1D2 JSL Router Cable Installations
Power ON SSC and Payload NAS post JSLv14 Cable reconfig [Planned for tonight]
Node 3 Fwd 3 IMV Screen Remove and Replace
Photo/TV Treadmill 2 (T2) Activation and Checkout (ACO) Video Setup
Photo/TV Treadmill 2 (T2) Activation and Checkout (ACO) Video Teardown
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Downlink Message
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in Standard Definition
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in Standard Definition (SD) Setup
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Social Media Event
Probiotics Capsule Preparation
Probiotics Question
Probiotics Saliva Sample MELFI Insertion
Probiotics Saliva Operations
Space Acceleration Measurement System Control Unit Activation [Deferred]
Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations