NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 7 July 2017 – Expedition Crew 52 Preparing for July 28 Launch

Three new Expedition 52 crew members are in Star City, Russia, this week completing final exams ahead of their July 28 launch to the International Space Station.
After launch, they’ll take a six-hour ride inside the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft before docking to the station’s Rassvet module. The trio from Italy, Russia and the United States are in final training for the 4-1/2 month-long mission orbiting Earth.

A pair of NASA astronauts living in space right now conducted a variety of activities today in support of life science research. Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer collected their blood, urine and saliva samples for stowage in a science freezer and later analysis. The samples will be studied back on Earth as part of the Fluid Shifts experiment to understand the impacts of microgravity on the human body, in particular the eyes.

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos continued his life support maintenance activities on the Russian side of the orbital complex. The experienced, four-time station cosmonaut and one-time shuttle crew member spent the majority of his day replacing pumps and hoses and repressurizing the station’s atmosphere.

An international set of CubeSats also was deployed outside of the Kibo lab module early Friday. The CubeSats belong to Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Nigeria and will be monitored and operated by engineering students in Japan.

On-Orbit Status Report

Fluid Shifts Dilution Measurements: The 49S subject performed the final Fluid Shifts operations with Dilution Measurements activities. Saliva, blood and urine samples were collected at multiple points during the day and inserted into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). Fluid Shifts is a joint NASA-Russian experiment divided into Dilution Measurements, Baseline Imaging, and Baseline Imaging with Chibis (Lower Body Negative Pressure). The Fluid Shifts experiment investigates the causes for severe and lasting physical changes to astronaut’s eyes. Because the headward fluid shift is a hypothesized contributor to these changes, reversing this fluid shift with a lower body negative pressure device is being evaluated as a possible intervention. Results from this study may help to develop preventative measures against lasting changes in vision and to prevention of eye damage.

JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer 7 (J-SSOD 7): This morning CubeSats from Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Nigeria were deployed from J-SSOD 7. These satellites are part of the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project, a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project for non-space faring countries supported by Japan. During this 2-year project, students from the Graduate School of Engineering of the Kyushu Institute of Technology design, develop and operate CubeSats belonging to the five participating countries.

Magnetic 3D Cell Culturing: The crew set up the Magnetic 3D Life Science Hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in preparation for the first media change operations. Cell cultures in space spontaneously grow in three dimensions (3D), which results in characteristics more representative of how cells grow and function in living organisms. But in microgravity, routine manipulation of cell cultures is challenging. Magnetic 3D Cell Culture for Biological Research in Microgravity (Magnetic 3D Cell Culturing) uses magnetized cells and tools to make it easier to handle cells and cultures, and to improve the reproducibility of experiments. This approach also makes it possible to generate two-dimensional (2D) cultures as controls, and to determine whether biological events in these monolayer cultures result from gravity or substrate attachment.

Rodent Research-5 (RR-5) Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for Osteoporosis: The crew refilled water containers in the Animal Habitats for RR-5. Because spaceflight has significant and rapid effects on the musculoskeletal system it is important to investigate targeted therapies that could ameliorate some of the detrimental effects of spaceflight. The NELL-1 drug being studied in the RR-5 investigation has the potential to slow or reverse bone loss during spaceflight. The Bone Densitometer device measures the density of minerals in bone. Quantitative measures of bone loss in mice during orbital space flight provide data for the development of countermeasures for human crewmembers, as well as for bone-loss syndromes on Earth.

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Direct Test Drive: Last night ground teams performed a SSRMS test to gather data on SSRMS joint performance as a baseline for trending joint performance over time. The test was requested due to a Gearbox Limping (GBL) issue experienced earlier this year which indicated substantial differences between the actual and expected final joint angles. Testing was requested at SSRMS Joint 3 to support the investigation into the root cause of the irregular gearbox twist data by rotating the joint at a consistent rate through the full range of joint travel in both directions on both power strings. The testing on the first string was completed nominally with no reported issues. The same test will be performed tonight on the redundant power string.

Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Combustion Integrated Rack Alignment Guide Removal
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Express Rack2 Locker Removal
Fluid Shifts Blood 3-Hour Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Blood Baseline Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Blood Collection – Operator
Fluid Shifts Blood Collection Conclude Stow
Fluid Shifts Galley Water Collection Tracer Ingestion Operations – Subject
Fluid Shifts MELFI Insertion/Retrieve
Fluid Shifts Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration
Fluid Shifts Refrigerated Centrifuge Spin Conclude
Fluid Shifts Saliva 3-Hour Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Saliva 5-Hour Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Saliva Baseline Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Urine Collection End – Subject
Fluid Shifts Urine Collection Mid – Subject
Fluid Shifts Urine Collection – Subject
Fluid Shifts Urine Collection Stow
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test
Inventory Management System (IMS) conference
Long Duration Sorbent Testbed Status Check.
Magnetic 3D MSG Life Science Hardware Setup
Magnetic 3D Cultures Thaw Systems SABL S/N 3 Insertion
MERLIN Relocate
Microgravity Measurement Apparatus (MMA) Laptop Terminal 2 Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Exchange
Position Return Node 3 to Nominal location after J-SSOD deploy
Position Node 3 Camcorder for J-SSOD Deploy.
ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain Initiation
ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain Termination
ECLSS Recycle Tank Fill Part 3
RGN Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill
MSPR ELT ethernet Cable Connection/Disconnection
Two-Phase Flow Experiment Equipment and Laptop Activation
Laptop Setting for Two-Phase Flow (TPF) experiment
Water Refill Kit Habitat H2O Fill
Water Refill Kit Review
Mating Gas Analyzer ?? ??2106 telemetry connectors to ????2-12
Test Video Recording for Russia Today TV Channel
VIZIR. SM Panels 114 and 116 Outfitting for C???-?? Payload
RADIOSKAF. Activation/Deactivation of Tanusha-SWSU-2 nanosatellite
Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media
Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position
Installation of Gas Analyzer ?? ??2106
2 Repress from Progress 435 (DC1) ???? Section 2, initiate/terminate
Hose Replacement in ???-?2? and Condensate Pump (???) R&R
Replacement of ???-1?, Locating equipment
TIMER. Battery Charge
ECON-M. Observation and Photography

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
J-SSOD CubeSat deploys
SSRMS Direct Drive test

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