NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 8 April 2019 – Spacewalk Goals Achieved

Expedition 59 Flight Engineers Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency concluded their spacewalk at 2 p.m. EDT.
During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the two astronauts successfully established a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and installed cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability. The duo also relocated an adapter plate from the first spacewalk in preparation for future battery upgrade operations.

This was the third spacewalk in just under a month on the space station. The first two spacewalks installed powerful lithium-ion batteries for one pair of the station’s solar arrays. On March 22, the first spacewalk was completed by McClain and fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague. On March 28, the second spacewalk was completed by Hague and NASA astronaut Christina Koch.

– March 22 was the first spacewalk for NASA astronauts Hague and McClain. McClain became the 13th female spacewalker in history.

– March 29 also was the first spacewalk for NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who became the 14th female to complete a spacewalk.

– Saint-Jacques became the first Canadian Expedition astronaut to walk in space and the fourth Canadian astronaut to spacewalk overall.

– Space station crew members have conducted 216 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 56 days 10 hours and 53 minutes working outside the station.

On-Orbit Status Report

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #54: Today Anne McLain (EV-1) and David Saint-Jacques (EV-2) exited the Joint Airlock and performed US EVA #54 (Truss Jumper EVA) with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 6h 29m. The crew completed the following tasks:

P4 Battery Adapter Plate relocate
Spider Cable installation under Lab MMOD shield
Short Truss Jumper cables installed under Node 1 shield
Node 1 Zenith to S0 aft side truss jumper cable install
S0 Truss Jumper blue cable mate
Secondary Bartolomeo Trunnion Slip-Off Prevention (TSOP) install
Spider Cable routed to the S0 Cable Tray (EVA get ahead task)
Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM) mission 66 start: The crew performed setup and activation of the EarthKAM hardware in Node 1. 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.

The ISS Experience: The crew set up the ISS Experience hardware in Node 1 bay 1-2 area (close to the US Airlock). The goal of today’s activity is to capture the EVA conclusion activities. The ISS Experience creates a virtual reality film documenting daily life aboard the ISS. The 8 to 10 minute videos created from footage taken during the six-month investigation cover different aspects of crew life, execution of science aboard the station, and the international partnerships involved. The ISS Experience uses a Z-CAM V1 Pro Cinematic Virtual Reality (VR) 360-degree camera with nine 190° fisheye lenses.

Veg-03H Harvest: Over the weekend, the crew harvested the Wasabi Mustard Green and Extra Dwarf Pok Choi plants, which began growing on 09-March. The ground has commented that the Wasabi plants grew faster than the Pok Choi and the harvest was timed to occur prior to Wasabi flowering, which can change the flavor of the plants. Even though the Pok Choi did not grow as well as the Wasabi Mustard Green in this case, the ground team is able to use the data to refine future plant growth experiments. Organisms grow differently in space, from single-celled bacteria to plants and humans. But future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food, so understanding how plants respond to microgravity is an important step toward that goal.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Over the weekend Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) with the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to transfer the Nickle Hydride (Ni-H2) battery located on 4A slot 6 to slot 5. The SSRMS and SPDM were re-configured to stow SPDM on Mobile Base System (MBS)2. The SSRMS was walked off twice, first on MBS1 and then on Lab Power Data and Grapple Fixture (PDGF). SSRMS was configured in this double grasped configuration for today’s Truss Jumper EVA 54.

Remote Power Control Module (RPCM) S03A_E Remote Power Controller (RPC) 4 trip: This morning, the Remote Power Control Module (RPCM) S03A_E Remote Power Controller (RPC) 4 experienced a trip. This RPC powers the Trailing Umbilical System (TUS-2) Video Signal Converter (VSC) Heater 1. The VSC is required for Mobile Translator (MT) operations. Teams reviewed the 50Hz latched data and gave a go to attempt closure. After the closure attempt, the RPC tripped again. The 50Hz data did not indicate a current spike. The team plans to load the 1KHz firmware later today or tomorrow before attempting another re-closure of the RPC.

Completed Task List Activities:
EVA tool config
WHC KTO replace

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Truss Jumper EVA support

Tuesday, 4/9:

Payloads
ACME Reconfig for Flame Design (NASA)
Airway Monitoring tool gather (ESA)
Cerebral Autoregulation (JAXA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
ISS Experience h/w stow
Probiotics Saliva collect and questionnaire(JAXA)
SUBSA Sample Exchange (ESA)

Systems
EMU water recharge
EVA debrief
EVA camera disassembly

Wednesday, 4/10:

Payloads
Airway Monitoring setup (ESA)
Actiwatch Plus check (NASA)
BCM (NASA)
Cerebral Autoregulation (JAXA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
ISS Experience (NASA)
Team Task Switching (NASA)
Veg-03H deactivation (NASA)

Systems
Cygnus rendezvous OBT
EVA loop scrub

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

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Reminder for EVA In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation
USOS EVA Comm Config
External Wireless Instrumentation System Network Control Unit EVA Inhibit
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Columbus
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Service Module
EVA COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Verify off
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation
Monitoring shutter closure on SM windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 14.
Move Station Support Computer (SSC) 18 for Earth Knowledge Applied to Middle schools (EarthKAM)
VOZDUKH Deactivation
BIOPLENKA. Retrieval of Constanta 4-6 cassette from Cryogem-03, film fixation and setup in ТБУ-В S/N 05.
Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Purge
RYASKA . Photography of cultivation cameras with plants
BIOPLENKA. Cryogem-03 Thermostat Removal after the experiment
Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Prebreathe
Priority and US Cargo Items Transfers from Progress 441 (DC1), and IMS update
Nikon Camera Time Sync
Video equipment installation and testing on ISS RS
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Prebreathe Assistant
Crewlock Depress
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test
Crewlock Post Depress
Crewlock Egress
P4 Battery Removal
Weekly ISS RS Video HW Functional Check
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
БКС config behind panels 310, 225, 338 in SM
Probiotics Item Gathering
KONSTANTA-2. Cassette retrieval from ТБУ-В and stowage on panel for 1-hour warmup
Priority and US Cargo Items Transfers from Progress 441 (DC1), and IMS update
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
Install Spider Cable on Lab
NOD1D2 Stowage Relocate
EarthKAM Node 1 Setup and Activation
KONSTANTA-2. 1st study setup and run.
Install Short Truss Jumper Cables Under NOD1 Shield C2-08
Install Power Cables on Node 1 Zenith
CWC-I Gather
KONSTANTA-2. Photography during the science operation
СОЖ maintenance
Node 1 Nadir Micro-Meteorite Deflector Assist
Water Recovery and Management (WRM) Waste Water Bag (WWB) Split
RSS1 laptop SW installation for comm. diagnostics via ETHERNET for МDМ-1 and МDМ-2 units of Wide Band Comm. System
Install Bartolomeo Trunnion Slip-Off Preventions
INSTALL S0 TRUSS JUMPER (BLUE) CABLE
EVA Glove Photo Setup
ISS Experience Node 1 Setup
GEMATOKRIT. Equipment setup
EVA Crew Lock Ingress
Crewlock Pre Repress
Crewlock Repress
Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Post-EVA Activities
Exercise Data Downlink via OCA
VOZDUKH Deactivation
Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Post-EVA Glove Photos
External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) Network Control Unit (NCU) Enable
EVA Glove Photo Downlink
Station Support Computer (SSC) Relocate
Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Disassembly
Comm. reconfig to nominal post USOS EVA
ISS Experience Hardware Relocate