NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 9 November, 2021 – Crew-3 Set to Launch

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to the International Space Station is now scheduled to launch at at 9:03 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 10.
Crew-3 includes NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, left (above), Raja Chari, second from left, Kayla Barron, second from right, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads

ISS HAM: A crewmember initiated an ISS HAM contact with South Yarra Primary School, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. ISS Ham Radio provides opportunities to engage and educate students, teachers, parents and other members of the community in science, technology, engineering and math by providing a means to communicate between astronauts and the ground HAM radio units.

Plant Habitat-04: Plant litter (detritus) was removed from the growth chamber and photography of the plants/peppers were taken. Numerous healthy peppers have been reported and the crew has been watching the plants with interest. Microgravity Growth of New Mexico Hatch Green Chile as a Technical Display of Advanced Plant Habitat’s Capabilities (Plant Habitat-04) demonstrates using the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) by growing peppers in space for the first time. An excellent source of Vitamin C, peppers are more difficult to cultivate than many possible space crops because they take longer to germinate, grow, and develop fruit. The investigation includes microbial analysis to improve understanding of plant-microbe interactions in space and assessment of flavor and texture, which vary based on the growth environment and care such as amount of watering.

Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment (SERFE): A crewmember performed a SERFE Water Sampling for Post Flight Analysis and then removed and replaced the CWC-I. 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 Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Gas Trap Plug Replacement: Today, the crew reinstalled the Gas Trap Plug on the Lab Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Pump Package Assembly (PPA). The purpose of the Gas Trap Plug is to slow the release of ammonia escaping from the ITCS Gas Trap vent holes into the cabin in the event of an Interface Heat Exchanger (IFHX) breach.

Stowage Mitigation: In preparation for Crew-3 arrival, the crew unstowed items to clear out the Node 2 Forward end cone. The Crew Dragon vehicle is scheduled to dock to the Node 2 Forward/PMA 2 hatch later this week.

Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test: Today the crew performed a monthly WinSCAT test. The test is a screening tool developed by NASA to monitor astronauts and their neuro-cognitive status while in space and alert NASA flight surgeons to any accuracy or reaction time changes in an astronaut’s performance. WinSCAT tests working memory, computational skills, attention, visual tracking and spatial processing.

Completed Task List Activities:

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

Lab Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Zero Calibration
Look Ahead Plan

Wednesday, November 10 (GMT 314)
Payloads:

Food Acceptability (NASA)
HRF VEG Questionnaire (NASA)
Lumina Data Transfer (ESA)
Standard Measures Postsleep Questionnaire (NASA)
Systems:

HMS TOCA Water Analysis/Data Record
Stowage Improvement
High Rate Dosimeter (HRD) Data Take
WHC Manual Fill
Thursday, November 11 (GMT 315)
Payloads:

Off Duty
Systems:

Crew-3 Dragon Docking
ISS Safety Briefing
Dragon Tools Setup
CASA Outfitting
ISS Crew Handover
Dragon SSC Deploy/Return
Friday, November 12 (GMT 316)
Payloads:

Actiwatch Donning (NASA)
MAND Print Removal and Stow (NASA)
Systems:

Crew Sleep/Recovery
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

HRF Generic Saliva Collection/Stow with MELFI operations
Plant Habitat-04 DEBRIS Hardware Gather/Removal
ISS HAM Columbus Pass Kenwood
Stowage Items Unstow
SERFE-CWCI Gather-2
SERFE-CWCI Degas-3
SERFE Water Sampling for Post Flight Analysis
SERFE MELFI insertion
SERFE CWC-I Remove and Replace
PCS Laptop Transition
Emergency Equipment Return
On Board Training (OBT) Dragon Forward Rendezvous Review
Dragon Rendezvous/ OBT Conference
US LAB Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Gas Trap Plug (GTP) Reinstall
Dragon Monitoring Tools Teardown
Waste & Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Water Container (???) Remove and Replace
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Inspection
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test