NASA Space Station On-Orbit Update 1 December, 2021 – Crew Preps for Thursday Spacewalk

NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron are reviewing the procedures they will use during Thursday’s spacewalk.
The duo will exit the International Space Station after setting their U.S. spacesuits to battery power at 7:10 a.m. EST signifying the start of their spacewalk.

Marshburn and Barron are getting ready to replace a faulty antenna system outside on the orbiting lab’s Port-1 truss structure. Live NASA TV coverage of the spacewalk begins Thursday at 5:30 a.m. on the agency’s website, and the NASA app.

The pair were joined by fellow flight engineers Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari and Matthias Maurer, including spacewalk specialists on the ground, for a spacewalk procedures conference on Wednesday. Vande Hei and Chari from NASA will help Marshburn and Barron in and out of their spacesuits as well as monitor the pair during the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. Maurer from ESA (European Space agency) will be commanding the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvering Marshburn and gear during the antenna swap work.

While the two spacewalkers gear up for Thursday’s excursion, the station’s other three astronauts and two cosmonauts still had time for electronics and communications servicing while conducting microgravity research.

Vande Hei replaced a failed global positioning system receiver as Chari photographed the condition of electronics gear that supports commercial spaceflight operations. Maurer checked tested electrical hardware and switches inside the Columbus laboratory module.

In the station’s Russian segment, Roscosmos Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov studied how stress during and after a space mission affects the immune system. Station Commander Anton Shkaplerov worked on Russian video equipment and began setting up additional crew quarters for an upcoming Soyuz crew ship mission.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Actiwatch Plus: Actiwatch Plus devices were connected to the HRF-1 rack using a USB Hub in preparation for ground commanding and battery charging. The Actiwatch is a waterproof, nonintrusive, sleep-wake activity monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember. The device contains a miniature uniaxial accelerometer that produces a signal as the subject moves. The data are stored in nonvolatile memory within the Actiwatch until they are downloaded for analysis.

Manufacturing Device (MAND): The second of six 0-degree panel prints for materials testing was successfully printed, removed, and stowed. A crewmember also cleaned the extruder nozzle. MAND enables the production of components on the ISS for both NASA and commercial objectives. Parts, entire experiments, and tools can be created on demand utilizing the MAND printer that is installed into an Express Rack locker location. MAND is capable of producing parts out of a wide variety of thermopolymers including engineered plastics.

Systems:

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparation: Today, the USOS crew continued preparations for the upcoming EVA, which will replace the S-Band Antenna Support Assembly (SASA) on the Port 1 truss. SASA is the antenna assembly that provides S-Band communication. Final preparations included installation of the EVA Pistol Grip Tool (PGT) Battery Installation and Equipment Lock (E-LK) Preparation
to prepare the EVA Mobility Unit (EMU) and Airlock for EVAs and suit donning. The crew also reviewed procedures before conducting a conference with ground specialists. US EVA #78 is scheduled for Thursday, December 2nd with Joint Airlock Egress occurring at ~6:40am CST.

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Global Positioning System (GPS) 2 Remove and Replace (R&R): Today, the crew performed a procedure to remove and replace a failed Space Integrated GPS Inertial Navigation System (SIGI) GPS Receiver. The primary function of SIGI is to produce the GPS based position, velocity, and attitude outputs needed to control the ISS position in space. The ground checkout was not successful and initial troubleshooting steps were inconclusive. Additional troubleshooting will be attempted on Friday.

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Brine Filter Changeout: As part of regular maintenance, the crew completed a Brine Filter Changeout to R&R the UPA Brine Filter today. Brine filters are replaced every 60 days. This was followed by a drain and fill of the installed Recycle Tank via the UPA Fill Drain Valve.

Completed Task List Activities:

Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Batteries Questionnaire
Wanted Poster- Urine Frozen Syringe
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Regenerative ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain Support
Crew Dragon System Checkout
Close Thruster Manifold Isolation Valves for EVA
ARS MCA Rapid Sampling
JEM MAXI File Uplink before next MAXI-SCHEDULE-UPDT
ACS PCA C&W Configuration
ACS ISS ATM Vent
Look Ahead Plan

Thursday, December 2 (GMT 336)
Payloads:

BioLab Experiment Container removal (ESA)
Echo External Hard Disk connection to SSC 14 (ESA)
Systems:

P1 SASA R&R EVA
Friday, December 3 (GMT 337)
Payloads:

Acoustic Diagnostics (ESA)
CIR Bottle Exchange (NASA/Joint)
Food Physiology Brief (NASA)
JWRS Water Disposal (JAXA)
Manufacturing Device Print Removal, Clean and Stow
Systems:

EVA Debrief for US EVA
EVA EMU Water Operations
EVA Glove Photos
EVA Air Lock Deconfiguration
Photo/TV EVA Camera Disassembly
High Definition EMU Camera Assembly Terminate
Battery transfer to the RS for SFP Zbook
Saturday, December 4 (GMT 338)
Payloads:

ELC6 Ethernet cable swap (NASA)
InSpace-4 Run 78,79 (NASA)
LIDAL Return 2 (NASA)
MSRR Rack Inspect (NASA)
ReSwarm setup and Astrobee prep (NASA)
Systems:

No Systems activities
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Actiwatch Plus HRF Rack 1
Extravehicular Activity Pistol Grip Tool Battery Installation
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Radiation Environment Monitor 2 (REM2) reseat
Columbus SUP Ground Fault Interrupt Test
Equipment Lock (E-LK) Preparation
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Global Positioning System (GPS) 2 Remove and Replace
RFID AC Inverter Secure
Columbus GFI Test – Inverter reconfiguration
Wastewater Ziplock Trash
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Brine Filter Changeout
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) iPad Preparation
Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Review
Manufacturing Device Print Removal, Clean and Stow
ISS HAM Kenwood Radio Power Down in Columbus
ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Service Module
CCE Preparation
Crew Choice Event
Crew Alternate Sleep Accommodation (CASA) Keep-Out Zone (KOZ) & Door Stop Check