Space Stations

NASA Space Station Status Report 12 December, 2022 – More Spacewalks this Week

By SpaceRef Editor

Status Report

SpaceRef

December 13, 2022

Filed under Expedition 68, International Space Station, ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA

NASA Space Station Status Report 12 December, 2022 – More Spacewalks this Week — Astronaut Frank Rubio works on the Combustion Integrated Rack. (Dec. 7, 2022)

NASA

Two spacewalks are planned in the next several days outside the International Space Station for the Expedition 68 crew. Meanwhile, science was still ongoing at the beginning of the week with space botany and physics work aboard the orbiting lab.

On Wednesday at 9:20 p.m. EST, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk module’s airlock in their Orlan spacesuits. They will spend about seven hours transferring a radiator from the Rassvet module to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina will be inside Nauka supporting the spacewalking duo by operating the European robotic arm.

Prokopyev and Petelin spent Monday getting their suits and the Poisk airlock ready for Wednesday’s excursion. The duo configured their spacesuits’ life support and communications components then collected and organized the tools they will use during the spacewalk. They also closed the hatch and performed leak checks on the ISS Progress 82 resupply ship which is docked to Poisk just outside its airlock. Kikina primarily spent the day on life support and ventilation maintenance.

NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will have their spacewalk together on Monday, Dec. 19. They will install their second roll-out solar array, or International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA), on the Port-4 (P4) truss segment. They installed their first iROSA on Dec. 3 on the station’s Starboard-4 truss segment opposite of the P4.

The two NASA astronauts spent some time on Monday reviewing the iROSA installation procedures and discussing the spacewalk with mission controllers on the ground. Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also participated in the review and the ground conference and will assist the two spacewalkers next week.

Cassada kicked off the workweek watering dwarf tomatoes growing inside the Veggie space botany facility for the Veg-05 experiment. Wakata transported physics research hardware from the Cygnus resupply ship to a research rack inside the Kibo laboratory module. Rubio collected carbon dioxide samples from life support hardware. Mann also assisted the cosmonauts helping them get their tools ready for Wednesday’s spacewalk.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF): The Air Gas Bottle Unit was removed and an Argon Gas Bottle Unit Argon was installed. The ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate/melt/solidify materials by container less processing techniques using the Electrostatic Levitation method. With this facility, thermophysical properties of high temperature melts can be measured, and solidification from deeply undercooled melts can be achieved. The ELF is located in the JEM Multipurpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) in the Kibo Module.

Fixed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Smart Sensing: RFID Smart Sensing Drawer Monitor System Tags were installed onto NOD1O4 and NOD1S4 Zero-Gravity Storage Rack doors. RFID readers and antennas have operated on the ISS since 2017 and were installed on a robotic free-flying Astrobee in January 2021. RFID-Enabled Autonomous Logistics Management-3 (REALM-3) (RFID Smart Sensing) builds on this work, by extending the reach of RFID signals behind stowage racks and placing motion sensors imbedded in RFID tags on rack doors. Results could increase the accuracy of RFID inventory and item location.

STaARS BioScience-15: Hermetic Microplate samples were inserted into a Box Module and placed into the MELFI-1 cold stowage facility. STaARS BioScience-15 will be a mission to analyze cell biological changes due to the effects of microgravity to aid in the development of diagnostics and treatments for certain types of bone disease and cancers. The goal of this investigation is to confirm previous findings, specifically the inhibition of growth of aggressive cancer cells in a microgravity environment.

Systems:

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: Today, the crew started with a review of all detailed procedures and references package in preparation of the upcoming 4A ISS Roll Out Solar Array (IROSA) Install on December 19^th. They then participated in a conference with ground teams to further discuss final operations, get ahead tasks, and EVA timelines. During this EVA the EV crew will install a fourth IROSA to the 4A power channel on the port truss of the ISS in hopes of generating more power to the ISS.

Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS) Four Bed Carbon Dioxide (4BCO2) Scrubber Samples: Prior to sampling, the crew set up hardware by installing the Quick Disconnect (QD) Sampling Adapter to the rack. The crew then performed sampling of CO2 effluent from the 4BCO2 Scrubber. 4BCO2 is a full-scale CO2 removal Flight Demonstration Unit (FDU) capable of supporting exploration sized crews. The system operates similarly to current Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) with two cycles to concurrently scrub air.

In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) Lab Robotics Workstation (RWS) Display and Control Panel (DCP) Cable Inspection: Today, the crew troubleshooted previous issues seen on the Lab RWS DCP. In order to recreate the failure mode, the crew manipulated the Lab RWS Trackball and associated buttons to try to reproduce the problem. The Trackball cable was demated from the bottom of DCP, inspected, and left secured out of the way. The primary purpose of the RWS is to provide the capability to control and monitor Mobile Servicing System (MSS) equipment to an Intravehicular (IV) crewmember located in the pressured modules of the ISS or to flight controllers on the ground.

IFM Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pre-Treat Tank Remove & Replace (R&R): The crew R&R’d the Pre-Treat Tank in the WHC. This process included configuring the new Pre-Treat Tank, removing the old one, replacing with the new one, maintenance checkout, and a functionality test. The WHC is a modified ACY (Russian Toilet) system that was altered to integrated into the USOS rack. The urine output by the WHC is fed directly into the UPA and is purified to create potable water.

Completed Task List Activities: