NASA Space Station Status Report 25 May, 2022 – Starliner Spacecraft Lands

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft completed its touchdown at 6:49 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, wrapping up the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Starliner settled gently onto its air bags following a parachute-assisted landing that helps set the stage for future crewed landings. The landing followed a deorbit burn at 6:05 p.m., separation of the spacecraft’s service module, and successful deployment of its three main parachutes and six airbags.

NASA and Boeing will host a postlanding news conference at 9 p.m. on NASA TV from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston with:

– Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
– Joel Montalbano, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
– Suni Williams, NASA astronaut
– Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Boeing

Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on a flight test to the?International Space Station at 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The uncrewed spacecraft successfully docked to the space station’s Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. Friday, May 20.

On-Orbit Status Report

Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) Undocking Activities: The CST-100 undocked from the ISS today at 1:36 PM CT to complete the orbital test mission and to return cargo and payloads to the ground concluding the 6-day mission on the ISS. The CST-100 will land in White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH), New Mexico, USA at approximately 05:49 PM CT today.

Payloads:

Astrobee: The Perching Arm was removed from Bumble Astrobee Freeflyer. Astrobee is made up of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots which are designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test technologies for use in microgravity. The technologies will assist astronauts with routine chores and give ground controllers additional eyes and ears on the space station. The autonomous robots, powered by fans and vision-based navigation, perform crew monitoring, sampling, logistics management, and accommodate up to three investigations.

AstroPi: The AstroPi Vis 5mm camera lens aperture was configured for night-time photography. Two augmented Raspberry Pi computers (called AstroPis) were flown to the ISS and are both equipped with the mighty Sense Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) that measures the environment inside the ISS, detects how the station moves through space, and picks up the Earth’s magnetic field. Each AstroPi is also equipped with different types of cameras: one has an infrared camera and the other has a standard visible spectrum camera.

ECHO: Troubleshooting efforts were made with the ground to investigate the root cause of intermittent anomalies observed with Echo video signal routing. The purpose of the ECHO investigation is to evaluate a tele-operated ultrasound system, equipped with motorized probes that are controlled by flight controllers on the ground. Additionally, this investigation serves to perform the commissioning of the Echo instrument, which is planned to be used for the Vascular Echo experiment in the future.

EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments for Space Station Racks (EXPRESS Rack): The Express Rack 1 Avionics Air Assembly (AAA) vents were inspected for Foreign Object Debris (FOD) and misalignment and photos were taken to document findings. The EXPRESS Racks support science experiments in any discipline by providing structural interfaces, power, data, cooling, water, and other items needed to operate science experiments in space.

Rodent Research Facility: Backup copies of Rodent Research-18 log files were broken into smaller portions and then transferred from the Express Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC2) laptop to the Payload Network Attached Storage (PL NAS) for downlink. The Rodent Research Facility provides rodent housing on board the ISS. Animal research is essential for understanding the impacts of spaceflight on the systems of the human body, and for development of potential therapies that will ease harmful responses to space flight. The advisory panel for Animal and Human Biology appointed by the Committee for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space unanimously recommended the animal habitat incorporation as soon as possibleStiner .

Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory (SABL): CO2 Controller S/N-4 was removed from SABL-2 unit. The controller was previously installed for performance testing, but results indicate the unit is still not meeting performance standards. The SABL unit supports a wide variety of investigations in the life, physical, and material sciences with a focus on supporting research of biological systems and processes. It has over 23 liters of temperature-controlled volume with LED lighting for scientific hardware and investigations. It can be fitted to provide 5% CO2 (or any required concentration of CO2) for cell cultures or other types of investigations and has two USB 2.0 ports and two Ethernet LAN connections. It also has switchable 28VDC and 5VDC power supplies for investigation use.

Transparent Alloys-CETSOL: The Protection Cover P11 connector was reset and the Cartridge P11 connector was reinstalled. The Columnar to Equiaxed Transition in SOLidification Processing (CETSOL) experiment identifies the growth regimes (columnar or equiaxed or mixed) and physical mechanisms in dependence of the experimental parameters (solidification velocity, temperature gradient) for diffusive heat and mass transport and without gravity effects.

Systems:

Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPs) Inspection: Today, the crew completed a PEP inspection to determine if PEPs are in a good operational condition. The crew inspected various emergency provisions such as the Portable Fire Extinguishers (PFEs), Portable Breathing Apparatus (PBAs), and Extension Hose Tee Kits (EHTKs) at multiple locations throughout the space station. The crew also performed a 180-day mask harness maintenance. The crew spent several minutes on each item and noted any visible damage.

Environmental Health System (EHS) – Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products (CSA-CP) Extended Maintenance: Today, the crew replaced the battery packs in all CSA-CPs and calibrated the units. The CSA-CPs provide real-time readings following a combustion event and subsequent clean-up efforts. The CSA-CPs are also used for continuous monitoring of carbon monoxide levels in the ISS.

Completed Task List Activities:

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

Monitor CST-100 Undock Operations
CST-100 Vehicle Powerup Part 5
ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain Support
Look Ahead Plan

Thursday, May 26 (GMT 146)
Payloads:

Astrobee Stowage Clear (NASA)
Cerebral Autoregulation Setup (JAXA)
Repository Urine Collect (NASA)
Robo Pro Challenge-3 Tech Rehearsal (JAXA)
Standard Measure Blood Collect & Presleep Questions (NASA)
XROOTS Plant Check (NASA)
Systems:

ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) Helmet Swish Test
EVA Helmet Water Flow Test
Transfer CST-100 Cargo Operations
Friday, May 27 (GMT 147)
Payloads:

Astrobee Prep and Stowage Replace (NASA)
AstroPi Relocate to COL, Camera Pointing & Imagery (ESA)
CAL MTL Jumper Leak Check (NASA)
Cerebral Autoregulation Measurement & Closeout (JAXA)
HRF1 Supply Inventory (NASA)
Optical NAV (Moon Imagery) Camera Ops (NASA)
POLAR-5 Transfer (NASA)
SABL-2 CO2 Cntl Valve (NASA)
Standard Measures Postsleep Question (NASA)
XROOTS Fluid Recovery (NASA)
ZR Units Test Ops (NASA)
Systems:

Temperature Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey
Regenerative ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain
Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cable Arm Rope (CAR) Install
Saturday, May 28 (GMT 148)
Payloads:

Off-duty
Systems:

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

Astrobee Perching Arm Removal
Contingency Water Container – Iodinated (CWC-I) Consolidate
Echo Unit Partial Setup and Video Routing Anomaly Investigation
ELC2 Rodent Research File Transfer
ECLSS Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPS) Inspection
CSA-CP Extended Maintenance
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Express Rack 1 AAA Vent Inspection
Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test
HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection Hardware Setup
HRF Generic MELFI Sample Insertion Operations
HRF Generic Urine Collection
In Flight Maintenance Oxygen Generation Assembly Pump ORU Stow
MELFI Ice Brick Insert 7
Monitor CST-100 Undock Operations
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT-2 Undocking Departure
Oxygen Generation Assembly Post Maintenance Flush
PMA1 Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Cone Screen Cleaning
Polar Desiccant Swap
Regenerative ECLSS Recycle Tank Drain
Robotic Workstation (RWS) Teardown
Space Automated Bioproduct Lab, CO2 Incubator Removal
SSC (Station Support Computer) 20 ZBook Shell Swap
Stowage of Echo Hardware
Teardown of CST-100 Monitoring Tools Setup
Transparent Alloys Switch Troubleshoot