NASA Space Station Status Report 16 November, 2022 – Russian Spacewalk Set for Thursday

Two Roscosmos cosmonauts are finalizing their preparations for a spacewalk on Thursday for hardware transfers and electronics connections on the International Space Station. Meanwhile, two NASA astronauts are cleaning up after a spacewalk on Tuesday readying the orbiting lab for a pair of rollout solar arrays to be installed beginning at the end of the month.

Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are in final preparations for Thursday’s spacewalk set to begin at 9:20 a.m. EST to prepare a radiator and an airlock for installation on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Anna Kikina will operate the European robotic arm from inside Nauka and assist the duo working in the microgravity environment in their Orlan spacesuits. NASA TV will begin live coverage of the spacewalk at 9 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio spent seven hours and 11 minutes working outside the orbiting lab on Tuesday in their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits. The duo assembled a mounting bracket on the station’s starboard truss structure where new rollout solar arrays will be installed on upcoming spacewalks before the end of the year.

Today, the duo along with fellow Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) called down to mission controllers and discussed Tuesday’s space activities. Cassada and Mann also partnered together refilling spacesuit water tanks and powering down suit components. Mann then joined Rubio collecting spacewalk hardware and suit cameras for sharing with the cosmonauts who will conduct the next spacewalk.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is targeting the launch of its Dragon cargo craft atop the Falcon 9 rocket to the space station at 4:19 p.m. on Monday. Dragon will take a day-and-a-half-long trip to the station carrying the next pair of rollout solar arrays, new science experiments, station gear, and crew supplies. It will dock automatically to the Harmony module’s forward port Wednesday, Nov. 23, at 9:43 a.m.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Snowcone Cloud Edge Compute Demonstration (Snowcone): To meet yearly certification requirements and prepare for later science operations, the Snowcone science hardware was powered on, appropriate files were loaded, and the system checked out.  Snowcone demonstrates technology to screen astronaut images and identify those that may contain sensitive information not for public release.  The technology includes reduction of large-scale data and processing of data near the source, known as edge computing, capabilities integral to future space exploration.

JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-23 (J-SSOD-23): The crew installed the J-SSOD-23 hardware containing the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Project-5 (BIRDS-5) and SpaceTuna1 satellites onto the JEM Airlock slide table. J-SSOD provides a novel and safe small satellite launching capability to the ISS. The J-SSOD is a unique satellite launcher, handled by the JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), which provides containment and deployment mechanisms for several individual small satellites. Once J-SSOD is installed onto the slide table by the crew, it is passed through the JEM Airlock for retrieval, positioning, and satellite deployment by the JEMRMS.

NanoRacks Module-51: The second set of operations was performed for NanoRacks Module-51. This included installing new batteries in S/N 1004 and taking photos of several experiments in S/N 1003. Experiments in Module-51 include plant growth, Haloarchaea growth, and worm composting. NanoRacks Modules allow experimenters and students to perform extended on-orbit operations using space-proven hardware. Each individual module houses a unique experiment or set of experiments. Anything approved for transport to ISS can be incorporated into a module that represents any field of science.

Systems:

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Water Recharge: The crew recharged the EMU feedwater tanks with iodinated water from the Payload Water Reservoir (PWR) following yesterday’s 1B ISS Roll Out Solar Array (IROSA) Prep EVA. A small quantity of water was dumped into a Contingency Water Container (CWC) from the feedwater tanks to provide ullage for condensate collection during the next EMU pre-breathe. The EMU is the suit that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a crewmember during an Extravehicular Activity (EVA). 

Russian EVA Tool Gather and Transfer: The crew completed an EVA tool gathering and transfer activity in support of the upcoming RS EVAs #55 and #56. The crew removed the Lithium-Ion EVA Helmet Interchangeable Portable (EHIP) Power Adapter Module, Helmet Lights, EMU Radio Frequency (RF) Camera Assembly (ERCA), and HD EMU Camera (HECA) from EMU 3004 and placed the hardware into two mesh bags. The crew then transferred the USOS EVA tools, which included these two bags, to the RS. 

EMU TV Installation on Orlan-MKS Suits: The crew supported the installation of helmet lights, ERCA, and HECA on the Orlan-MKS suits. The Orlan-MKS suit was first used on RS EVA #43 and is the latest in a long series of Orlan EVA suits. 

Completed Task List Activities:

• None

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

• HD EMU Camera File Transfers
• Crew Dragon Endurance System Checkout
• Upgrade Spectrum Scale and RHEL 8 on BCC-MSE NFS Server
• CCS S-Band TLM HK1 Preempt
• EVA Debrief for USOS EVA

Look Ahead Plan

Thursday, November 17 (GMT 321)
Payloads:

• CIR/SoFIE Sensor Replace
• DCB Icebrick Stow
• TangoLab-4 Card Cube Replace

Systems:

• SpaceX-26 Dragon Rendezvous Review CBT
• Robotics Procedure Print
• Columbus Centralized Cabin Filter R&R
• METOX Regeneration Initiation
• EHS CSA-CP Checkout

Friday, November 18 (GMT 322)
Payloads:

• NanoRacks Module-9 Photos

Systems:

• Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations
• EVA Tool Configuring
• Robotics Procedure Review
• POC DOUG Software Review
• SpaceX-26 Dragon Vehicle Operations CBT

Saturday, November 19 (GMT 323)
Payloads:

• Crew Off-Duty

Systems:

• Crew Off-Duty

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

• XF705 Camcorder Setup
• J-SSOD-23 Satellite Check
• EVA HECA Initiation
• JEM Airlock Slide Table Extension and Retraction to/from JPM Side
• J-SSOD-23 Installation onto Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) Parts 1, 2, and 3
• EMU Water Recharge
• Snowcone Power On
• EVA Glove Photos
• HECA Terminate
• In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) Battery Charge
• SpaceX-26 Dragon Review Computer Based Training (CBT)
• Radio Frequency Identification Logistics Power Cycle
• Russian EVA Tool Locate, Gather, and Transfer
• Columbus Centralized Cabin Filter Handle Pre-Gather
• J-SSOD Checkout Cleanup, Prep, and Conference
• Portable O2 Monitor (POM) Reading
• NanoRacks Maintenance Work Area (MWA) Preparation
• NanoRacks Module-51 Experiment Operations 2
• Urine Transfer System (UTS) Offload EDV Swap
• Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations
• EVA Debrief for USOS EVA #81
• Photo T/V (P/TV) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video Setup
• P/TV Camcorder Setup Verification