NASA Space Station Status Report 21 May, 2022 – Crew Enters Boeing Starliner Spacecraft

Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch for the first time to Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at 12:04 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 21, on its uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2.
“This is a momentous day in NASA’s history and just paving the way to the future as we start enabling commercial flights here in low Earth orbit, while NASA pivots to the moon and eventually on to Mars,” said NASA Astronaut Bob Hines.

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. EDT Friday, May 20.

For the flight test, Starliner is carrying about 500 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies and more than 300 pounds of Boeing cargo to the International Space Station. Following certification, NASA missions aboard Starliner will carry up to four crew members to the station, enabling the continued expansion of the crew and increasing the amount of science and research that can be performed aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The uncrewed flight test is designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable system as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.

Starliner is scheduled to depart the space station Wednesday, May 25, when it will undock and return to Earth, with a desert landing in the western U.S. The spacecraft will return with more than 600 pounds of cargo, including Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System reusable tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members. The tanks will be refurbished on Earth and sent back to station on a future flight.

On-Orbit Status Report
Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (Boe-OFT2) Ingress: Docking of the Boeing Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft was successfully completed yesterday evening, Friday, May 20th, at 7:28 p.m. CT. This morning, the crew opened the hatch at 11:04 a.m. CT. The crew performed initial vehicle leak checks, pressurized the vestibule from ISS, ingressed, and configured Starliner for quiescent operations. Starliner will remain docked to the ISS until Wednesday, May 25th at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT.

Payloads:

eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS): The crew performed a water fill and cleaning activity for the XROOTS plant growth hardware. XROOTS procedures were also reviewed. The plant growth phase of the experiment is currently scheduled to begin next week. The XROOTS investigation uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. Video and still images enable evaluation of multiple independent growth chambers for the entire plant life cycle from seed germination through maturity. Results could identify suitable methods to produce crops on a larger scale for future space missions.

Systems:

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Spare Pump ORU Flush: As part of preventive maintenance, the crew configured hardware for ground-commanded pre-flush followed by flush setup in preparation for Spare OGA Pump Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) 10L flush. These activities are in preparation for a flush of the Spare OGA Pump ORU to be performed tomorrow. The OGA produces oxygen via electrolysis using iodinated water from the Waste Processor Assembly (WPA), and the Pump ORU circulates water through the OGA.

Completed Task List Activities:

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

CST-100 VV Processor (RT) Swap
CST-100 C&W Reconfig
OGA Spare Pump Sample and Flush
Medium Temperature Heat Exchanger WOOV Cycling
Node Forward IMV Deactivation
IAS IDA Hardline Configuration
CST-100 Config for Attached Ops
Node 2 Fwd Stbd IMV Fan Activate
Node 2 Headset Extension Cable Setup
C2V2 Video Transmitter Turn On/Off
Crew Dragon Wakeup for CST Voice Checks
Look Ahead Plan

Sunday, May 22 (GMT 142)
Payloads:

Off-Duty
Systems:

EVA Water Containment Activities
OGA Post Maintenance Flush/Stow
Monday, May 23 (GMT 143)
Payloads:

AstroPi Night Setting (ESA)
CAL MTL Jumper Leak Check (NASA)
DECLIC HD Exchange, Alice-like Removal, and Direct Solid Insert (NASA)
NanoRacks Module 63, 83 Photos (NASA)
Vascular Aging Blood Pressure Measurement and Echo Scans (CSA)
XROOTS Nutrient Mix and Fill and Fluid Recovery and Plant Thinning (NASA)
Systems:

OFT-2 Ops
CMS ARED Quarterly Inspection
Tuesday, May 24 (GMT 144)
Payloads:

CBEFL Cable Reconnect (JAXA)
Desiccant swaps (ICEBERG, POLAR, GLACIER) (NASA)
EPM Troubleshoot ops (ESA)
Repository Urine setup (NASA)
Surface Avatar H/W setup
Systems:

IFM UTS Remove & Install
IFM T2 and WRS Sys 1 Rack Prep
WRS CWC-I Degas
OFT-2 Ops
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Spare Pump ORU Pre-flush
[Deferred] IFM OGA Spare Pump ORU Flush
XROOTS Experiment Big Picture Words
XROOTS Water Refill
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT Emergency Review
CST-100 Cargo Prepack
Teardown of CST-100 monitoring tools setup in Cupola/N3
Teardown of CST-100 monitoring tools setup in Lab
Androgynous Peripheral Attachment System (APAS) Hatch Opening
CST-100 Hatch Open
Boe-OFT2 air sampling using the [??-1?] sampler prior to air duct installation
CST-100 Ingress
Node 2 Headset Extension Cable Setup
Public Affairs Office Welcome Event for CST
ECLSS Docked Operations Configuration
CST-100 Photo Transfer and Downlink
Audio Checkout with RS, USOS, MCC-H, and MCC-CST via C2V2
CST-100 Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) Audio Checkout
VEGGIE Hardware On-Board Training
Hardline Audio Communications Check
Wired audio Checkout with RS, USOS, MCC-H, and MCC-CST
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT-2 Hands-on Familiarization
On-Board Training (OBT) CST-100 OFT-2 OBT Conference