NASA Space Station Status Report 31 March, 2022 – Expedition 67 Officially Starts Work

Expedition 67 is officially underway following Wednesday’s undocking of three International Space Station crew members.
Meanwhile, the seven orbital residents had a full schedule of human research and lab maintenance tasks on Thursday.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Houston today following his landing in Kazakhstan on Wednesday at 7:28 a.m. EDT with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov. The trio undocked from the station’s Rassvet module in their Soyuz MS-19 crew ship just over four hours earlier officially ending the Expedition 66 mission.

The station’s new commander, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, assumed command of the station from Shkaplerov the day before and will lead Expedition 67 until his departure. He started his day turning on the Astrobee robotic free flyers to capture video imagery inside the station. He also joined his SpaceX Dragon crewmates, astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron of NASA, and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency), for a conference with mission managers on the ground. The quartet also called down to the SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts slated to join them in late April.

Chari was in charge of eye checks today as he scanned the eyes of Marshburn and Maurer using medical imaging gear. Chari also partnered with Barron and studied how the central nervous system adapts to the lack of traditional up and down cues in microgravity. Maurer spent the afternoon configuring and monitoring the Astrobee robotic helpers to explore their ability to conduct autonomous maintenance tasks.

Three cosmonauts are continuing to get up to speed with life in space while working on their array of science and lab upkeep tasks. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev unpacked cargo from inside the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship and serviced hardware in the station’s Russian segment. First time space-flyers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev spent the day maintaining a variety of communications and ventilation gear while getting familiar with space station systems.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Gravitational References for Sensimotor Performance: Reaching and Grasping (GRASP): Crewmembers performed GRASP quasi-free-floating science sessions. The purpose of the GRASP investigation is to better understand how the central nervous system (CNS) integrates information from different sensations (e.g. sight or hearing), encoded in different reference frames, in order to coordinate the hand with the visual environment. More specifically, the science team seeks to better understand if, and how, gravity acts as a reference frame for the control of reach-to-grasp.

Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking (ISAAC): The Astrobee Free Flyer was used to collect visual data to create a localization map of the US Lab. The ISAAC project demonstrates using autonomous robots in human exploration vehicles to track vehicle health, transfer and unpack cargo, and respond to critical faults such as leaks and fires. ISAAC uses the space station’s Astrobee and Robonaut robots for the demonstration. This technology could be used on vehicles and habitats on future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars to maintain vehicles while astronauts are away for extended periods.

Space Tango – Cubelab Satellite Demo: Satellite Cubes KENT_SAT01 and SAT02 were removed, and empty cards were installed into the slots. The crew took photos of all cubes that were removed from the TangoLab-3 Facility. Space Tango – Cubelab Satellite Demonstrator tests a new attitude-control technology for small satellites, which is an integral part of future space missions as conventional attitude control systems for large satellites are not suited for small satellites. The new technology is energy efficient, lightweight, and not subject to friction wear and could enhance the attitude maneuvering capabilities of small satellites.

TangoLab-2: Cube NTDM_BBS02 was removed from slot 5 and replaced with cube QUST_NXT02. Cube HIOR_ALG02 was removed from slot 7. Photos were taken (logo and bar code) of removed cubes. TangoLab-2 is a reconfigurable general research facility designed for microgravity research and development and pilot manufacturing in the ISS.

Universal Intelligent Glass Optics (UNIGLO): The fiber optic cable spool and preform sample were exchanged, and the ground initiated a run. UNIGLO tests the effects of microgravity on a glass optics module capable of processing various types of complex glasses. The module uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help adapt materials processing techniques to the microgravity environment and a sensor based on laser-Doppler interferometry to measure the effects of microgravity on processing complex glasses for a variety of applications in space and on Earth.

Systems:

Environmental Health System (EHS) Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion (CSA-CP) Checkout: As part of regular maintenance, the crew installed new battery packs into six newly re-supplied CSA-CP units, reset the internal clock and data logger for each monitor, and allowed all units to off-gas in an open environment. The CSA-CP units will sit deactivated with new batteries for at least 24 hours for sensors to re-establish bias voltages and for 10 to 12 days in an open environment for sensor off-gassing.

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Left Rope Guide Remove and Reinstall: The crew removed the remaining hardware from the damaged left rope guide on ARED and installed a new rope guide. ARED uses adjustable resistance piston-driven vacuum cylinders along with a flywheel system to simulate free-weight exercises in normal gravity, and itsprimary goal is to maintain muscle strength and mass in astronauts during long periods in space.

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Preparation: In preparation for the Axiom-1 PAM in early April, the crew continued reconfiguring the internal environment of the United States On-Orbit Segment (USOS) for the private astronauts and their mission requirements. To start, the crew gathered and staged four headphones and four microphone cables in Node 2. The crew then relocated Space Station Computer (SSC) 10 and connected it to power and data in Node 2. After configuring SSC 10 in its new location, the crew gathered and stowed cables for the Portable Computer System (PCS).

EHS Coliform Water Sample Analysis: Today, the crew completed post-processing analysis of the coliform detection bags. The water samples were acquired on GMT 089 and allowed to incubate to check for the presence of Coliform bacteria. Following the incubation period, the crew visually analyzed the coliform detection bags and recorded the results. Visual confirmation must be performed within 40-48 hours of the initial sample collection.

Counter Measure Systems (CMS) Treadmill 2 (T2) Spacer Bar Fit Check: The crew checked if the new Spacer Bar Pip Pins can be used with the older Spacer Bars to reliably secure T2 to the Isolation Frame. T2 was designed to minimize the transfer of dynamic forces caused by use of the treadmill to preserve the microgravity environment of ISS as well as minimize loads imparted to station structure.

Completed Task List Activities:

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

Battery Charge/Discharge Unit (BCDU) 2A2 and 4A3 Firmware Load
Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Walkoff Maneuvers [In Work]
Airlock Configuration for Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Initiation
Look Ahead Plan

Friday, April 1 (GMT 91)
Payloads:

DOSIS Photo (ESA)
Grip and GRASP Stowage (ESA)
IGO Sample Exchange and GN2 Valve Close (NASA)
Systems:

WHC Manual Fill
IFM SM Transfer Tunnel (???) Strain Gauge Checkout Part 2
SSC 20 and 22 Swap
EVA METOX Terminate
Saturday, April 2 (GMT 92)
Payloads:

Off-Duty
Systems:

Crew-Off Duty
Sunday, April 3 (GMT 93)
Payloads:

Veggie Monitor Analysis Photo (NASA)
Systems:

EHS – SSK and MAS Analysis
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

GRASP Configuration Change from Seated to Quasi-Free-Floating
Atmosphere Control and Supply (ACS) Nitrogen Manual Valve Close
Urine Transfer System (UTS) Adlink Mini PC Powercycle
Astrobee Stowage Clear
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
Astrobee Lab Preparations
Food Physiology MELFI Sample Transfer
EHS CSA-CP Checkout
PAM Headset Pre-gather
GRASP Science Performance in Quasi-Free-Floating Configuration
TangoLab-2 Card Cube Replace for NG-17 Number 2
Intelligent Glass Optics Sample Exchange
TangoLab-3 Card Cube Replace
SSC 10 Axiom-1 Preparation
Onboard Training (OBT) Robotics On-board Trainer (ROBoT) Setup
Cold Atom Lab (CAL) Moderate Temperature Loop (MTL) Jumper Leak Check
Program Management and ISS Crew Conference
Crew Handover Conference
Intelligent Glass Optics Procedure Review
ISAAC Lab Mapping Operations
IFM SM Transfer Tunnel (???) Strain Gauge Checkout Part 1
PCS Cable Gather
HMS Optical Coherence Tomography 2 (OCT2) Setup and Stow
Emergency Fire Cartridge Relocate
EHS Coliform Water Sample Analysis
EHS Air Quality Monitor (AQM) Powercycle
ISS HAM Kenwood Radio Power Up
Joint Station Local Area Network (LAN) (JSL) Network Information for JSL Administration (NINJA) Print
ARED Left Rope Guide Remove and Reinstall
HMS Respiratory Support Pack (RSP) Checkout
METOX Regeneration Initiation
HMS OCT2 Preparation
CMS T2 Spacer Bar Fit Check
HMS OCT2 Exam
HMS Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test