ISS On-Orbit Status 13 Apr 2002
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Flight Day 6 of Mission 8A.
After a relatively "light" day yesterday (which the combined ISS/Shuttle crew concluded with a Houston Livestock/Rodeo-type barbecue last night, including country western music by Jerry Ross), today was another activity-intensive day with the second of four 8A EVAs.
EVA-2 Summary: EVA-2 started at 10:09 am EDT when "grandfathers" MS4 Jerry Ross (EV3) and MS3 Lee Morin (EV4) switched their spacesuits to EMU batteries and egressed from the Airlock (A/L) Crew Lock (C/L) compartment. The first task, taking over four hours to complete, was deployment and attachment of the two remaining MTS (module-to-truss) strut assemblies on the S0 aft side, starboard and port, each of them with three adjustable struts in a tripod arrangement meeting at a common footplate. The latter had to be firmly attached to the Lab’s aft endcone with five bolts, torqued down in a specialized procedure with a torque multiplier, and six bolts were needed to attach each strut group to the S0. Each strut was then rigidized with clamshell fasteners. At 2:18 pm, IV Carl Walz reported completion of the installation of both struts. Along with the forward struts attached on 4/11, the aft struts now connect S0 rigidly to the ISS, enabling it to support its design loads, including the solar arrays swaying on the ends of the 356 ft (108.5 m) truss at Assembly Complete. The two spacewalkers then deinstalled and stowed two "drag links", that is, large metal beams used to support the S0 truss in the payload bay (PLB) during launch, and removed the DC-to-DC Converter Unit (DDCU) multilayer insulation (MLI) thermal cover from the truss for return to the A/L. The two remaining tasks, also completed without significant issues, were mating of the TUS 2 (trailing umbilical system 2) nadir cable to the MT (Mobile Transporter) railcar, already on its rails (at 3:55 pm), and removal and stowage of the S0’s two keel pin assemblies which supported the truss in the Atlantis PLB and would have interfered with the railcar’s movement. Since installation of the umbilical reel took longer than expected, EVA-2 took one hour longer than planned, concluding with ingress in the A/L at 5:39 pm, after a total duration of 7h 30 min. It was the 36th ISS spacewalk, bringing total assembly EVA time up to 223 h 23 min, and the 11th EVA conducted from the ISS itself.
CDR Yuri Onufrienko completed his repair work on the SKV-1 air conditioner by installing thermal insulation on selected portions, such as the compressor and condenser units and on the suction line with control valve. The insulation consists of foam material with protective aluminum foil wrapped around it and fastened with Teflon tape and copper wire. SKV-1 received a new heat exchanger (BTA) on 4/3 and appears to have operated satisfactorily since then.
Later, Onufrienko inspected the PMA2 (pressurized mating adapter #2) APAS docking mechanism, in a follow-up to the troubleshooting program after the off-nominal docking of 6P/Progress 256 at the SM aft port. Yuri inspected the APAS petal surfaces visually from the Shuttle side with a loupe, looking particularly for glue-like residuals, and collected wipe samples for return on 8A/Atlantis.
In the payloads area, FE-2 Dan Bursch worked on the newly arrived BPS (biomass production system) test facility in EXPRESS Rack 4 (ER4), first injecting a calibration gas (sulfur hexafloride [SF6]) into plant chamber #2 and allowing the gas to equilibrate in the chamber for 15 minutes, then taking two gas samples from the chamber and one sample of cabin air. About one hour after the second gas sample, he collected a second set of two chamber samples.
For EVARM (EVA radiation monitoring), EV3 and EV4 had placed their badges in the corresponding LCVG (liquid cooling ventilation garment) pockets during suit up, after donning the garments. Following today’s EVA the badges will be retrieved from the suits prior to when all badges are read later today. This reading will serve as the "post"-measurement for EVA-2 and the "pre"-measurement for EVA-3 (tomorrow).
CDR Onufrienko worked on the ZCG (Zeolite crystal growth) payload, removing 19 metal autoclaves from stowage and placing them in the ZCG furnace unit located in ER2. This activity was video recorded for historical documentation, and the tape will be downlinked later at crew convenience. The autoclave units (numbers 01 thru 19) were placed in their corresponding furnace tubes according to a color code scheme, and five spare autoclaves (S1 thru S5) remain in stowage.
Dan Bursch was scheduled to videotape the CPCG-H (commercial protein crystal growth-high density) payload to show how it is configured in ER4. The recording will be downlinked at a later time.
The ADVASC (advanced astroculture) came to a successful end, when Bursch took the final gas sample and then deactivated the experiment. These activities were time sensitive and were not to be started more than one hour ahead of their scheduled times (9:25 am EDT). Disconnecting of the ADVASC cables and transferring the payload to Atlantis are scheduled for later tonight.
The transfer of BTR (biotechnology refrigerator) contents has been moved up to tomorrow (4/14). The material will be placed in the Shuttle BTR, which is being powered earlier than scheduled. The ISS BTR had been dogged by temperature fluctuations.
After handover of attitude control to the Shuttle tonight at 5:45 pm EDT, a one-hour reboost will be initiated by its +X RCS (reaction control system) thrusters at 6:39 pm. The maneuver will gain the ISS an altitude increase of 1.2 s.mi. (1.9 km).
Cry-O2 margins of Atlantis continue to protect a possible two-day mission extension.
Science Update (Expedition Four — 18th):
Hoffman-Reflex: Completed.
Extra-Vehicular Activity Radiation Monitors (EVARM): In progress.
Ultrasound: In progress.
GASMAP/Pulmonary Function in Flight (PuFF): In progress.
Renal (Kidney) Stone Experiment: In progress.
Interactions (NTXN): In progress.
Human Research Facility Workstation (HRF WS): n/a
Human Research Facility/PC (HRF/PC): n/a
Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems (CBOSS): Complete.
Physics of Colloids in Space (EXPPCS): Avionics Section and Test Section will be sent home on UF-2.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): In progress.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): In progress.
Protein Crystal Growth -Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Coming home.
Protein Crystal Growth-Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen (PCG-EGN): In progress.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): Nominal and collecting data.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Complete.
Active Rack Isolation System – Isolation Characterization Experiment (ARIS-ICE): In progress.
EarthKAM: Currently complete. All EarthKAM images are available for public access on the EarthKAM data system at: http://EarthKAM.sdsc.edu/cgi-bin/datasys/ek_images_station
Advanced Astroculture (ADVASC): Coming home.
Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG): Planned. Hardware is ready to process samples which arrived on ISS 8A.
Biomass Production System-Photosynthesis Experiment & System Testing Operation (BPS-PESTO): In progress.
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-High Density (CPCG-H): The CPCG-H team sent thanks to the crew for a smooth transfer, power-up, and activation. They were very pleased to see that the transfer time was kept to a mere eight minutes. "Health and Status data is flowing, the payload is in a nominal state, and CPCG-H is settling in for a good mission".
Crew Earth Observations (CEO), combined with Shuttle Earth viewing: Cape Verde Islands, Saharan Dust (W. Saharan dust appears to be traveling westward, offshore from Mauritania and Senegal over the Cape Verde Islands. Of interest: shooting right of track, attempting to get photos of the Earth’s limb that might reveal the elevation of the dust in the atmosphere), Libya, Central Mediterranean (a large storm system parked over Europe is generating ENE airflow over northern Africa. Crew was to shoot left of track toward Sicily and Italy as ISS traveled from Libya outward over the Mediterranean. Normally exposed photos will provide information on areas where dust is thickest, whereas slightly overexposed views will reveal the full extent of suspended matter), Panama Canal Zone (uncommonly decent weather should have held hold for this pass to the east [right] of the Canal Zone. Of interest: documenting the waterway and surroundings, as well as construction and development along the north coast of the Isthmus. The condition of reefs of the San Blas Archipelago should also be recorded, in light of the recent resort development boom on both mainland and the islands), London and Salisbury, England (although western England [Cornwall, etc.] were probably cloud-covered, clear conditions should have prevailed over Salisbury and London. Salisbury lies the Isle of Wight and the N-trending Southampton estuary), Austral, Tuamotu and Marquesas Islands (near-nadir mapping photos of the reefs and lagoons of the NW Austral Islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago, and of the Marquesas are needed. Such photographic data are critical for documenting reef extent and condition, as well as responses to both natural and human stresses), Sierra Madre Occidental, Rio Grande Rift, Sa. Madre Oriental (after crossing the southern tip of Baja California, crew was to document burning in the Sa. Madre Occidental and continue shooting southward over the basins and ranges of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. The Big Bend of west Texas was right of track; crew was asked to record the junction of NNW-oriented ranges with the great W-trending folds of the Sa. Madre Oriental), New Caledonia (this pass across southern New Caledonia permitted the crew to take context views along the reef-rimmed coasts, as well as the central highlands with large chromium mines. Near-nadir mapping photos are needed of the reefs and lagoons at the south end, including sediment influxes into the lagoons) Hawaiian Islands (from Kauai southeastward [right of track] crew was able to photograph the larger islands of the chain. Nihau was just NW [left] of track. The line of islands results from the movement of the Pacific tectonic plate across a mantle hotspot; the volcanically active Big Island marks the present location of the deep heat source), Nullarbor Escarpment to Great Barrier (as ISS approached southern Australia, crew was to shoot along the coast to record west-aligned sinkholes and linear fractures. Ground water moves along fractures and dissolves the limestone bedrock. Clouds may have prevented documenting Lake Eyre level but should have been clear for photos of Cooper Creek and Diamantina drainages. Atherton Tablelands and Cairns were left of track; crew was asked to document land clearing, burning. Views along Great Barrier Reef were requested to monitor health of the reef).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 10:00 am EDT before reboost 1):
Mean altitude — 385.0 km
Apogee — 387.2 km
Perigee — 382.8 km
Period — 92.3 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0003216
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.61
Altitude decrease — 400 m (mean) in last 24 hours
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. =9298) — 19395
Current Flight Attitude — LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal =3D ‘earth-fixed’: z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch: -7 deg., roll: 0 deg]).
For more on ISS orbit and naked-eye visibility dates/times, see
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html
