ISS On-Orbit Status 14 Feb 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.

After wake-up (1:00 am EST) the crew underwent the periodic Russian MedOps tests of body mass measurement BMM (PZE-MO-8) and calf volume measurement (PZE-MO-7), which are always done before breakfast.

[The body mass measurement device (IM) requires 10 min. set-up time. It operates by measuring the inertial forces that arise during the oscillatory motion of a mass driven by two helical metering springs with known spring constants, after they are set free. By measuring the time period of each oscillation of the unknown mass ( the person) and comparing it to the period of a known mass, the crewmember’s mass is calculated by the computer and displayed. The “scales” are calibrated before the actual BMM Êwith the known mass. The MO-7 calf measurement device (ISOG) is a custom-sewn fabric “cuff” that fits over the calf, using the knee and lower foot as fixed reference points. Eight measuring strips are sewn on at various levels to gauge calf circumference and estimate derived volume, to get an approximate estimate of muscle mass loss over time of two of the more prominent postural muscles, the gastrocnemius and soleus. Measurements are always performed on the left leg, and there is an individual ISOG kit for each crewmember. These measurements provide a rough index of deconditioning in zero-G and the effectiveness of countermeasures such as aerobic (TVIS) and anaerobic (RED) exercise].

CDR Onufrienko and FE-2 Bursch later assisted each other in performing the KARDIO-ODNT (orthostatic stability evaluation) Lower Body Negative Pressure protocol in support of the Russian cardiovascular study of heart activity and blood circulation.

[The assessment uses the “Chibis” vacuum suit (PVK), which forms an airtight seal around the waist and applies negative pressure (suction) to the lower body. The procedure consists of a sequence of several progressive regimes of reduced Êpressure set at -20, -30, -35, and -40 mmHg (generated by a micropump) for five minutes each while shifting from foot to foot at 10-12 steps per minute. The body’s circulatory system interprets the pressure differential between upper and lower body as a gravity-like force pulling the blood (and other liquids) down. Cardiovascular readings are taken with the regular GAMMA-1 ECG (electrocardiogram) equipment. Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) tests were also done by the U.S. as early as 1974 on the Skylab space station].

Yesterday’s checkout of the EMU spacesuits by Bursch and Walz was fully successful, showing that they have two good EMUs for the EVA next week (2/20). One result was the finding that due to some changes in the UIA (umbilical interface assembly) of the suits their power supply (PSA) must be powered on for hard-line communications. Today, the crew recharged the EMU batteries again and installed them in their respective suits. They also worked on further updating their cuff checklists with latest timeline information, and Carl caught up on the EMU C&W (caution & warning) training, which Dan completed yesterday.

The crew performed the mandatory OBT (onboard training) drill of station depressurization procedures, taking about 1.5 hours. As scenario for the training, the crew is informed of the initial pressure and current ISS pressure values, the rate of depressurization, and other necessary data for implementing the procedures laid down in the ODF (orbital data file).

[During the training, the crewmembers then “follow” the specified emergency procedures while translating through the station. After pressure loss is annunciated, the crew identifies the leaking compartment by going through each of the modules (USOS: PMA1+Node+Airlock+Lab+PMA2; RS: SM+FGB+DC1+Soyuz+Progress) taking barometric measurements, and then performs the necessary steps to isolate the leaking element from the rest of the station].

FE-2 Bursch took charged particles readings from the display of the IV-CPDS (intravehicular charged particle directional spectrometer) and called down four values (the CPDS cycles through the four values every 12 seconds), then power-cycled the instrument. The data were subsequently downlinked via S-band as part of CHeCS (crew health care systems) IV-CPDS and TEPC (tissue equivalent proportional counter) data dumps for radiation measurements from several locations in the ISS (not personal crew radiation dose data). The data are being used to determine a radiation “safe haven” for the crew.

After his great job yesterday re-installing the TeSS (temporary sleep station) in the Lab, Bursch was asked for timeline estimates for TeSS removal and installation, plus any additional hints and tips that will help the ground to better timeline these activities during the 8A docked mission.

The two flight engineers completed their regular FFQs (food frequency questionnaires), which keep a running account of the crew’s nutritional status. Walz also filled out the weekly mood, group and journal questionnaire of the NTXN Interactions experiment, as Bursch did yesterday.

Yuri Onufrienko performed the regular daily tasks of SOSH life support systems maintenance, BRPK-1 condensate water separator inspection and IMS (inventory management system) delta file preparation.

VTR-2 (video tape recorder #2) continues to be non-operational. It exhibits a similar signature as VTR-1, which showed characteristics of clogged or dirty recording heads after ground analysis. On ground request, the crew performed a head cleaning on the machine today and inserted a blank videotape after the cleaning is complete. During the day the ground was to record a test pattern and conduct a VTR playback test to evaluate performance. If video quality is still unacceptable, the crew will be asked for a repeat of the cleaning process.

All three crew performed their daily physical exercise, and the two flight engineers also did weekly TVIS maintenance, which includes inspection of the SLD (subject load device) cables by the assisting crewmember.

The conjunction with a piece of space debris (Object 82120) reported yesterday took place today at 10:24 am EST, at a miss distance of 3.93 km. No avoidance maneuver was required. A second conjunction, with Object 27101, a piece of an Indian PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket, is currently predicted for next Saturday, 2/16, at 12:34 pm EST. Calculated miss distance is 5.83 km. MCC-H continues to monitor this object, and an avoidance maneuver is most likely unnecessary.

An amateur (ham) radio pass was scheduled for Dan Bursch at 12:55 pm EST with students of Vestal High School in Vestal, NY, just west of Binghamton.

Ê
Among the relatively unsung services ISS crews perform for ground-bound humans is to answer their questions posed for them under “Ask the Expert” on the Internet ( http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert ) Crew answers are then either returned written into the original message or voiced down on space-to-ground (S/G) for posting on the ISS website by PAO. (A perhaps typical question recently asked by 13-year old Jasmine in Las Vegas: “How do you sleep, in beds or standing up?”)

CEO (crew earth observation) targets today were Industrialized Southeastern Africa (pass paralleled the southeastern coast of South Africa, and crew was to try for oblique or limb shots of aerosols either moving offshore or banked against the coastal mountain ranges), Bombay, India (the center of this megacity and seaport is jammed on a small peninsula, slightly to the left of track as ISS approached the coast of western India), Angolan Biomass Burning (conditions remain clear, hot, and dry for central Namibia and favorable for fires. Crew was advised to look to the left of track for oblique views of smoke plumes there), E. Mediterranean Dust and Smog (a large, stagnant area of high pressure over the central Mediterranean has allowed a significant build of smog over the Balkans and Anatolia. Of interest as ISS crossed the Libyan coast: both oblique and limb shots, either side of track until the Black Sea), W. Mediterranean Dust and Smog (high pressure is slow to break down over this region; thus, a good pass for documenting aerosols moving down the Rhone River valley and over the Gulf of Lyon, looking to the left of track toward the coasts of Spain, France and Italy), European Smog (this pass provided a great view down the Adriatic Sea from the north end. After crossing northern Italy, crew was to look to the right of track for aerosol plumes over the water), Eastern United States (a very nice pass for observing aerosol buildup under cold high pressure over the eastern US. As the station moved northeastward just off the coast, crew was to look to the left of track for oblique and limb views showing the extent and thickness of this buildup), Tuamotu-Austral Islands (satellite imagery indicates more clouds further north this pass, but the crew should still have been able to use the ESC successfully to map atolls and reef features here), and Lakes of the Eastern Sierra Watershed (of interest as ISS crossed the southern Sierras: documenting the snow pack and using near-nadir views of Mono and Walker Lakes. This pass continued on toward the Olympics site at Salt Lake City).

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:17 pm EST today):

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS):

• Elektron O2 generator is On (16 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is in MANUAL cycle mode #5 (vacuum pump failed). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off.
  
• BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Both absorbent beds (Filters #1 & #2) in Purify mode.
  
• SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 744, temperature (deg C) — 26.5, ppO2 (mmHg) — 154.8, ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.5 (? see Note below)
  
• SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 743, temperature (deg C) — 21.0; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 744, temperature (deg C) — Ê21.0; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 737.53, temperature (deg C) Ên/a (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 739.46, temperature (deg C) — n/a, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
  
• Joint Airlock: Pressure (mmHg) — Ê739.16, temperature (deg C) — n/a; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  

(Note: Partial pressures ppO2 and ppCO2 in U.S. segment (USOS) not available because MCA [major constituent analyzer] is failed and in Extended Life mode [= a state that preserves mass spectrometer vacuum but produces no pp data]. Russian GA (gas analyzer) readings of ppCO2 in the SM are invalid).

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

• Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B in Autotrack mode, BGA 4B in Directed position (125 degrees).
  
• SM battery #2 is cycling; all other ( 7) SM batteries are in “partial charge” mode.
  
• FGB battery #5 is offline; all other (5) batteries are in “partial charge” mode.
  
• Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.
  

Thermal Control Systems:

• Air conditioner SKV-1 is Off (Freon leak). SKV-2 is On.
  

Command & Data Handling Systems:

• C&C-2 MDM is prime, C&C-3 is back-up, and C&C-1 is in standby.
  
• GNC-2 MDM is prime; GNC-1 is back-up.
  
• LA1, LA2 and LA3 MDMs are all operating.
  
• APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both on.
  
• SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.
  
• SM Central Computer (TsVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.
  

Communications Systems:

• S-band is operating nominally, and Ku-band is operating nominally in open loop pointing mode.
  
• Audio subsystem operating nominally (ATU-2 is powered and on standby for comm check).
  
• Video subsystem operating nominally (but VTR2 is non-functional, see above note).
  
• MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) operating nominally.
  

Robotics:

• SSRMS/Canadarm2 at Port stow position (on Keep Alive power on both strings).
  
• RWS (robotics workstations) are Off.
  

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:40am EST):

• Mean altitude — 383.7 km
  
• Apogee — 387.5 km
  
• Perigee — 379.9 km
  
• Period — 92.2 min.
  
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
  
• Eccentricity — 0.0005664
  
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.61
  
• Decay rate — 400 m (mean) in last 24 hours
  
• Solar Beta Angle: -22.4 deg (magnitude increasing)
  
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. â98) — 18488
  
• Current Flight Attitude — LVLH +XVV ZLV (local vertical/local horizontal: +X-axis in velocity vector; Z-axis in local vertical), with TEA (torque equilibrium attitude [pitch: -10 deg, yaw: -7 deg, roll: 0 deg]). Until 2/17.