ISS On-Orbit Status 16 Apr 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below. Flight Day 9 of Mission 8A — and Day 530
of continuous station occupancy.

After an initial hitch in its inaugural run, the MT (mobile
transporter) railcar checked out OK and is fully operational.
 Engineers found out yesterday that the MT’s magnetic
positioning sensors can lose contact with iron marks on the aluminum
rails in zero-G when latches are applied automatically.
 Procedures were modified to use manual latching.
 Controlled by Carl Walz from an RWS (robotics workstation)
laptop, the railcar then traveled at a nominal pace of about 1 inch
per second from worksite (W/S) #4 to W/S #5 and back to #4, where it
was parked at 6:40 pm EDT for STS-111/UF-2. In all, the
transporter traversed a distance of 72 ft (22 m) during this first
operation of a "railroad in space".

EVA-4 Summary:   Today’s EVA-4, last of the 8A
spacewalks, was again conducted by Jerry Ross (EV3) and Lee Morin
(EV4). It got underway at 10:29 am EDT. Carefully
planned, the excursion accomplished tasks deferred from EVA-3 on 4/14
and a large number of other prioritized activities mandated for 8A.
 Ross and Morin first installed the "Spur" between
Airlock (A/L) and S0, a 4.2 m long structural beam with ten EVA
handrails to provide a short cut between A/L and the forward side of
S0 and the Lab. It was preinstalled on the S0 starboard aft
side with a hinge pin joint and was bolted by the spacewalkers to the
A/L. Other work completions involved installation of halogen
EVA lights on the Node and Lab, each one a 40-watt lamp five times
more powerful than standard 40 W bulbs, a PWP (portable work
platform) and energy/shock absorbers on the railcar’s port and
starboard side to provide barriers and attach points between the MT
and hand-propelled carts used by future spacewalkers. Ross, on
the SSRMS/Canadarm2, cleared the MLI (multi-layer insulation) blanket
obstructing the GPS antenna #2. Lee Morin attempted
unsuccessfully to troubleshoot the TUS-2 (trailing umbilical system)
safing bolt which had not fully disengaged during EVA-2. He
also deployed the EV-CPDS (extravehicular charged particle
directional spectrometer), which measures and characterizes the
radiation outside the station for documenting crew exposure, and he
conducted a checkout of the TGA (trace gas analyzer) after installing
a new battery. Jerry Ross depressed three SSAS RTL
(segment-to-segment attachment system/ready-to-latch) indicators on
the S0 starboard side to test them for future mating of the S1 truss
(mission 9A/STS-112). Both crewmembers also conducted a photo
survey of specific exterior locations. The EVA ended at 5:06 pm
EDT, after a total duration of 6 h 37 m. It was the 38th ISS
spacewalk, bringing total assembly EVA time to 236 h 27 m, and the
13th EVA conducted from the ISS itself (total time: 69 h 12 m).
 Jerry Ross continues to be U.S. record holder for EVAs, now
totaling nine (58 h 18 m).

CDR Yuri Onufrienko performed another verification test on the SM air
revitalization system’s IK051 gas analyzer, using the GA calibration
assembly (BKGA) and the GA status indicator (IG-3). The GA monitors
the composition (partial pressures) of the atmosphere by providing
independent automatic measurements of CO2, O2, H2 and H2O as well as
the flow rate of the gas being analyzed.

Later, he completed a checkout of the ESA-sponsored GTS (global
timing system) payload setup, taking resistance and impedance
measurements on its cables and antenna unit (AB).

Onufrienko also collected fluid samples of the SRV-K2M condensate
water processor in the SM and of the MTL (moderate temperature) and
LTL (low temperature) loops of the ITCS (internal thermal control
system) in the Lab. He was instructed to ensure properly
documented stowage of the samples for their return to the ground on
Atlantis.

In order to provide engineering data for assessing the noise level
due to the BPS (biomass production system) operation without its
sound muffler, the crew today was requested to take acoustic/noise
readings (decibels) at four different points in the station.
 They were also to attach one dosimeter at the TeSS (temporary
sleep station), directly across from the BPS, and a second one on a
crewmember over an extended 10-hour period, spent mostly in the
Lab.

For the EVARM (EVA radiation monitoring) experiment, EV3 (Ross) and
EV4 (Morin) carried their badges in their LCVGs (liquid cooling
ventilation garments). After the spacewalk, all monitors were
returned to the EVARM Reader. Because of a problem with the
EVARM leg monitors of Ross and Morin during EVA-2 (the badges were
not attached to their legs) no EVARM data were obtained for that
spacewalk (4/13).

The POC powered up the EXPRESS Rack 2 (ER2) via remote command,
supported by CDR Onufrienko who turned on the ER2 computer.

Yuri also removed ARIS Rack 2 alignment guides, after the ground had
put the rack in idle mode, while Dan Bursch completed another gas
calibration and sample collection from the BPS, today from plant
growth chamber #3.

Onufrienko used the Kodak DCS 460 digital still camera to take
pictures of the glass panes of SM window #7 which had sustained an
MMOD (micrometeoroid/orbital debris) impact some time ago in its
exterior pane. To allow ground specialists to assess the
dimensions and location of the cavity, he placed a ruler on the
window with adhesive tape before photographing. With interior
lighting turned off near the window, the exterior glass was to be lit
only by Earth-reflected light.

Later in the day, FE-1 Carl Walz and MS5 Steve Smith were scheduled
to conduct a test of the O2 pre-breathing mask system, the PHA
(pre-breath hose assembly), when connected to an oxygen outlet (LEH)
in the Shuttle, instead of the A/L. The test involves Steve
doing 10 minutes of exercise on the cycle ergometer.

Crewmembers Bursch, Morin and Smith were unable yesterday to complete
the planned modification of the AMPEV (A/L manual pressure
equalization valve), because the special tool delivered by 8A failed
to remove the valve’s cover. The plan had been to increase the
A/L depressurization rate by removing most of the screens inside the
AMPEV. No further action with the valve was attempted.

Temperature of the Shuttle BTR (biotechnology refrigerator) this
morning was at a nominal 5.6 deg C.

The ISS occupants had an amateur (ham) radio pass today with Quoge
Union Free School District in Quoge, New York.

The crews were provided with the following target areas for today’s
earth observa!£nÊs:  Red Sea (grand pass over
"triple junction" of three major rifts in the Earth’s
crust: the Red Sea [left] meets the Gulf of Aden [right] and the East
African Rift [left, trending southwest]. Suggested low obliques for
geological structures, and panoramas showing parallelism of
coastlines), Toshka Lakes (four man made lakes, the
last three unplanned, have grown rapidly, as part of the vast desert
development in southern Egypt. Crew to look right of track in the
region west of Lake Nasser), Caspian Sea oil fields
(views of the Baku peninsula [west side of Caspian Sea]  show
latest development of offshore networks of drilling rigs and
causeways [nadir, and immediately left]. Also, possible oil slicks
which have been large on occasions in the past. Then, nadir pass over
much diminished Aral Sea. Crew to shoot shorelines), Northern
Black Sea (Crimean peninsula left of track. Then, Sea of Azov,
also left: crew to document sediment/pollution plumes and field
patterns along the coasts), South America pass (Chile’s
fiord country [glaciers reached the sea just 18,000 years ago]) and
the volcanoes of the Andes, right of track. Then, mapping strip of
the highly productive Pampas province of Argentina [ crew to shoot
stream patterns and land use patterns right of track]. Then, a
four-minute pass parallel with the Parana River [South America’s
second largest, mainly left of track] to Brazil’s capital city
Brasilia, left of track), Morocco-Spain pass (pass
paralleled coast of Morocco, the Sahara Desert right, Canary Islands
left. Then, Atlas Mts right and coastal regions of southeastern
Spain. Crew to look for aerosols in the western Mediterranean
basin), Panama (as clear as it gets. Crew to try to
document the green, mainly forested, canal zone), Southern
Mexico ( crew to look for the international boundary between
Mexico and Guatemala, that cuts the Peten Forest [second largest
rainforest in W. Hemisphere]. The Mexican side is deforested, with
progressive clearing across a sharp line into Guatemalan territory.
Then, Yucatan Peninsula: Chixculub impact crater evidence may be
visible in the concentric pattern of limestone sinkholes–in
sunlight, right of track), French Polynesia (nadir pass
over several islands in the chains. Crew to look left and right to
document these remote islands. Shuttle views being used in a global
attempt to monitor these highly productive points in the world
ocean), Baja-Chicago pass (mostly clear pass over N
Mexico, west Texas [Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex right of track],
Kansas City and St Louis [left and right of track]. Then, Chicago at
nadir), New Zealand (pass over North Island, the city
of Aukland at nadir. Oblique views right of the central rift valley
of North Island may reveal possibly unexpected fault trends along the
margins of the rift. Volcanoes occupy the center of the rift),
California (atmospheric haze left and right of track,
offshore and in the central valley. Detailed views of land use in the
valley also requested), Hawaiian Chain (opportunity
through broken cloud, right of track for panoramas),
Seattle (nadir views. Puget Sound and Vancouver to the
north. Mt Rainier to the right), Lake Eyre (STS-109
showed unusual water flow into the lake. Crew was to document the
latest situation here and in desert rivers to the north, that feed
the lake).

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:20 am EDT)
Mean altitude — 387.6 km
Apogee — 390.5 km
Perigee — 384.8 km
Period — 92.3 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0004195
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
Altitude decrease — 300 m (mean) in last 24 hours
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 19439
Current Flight Attitude — LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal =
“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