ISS On-Orbit Status 16 Mar 2002
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. ÊFirst of two weekend rest days onboard the station.
The crew completed the regular (every seven days, on Saturday) wet station cleanup, accomplished with the microbial growth wipes kit and rubber gloves. [During the two-hour activity, crewmembers nominally perform visual inspection of the ISS interior and hardware surfaces, including known dust and condensate collection areas, looking for any discolorations that may resemble growing mold or fungal colonies. Sshould such be found on metal and non-metal surfaces, they would first be dried with available hygiene tissues or towels, and then treated with the antifungal wipes from the Fungistat kit.]
FE-1 Carl Walz inspected the BRPK-1 condensate water separator (looking for possible water accumulation under the porous separator membranes), performed the regular daily maintenance of the environment control and life support system (SOSH), and checked out the automated Lab payloads.
FE-2 Dan Bursch prepared the daily “delta” file for keeping the inventory management system (IMS) updated.
All crewmembers did their daily physical exercise on TVIS (treadmill), RED (expander), VELO and CEVIS (cycle ergometers).
Bursch had his weekend private family conference (via S-band).
SSRMS Status Update: ÊGiven the brake release failure of the SSRMS WR (wrist roll) joint on the Prime electronics string, the Redundant string will be used for installing the S0 truss segment on 8A. As backup (i.e., if Redundant string were to fail) the S0 install would revert to the Prime string, but with a newly developed software patch, known as 6DOF (six-degrees-of-freedom), which will leave the WR joint (i.e., the seventh DOF) unpowered. To keep this new S0 procedure as simple as possible and reduce the amount of maneuvers for the crew to study, it has essentially the same beginning and end as the baseline procedure, but the complex middle sequence of the translation “trajectory” (from the Orbiter port position to the Lab approach corridor position) has been replaced with a series of single joint maneuvers (step-by-step). To accomplish the transfer on 6DOF, an EVA crewmember on the Shuttle’s remote manipulator system (RMS) would first adjust the WR joint’s roll setting manually to -47 degrees while the S0 is still in the Shuttle payload bay, then to 210 deg after S0 unberth. Current schedule has ISS crew review the new procedures on 3/20, review the SSRMS DOUG (dynamic operations ubiquitous graphics) on 3/27 and do a run on the Redundant SSRMS on 3/28, while Shuttle crew trains on the Virtual Reality (VR) set-up with a 6DOF model (simulator). Delivery of the 6DOF patch by CSA (Canadian Space Agency) on 3/31 will permit an S0 dry run on orbit on 4/1, followed by SSRMS pre-launch checkout on the Redundant string on 4/2 and launch of 8A/STS-110 on 4/4.
A new science experiment during the 8A stage will be the plant growth experiment BPS (Biomass Production System), which will run from 4/15 through 5/5 in EXPRESS Rack #4. Its operation will require the use of a special MWA (maintenance work area) surface. Since MWA installation and removal for each activity (plant sampling, pollination and root module priming) requires excessive time, the crew was requested to determine if MWA can be installed in close conjunction to the experiment thus that it can be just rotated out of the way temporarily daily or following completion of each activity.
Procedures have been written and uplinked for temporary removal of the TVIS treadmill (in its current configuration), to allow a formerly inaccessible segment of the SM hull to be sampled for mildew-like deposits and cleaned. The results of the recent sampling and analysis activities have been reviewed by US and IBMP (Russia’s renown Institute for Biomedial Problems) microbiology experts. In their joint opinion the results are nominal when compared to previous ISS surface sampling results and do not require immediate microbiological remediation, as there is no immediate threat to the crew. However, for MCC-H specialists possible corrosion is still a concern, and hull cleaning is scheduled for 3/19.
Preparations are underway for a major PAO event featuring live interactive participation by the ISS crew on 3/19 (Tuesday, 10:17 am EST) with Universal Studios Florida for their “E.T.” 20th Anniversary and Movie Re-Release celebration. A maximum of 11 minutes of Ku-band video from the station will be available, and the “phone home” to the crew will be supported by Astronaut Janice Voss and NASA/OSF’s Dr. Kathryn Clark on stage at Orlando.
Science Update (Expedition Four — 14th):
A very busy and diverse 13th week for science which included the final H-Reflex session. The ARIS recovery was completed and ARIS-ICE testing resumed. The ground hopes payload operations will be likewise successful with the EXPPCS recovery next week.
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Hoffman-Reflex: This was the first human life science experiment to fly on ISS with the launch of Increment-2, and thanks to the crew’s efforts it is now complete. The team has discovered valuable information that will assist in designing countermeasures for future space flights.
Extra-Vehicular Activity Radiation Monitors (EVARM): EVARM pre-EVA badge readings are proceeding nominally leading up to the 8A EVAs next month. Four more pre-EVA readings are planned prior to the first scheduled EVA.
Ultrasound: In progress.
GASMAP/Pulmonary Function in Flight (PuFF): The crew’s monthly Puff sessions are coming up again next week. PuFF team to crew: “Weâre sure your outstanding data takes will leave us breathless!”
Renal (Kidney) Stone Experiment: In progress.
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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): An integrated team from EXPPCS, HRF (human research facility), POIC (Payload Operations Integration Center), and MOD (Mission Operations Directorate) has developed and verified some new procedures which will hopefully allow the crew to correct the problems with EXPPCS. The procedures involve accessing and correcting corrupted Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) settings, the most likely scenario which has prevented the EXPPCS flight system from booting-up since 2/24 this year.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): Continues to support general characterization in the vibratory regime of the micro-gravity environment and EXPPCS operations.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS Êcontinues collection and archival of low-frequency acceleration data for the characterization of the ISS quasi-steady microgravity environment. Continues Êto display quasi-steady data plots in Space Station Analysis coordinates as of 2/15/02. HiRAP has been Êdisabled due to continuing coverage by SAMS and to reduce the downlink bandwidth utilized by acceleration measurements.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Thanks were expressed Êto Dan Bursch for activating the cylinder and especially for the added bonus of the video. This is the first time that we have received such good video of the on-orbit activation of one of the STES cylinders.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): Nominal and collecting data.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): EPO activities are complete.
Active Rack Isolation System – Isolation Characterization Experiment (ARIS-ICE): The ARIS ICE team is looking forward to next week’s hammer tests.
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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): The ADVASC team thanked the crew for their great work during yesterday’s tissue sampling activity.
Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG): Planned. Hardware is ready to process samples to be launched on ISS 8A.
Crew Earth Observations (CEO): Thus far, 2884 ESC (electronic still camera) images have been down-linked by the during Exp. 4. 984 have been screened for content and image quality and released for posting on the STIC; and 465 can be downloaded from the Earth Sciences database.
Today’s optional CEO target areas were E. Mediterranean Dust and Smog (Adriatic-Israel pass. Crew was to look left and right of track for aerosols [shoot clear atmosphere too for calibration purposes]. Low sun angle ideal. Dead Sea immediately left, Sinai peninsula immediately right. Good panorama of the entire Nile delta and its 50 million people), Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (savanna burning in this remote region [E Angola and W Zambia] assists in generating early greening of pastures for pastoralist population. Major Lake Kariba [220 km long] on the Zambezi River immediately left of track), Industrialized Southeastern Africa (detailed views as near nadir as possible on the lower Limpopo valley: crew to look for fire scars, devegetation patches around villages, major highway [South Africa to Mozambique] and power line [straight N-S line in Mozambique] cut through forest. Capital city Maputo right of track), Eastern United States (Florida panhandle [right] and coastal Georgia [left] may have been clear), and Parana River (cloud gap may allow views of land use. Major new agricultural developments [lighter colored angular patterns] are extending west from river cities into this remote part of N Argentina).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:58 am EST):
- Mean altitude — 394.4 km
- Apogee — 397.1 km
- Perigee — 391.8 km
- Period — 92.4 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0003876
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.58
- Altitude decrease — 270 m (mean) in last 24 hours
- Solar Beta Angle: +12.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 18958
- 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 (freshly updated to account for the reboost) check out
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html
