Status Report

ISS On-Orbit Status 19 Feb 2003

By SpaceRef Editor

February 19, 2003

Filed under ISS On-orbit status, NASA HQ, US

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Day 88 in space for Expedition 6.

Before breakfast and first physical exercise, the crew completed another round of the medical assessment MO-9 of the Russian crew health-monitoring program. The last session was held on 1/24. [MO-9 is biochemical urinalysis, conducted regularly every 30 days (and also before and after EVAs), using the sophisticated in-vitro diagnostic apparatus “Urolux” developed originally for the Mir program. The device is first calibrated with prepared calibration strips (if not used for more than seven days) and then receives the measuring strips with the subject’s urine samples for automatic (photometric) analysis. LEDs (light emitting diodes) indicate immediately if the data are within or outside (green or red) the physiological norm, and they are also printed on a tape for report to MCC-M. If the unit fails, test parameters can also be visually evaluated with a color-coded scale. MO-9 is one of several Russian medical assessments that have been accepted by US MedOps as part of the U.S. “PHS (periodic health status) with blood labs” exam, scheduled for tomorrow.]

FE-2/SO Don Pettit set up and installed the equipment for tomorrow’s PHS exam using the PCBA (portable clinical; blood analyzer), along with the periodic Russian MO-10 “Hematokrit” (red blood cell count) testing.

R3 Transition: The upload of the new Rev. 3 (R3) Stage 12A software to the SSMMUs (solid state mass memory units) of the C&C MDMs (command & control computers), INT MDMs (internal systems computers) and PCS (portable computer system) laptops yesterday did not go as smoothly as expected. Therefore, today’s task items related to the R3 transition were deferred until tomorrow. Plans are to resume R3 software transition tomorrow, to be complete on Saturday (2/22). The onboard C&C MDMs will be on the R3 load as of Friday (2/21). [Yesterday, both the C&C1 and the INT-1 computers failed to Diagnostics mode during the upload. Both MDMs were then brought back in a safe configuration. The nominal loading procedure for the PCS also did not work at first, requiring crew intervention late in the day to complete loading the laptops with sufficient 12A software to allow pressing ahead with the PCS transition. The C&C MDM and INT MDM software problems were associated with checksum errors, and several workarounds were being discussed.]

Detailed instructions were uplinked for recovering the U.S. motion control system’s (MCS’s) primary Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) MDM in case of failure. [The procedure, which can take from one to three hours, would return the primary GNC MDM to a nominal state and mode the U.S. MCS to free drift, but would not return the station to U.S. attitude control.]

FE-1 Nikolai Budarin worked on the RS (Russian segment) computer system, connecting the ISS “Wiener” laptop to a different power outlet — viz., from RBS-335 to one of the outlets on PPS (systems power panel) 26 — in order to free up an onboard outlet in the Service Module (SM). [To do this, a new cable was required, which was delivered two weeks ago by Progress M-47/10P.]

CDR Ken Bowersox concluded this week’s water sampling by visually analyzing the MCD (microbial capture device) samples for their T+2 days reading. His microbiological analysis data were then transferred to the MEC (medical equipment computer). [Bowersox also was to take digital images of the WMK (water microbiology kit) colony growth results if they were above specified limits.]

Nikolai Budarin performed preventive maintenance on the SM air ventilation system, changing out the four dust filter inserts (PF1-4). [After removing the old replaceable cartridges in the dust collectors, he installed a soft cover and decorative frame on the PF1 & 2 (lower) filters and a decorative frame on the PF3 & 4 (upper) dust filters, followed by installation of the new filter cartridges. Frames and cover were delivered two weeks ago by Progress M-47/10P.]

Later, Budarin completed the three-day activity of washing and sterilizing SVO-ZV water supply equipment, using disinfectant delivered on 10P.

Don Pettit took the daily ppCO2 (carbon dioxide partial pressure) readings in Lab and SM with the CDMK (CO2 monitoring kit), after breakfast and again before dinner. The readings are regularly reported down during the daily planning conferences (DPCs).

MCC-H/EVA specialists tagged up with the crew to discuss the upcoming Two-Man EVA DTO (development test objective), scheduled for next Friday (2/21). DTO objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a contingency EVA in U.S. equipment for the case where ISS is crewed by only two persons. [The three procedures that will be performed by Bowersox and Pettit during the donning exercise are EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) donning, EMU prebreathe, and post-EVA, all without IV (intravehicular crewmember) assist. Preliminary versions of these procedures were uplinked overnight, but although they were verified on the ground last Friday, final signoff is awaiting the 2/21 demo in zero-G for possible changes. The procedures assume four hours of in-suit prebreathing for simplicity and conservation of oxygen (O2). Suits are donned in the Airlock’s EDDA (EMU don/doff assembly), with special attention to putting on helmets and gloves without IV help. The suits need to be pressurized in order to verify the ability to don the SAFER (simplified aid for EVA rescue). EMU purge will be waived in order to conserve O2. Biomedical electrodes are not required, but the Metox (metal oxide) CO2 filtration canister changeout will be practiced. The activities will be videotaped by Nikolai Budarin for future increment training and for procedures improvement.]

Don prepared the daily IMS database update file for export/downlink, and Sox did the payload status checkup in the Lab (PCG-STES010).

After the LAB1P5 RPCM replacement by Pettit on 2/17, the RWS VTR1 (robotics workstation/video tape recorder #1) is operating nominally again.

Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were Eastern Mediterranean Dust (as ISS approached the Egyptian coast from the SW, the crew was to look left of track for dust clouds being drawn northward over the sea by winds of a storm over the central Mediterranean), Nile River Delta (trying for oblique views right of track of the Nile River Delta noting land use, and color changes from Cairo to the Suez Canal), Tigris-Euphrates, Turkey (taking advantage of a break in the weather over this region and using sun glint to enhance water features. Looking right of track, southeastward into Iraq), Western Mediterranean Dust (a compact storm system over the western Med is pushing slowly eastward. As the crew crossed the Tunisian coast and headed for Sicily, they were to look right of track for dust plumes over the Gulf of Sirte), Presidents Day Snow Cover (a massive snowstorm struck the eastern US on Presidents Day [2/17] with the heaviest snowfall since at least the mid-90’s. Clearing weather was expected by the time of this pass, and the crew was to look left of track from West Virginia to Maine to document the extent and density of snow cover), and Alpine Snow Pack (as ISS tracked southeastward over the western Alps, crew was to look left of track to document the extent of the winter snow pack).
CEO images can be viewed at the website
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:45pm EST).

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):

Elektron O2 generator is powered On (24 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (auto mode). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is operating. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 753; temperature (deg C) — 26.7; ppO2 (mmHg) — 183.1; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 1.7 (suspect).
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 751; temperature (deg C) — 20.7.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 22.0.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 746.43; temperature (deg C) — 24.0 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 748.55; temperature (deg C) — 22.0; ppO2 (mmHg) — 170.9*; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 3.3*;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 748.65; temperature (deg C) — 21.4; shell heater temp (deg C) — 22.4, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.8
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 11.6

(n/a = data not available)

(* = sample location currently unavailable until completion of R3 s/w upload on 2/20)

Propulsion System (PS):

Total propellant load available [SM(811) + FGB(2777) + Progress(576)] — 4164 kg (9180 lb) as of 2/14/03. (Capability: SM — 860 kg; FGB — 6120 kg).

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

Both P6 channels fully operational. Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and 4B both in auto track (sun following) mode.
SM batteries: Battery #7 is in “Cycle” mode (freshly installed); all other batteries (7) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
FGB batteries: Battery #1 is off line; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 and PCU-2 both in Standby mode.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

C&C-3 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-1 is in standby.
GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup.
INT-2 is operating; INT-1 is in standby.
EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is off.
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-2 MDM is On (primary); PL-1 MDM is off (diagnostic
APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Lane 1 is out of the set (as of 11/14/02).
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:

3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).
State vector — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Attitude — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Angular rates — U.S. RGA-1

Flight Attitude:

XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = “sun-fixed” [yaw: 0 deg, pitch: -8.8 deg., roll: 0 deg]), with CMG/Thruster Assist Momentum Management).
Solar Beta Angle: -62.0 deg (magnitude increasing).

Communications & Tracking Systems: