ISS On-Orbit Status 2 Jan 2003
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Flight Control to crew: “It’s 2003 and all’s well!…except for UOP 3 (utility outlet panel #3), which we are still looking at.”
Immediately after wake-up (1:00am EST), CDR Kenneth Bowersox set up the SLM (sound level measurement) audio dosimeters for another day of noise survey in the station. Tonight before sleep time, at 4:20pm, he is to take noise data readings and cycle all dosimeters.
FE-1 Nikolai Budarin performed the daily checkup of the activated BIO-5 Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 (“Plants-2”) experiment that researches plant growth and development under spaceflight conditions. Later, he was to copy the photo/data files to a floppy disk and then transfer them to the Russian Laptop 3 for subsequent downlink.
Bowersox and Budarin were scheduled for a 3-hr. job of inventorying and disposing of medical support equipment. [Inventory included personal hygiene items such as wet and dry wipes and towels, sleeping bags and sleeping bag inserts. Also, previous expeditions‚ gear was to be disposed, if still on board (“Penguin-3” suits, “Comfort-3” sets, overalls, bracelets, eye shades, “Morpheus” restraint system, “Aelita” set, booties, etc.]
FE-2/SO Don Pettit took the daily CO2 (carbon dioxide) readings with the CDMK (carbon dioxide monitor kit).
At 9:15am, the crew was scheduled to perform the mandatory 1-hr. fire drill/OBT (on-board training). This was a US-led event but specialists were standing by in both MCCs (Houston and Moscow) for crew comments/questions. [Objectives of the exercise are (a) to review fire response procedures (FRPs) and all incorporated actions for the case of a software-detected fire; (b) to practice crew communication and coordination necessary to perform emergency FRPs; (c) to ensure familiarization with support equipment (Compound Specific Analyzer/Combustion Products [CSA-CP], portable breathing apparatus [PBA] and portable fire extinguishers [PFE]) used in FRPs; and (d) to ensure familiarization with laptop (PCS) displays and automatic software response associated with a fire scenario. The exercise involved all three crewmembers and took about an hour. After the OBT, the crew was to provide answers to debrief questions, at the end of the exercise if time allows, or during the evening DPC (daily planning conference) or email them to the Capcom).]
The daily routine maintenance of SOSh life support systems, incl. ASU toilet facility, was performed by Pettit, while Bowersox completed the regular daily Lab payload status checkup, and Budarin prepared the IMS (inventory management system) delta file for downlinking.
Don Pettit conducted the scheduled HRF (human research facility) Ultrasound functional checkout, verifying power-up, image fidelity, ECG (electrocardiograph) readouts, Doppler images, and functionality of the scan-head, following a “roadmap” of instructions uplinked in the activity’s OSTPV execution notes. [OSTPV (on-board short term plan viewer) is a specially developed sophisticated software tool that enables on-line access to planned station activities. It provides the crew with the capability to view and edit up to seven days of planned activities; it also provides easy access to the manual procedures associated with them. The crew has the option of customizing the timeline views, and the color of the activity provides instant feedback on its status.]
Sox and Don were scheduled to fill in their weekly FFQ (food frequency questionnaire) today, by entering data on food and fluid intake on the MEC (medical equipment computer) for subsequent downlink to the ground.
At about 8:00am, the crew downlinked two audio/video messages of general ISS greetings for NASA Visitor Centers on S-band and Ku-band. [One downlink was a generic ISS message, the other a general NASA Visitor Center greeting, both similar to messages created during previous expedition flights and of considerable value to public affairs and educational outreach programs. They are to be used for educational event greetings as well as generic NASA visitor center greetings across the United States.]
All crewmembers performed their regular daily physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser, CEVIS cycle, and VELO bike plus load trainer.
Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were Lahore, Pakistan (nadir pass; ESC [electronic still camera]), Rajasthan rivers (corresponding views from the north of the Rajasthan Site [yesterday] were requested: looking right for vestiges of rivers that used to flow southwest to the Arabian sea [parallel to the Indus]), SW Libya geology (surface geology mapping of erosionally exposed valleys cut by ice when North Africa occupied a position right over the South Pole [450 million years ago]. Glacial valley fills can be distinguished visually by geologists from surrounding rock types, and are associated in some places with oil bodies. Mapping series requested for ~1 min just right of track), Lagos, Nigeria (nadir pass; ESC, while the dry season lasts. Then views of the massive Niger River delta [nadir stretching far left], almost never seen due to clouds), Central US pass (one of the few clear passes in days, starting in Kansas and ending at Mobile just right of track), Phoenix, AZ (left of track; ESC. South of Phoenix detailed views of the Sonoran Desert following the line of flight near nadir [400 mm lens] were requested, to beyond the Mexican border [~1.0 min]), Tucson, AZ (just left of track; ESC), Mexico City, Mexico (nadir and a touch left; ESC), Puebla, Mexico (nadir and a touch left; ESC), Isla del Coco (this Costa Rican island has never been photographed from low Earth orbit despite many crew attempts. Long lenses make this a more attractive target. Looking left ~1.5 degrees), Congo River mouth, Congo (this important estuary lies on the Equator and is almost never seen except during this short dry season), Tugela basin, South Africa (request for general views of the Tugela River valley. The Tugela R. is the major river that flows through Zululand in eastern South Africa. The river rises in the high mountains of Lesotho and flows straight to the sea. A view from just offshore might capture the entire basin best. Unlike rivers to the north in Mozambique, the Tugela has constructed a vast undersea delta since India rifted away and moved northeast), and Recife, Brazil (looking right just south of a major estuary; ESC).
