ISS On-Orbit Status 24 Dec 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.  On Christmas Eve day the crew had a relatively normal work day, in anticipation of the rendezvous with Santa Claus tonight at zero hours GMT.

Wakeup this morning was at the regular 1:00 am EST; sleep period begins at 4:30 pm.

CDR Kenneth Bowersox spent part of his day with the first session of the FOOT (Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Space Flight) experiment, first setting up for operations, conducting the program including EMG (electromyographic) calibration, while being videotaped and later in the day, at various times, for photo imagery, taken by FE-2/SO Don Pettit.  [Ground assessments of his FOOT ops were non-real-time, since much of the operation was scheduled during Ku-band outage, but the FOOT team was prepared to work with the playback video and Bowersox’s voice calls to monitor the experiment‚s progress.  After the sessions, Sox restowed the FOOT hardware.]

At various times during the day, FE-1 Nikolai Budarin conducted acoustic measurements in the station to characterize acoustic noise in SM crew cabins;  Results of these measurement results are required to develop noise countermeasures for the crew quarters.  [Acoustic survey was taken with nominally installed cabin doors open and closed, and with certain suspected sources of high noise in the cabins turned On and Off.  Nikolai first installed cabin doors for the right and left crew quarters, then took measurements with the Russian noise meter with various noise-generating systems On and Off, finally downloading the data to Laptop 3.  Measurement conditions were: Only continuously functional on-board systems were to be On, no intermittent noise, including conversation, short noise generated by Vozdukh scrubbing system valve state changes.  For in-cabin measurements the microphone was to be positioned 1.5 m off the floor in the cabin center. The crewmember was to be in the cabin as far as possible from the microphone, maintaining the same body position throughout the series of measurements.  Microphone not in the way of heavy airflow.]

Budarin also completed the second part of the PLANTS-2 (LADA-2) experiment, planting seeds as per instructions and configuring the payload for cultivation, with substrate humidification level set at 75 percent.

Later, Nikolai replaced the PF1-4 dust filter cartridges in the SM and completed the periodic preventive maintenance of the SM ventilation system, Group A.

ADVASC (advanced astroculture) hardware was to be transferred to the Lab by Don Pettit..

Bowersox, assisted by Pettit, took the 30-min. CBT (computer-based training) refresher course (video and audio) to hone his CMO (crew medical officer) proficiency for ACLS (advanced cardiac life support).  Objectives of the exercise, which is regularly scheduled once a month, are to re-familiarize crewmembers with the RSP (respiratory support pack), defibrillator, and ALSP (advanced life support pack) components, specifically items needed for endotracheal intubation.

At 10:95am EST, the crew participated in two live PAO television downlinks with KOIN-TV, Portland, OR, and WISH-TV, Indianapolis, IN.  Focus: Christmas on board.

CDR Bowersox performed the daily routine status checkup of Lab payloads, while FE-2 Pettit completed the SOSh life support systems maintenance and prepared the IMS inventory delta file for downlink.

Pettit completed the regular weekly TVIS (treadmill) maintenance. He was also scheduled for the regular RED (resistive exercise device) inspection.

All crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise program.

As discussed with the crew, the PVCU MDM (photovoltaic controller unit computer) is not actively controlling the 4B array FCV (flow control  valve) due to a software problem.  The FCV has been parked at an intermediate position, which provides acceptable cooling to the batteries and other EPS (electrical power system) components on the P6 truss.  The FCV position will be adjusted by the ground as required to maintain component temperatures.  Work is underway to identify fixes for the software problem.

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of yesterday, 1:55 pm EST).

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

• Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On.  U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS is operational.  BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.
• SM Working Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 761; temperature (deg C) — 27.2; ppO2 (mmHg) — 160.6; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.6.
• SM Transfer Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 761; temperature (deg C) — 21.2.
• FGB Cabin:  Pressure (mmHg) — 756; temperature (deg C) — 19.7.
• Node:  Pressure (mmHg) — 753.43; temperature (deg C) — 24.2 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• U.S. Lab:  Pressure (mmHg) — 756.13; temperature (deg C) — 25.3; ppO2 (mmHg) — 158.8; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 5.8;
• Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock):  Pressure (mmHg) — 756.13, temperature (deg C) — 25.9; shell heater temp (deg C) — 25.5, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• PMA-1:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.4
• PMA-2:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 13.1

(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS):  
Total propellant load available (SM + FGB + Progress) — 3781 kg (8335 lb) [as of 12/19/02].

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

• Both P6 channels fully operational.  Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B & BGA 4B both in Autotrack (sun-tracking) mode.
• SM batteries:  Batteries #5 and 7 disconnected (suspected failed)  All other batteries (6) are in “Partial Charge”: mode.  
• FGB batteries:  Batteries #1 is in “Cycle” mode; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
• Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 is in Standby; PCU-2 is in Standby.

Thermal Control Systems:

• Air conditioner SKV-1 is On, SKV-2 is Off.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

• C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.
• GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup (new patches loaded on both).
• EXT-2 is On (primary), EXT-1 is off.
• LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
• PL-1 MDM is On (primary); PL-2 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 down (as of 11/14).
• 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
• Attitude — U.S. SIGI-1
• Angular rates — U.S. RGA-1

Flight Attitude:

• XPOP 3-CMG Momentum Management (yaw/pitch/roll = 0.52/-8.81/-0.04 deg)
• Solar Beta angle — -75.0 deg (magnitude decreasing)

Communications & Tracking Systems:

• FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operating.
• All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
• S-band is operating nominally.
• Ku-band is operating nominally (except for occasionally parking of antenna due to XPOP increasing thermal temperatures).
• Audio subsystem operating nominally.
• Video subsystem operating nominally.
• MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:

• SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at Lab PDGF with Keep Alive (KA) power on both strings.
• MBS: KA power on both strings.  MT: latched and mated at WS7, with KA power.  POA: KA power on both strings.
• RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.

A very Happy Christmas and Holiday Season to one and all in space and on the ground in the ISS cosmos!