ISS On-Orbit Status 25 Mar 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Week 15 of Expedition 4 has begun.

Today’s 6:00 am (EST) wake-up allowed the crew to sleep in five hours, making up for yesterday’s extended working day. At sleep time tonight (4:30 pm), however, the station will get back on regular “day/night” cycle.

The reduced workload today focused on unloading of the newly arrived Progress M1-8, for which the crew used the bar-code-reader assisted IMS (inventory management system). The crew’s detailed unloading plan specifies ground-recommended stowage locations in SM and FGB for each of the hundreds of items brought up by the cargo ship.

First cargo unloaded by CDR Yuri Onufrienko was the SPC thermal container for the CPCF-2 (commercial protein crystallization facility-2) experiment payload, which Yuri then transferred to the SM. After installing the equipment behind panel 234, he monitored activation of the CPCF-2 module, tagging up with ground specialists. Once the protein crystal growth process has begun, it will continue for 3-9 weeks without crew participation. All activities of the transfer, installation and activation were to be documented photographically.

MCC-Moscow (TsUP) meanwhile conducted a series of remote ops of the Progress-to-SM fuel and oxidizer refilling system, starting with a leak check. The tanks of the refill system were then pressurized, valves opened and the system purged. Finally, the gas purge manifold was isolated from the fuel/oxidizer refill manifold.

TsUP also uploaded software patches to the Russian TVM and TsVM computers to correct timing system update issues, while MCC-Houston uploaded software to two C&C MDM computers, with the new telemetry format for the coming UF-2 stage configuration.

FE-1 Carl Walz completed the regular daily SOSH life support system maintenance, followed by inspection of the BRPK condensate water separator system. The routine inspection includes the pressure regulator/difference indicator which monitors the performance of the separator. [The separator contains porous cermet hydrophilic (“water attracting”) tubes through which the gas-liquid mixture from the heat exchanger moves. The air is separated from the condensate, but when the separator exceeds its service life or malfunctions, incomplete separation of the atmospheric condensate occurs, and the water then collects under the “sheet” of porous fluoroplastic.]

FE-2 Dan Bursch updated the daily IMS “delta” file and checked on the status of the autonomous UF-1 payloads.

All crewmembers were also scheduled to perform their regular physical exercise.

Correction: The installation of so-called seam supports over panel junctions in the Node scheduled last week (3/21), did not take place as assumed. The T-shaped brackets had originally been removed during closeout panel access procedures for the Node’s radial ports and were to be reattached by Walz and Bursch on 3/21. However, they reported that the area in question was being used as a staging place for various CTBs (cargo transfer bags). The activity was therefore deferred until some time during the Stage 8A timeframe when the CTBs need to be moved in preparation for UF-2.

CEO target areas today were Parana River (the wetlands and agricultural lands in the drainage basins of the Parana and the Uruguay Rivers were to the left of the ISS track, including the great right-angle bend of the Parana at the Ibera swamp. Deforestation, agricultural expansion, and other land-use changes are rapid in this region, and the ISS photos will contribute to scientistsâ time-series documenting these changes), Patagonian Glaciers (weather appeared favorable for capturing glaciers of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Along the eastern flank of the Andes, crew was to document glaciers feeding the large lakes. Context views of this less-photographed region may be all that they could acquire with ISS in XPOP attitude), and Tuamotu Archipelago (ISS attitude and ground track, which parallels most of the Tuamotu chain, were favorable for taking a broad regional strip of photos down the archipelago. The smaller atolls of Nepuka and Tepoto were nearest to the station, with the principal cluster of large atolls farther SW).

Three orbital debris conjunction objects are being tracked for passing by the ISS: #8745 tomorrow (3/26) at 4:21 am EST, #12139 tomorrow (3/26) at 11:44 am, and #27163 on 3/27 at 6:55 am. No measures are required at this time.

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 2:00 pm EST today):

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

• Elektron O2 generator is On (16 Amps mode; crew was told to mode to 24 A at end of day). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is ON in MANUAL cycle mode #5 (vacuum pump failed). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is in Standby. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.
  
• SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 763, temperature (deg C) — 26.6, ppO2 (mmHg) — 159.0, ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.5.
  
• SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 767, temperature (deg C) — 21.5; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 756, temperature (deg C) — 24.0; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 756.61, temperature (deg C) — 23.3 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 758.65, temperature (deg C) — 24.8, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
  
• Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 758.39, temperature (deg C) — 21.9; shell heater temp (deg C) — 21.7, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  
• PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.0
  
• PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 11.3

  
  

(Note: Partial pressures ppO2 and ppCO2 in U.S. segment (USOS) not available because MCA [major constituent analyzer] is failed and in Extended Life mode [= a state that preserves mass spectrometer vacuum but produces no pp data]).

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

• Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B in Autotrack mode, BGA 4B in Autotrack mode.
  
• SM batteries: all batteries (8) in “partial charge” mode.
  
• FGB battery #6 is offline (capacity restoration mode [ROM]); all other batteries (5) are in “partial charge” mode.
  
• Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

  
  

Thermal Control Systems:

• Air conditioner SKV-1 is Off (Freon leak). SKV-2 is On.

  
  

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 back-up.
  
• LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
  
• APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
  
• SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.
  
• SM Central Computer (TsVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

  
  

Communications Systems:

• S-band is operating nominally.
  
• Ku-band is operating nominally.
  
• Audio subsystem operating nominally.
  
• Video subsystem operating nominally.
  
• MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) operating nominally.

  
  

Robotics:

• SSRMS/Canadarm2 at Progress viewing position, with Keep Alive power on both strings.
  
• RWS (robotics workstations) are Off.

  
  

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:34 am EST):

• Mean altitude — 391.3 km
  
• Apogee — 393.8 km
  
• Perigee — 388.7 km
  
• Period — 92.4 min.
  
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
  
• Eccentricity — 0.0003699
  
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
  
• Altitude decrease — 380 m (mean) in last 24 hours
  
• Solar Beta Angle: +49.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
  
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 19098
  
• Current Flight Attitude — XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = “sun-fixed” [yaw: ~180 deg, pitch: -5 deg., roll: 0 deg])

  
  

For more on ISS orbit and naked-eye visibility dates/times, see