ISS On-Orbit Status 26 Apr 2003
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Day 154 for Expedition 6 (since STS-113 launch, 11/23/02).
Soyuz TMA-2 (6S) with CDR Yuri Malenchenko and FE/SO Edward Lu launched on time (11:54pm EDT, 4/25; 9:54am local Kazakhstan time, 4/26) from the Baikonur Cosmodrom in Kazakhstan. The flawless liftoff and ascent to orbit was another important successor the Soyuz launch vehicle, which today has flown 427 times (with 417 successes). 6S is currently on its way to the rendezvous with the ISS on 4/28 morning, concluded by docking at 1:56am EDT (9:56am Moscow time, 8:56am DMT).
For the ISS, today was another Saturday with the regular weekly 3-hr. housecleaning, now additionally motivated by the expected arrival of the Expedition 7 duo. [The house cleaning focuses on removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, wet cleaning of surfaces with disinfectants and cleaning of fan screens to avoid temperature rises. Today’s “wet” portion of the “uborka” (clean-up) included treatment of the SM dining table surface and the Node/PMA-1 hatch with “Fungistat” disinfectant.]
FE-1 Nikolai Budarin completed his regular daily 5-min. inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 (“Plants-2”) plant growth experiment.
Nikolai also completed the daily routine task of SOZh life support systems maintenance.
All crewmembers worked out on TVIS, CEVIS, and RED, completing their daily physical exercise program.
ARCTIC troubleshooting has occurred to the point where power activation is desirable as next step. However, due to power constraints, it will not be scheduled until after the Soyuz docking. It will be hard-scheduled due to the ground’s need to be able to send commands to the EXPRESS Rack and to ARCTIC, so that the health and status data is observed as it comes back to life.
The ground has added the EarthKAM software re-activation to the task list. The EarthKAM folks need to perform a software checkout before operations begin on 4/28 (Monday) to resolve any issues that may arise.
MCC-H observed another shutdown of the VOA (volatile organics analyzer) with no explanation. The crew was asked, to “stop by” the VOA when convenient, and tell the ground whether or not the green power light is illuminated.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the Russian Orthodox world observes Easter. Happy Easter, Kolya!
Science Update (Expedition Six — 21st):
Lead Increment Scientist Vic Cooley drew the facit for the science accomplishments of Expedition 6:, which was “a very successful science mission”. Using downlinked data and returned ZCG and Renal samples already available on the ground will recover valuable science results for PuFF, FOOT, Renal, EVARM, ZCG, In-SPACE, CEO, EarthKAM, and MAMS/SAMS. Also the investigations requiring only pre/post flight data, Bone, Biopsy, Mobility, Epstein-Barr, and Chromosome, will perform their post flight data collection. POC will process the remaining In-SPACE and PFMI samples on Ed’s increment without any loss of science. The only investigation that may not be accomplished is the Protein Crystal Growth-STES experiment; it is at risk without a ride home. The ground will continue to control the environment of the STES crystals/solution in the hopes they can return soon. These accomplishments amount to a highly successful science mission.
Extra-Vehicular Activity Radiation Monitors (EVARM): EVARM badge batteries have reached the end of their life, and no further data can be collected.
GASMAP/Pulmonary Function in Flight (PuFF): Monday’s PuFF batch file transfer worked well and the ground believes that they now have all data files for all sessions on the ground.
Renal (Kidney) Stone Experiment: Completed for Increment 6. Bowersox and Pettit continue taking their stone-prevention (or placebo) pills. Third and final session is underway.
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Space Flight (FOOT): Thanks to Ken Bowersox, all his hard work and extra effort to complete the modified data session last Saturday, 4/19.
Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Hardware is stowed. Activities for Increment 6 are complete.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS is nominal. Currently analyzing data in support of InSPACE in addition to general characterization efforts toward tracking down numerous unknown disturbance sources.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS is nominal. Currently analyzing data in support of InSPACE in addition to general characterization efforts toward tracking down numerous unknown disturbance sources.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Temperatures are nominal. Crystals are still growing.
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): InSPACE is complete for the time being..
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside. Nominal and collecting data.
Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG): ZCG has finished science operations for Increment 6.
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): CGBA will be powered down next week. All data collected thus far indicate that CGBA is operating nominally.
EarthKAM (EK): Thanks for the crew’s attention in setting the EarthKAM equipment up (again) for operations next week. The camera will remain in idle until the window shutter is opened following the docking of the Soyuz on 4/28.
To date, over 1,470 images just from operations during Increment 6. EK images can be viewed on the Internet at
http://datasystem.earthkam.ucsd.edu/cgi-bin/datasys/ek_images_station
Crew Earth Observations (CEO): The ground continues to review the large number of images from earlier weeks. An image of Mt. Kilimanjaro contains excellent detail for mapping the summit ice field (crisp images with the 800 mm lens). The Aral Sea, with active dust plumes (also seen on other satellite images of the same day), is noteworthy. The ground is intrigued with ìalmost 3-Dî images of aurora, with clouds beneath. Several night cities have been identified, including New Orleans and Paris.
Today’s CEO targets, currently restricted by limited the use of the science window in the Lab including near-vertical targets from the city target list due to the current XPOP attitude, were Albuquerque, New Mexico (nadir pass; ESC [electronic still camera]), Berlin, Germany (nadir pass; ESC. Weather remains clear over Eastern Europe), Lake Nasser, Egypt (Dynamic event. Sun glint disc moving across this vast expanse of water. Pass continued down the length of the Red Sea), Western Mediterranean Dust (looking left and right of track along the African coast), and Angolan Biomass Burning (good pass over the zone most prone to burning on the planet. Looking left and right, as the dry season sets in), CEO images can be viewed at the websites)].
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov and
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
