ISS On-Orbit Status 26 Nov 2002

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously
or below. Flight Day 4 of 11A.

Crew wake-up was at 8:50am (all times EST). Since 9:28pm last night,
when the new custom seat liners were reported in place aboard the Soyuz
crew return vehicle, CDR Kenneth "Sox" Bowersox, FE-1 Nikolay
Budarin and FE-2/SO Donald "Don" Pettit are officially in charge
of the station as Expedition 6. Expedition 5 CDR Valery Korzun, FE-1/SO
Peggy Whitson and FE-2 Sergei Treschev are now officially members of the
Shuttle crew.

Transfer and installation of the 14.5-ton, $390 million P1 solar array
truss segment, the primary objective of 11A, was successfully completed.
[First grapple of the structure in the Shuttle payload bay (PLB) with
the RMS, controlled by CDR Jim Wetherbee, was at 10:01am. When P1 started
moving out of the PLB, it was on a critical path dictated by a "thermal
clock" counting down to limit the truss’ exposure to cold temperatures
during its "free flight" period. P1 grappling by Peggy Whitson
with the SSRMS followed at 10:40am, and release of the RMS at 10:49am.
Pre-install position was reached at 12:50pm, and first capture at 1:36pm.
At 1:48, the 45-ft. long truss was firmly installed, raising ISS total
mass to over 392,000 lbs (196 tons).]

After the release of the P1, Whitson, Bowersox and Pettit maneuvered
the SSRMS to the Lab PDGF (power and data grapple fixture), grappling
it to make it the arm’s base. Later in the day, Sox and Don will ungrapple
the MBS (mobile base system) on the other end of the arm and maneuver
Canadarm2 to the designated EVA-2 viewing position for next Thursday.

After preparing their EVA equipment (using LiOH canisters for CO2 resorption),
donning EMUs (extravehicular mobility units) equipped with EVARM (EVA
radiation monitoring) badges, and purging the suits, MS1 Mike Lopez-Alegria
(EV1) and MS2 John Herrington (EV2) started pre-breathing for EVA-1 at
about 1:00pm, using the station CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration
isolation) exerciser to speed up the process of washing out nitrogen gas
from tissue and blood by breathing pure O2 while exercising vigorously,
followed by a much shorter 10.2-depress period in the Airlock. The entire
prebreathe procedure, in this way, takes about one hour. Depressurization
of the A/L begun at about 2:15pm.

EVA-1 started at 2:49pm with the egress of EV1 and EV2 from the Joint
Airlock (A/L). PLT Paul Lockhart, also wearing a spacesuit, is acting
as onboard IV (intravehicular crewmember). Major tasks for the spacewalk
are (1) connecting power, data and fluid umbilicals between the S0 and
P1 trusses, releasing 24 launch lock bolts on the new CETA (crew and equipment
translation aid) cart, installing six SPDs (spool positioning devices)
on ammonia line quick disconnects (QDs), removing a "drag link"
(a large metal launch restraint rod) and installing the first WETA (wireless
video system external transceiver assembly), which relays video imagery
from EVA helmet cameras (ERCAs).

First activation of the P1’s MDM computer is scheduled for the early
evening hours tonight.

The CEVIS failed last night in automatic mode, apparently due to a malfunctioning
microswitch. An IFM (in-flight maintenance) via a manual knob succeeded
in resetting the microswitch to make contact for auto mode that displays
the exercise program and adjusts tension automatically. As a test, Peggy
Whitson completed two prebreathe runs without problem. As a back-up to
CEVIS, the Shuttle ergometer bike can be used for the EVAs, or the CEVIS
in manual mode.

Expedition 6 and 7 crewmembers spent several hours with handover activities.

The daily routine tasks of SOSh life support systems maintenance, IMS
inventory update file preparation and Lab payload status check were completed
by Nikolay Budarin, Sergei Treschev and Peggy Whitson, respectively.

Shortly after Shuttle docking last night, ISS suffered a temporary loss
of CMG (control moment gyroscopes) attitude control due to a Russian ground
operator error in implementing an unusual configuration for the thrusters
of the Russian MCS (motion control system). The Shuttle maintained attitude
control until TsUP corrected the software command and restored ISS attitude
control to a nominal state. [For attitude maneuvers with minimum propellant
expenditure, Progress thrusters, fed from Progress tanks, are commonly
used for pitch and yaw, while Service Module (SM) thrusters, fed from
SM tanks, provide roll control, due to the Progress’ short "lever
arm" on the roll axis. In a new procedure in use for the first time
since 11/16, intended to preserve service life of the Progress-SM refueling
system (esp. the pumps), the SM roll thrusters get their propellants directly
from the Progress refueling tanks and plumbing. After yesterday’s docking,
CMG desaturation, expected because of a normal 3 degree attitude error
in the Orbiter tolerance range or "deadband", was requested
by the US GNC (guidance, navigation and control system) from the RS, but
the SM roll thrusters failed when a zeroed command, used as safety interlock
and inadvertently left zeroed, prevented opening Progress propellant lines.
Contributing to the lengthy period of recovery was the fact that the failure
occurred outside the RGS (Russian ground site) comm range, limiting telemetry
to the SM "roll thrusters failed" indication only. Station control
is now–and for the remainder of the docked phase–back on normal CMG
TA (thruster assist), with the SM roll propulsion fed from SM tankage.]

More-than-planned propellant expenditure by the Shuttle for the attitude
event has so far not impacted the upcoming reboosts as planned. One minor
effect of the Shuttle maneuvering was a greater reduction in ISS orbit
altitude in the last 24 hours than is normally the case.

The Elektron oxygen generator shut down last night when a valve in its
water feed system failed. It was restarted and is operating nominally.
[Cause was determined to be a conflict between an older software patch
used and the new end connector switches of the recently installed redesigned
liquid unit. The old software had been left in place to experiment with
synchronizing it with the new switches. MCC-M will continue to look for
the optimum software setting for the switches. If this causes more shutdowns,
the Elektron is easily restarted by the crew.]

After the docking yesterday, Shuttle-to-ISS hardline intercom (ICOM-A)
was found to be inoperable (same as on 9A), and docked air-to-ground 1
(A/G1) from ISS to Orbiter was intermittent. These issue may not be worked
out until FD7. There are no impacts on operations. UHF (ultra-high frequency)
is powered on, carrying the standard "big loop", supported by
a drag-through for ICOM-A, to be used for the EVAs.

CDRA (carbon dioxide removal assembly) failed yesterday after three half-cycles
and had to be restarted. Restart was successful, and CDRA is working.

MCA (major constituent analyzer) has failed and was restarted to A/L
sampling mode. The crew was advised to take both CSA-CPs (compound specific
analyzer-combustion products) in the A/L and read down the oxygen values.

All expedition 6 and 7 crewmembers performed their daily exercise.

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 3:15am 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 (manual mode 5, cycle time 10 min). 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) — 743; temperature (deg C) —
25.4; ppO2 (mmHg) — 137.3; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.5.
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 742; temperature (deg C) —
19.9.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 755; temperature (deg C) — 18.7.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 738.80; temperature (deg C) — 22.0 (shell);
ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 741.28; temperature (deg C) — 24.3; ppO2
(mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 741.38, temperature (deg
C) — 22.6; shell heater temp (deg C) — 22.7, ppO2 (mmHg) — 160.0; ppCO2
(mmHg) — 3.7.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.2
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 21.2
(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS): Total propellant load available (SM + FGB + Progress)
— 3808 kg (8395 lb) [as of 11/21/02].

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):
Both P6 channels fully operational. Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and
BGA 4B both in dual-angle mode (directed position).
SM batteries: Battery #3 is in "Cycle" mode; all other batteries
(7) are in "Partial Charge": mode.
FGB batteries: Batteries #4 is off line; battery #3 is in "Cycle"
mode; all other batteries (4) 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 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-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 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.
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:
3 CMGs on-line.
State vector — U.S. SIGI-1
Attitude — Russian segment (RS)
Angular rates — U.S. RGA-1 (from RS attitude)

Communications & Tracking Systems:
FGB MDM-1 failed; FGB MDM-2 is operating.
All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
S-band is operating nominally.
Ku-band is operating nominally.
Audio subsystem operating nominally.
Video subsystem operating nominally.
MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:
SSRMS/Canadarm2 at Lab PDGF in EVA-2 viewing position, with Keep Alive
power on both strings (later tonight).
MBS: Keep Alive power on both strings. POA: Keep Alive power on both strings.
RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:59am EST [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 387.8 km
Apogee — 396.9 km
Perigee — 378.8 km
Period — 92.31 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0013338
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
Altitude loss — 670 (mean) in last 24 hours
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 22929
Current Flight Attitude LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal = "earth-fixed":
z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: 0.83 deg, pitch:
22.54 deg, roll: 1.35 deg]). Changed because of change in overall mass
properties due to P1.

For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times,
see
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html