ISS On-Orbit Status 27 Apr 2002
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below. Day 541 of continuous station
occupancy, and the home in space has now six residents.
After wake-up half an hour earlier than usual (1:30am EDT), the ISS
crew established TV and comm set-ups for the arrival of Soyuz TM34.
CDR Yuri Onufrienko took air samples in the SM with the Russian
AK-1M sampler before the arrival. The Elektron oxygen
generator, with its new Liquid Unit installed yesterday by
Onufrienko, was activated by MCC-Moscow early in the morning and is
operating nominally again. To accommodate the increase in crew size,
FE-2 Dan Bursch also powered up the U.S. CDRA (carbon dioxide removal
assembly) in the Lab at 4:30 am, and it is running OK.
Soyuz TM-34/4S docked smoothly at 3:56 am EDT at the FGB nadir
port, piloted flawlessly by VC (visiting crew) CDR Yuri Gidzenko. The
ISS crew watched from inside the station, and FE-2 Dan Bursch rang
the ship’s bell at the moment of docking, an old navy ship’s
tradition signaling the arrival of new visitors. FE-1 Carl Walz
videotaped the docking ("it looks pretty cool"), then
played it back on downlink. After interface leak checks and
pressure equalization, hatches were opened at 5:25 am EDT, and
Gidzenko, Roberto Vittori and Mark Shuttleworth ingressed the ISS, in
that order. The event was covered live on TV for the ground,
transmitted on Ku-band from the FGB and SM. After a welcome
ceremony and greetings from officials on the ground, the day’s busy
schedule took over.
Soyuz was switched to ISS power, and Gidzenko and Vittori deactivated
the spacecraft at about 6:00 am. They then began with cargo
transfers from the Soyuz, using the IMS (inventory management system)
for guidance and logging.
Later in the day, both crews floated back and forth between FGB and
the DC-1 docking module, exchanging the Soyuz seat liners,
contour-fitted for each person to better accommodate landing impact
shock. The taxi crew’s seat liners were switched from the
"new" Soyuz TM-34 to their return vehicle, TM-33, at the
Pirs module. The
seat liners of the Expedition 4 crew were installed in the new CRV
(crew return vehicle) and portable survival gear was stowed in its
descent module. Dryout and stowage of the Sokol launch-and-entry
suits and gloves was then handled by Gidzenko and Onufrienko.
The VCs then received emergency operations training by CDR
Onufrienko, who "walked" them through the escape route in
case of emergency evacuation, familiarized them with the actual
location of hardware used in emergency situations (e.g., OSP-4/OKP-1
fire extinguisher, IPK gas mask, MV pressure gauge), and refreshed
their understanding of emergency alarm responses and the nominal
valve positions in the Soyuz TM-33 orbital module (BO) and descent
module (SA).
SFP Mark Shuttleworth and Gidzenko completed hardware transfer for
the South African ESCD (embryo and stem cell development) experiment,
followed by its deployment and connectiion to SM power.
[Shuttleworth documented the process by taking flash pictures with
his Nikon F5 still camera: the payload in Soyuz, its transfer to the
SM, deployment in the Working Compartment (panel 140) and the power
connections hook-up. Later, he recharged the still camera’s
battery.]
For the South African CCE experiment (study of micro-G effects on
autonomous cardiovascular activity and skeletal muscles), which he
had started shortly after Soyuz launch on 4/25, Shuttleworth today
logged food and fluids consumption and measurements, using his CCE
kit (voice recorder and tape measure).
VC FE-1 Roberto Vittori, assisted by Gidzenko, prepared and deployed
the AST spectrometer of the Italian ALTEINO experiment. [The
instrument was installed inside DC-1 on the hull in the vicinity of
the EV2 hatch, with its +Z axis oriented between DC-1 planes II and
III and its X-axis along the compartment axis (+X toward SM).
The AST was activated, and Vittori logged specifics for later
laptop downloading. ALTEINO studies the effects of heavy
charged particles (HCP) and phosphenes (light flashes) on the central
nervous system, i.e. brain functions, and the ability of astronauts
to function in this environment. The actual working sessions will
begin tomorrow.]
EXPPCS (Experiment of the Physics of Colloids in Space) was
powered up remotely on 4/26 in the hopes that the memory would have
cleared, to allow a successful reboot of the hardware. There was no
success, and the payload will be returned on UF-2.
Science Update (Expedition Four — 20th):
Between all current station occupants, a lot of great science is
happening on ISS. The
ZCG (Zeolite crystal growth) team is very excited to have their
samples processing, and the BPS (biomass production system)
investigators are very happy with the activities so far.
Hoffman-Reflex: In progress. The ground thanked the crew
for taking the time to perform the H-Reflex experiment one more time
on orbit. This session, occurring on 5/25 will complement well those
of the previous crews.
Extra-Vehicular Activity Radiation Monitors (EVARM): In
progress.
Ultrasound: Complete.
GASMAP/Pulmonary Function in Flight (PuFF): The PUFF
Principal
Investigator is highly pleased with the crew’s dedication to this
experiment, as is the Human Life Sciences team. The PuFF team is looking forward to another
outstanding monthly session on 4/29.
Downlink of the data from that session is planned for later the
same day.
Renal (Kidney) Stone Experiment: In progress.
Interactions (NTXN): In progress.
Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems (CBOSS):
Complete.
Physics of Colloids in Space (EXPPCS): Complete
(see above).
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): The RTS
Drawers and the embedded EE are not booting from the ICU Drawer. SAMS
is continuing to work this from the ground. Troubleshooting is
continuing.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): In
progress. MAMS continues collection and archival of
low-frequency acceleration data for the characterization of the ISS
quasi-steady microgravity environment. HiRAP was enabled and captured
the Soyuz docking.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System
(PCG-STES): Coming home.
Protein Crystal Growth-Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen (PCG-EGN): In
progress. All is nominal crystals are growing.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): Nominal and collecting
data.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Complete.
Active Rack Isolation System – Isolation Characterization
Experiment (ARIS-ICE): ARIS has remained in ACTIVE
isolation mode continuously for ZCG activities to date. ARIS
data indicate acceleration levels on the rack are well below the
system microgravity requirement.
EarthKAM: Currently complete. All EarthKAM images
are available for public access on the EarthKAM data system at:
http://EarthKAM.sdsc.edu/cgi-bin/datasys/ek_images_station
Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG): Crew was thanked for the
great job during the activation of the ZCG furnace this week.
All temperatures are nominal at their steady state set-points.
Good health and status data are being received. The addition of ZCG
into the daily status check is appreciated.
Biomass Production System-Photosynthesis Experiment & System
Testing Operation (BPS-PESTO): Obtaining ãprimeä in
the BPS Humidity System for Chamber 2 was the primary effort of the
week. Thanks to several crew procedures and automated commands the
problem has been corrected. So far, the chamber has remained primed
for 36 hours, and the team continues to monitor the hardware hourly.
Someone on the ground commented ã..I guess Dan just likes to
get up early and work out in the yard!ä All around, it has been
a very busy and successful week for the BPS payload and the team is
extremely grateful for the crew’s efforts.
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-High Density (CPCG-H):
In progress.
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): The
CGBA payload continues to function nominally. The ground is
currently troubleshooting a command telemetry issue where a full set
of standard telemetry files is not being received.
CEO (Crew Earth Observations): Today’s target areas were
W. Mediterranean Dust/Smog (as ISS left Africa and traveled
from the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia, over Sicily, crew was to look left
of track for European aerosols over the Tyrrhenian Sea. They passed
directly over Mt. Etna, which is still contributing its aerosols to
the mix, and they were to look both left and right as they crossed
the narrows of the Adriatic [Str. Of Otranto] to document smog
movement. On a second pass, the ISS should have left the clouds over
the eastern Maritime Alps, allowing the crew to photograph the
Milano-Torino industrial complex at the headwaters of the Po.
Of interest: continuing to document local sources and
accumulations of smog asISS traveled down the spine of Italy. As ISS
left the heel of the boot and crossed the Peloponnesos, another weak
storm system should have cleared out, providing a chance to record
any aerosols moving SE-ward toward Crete), Volga River Spring
Runoff (Dynamic Event: Spring snowmelt is increasing the flow
of Volga and Ural Rivers, bringing additional water to the delta and
coastal lowlands. As ISS crossed the broad Volga delta, crew was to
record river levels during spring runoff and note any flooding of the
wetlands. As Caspian Sea level has been rising, this area has been
progressively flooded, the delta margin is becoming submerged, and
water is commonly seen among the coastal dunes), Popocatepetl
Volcano (Dynamic Event: Light should have been favorable for
photographing details of the structure of smoke plumes coming from
Popocatepetl during the current cycle of activity. Popocatepetl was
on track and Ixtaccihuatl was just to the left; the sprawl of Mexico
City was a little farther left, while ISS passed over Puebla, also
with a population of several million), E. Sa. Nevada Watershed
Lakes (lakes along the NE flank of the Sierra Nevada were just
right of track — Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake. The bright, reflective
salt flats of Carson Sink will also be to the right. Crew was to
document lake levels, water levels in streams, and the appearance of
wetlands vegetation).
