Status Report

ISS On-Orbit Status 4 Mar 2003

By SpaceRef Editor

March 4, 2003

Filed under ISS On-orbit status, NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, US

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Space Day 101 for Expedition 6 (from STS-113 launch on 11/23/02).

After wake-up (1:00am EST), the crew was thanked for their “marathon troubleshooting” of OpsLAN and DOUG yesterday (see below).

Today’s scheduled SSRMS/robotics operations were successfully completed, after some DOUG (dynamic operations ubiquitous graphics) laptop adjusting. CDR Ken Bowersox and FE-2/SO Don Pettit maneuvered Canadarm2 into specific positions to conduct a survey of the S1 truss, to inspect seven RBVM QD (radiator beam valve module quick disconnect) thermal covers and the S0-S1 zenith interface. Downlinked video is being analyzed, but based on tentative quick-look inspection, all QD booties looked OK. SSRMS remains grappled to the Lab PDGF and will be reconfigured for the P1 truss survey on 3/6, to survey two RBVM QD booties and the port SVS (space vision system) target array. [At end of ops, the arm will be left parked in the position required for a subsequent Moscow-requested inspection of the Service Module (SM) solar array #2 with its portside Kurs-P antenna and its high-frequency feeder cable along the array.]

In the Russian segment (RS), FE-1 Nikolai Budarin installed and connected some new hardware for the antenna feeder unit (AFU) of the SM’s television subsystem, including loads, cables and circulators.

Later in the day, Budarin ran tests of video- and audio-recording of the LIV onboard television system, with the V/K-1 video camera and a new microphone (GNShK). Purpose of the activity was to test a modified audio recording procedure in order to reduce noise during the process.

Budarin performed scheduled IFM (in-flight maintenance) on the SRV-K2M condensate water processor by removing and replacing its BKO multifiltration/purification column unit which reached its service life limit (450 liters min.). During this activity, Nikolai also completed the regular inspection of the system’s BRPK-1 liquid/air separator. [The SRV-K2M converts collected condensate into drinking water and dispenses the reclaimed water (warm and hot) for drinking and preparation of food and beverages.]

Don Pettit performed the daily routine inspection of the SOSh life support system, incl. ASU toilet system. Budarin worked on the IMS (inventory management system) delta file, responding to some specific tag-up questions uplinked from TsUP to sync up the IMS database.

Ken Bowersox unstowed and set up the Foot (foot/ground reaction forces during space flight) payload equipment, preparing it for tomorrow’s EMG (electromyography, i.e., muscular electric signals) calibration and day-long experiment run.

Budarin returned to the recently terminated BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) experiment for replacement of the old root module with a new one, replacement of the experiment software package, and activation of the hardware.

All crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise program. Bowersox also conducted the periodic (every other week) inspection of the RED (resistive exercise device), and Pettit performed the weekly maintenance of the TVIS treadmill (a five-minute task usually done just prior to power-down or end of exercise session).

The CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation) is failed in manual unpowered mode. It can be used for general exercising. No spare parts are being manifested on the upcoming Progress resupply flight.

Early in the day, the crew downlinked TV greetings to the ladies of the city of Korolev for the upcoming International Women Day (March 8). The videotaped message will be played tomorrow when the Korolev City Administration holds a meeting in the city’s Business and Entertainment Center as part of the 65th anniversary program of the city, dedicated to the March 8 holiday. “We wish you joy, prosperity, success, happiness, and love”.

The U.S. motion control system continues using Russian attitude, angular rate, and state vector (position, velocity) source data, to preclude any anomalous RGA (rate gyro assembly) data propagation through the system. The GNC (guidance, navigation & control) MDM software patch, to correct for the RGA “data staleness” problem, worked as expected, but an additional data handling problem with the new R3 software was discovered. [Viz., during staleness periods, the U.S. ACS (attitude control system) erroneously receives a rate value of zero. A new patch is in work, and some other problems are also receiving increased scrutiny since last Sunday. R3 transition activities are estimated to take another week.]

The upcoming change of ISS attitude from the current sun-oriented XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) back to earth-oriented LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal) will be conducted under Russian attitude control, with US control deselected, to ensure safe ops in view of the current GNC rate data problem.

Russian 7.01 software transition activities have been stopped for the time being, until the USOS GNC MDM patch is in place and the R3 upgrade is finished. Depending on the GNC fix, they are planned to be picked up again on 3/17-19, with 3/20-21 held as reserve days. Meanwhile, both the TVM (Terminal) and TsVM (Central) computer systems in the SM are running on reduced redundancy.

Depending on how the 7.01 upgrade operations go, first choice for the Stage EVA for Bowersox and Pettit, from the U.S. Airlock, would still be 3/20, but 3/25 is now under assessment as alternate date, if Moscow needs more time margin. The O2 prebreathe for the spacewalk will be in-suit, since the failure of the CEVIS manual load selection method precludes its use for the procedure (which requires specific exercise loads “metering”). [One drawback is that in-suit prebreathe requires much more holding time than the exercise procedure.]

TsUP and RSC-Energia are still holding 3/11 and 3/13 for the Progress thruster manifolds 1 and 2 (4 jets each) dynamic tests, pending final inputs from the subsystems manufacturers. Moscow is also developing details for the proposed actual reboost/altitude strategy thereafter. [Basic intent is to boost ISS altitude as high as possible while still able to accommodate rendezvous/docking of 6S/Soyuz TMA-2 in early May. A (probably unlikely) Shuttle launch in Summer would then require a moderate de-boost to lower altitude for rendezvous compatibility (370 km).]

Yesterday’s OpsLAN (operations local area network) reconfiguration steps to connect the upgraded RS BRI SmartSwitch/Ethernet to the SSC (station support computer) OpsLAN and subsequent testing were all executed by Budarin and Bowersox as planned. But they required extensive troubleshooting afterwards when the “ping” tests were unsuccessful. [Currently, the only connection from the Lab subnet to the SM subnet is the SM printer (i.e., SSC Router 1 in FGB is working); other than that, the SSC clients in the SM have no connection to the USOS File Server. Intermediate screen captures are being downlinked for data analysis.]

MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) troubleshooting is continuing. No significant power surge was noticed as a result of the first (P107) connector re-installation by Pettit yesterday, which clears it from the list of potential sources of the +12V trip anomaly at this time. [As next step in the lengthy procedure, the rack will be rotated again to allow reconnection of connector P108. Because of the very limited Ku-band availability, Pettit’s involvement has now been added to the “job jar” task list for temporal flexibility.]

According to MCA (major constituents analyzer) readings, carbon dioxide partial pressure (ppCO2) in the Lab was 3.7 mmHg this morning. Based on the CDMK (CO2 monitoring kit), CO2 levels in Lab and SM differ now by only 0.2 mmHg. Vozdukh is on, in manual mode. With CDRA (CO2 removal assembly) turned off since last Friday, this means that Vozdukh is doing very well.

Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were Fires in Southeast Asia(DYNAMIC EVENT TARGET: The burning season in Southeast Asia continues unabated and smoldering fires are generating dangerous levels of aerosols, especially carbon monoxide. On this pass, the crew was to look left of track to document the areal extent of smoke and locate point sources), Mekong River Delta (although ISS had a nadir pass over the main channels of this delta system, the crew was to look right of track to the SW for land use and drainage patterns in the older, less active areas to the SW. Sun glint enhancement of water bodies was possible), Tropical Cyclone Japhet (DYNAMIC EVENT TARGET: Tropical Cyclone Japhet made landfall yesterday on the central coast of Mozambique as a major storm. By the time of this pass the remains of the storm should have been well inland. Crew was to look for evidence of the storm’s passage such as flooding, altered vegetation patterns. and sediment plumes in the sea), West African Fires (DYNAMIC EVENT TARGET: As the dry season begins in western Africa, numerous fires are being detected in satellite imagery. Crew was asked to look obliquely either side of track to detect the smoke plumes and the their distribution), Western Mediterranean Dust (as a powerful winter storm cranks up SW of the British Isles, the crew was to look for windborne dust plumes to develop in northern Algeria, right of track as they crossed northern Spain), and Eruption of Soufriere Hills (DYNAMIC EVENT TARGET: Lava dome growth and pyroclastic flows are occurring on the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the island of Montserrat. Looking right of track first for the volcano’s smoke and ash plume, then for details of conditions on the island itself).
CEO images can be viewed at the website
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

U.S. and Russian Segment Status(as of 1:22pm 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). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is operating. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purifymode; bed #2 in Purify mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 753; temperature (deg C) — 26.7; ppO2 (mmHg) — 183.0; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.2 (suspect).
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 21.1.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 21.3.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 741.34; temperature (deg C) — 23.9 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — 167.0; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 4.1.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 743.30; temperature (deg C) — 22.0; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 743.40; temperature (deg C) — 21.0; shell heater temp (deg C) — 21.9, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 25.2
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 16.2

(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS):

Total propellant load available [SM(820) + FGB(2753) + Progress(576)] — 4149kg (9147 lb)as of 2/27/03 . (Capability: SM — 860 kg; FGB — 6120 kg).

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

Both P6 channels fully operational. Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and 4B both in auto track (sun following) mode.
SM batteries: All batteries (8) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
FGB batteries: Batteries #2 and #6 are offline; all batteries (4) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 and PCU-2 both in Standby mode.

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.
INT-1 is operating; INT-2 is Off.
EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is Off.
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-2 MDM is On (primary); PL-1 MDM is Off
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 out of the set (as of 11/14/02).
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Lane 1 is out of the set (as of 3/2/03).

Attitude Control Systems:

3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).
State vector source — Russian
Attitude source — Russian
Angular rate source — Russian.

Flight Attitude:

XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = “sun-fixed” [yaw: 0 deg, pitch: -8.8 deg., roll: 0 deg]), with CMG/Thruster Assist Momentum Management).
Solar Beta Angle: -20.4 deg (magnitude decreasing).

Communications & Tracking Systems: