Status Report

ISS On-Orbit Status 7 Oct 2002

By SpaceRef Editor
October 7, 2002
Filed under , ,

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously.
Week 18 has begun, and the Expedition Five crew can look forward to receiving
visitors on Wednesday.

STS-112/Atlantis launched on time, 3:46 pm EDT, on Mission ISS-9A, carrying
a crew of six (Commander Jeffrey Ashby, Pilot Pamela Melroy, Mission Specialists
David Wolf, Sandra Magnus, Piers Sellers and Fyodor Yurchikhin), the 14.5-ton,
$390-million S1 truss element, and about 1000 lbs of supplies and equipment.
Sleep period for the Shuttle crew began six hours after liftoff, about
two hours after the station’s shifted sleep shift. It is the 111th Shuttle
mission since program inception, the 26th flight of Atlantis, and the
15th STS mission in the ISS program.

Nominal major milestones of 9A are (all times Eastern Daylight) —
Dock: Wednesday, 10/9, at 11:29 am,
Transfer & Installation of S1 truss: Thursday,10/10, at 6:30 am
EVA-1 (6h30m): Thursday, 10/10, at 10:40 am
Reboost 1 (3.8 m/s): 10/12, at 6:50 am
EVA-2 (6h30m): Saturday, 10/12, at 10:30 am
Reboost 2 (2.6 m/s): 10/14, at 8:10 am
EVA-3 (6h30m): Monday, 10/14, at 10:30 am
Undock: Wednesday, 10/16, at 9:13 am
Landing: Friday, 10/18, at 11:40 am.

After wakeup at 4:00 am EDT (two hours later than usual) and breakfast,
CDR Valery Korzun started his day with the regular checkup of the BIO-5
Rasteniya-2 ("plants-2") experiment.

FE-2 Sergei Treschev reconfigured the Russian Regul-Packet communications
system for
16 kilobyte/sec by setting up laptop #3 with the upgrade software and
making the connection from the laptop to the TLF3 channel of the Regul
onboard system. The new configuration of the Regul Packet radiogram system
was then tested and later returned to 4.8 and 1.6 kbps . [Packet mode
provides computer data exchange from MCC-M to the Service Module (SM)
over VHF, including "radiograms" (mail files).]

FE-1/SO Peggy Whitson worked on the MSG/PFMI (microgravity science glovebox/pore
formation and mobility investigation) experiment, removing the finished
PFMI-05 sample and installing a new one, PFMI-02, for processing.

Whitson also completed the last session on the ADVASC (advanced astroculture)
payload, getting a gas sample from the growth chamber and monitoring the
experiment status. When 9A launch was confirmed, ADVASC was deactivated.

Later, Peggy Whitson prepared the ZCG (Zeolite crystal growth) samples
for return on 9A, removing seven autoclaves from the ARCTIC-2 freezer
and stowing them in two cargo bags in foam cutouts. ARCTIC-2 was then
commanded to a higher temperature setpoint.

Valery Korzun started regeneration of absorption bed #1 of the BMP micropurification
unit, leaving channel 2 in Purify mode. The "bakeout" cycle
in the filter beds is repeated every 20 days.

Sergei Treschev completed a "refresh" of the internal batteries
of laptop #2 by switching them through a discharge/recharge cycle to restore
their full capacity.

Korzun and Whitson spent about 45 minutes assembling components of the
ETVCG (external television camera group) that will be installed during
the upcoming 9A spacewalks to stanchions on the S1 truss and the Lab module
to provide external camera views. [ETVCG comprises the PTU (pan tilt unit)
CTVC (color TV camera), camera lens hood, TVCIC (TV camera interface converter),
and VLA (video luminaire assembly).]

Routine daily servicing tasks were completed by Korzun (SOSh life support
systems maintenance), Whitson (payload status checkup), and Treschev (IMS
inventory delta file preparation for downlink).

Korzun also performed the weekly maintenance of the TVIS treadmill.

All crewmembers did the regular daily physical exercise, and Valery and
Peggy completed their PFE (periodic fitness evaluation).

The crew set up their TV production equipment and downlinked a lively
"show" to be replayed at the first game of the Major League
Baseball World Series on Saturday, 10/19. In a carefully choreographed
script, the ISS crew will "throw out" the ceremonial first pitch
of the World Series.

The three 9A spacewalks will be done from the ISS Airlock (A/L). Since
A/L depress cycles will increase cabin pressure and oxygen partial pressure
(ppO2) in the station, total pressure (which must not reach 770 mmHg)
and ppO2 (which must not exceed 24.1% in the station) will be carefully
managed by MCC-H. [The allowable constraint "box" is 734mm to
745 mm for total pressure, and 146 mm to 22% of total pressure for ppO2.]

Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations) program were Bombay,
India (nadir pass over this major west coast city; ESC [electronic still
camera] requested), Patagonian Glaciers (looking left of track for detailed
views of cloudfree northern ice field. Crew was asked to photograph glacier
tongues and microtopography on flowing ice of glaciers), Athens, Greece
(nadir pass; ESC. Increment 4 images suggest Athens alone can generate
a smog plume. Crew was to look obliquely around the city with the sea
as backdrop, to document such a phenomenon), Istanbul, Turkey (nadir pass;
ESC. Increment 4 images suggest Istanbul generates a its own smog plume,
easily visible on handheld photos. Crew to look obliquely with the sea
as backdrop, to document such a phenomenon. [Large Third World cities
may produce such features which are nevertheless too small for TOMS aerosol
sensor and similar satellites to document effectively]), Hurricane damage,
Yucatan (Hurricane Isidore reached Category 4 status in late September
and parked over northern Yucatan before heading to Louisiana [one week
before Hurricane Lili]. Extensive forest damage should be detectable,
as it was after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Handheld photos show that the
influence of Gilbert was still detectable from space this year. Crew was
asked to shoot mapping swaths across the Yucatan peninsula, visible right
of track [damaged areas appear lighter in color than live forest and may
display arcuate/rounded margins like areas flattened by Gilbert]), Tuamotu-Austral
Islands (detailed views of those islands nearest track), and Tuamotu Archipelago
(detailed views of those islands nearest track).

CEO images can be viewed at the website http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:22 am EDT):

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

Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32-amp mode), on backup pump. Vozdukh
CO2 scrubber is ON in MANUAL cycle mode #5, i.e., 10-min. cycle time (vacuum
pump failed).. U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is ON. BMP Harmful Impurities unit:
Absorbent bed #1 in Regeneration mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 746, temperature (deg C) —
26.7, ppO2 (mmHg) — 154.1, ppCO2 (mmHg) — 0.8.
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 751, temperature (deg C) —
20.0.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 744, temperature (deg C) — 21.0.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 741.34, temperature (deg C) — 22.7 (shell);
ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 743.30, temperature (deg C) — 25.1, ppO2
(mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 743.30, temperature (deg
C) — n/a; shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.8, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2
(mmHg) — n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 22.8
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 20.3

(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS): Total propellant load available (SM + FGB) —
3639 kg (8023 lb) [as of 9/19].

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):
Both P6 channels fully operational. Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B in dual-angle
ops, BGA 4B in Autotrack mode (solar-tracking).
SM batteries: Battery data unavailable.
FGB batteries: Battery data unavailable.
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-3 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-1 is in standby.
GNC-2 MDM is prime; GNC-1 is Backup.
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-2 MDM is On (primary); PL-1 MDM is off (cold backup).
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): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:
3 CMGs on-line.
State vector — Russian segment
Attitude — Russian segment
Angular rates — Russian segment

Communications & Tracking Systems:
All 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 MBS PDGF1 (mobile base system/power & data grapple
fixture 1) and PDGF2, with Keep Alive power on both strings. SSRMS based
on PDGF1 (LEE A, derigidized)
MBS: Keep Alive power on both strings.
RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:52am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 384.2 km
Apogee — 396.0 km
Perigee — 372.4 km
Period — 92.2 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.63 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0017426
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
Solar Beta Angle — 8.9 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Altitude decrease — 300 m (mean) in last 24 hours
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 22155
Current Flight Attitude — LVLH (local vertical/local horizontal = "earth-fixed":
z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch:
-7.8 deg, roll: 0 deg]).with CMG/Thruster Assist Momentum Management).

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

SpaceRef staff editor.