Status Report

ISS On-Orbit Status 8 Jan 2003

By SpaceRef Editor
January 8, 2003
Filed under , ,
ISS On-Orbit Status 8 Jan 2003
ISS

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.

After crew wake-up at 1:00am EST, first thing for CDR Ken Bowersox was an amateur (ham) radio pass with Ecole Immacule Conception (Immaculate Conception School) in Brest, Brittany/France, a Catholic elementary and infant school for 200 children aged 2 through 11 in 8 classes.  [Prior to the exchange, 23 pupils of age 10/11 in the Brest Amateur Radio Club studied some basics of astronomy, made models of the solar system, showing lunar phases, the sky, the sun and earth, wrote poems and prepared the questions for the radio contact.]

A second ham radio session was conducted later in the day (10:20am) by FE-2 Don Pettit with Sacagawea Middle School in Bozeman, Montana.  [Named for the young Indian guide that went with Lewis and Clarke, the school is seven years old and has grades 6-8, with 700 students total, 14 of which prepared questions for the ISS crew.]

FE-1 Nikolai Budarin completed his daily checkup of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 (“Plants-2”) payload which experiments with plant growth and development under spaceflight conditions.

Later in the day, Budarin performed another major in-flight maintenance job: successfully changing out of one of the eight 800A batteries in the Service Module (SM). A new storage unit replaced the failed battery #5,- a 1.5-hr task.  The failed 800A will be discarded on Progress.  A second SM battery, #7, remains off-line and is considered failed.

Bowersox transferred the data of his FOOT (foot/ground reaction forces during space flight) experiment of yesterday from the PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) Flash card to the HRF WS (human research facility workstation) computer, renamed the files and enabled them for downlinking.  [After downlink was complete, Sox deactivated the HRF WS, leaving HRF flat screen display, HRF common power 28 VDC cable and associated bracket assemblies deployed for future ops.]

For their second Robotics Day tomorrow, Bowersox and Pettit had an hour reserved on their schedule for reviewing the SSRMS DOUG (dynamic operations ubiquitous graphics) software setup.  [Tomorrow’s robotics operations with the SSRMS (space station remote manipulator system) will consist of several external surveys, all of which to be recorded with the VTR (video tape recorder) for ground study.  SSRMS, currently based on the PDGF (power and data grapple fixture) on the port side of the Lab, will first perform a single-joint maneuver to the Lab starboard side to view an open quick-disconnect MLI (multi layer insulation) cover on the thermal bootie attached to one of the four RBVM (radiator beam valve module) flexhoses.  Later, Sox and Don will  “fly” the arm back to the port side and conduct three more surveys, viz., the Z1 RPDA ORU (remote power distribution assembly/orbit replaceable unit) heat pipe radiator, the aft radiator baseplate, and the aft radiator itself.  Purpose: to look for any noticeable damage such as scuff marks, tears, bubbles, etc.]

Don Pettit completed the monthly maintenance of the CSA-CP (compound specific analyzer-combustion products), with planned switchover from the primary unit (#1008) to the backup unit (#1007).  Maintenance includes one hour of unattended data collection time.  [The new backup unit was then attached to the face of the CHeCS (crew health care systems) rack and the maintenance procedure continued with the new primary unit.]

Pettit also took the daily ACS (atmosphere control and supply) system CO2 (carbon dioxide) readout with the CDMK (carbon dioxide monitoring kit).

CDR Bowersox supported the ground-commanded full calibration of the MCA (major constituents analyzer) by first opening its VGA (verification gas assembly) valve and later closing it again after receiving MCC-H go-ahead.

FE-1 Nikolai Budarin Valery Korzun completed his planned MBI-8 Profilaktika (preventive health maintenance) fitness testing on the VELO (Russian cycle ergometer, VB-3), which is identical to the Russian MO-5 test of cardiovascular evaluation during graded VELO exercise.  [In addition to the nominal work-out procedure, the test requires the use of the TEEM-100M gas analyzer, measurement of the lactate level in the subject’s blood, and a subjective evaluation of the physical exertion levels during the test.  FE-2 Pettit provided assistance to Budarin as CMO (crew medical officer) and took digital imagery of Nikolai in gear on VELO with gas analyzer and Accusport lactate analyzer).]

Bowersox and Pettit each spent about half an hour performing the psychological MedOps WinSCAT (spaceflight cognitive assessment tool) experiment, a time-constrained test of cognitive abilities that is routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS every 30 days before or after the PHS (periodic health status) test or on special CDR’s, crewmember’s or flight surgeon’s request.

Later, Budarin completed the daily routine maintenance of the SOSh life support system in the SM (incl. ASU toilet system) as well as the daily IMS inventory update file preparation for downlinking, while Bowersox did the daily Lab payload status checkup (PCG-STES010, ZCG).

The crew downlinked an audio/video message of greetings for taping and playback at Boeing’s Space Shuttle Program Supplier Symposium on February 4-6 at KSC, to be attended by approximately 500 supplier representatives.

All crewmembers performed their regular physical exercise (2.5 hrs.).

The Russian BRPK-1 condensate water separator of the SRVK-2M condensate water processor continues failed.  SRVK is running with one operational BRPK.

Today’s targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were Athens, Greece (looking left of track; ESC [electronic still camera]), Alexandria, Egypt (nadir pass; ESC. A new library is being built in Alexandria by the Egyptian Government, to rival the famous ancient library that burned.  The new library is recognizable as a large circular building on an island in the middle of the city.  Costa Rica chose the new book of astronaut handheld views of that country as one of its contributions to this new library), Nile River Delta (nadir pass. Land use patterns and the distribution of cities of different size are the focus of interest), Cairo, Egypt (nadir and a touch left.  This city has doubled in size since the first handheld photos were taken.  Centered on the eastern side of the Nile [at the delta apex], it now reaches the western bluffs of the delta), Lagos, Nigeria (looking a touch right.  The city is located around lagoons on the Nigerian coast.  Good sun glint opportunity to show the complex coast of the city), Miami (looking a touch left; ESC), Navassa Island (between Jamaica and Haiti, this island is interesting for its coral reefs, that need to be mapped for a global mapping project), Caracas, Venezuela (looking a touch left on the coast; ESC), Las Vegas, Nevada (looking a touch left; ESC), Phoenix, AZ (looking a touch left; ESC. Crew was to try for the whole urban region in one or two views), Tucson, AZ (looking a touch left; ESC), High Central Andean Glaciers (looking for ice-capped volcanoes on ISS track down the spine of the Peruvian Andes.  These tropical glaciers are melting fast–exposing ice that is thousands of years old and losing the history of snow- and dustfall that the annual layers hold), Sabancaya Landslide area, Peru (landslide-prone mountainsides slightly left of track. Mapping series requested), and Chao Landslide area, Chile (landslide site at nadir.  Slopes on the west-facing Andes are so steep there is a danger of catastrophic collapse.  Crew to shoot a few overlapping views.  Oblique views right of track also requested for general landform study aimed at revealing the age of the Atacama Desert).
CEO images can be viewed at the website
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:45pm EST).

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

  • Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32 Amp mode).  Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is Off.  U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is On. TCCS is operational.  BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.
  • SM Working Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 742; temperature (deg C) — 23.8; ppO2 (mmHg) — 160.0; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.4 (suspect).
  • SM Transfer Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 756; temperature (deg C) — 19.3.
  • FGB Cabin:  Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 21.3.
  • Node:  Pressure (mmHg) — 739.44; temperature (deg C) — 22.4 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  • U.S. Lab:  Pressure (mmHg) — 741.08; temperature (deg C) — 20.8; ppO2 (mmHg) — 159.1; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 3.0 (suspect);
  • Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock):  Pressure (mmHg) — 741.08, temperature (deg C) — 26.0; shell heater temp (deg C) — 25.1, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
  • PMA-1:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 22.4
  • PMA-2:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 18.8

(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS): 

  • Total propellant load available (SM + FGB + Progress) — 3703 kg (8164 lb) [as of 1/2/03].

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

  • Both P6 channels fully operational.  Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and BGA 4B both in Autotrack mode (following Sun).
  • SM batteries:  Battery #7 is offline (suspected failed); battery #5 is online and in “Cycle” mode; all other batteries (6) are in “Partial Charge”: mode. 
  • FGB batteries:  Batteries #3 is off line; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
  • Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 is in Standby; PCU-2 is in Standby.

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-2 is On (primary), EXT-1 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 (as of 11/14).
  • SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:

  • 3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).
  • State vector — U.S. SIGI-1
  • Attitude — U.S. SIGI-1
  • Angular rates — U.S. RGA-1

Flight Attitude:

  • LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal = “earth-fixed”: z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch: -9.1 deg, roll: 0 deg]).
  • Solar Beta Angle:  -8.2 deg (magnitude decreasing)

Communications & Tracking Systems:

  • FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; 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 based at Lab PDGF with Keep Alive (KA) power on both strings.
  • MBS: KA power on both strings.  MT: at WS7, with KA power.  POA: KA power on both strings.
  • RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:18am EST [= epoch]):

  • Mean altitude — 391.4 km
  • Apogee — 394.8 km
  • Perigee — 387.9 km
  • Period — 92.38 min.
  • Inclination (to Equator) — 51.63 deg
  • Eccentricity — 0.0005097
  • Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
  • Solar Beta Angle — -8.2 deg (magnitude decreasing)
  • Altitude loss — 180 m (mean) in last 24 hours
  • Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98) — 23613
  • 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.