ISS Science Operations Status for week ending 10-17-02
Completed Expedition Five experiments and new experiments
for the International Space Station swapped places during the visit of Space
Shuttle Atlantis to the orbiting research facility.
On Friday, Oct. 11, frozen StelSys experiment
liver cells processed during Expedition Five were transferred from the Destiny
lab to the Shuttle middeck for return.† Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG) samples
grown during the Expedition also were moved to Atlantis and stored for return.†
A Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES) growth
chamber with space-grown crystals was stored in the Shuttle middeck for return
and swapped places in the Destiny lab with another crystal growth unit ferried
up by the Shuttle. The new PCG-STES experiment was successfully activated.
Also on Friday, the crew collected post-spacewalk readings
on the EVA Radiation Monitoring dosimeter badges worn by David Wolf and
Piers Sellers during their first spacewalk to install the new S-1 Truss to the
Station. The crew also installed a new specially-designed electrical grounding
strap on EXPRESS Rack 2 and began preparations for a new ZCG experiment in the
rack. The Rack is equipped with an Active Rack Isolation System that
damps out vibrations caused by crew movement and operating equipment. The grounding
strap, as well as other cables connecting the rack to the lab module, is specially
designed to minimize vibrations. Ground
controllers, working with the crew on Friday, were unable to activate the salmonella
portion of the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), a Station
sortie experiment aboard Atlantis. Later, they successfully activated the yeast
growth portion of the experiment, which was completed Tuesday. The results
may help in the design of bioreactors on Earth that can culture large volumes
of cells for pharmaceutical and medical applications.
On Saturday, ground controllers successfully activated
the Zeolite Crystal Growth experiment. It is scheduled for a 15-day processing
run.
On Sunday, the Advanced Astroculture experiment
growth chamber deactivated earlier in the week was transferred to the Shuttle
along with its dried crop of soybean plants grown during the mission. In its
place the crew transferred the Plant Growth Bioprocessing Apparatus (PGBA)
from the Shuttle middeck to the Destiny lab. Over the next month, it will grow
two crops of Arabidopsis plants ñ one planted on the ground that will be harvested
by Station Science Officer Peggy Whitson before landing and the second to be
planted by Whitson and then harvested by scientists after landing.
Also on Sunday, the crew performed a post-spacewalk
reading on the EVARM dosimeter badges worn by Wolf and Sellers on their
second spacewalk to continue installing the S1 Truss to the Station.
On Monday, selected members of the Station crew filled
out their weekly Crew Interactions survey on the Human Research Facility
laptop computer. Ground controllers activated the Microgravity Acceleration
Measurement System to record several events of interest including the Monday
spacewalk and other docked operations, as well as Wednesdayís Shuttle undocking.
On Tuesday, the crew transferred the CGBA from the
Shuttle middeck to the Destiny lab where it will serve as a refrigerator for
storing the Arabidopsis plants harvested by Whitson until their return. The
crew also collected post-spacewalk readings on the EVARM badges following the
third and final spacewalk to complete installation of the S1 Truss segment to
the Station.
Crew Earth Observation subjects photographed
by the crew this week included: the Konza Prairie in Kansas, air quality between
the Italian Peninsula and Corsica and Sardinia, urban development in the Brazilian
capital of Brasilia, the Spanish Riviera, water control, road patterns and cities
of the Rhone River delta, the Panama Canal, the coral reefs of the Marquises
Islands, Lake Michigan, the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Australiaís Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park, and other sites.
