MRPO Daily Status Report 07-12-02

GMT Date: 193

Calendar Date: 07/12/02

Increment: 5

Stage: UF2

Week 5

Payloads currently on-board ISS: ADVASC, BSTC, InSPACE, MAMS, MEPS, MSG (facility), PFMI, SAMS, StelSys, STES-8, SUBSA and ZCG. InSpace will not operate during this increment.

Status:
MRPO payloads ADVASC, MAMS, SAMS, and STES 8 continue nominal unattended operations. BSTC and StelSys operations have been successfully completed.

EXPRESS RACKS 1, 2 and 4 (ER1, ER2 & ER4) are powered and supporting payload operations. ER3 is installed in the US Lab and will be checked out later. ER5 was checked out during Increment 4 and powered down.

ADVASC is down-linking nominal health and status data. The crew took photographs inside the growth chamber Wednesday which showed the plants are doing well.
MAMS is operating nominally in the quasi-steady mode. HiRAP is turned-off. MAMS data is available on the acceleration measurement web page.

MEPS has been transferred to ER1 and initial operations are scheduled for week 6.
The MSG facility is powered and supporting trouble-shooting activities following successful completion of the initial SUBSA operation. One fan is inoperable, file down-link from the MSG lap-top computer has been unsuccessful and the SAMS sensor in the MSG has not been able to communicate. The MSG Video System provided excellent real-time viewing of the SUBSA sample being processed.

PFMI is stowed in the US Lab and is scheduled to operate in the MSG late in this increment.

SAMS equipment in all EXPRESS racks is operating nominally. The SAMS sensor in the MSG is not communicating with the SAMS Interface Control Unit. Trouble-shooting is continuing. SAMS data is also being posted to the acceleration measurement web page.

STES-8 is down-linking nominal health and status data. Growth chamber number three was deactivated on day 180. Deactivation of a second growth chamber is planned for day 200.

The initial SUBSA operation was successfully completed yesterday. Following cooldown, the sample was removed from the thermal chamber today.

ZCG health and status data was lost this morning, approximately 4 hours before the planned deactivation of the furnace heaters. Trouble-shooting was unsuccessful in regaining health and status data and the flight crew deactivated the furnace after 15 days of operation. Following deactivation, power and data communications were cycled and health and status data was restored. This will allow monitoring of the cool-down temperatures. There should be no science impact due to these events.

Near-term Outlook:

Week 5 (7/8-7/14) ) – Planning for this week was based on approximately 18 hours of crew time availability for NASA payload operations. Progress 8 transfer operations are continuing and the crew is reviewing/performing robotic operations daily.

Week 6 (7/15-7/21) – Preliminary planning is being based on approximately 15 hours of crew time availability for NASA payload operations. ADVASC sampling; ZCG electronics power-down and sample removal; MEPS activation, operation and deactivation; multiple MSG/SUBSA operations; STES-8 growth chamber 6 deactivation and SAMS hard-drive and battery swap are planed.

M. Vlasse, PhD, DSc
MRPO Increment Scientist

ACRONYMS:
ADVASC – Advanced Astroculture
BCSS — Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage
BSTC– Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (General status information on this payload will include coverage of the following items of support equipment: BTR, BCSS and GSM)
BTR — Biotechnology Refrigerator
ER1– EXPRESS RACK 1
ER2 — EXPRESS RACK 2
ER3 – EXPRESS RACK 3
ER4 – EXPRESS RACK 4
ER5 – EXPRESS RACK 5
GSM — Gas Supply Module
InSPACE- Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates
MAMS — Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System
MCOR -Medium Rate Communication Outage Recorder
MEPS – Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System
MSG – Microgravity Science Glovebox
PFMI – Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation
SAMS — Space Acceleration Measurement System II
STES – Protein Crystal Growth – Single Thermal Enclosure System
SUBSA – Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules
ZCG – Zeolite Crystal Growth