MRPO Daily Status Report 07-19-02
GMT Date: 200
Calendar Date: 07/19/02
Increment: 5
Stage: UF2
Week 6
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, StelSys and ZCG 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. A second photography session inside the growth chamber was conducted yesterday. The crew reported that the plants appear healthy but no blooms were observed.
MAMS is operating nominally in the quasi-steady mode. HiRAP is turned-off. MAMS data is available on the acceleration measurement web page.
MEPS was activated yesterday and is operating nominally. Serial processing of five samples was conducted yesterday successfully and three more today. The payload will be deactivated after all samples have been processed.
The MSG facility is currently powered to support a SAMS harddrive swap and update certain software. MSG trouble-shooting has resolved all of the apparent problems, and the SAMS sensor in the MSG workspace is now providing acceleration data.
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. A normal maintenance procedure was performed today by the crew to replace the SAMS hard drive and battery.
SAMS data is also being posted to the acceleration measurement web page.
STES-8 is down-linking nominal health and status data. Growth chamber three was deactivated on day 180. Deactivation of growth chamber six was performed today.
A SUBSA test run, without a sample in the heating chamber, was conducted yesterday in preparation for a sample run next Tuesday.
ZCG furnace operations were terminated last Friday, 7/12, after 15 days of successful operation. Several removal/stowage options are being evaluated prior to
removal of the samples from the furnace. It is now planned to store a number of autoclaves in the ARCTIC refrigerator to avoid degradation of the formed crystals.
Near-term Outlook:
Week 6 (7/15-7/21) – Planning for this week was based on approximately 15 hours of crew time availability for NASA payload operations. MEPS operation and deactivation; MSG/SAMS troubleshooting; STES-8 growth chamber 6 deactivation and SAMS hard-drive and battery swap.
Week 7 (7/22-7/28) – Preliminary planning is being based on approximately 25 hours of crew time availability for NASA payload operations. Several MSG/SUBSA operations are planned.
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
