NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 04 October 2012
ISS On-Orbit Status 10/04/12
• Today 55 years ago, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev’s first artificial Earth satellite – and the Race was on.
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
After wakeup, FE-4 Malenchenko performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
Yuri also completed the periodic (daily) reboot of the Russian RSS1 & RSS2 laptops.
Afterwards, Malenchenko inspected and cleaned the Russian control laptops RS1, RS2 & RS3, removing dust from vents, connectors, keyboards, displays, and laptop cases, then tagging up with the ground.
In COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), FE-6 Akihiko Hoshide reached midpoint at about 6:30am EDT for his on-going 3rd (FD75) session of the ICV Ambulatory Monitoring assessment, after which he began the second 24h data collection period, with Makita batteries for the Cardiopres swapped and recharged during the day. [For the second 24 hr period, the Cardiopres was temporarily doffed and the HM2 HiFi CF Card and AA Battery were changed out to allow continuation of the session for another 24 hours. After data collection is complete, the Actiwatches and both HM2 HiFi CF Cards are downloaded to the HRF PC1, while Cardiopres data are downloaded to the EPM (European Physiology Module) Rack and transferred to the HRF PC1 via a USB key for downlink. The sessions are scheduled at or around FD14, FD30, FD75, FD135 and R-15 (there will be fewer sessions if mission duration is less than six months). (ICV activities consist of two separate but related parts over a one-week time period: an ultrasound echo scan & an ambulatory monitoring session.)]
Yuri continued the ongoing cargo transfers to the Progress M-16M/48P ship for stowage (i.e., not for disposal). [Since 48P is scheduled to remain docked to the station until February next year, it serves as a temporary stowage location for selected cargo items, all of which must be documented in the IMS (Inventory Management System) database.]
FE-4 also executed the periodic data dump from the BRI (SSR/Smart Switch Router) data conversion control log to the RSS1 laptop for downlink to the ground via OCA (Orbiter Communications Adapter) or high-speed RSPI Data Transmission Radio Link.
Working on the PWD (Potable Water Dispenser), Akihiko Hoshide removed its filter and replaced it with a new spare.
In the Kibo lab, Hoshide serviced the JAXA MICB (MICROBE-3) experiment by turning off its Particle Counter which has completed its job.
Yuri verified proper function of the deployed Russian “Matryoshka-R” (RBO-3-2) radiation detectors by taking readings and checking date/time from the LULIN-5 electronics box located in the MRM1 near the spherical “phantom”. [A total of eight Bubble dosimeter detectors (dosimeters A41, A42, A43, A44, A45, A46, A47, A48) are deployed in the RS). The complex Matryoshka payload suite is designed for sophisticated radiation studies.]
CDR Williams assisted ground controllers in activating the Dragon CUCU (COTS UHF Communication Unit) by plugging it in and turning it on, then routing the CCP (Crew Control Panel) cabling to the Node-3/Cupola and checking it and CCU out.
To prepare for a possible repeat of a trip of the Lab RWS RPCM (Robotic Workstation Remote Controller Module), required for Dragon berthing, Suni took the materials collected yesterday to set up an alternate power source, if needed, powering the CEU (Control Electronics Unit) at Lab P5 from the AVU (Artificial Vision Unit). [The CEU is required for the Lab RWS to function.]
Suni then turned on the Lab RWS DCP (Display & Control Panel).
In preparation for SpaceX-1 Dragon arrival, Hoshide readied the Lab RWS & CUP RWS and checked them out.
Later, Aki & Suni conducted the no. 1 offset grapple simulation session for proficiency & checkout with the ROBoT trainer, which also included an off-nominal scenario. A 10-min. debriefing with the ground followed at ~1:30pm. Suni then stowed the CCP and deactivated the CUCU B/U (Backup).
At the JPM AL (JEM Pressurized Module Airlock), Hoshide retracted the slide table and closed the outer hatch, then took video footage of the exposed Space Bottle on the JEF (JEM Exposed Facility).
Later, after setting up the G1 video equipment and starting the downlink via MCP (Multi-Protocol Converter), Aki activated RLT, WS MON & RMS MON 1,2 (Robotics Laptop Terminal, Worksite Monitor & Robotic Manipulator System Monitors 1 & 2) in the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) and supported the ground in deploying two small satellites from the SSOD (Small Satellite Orbital Deployer). The first deployment was to be initiated by FE-6, and the second by the ground. Both Suni & Aki observed the deployment. [RLT, WS MON & RMS MON 1,2 were later deactivated.]
Yuri Malenchenko conducted the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]
FE-4 also took care of the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, working from the Russian discretionary “time permitting” task list, updating/editing its standard “delta file” including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).
Malenchenko had about an hour set aside for another “symbolic” activity with commemorative items, today signing & stamping envelopes. [The Soyuz- and Progress-delivered “Symbolic” kits contained 60 Roskosmos envelopes for stamping in space with a special stamp saying “55 Years since the Launch of the first man-made Earth satellite”.]
FE-4 also recorded a special video of greeting & congratulations to the participants of the Solemn Event dedicated to the 100th birthday of G. P. Kravchenko. [10/12 is the 100th birthday of Grigoriy Panteleyevich Kravchenko, fighter pilot & aviation Lieutenant General, who became twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Grigoriy Panteleyevich, a participant of four wars, died in air combat in February 1943. A memorial gathering dedicated to his 100th birthday will take place on 10/13 at the Poklonnaya Gora Central Museum of The Great Patriotic War in Moscow].
Aki serviced the WRS (Water Recovery System) in Node-3, manually transferring urine from an EDV-U container (#1029) to the UPA WSTA (Urine Processor Assembly / Waste Storage Tank Assembly) for processing [During such transfers, the crewmember always wears protective safety goggles, dust mask and nitrile gloves.]
Sunita used the Velocicalc instrument for air flow velocity measurements in Node-1, Node-3, Cupola and Lab to determine if the THC IMV (Temperature & Humidity Control / Intravehicular Ventilation) system needs cleaning. [The Velocicalc in its Thermal Anemometer setting is equipped with Thermal/Pitot tube sensors for taking air flow readings. The sensors are so sensitive that breathing too close by could skew the data.]
Before Presleep (~3:30pm), Suni powers up the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) and starts the Ku-band data flow of video recorded during the day to the ground, with POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) routing the onboard HRDL (High-Rate Data Link). After about an hour, Suni turns MPC routing off again. [This is a routine operation which regularly transmits HD onboard video (live or tape playback) to the ground on a daily basis before sleeptime.]
The crew worked out on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-6) TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-4). [CDR & FE-6 are on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions involving resistive and aerobic (interval & continuous) exercise, followed by a USND (Ultrasound) leg muscle self scan in COL. No exercise is being timelined for Suni on Friday, for Aki on Thursday. If any day is not completed, Suni & Aki pick up where they left off, i.e., they would be finishing out the week with the last day of exercise on her off day.]
Tasks listed for FE-4 Malenchenko on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
• More preparation & downlinking of reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb),
• A ~30-min. run of the GFI-8 “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X digital camera with Sigma AF 300-800mm telelens and PI emission platform using the SKPF-U (Photo Image Coordinate Reference System) to practice recording target positions on the surface of the Earth, and
• A ~30-min. session for Russia’s EKON Environmental Safety Agency, making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on Earth using the NIKON D3X camera with the RSK-1 laptop.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Johannesburg, South Africa (Johannesburg, with a population of over one million, is also the largest industrial center in Africa south of the Sahara. It is located in the northeastern part of the country and is also the world’s largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. ISS had a mid-morning pass in clear weather approaching from the NW. At this time the crew was to begin a detailed, nadir mapping of the urban margins as baseline data for the city’s growth patterns), Kerguelen Islands, Indian Ocean (on this, the first of two passes for today, there were probably scattered clouds over Kerguelen as it is seldom cloud-free. This glaciated and volcanic archipelago is located in the far south Indian Ocean nearly 2,000 miles SE of the island of Madagascar. Of greatest interest is photography for monitoring of the rarely photographed ice field and glaciers located on the western end of the main island. Cook Glacier, and its ice field, is the prime feature. With an area of ~403 km2, it is quoted as “France’s largest glacier,” since the islands are a French possession. At this time as ISS approached from the West, the look nadir for detailed mapping views of this feature), Athens, Greece at Night (The capital of Greece is an ancient city that dominates the south coast of the region known as Attica in the southeastern part of the mainland. You have a nighttime pass in fair weather to the northwest of this sprawling urban area of more than 3 million (see Figure 8). On this nighttime approach from the southwest, Athens was the largest and brightest feature they could see just right of track), and Port Vila, Vanuatu (CAPITAL CITIES COLLECTION SITE: The tiny island nation of Vanuatu is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean about three hundred miles NE of the long island of New Caledonia. ISS had a partly cloudy, early morning pass today over the central island of Efate where the capital city of Port Vila is located at nadir on the SW coast. At this time, as the crew tracked southeastward over the larger islands of Vanuatu, they were to begin looking for Efate and then Port Vila for a single-frame view of this target).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:41am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 415.2 km
Apogee height – 427.5 km
Perigee height – 402.9 km
Period — 92.87 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0018154
Solar Beta Angle — 43.4 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.50
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 69 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 79,500
Time in orbit (station) — 5067 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4354 days.
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————– Inc-33: Three-crew operations ————-
10/07/12 — SpaceX-1 launch — (8:35pm EDT)
10/10/12 — SpaceX-1 docking — (~7:32am EDT)
10/23/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitsky/E.Tarelkin (6:51am EDT)
10/25/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking – (~8:40am EDT)
————– Inc-33: Six-crew operations ————-
10/31/12 — Progress M-17M/49P launch
10/31/12 — Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————– Inc-34: Three-crew operations ————-
12/05/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S docking
————– Inc-34: Six-crew operations ————-
02/11/13 — Progress M-16M/48P undocking
02/12/13 — Progress M-18M/50P launch
02/14/13 — Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/15/13 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————– Inc-35: Three-crew operations ————-
04/02/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
04/04/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S docking
04/23/13 — Progress M-18M/50P undock/landing
————– Inc-35: Six-crew operations ————-
05/16/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————– Inc-36: Three-crew operations ————-
05/29/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/31/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S docking
————– Inc-36: Six-crew operations ————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————– Inc-37: Three-crew operations ————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S docking
————– Inc-37: Six-crew operations ————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————– Inc-38: Three-crew operations ————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S docking
————– Inc-38: Six-crew operations ————-
03/xx/14 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————– Inc-39: Three-crew operations ————-
