NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 1 March 2009
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – rest day for CDR Fincke, FE-1 Lonchakov & FE-2 Magnus. Ahead: Week 19 of Increment 18. March: Month of Mars. Motto – “On to Mars!” (K.E. Tsiolkovsky).
Preparation activities for the Russian Orlan spacewalk 21A continued at full swing, with FE-1 Lonchakov & CDR Fincke working ~2 hrs on cleaning out the “Pirs” DC-1 (Docking Compartment 1) and PkhO (SM Transfer Compartment) plus continuing the extensive process of gathering & configuring the equipment required for the EVA. [Going by an uplinked 9-page list of instructions, the moves are being tracked/logged in the IMS (Inventory Management System). EVA-21A is currently scheduled for 3/11, with hatch open at ~12:50pm EDT, to last an estimated 5h 30m.]
Yuri’s DC-1 cleanup for the EVA included deactivation & tear-down of the MATRYOSHKA-R (RBO-3-2) radiation suite’s LULIN-5 electronics box with its associated spherical "Phantom" unit for their transfer to a temporary stowage location in the FGB. [Data being accumulated by LULIN comprise measurement date, time, mode, three-directional flux data (per sq.cm per sec.), and three-directional dose rate.]
In preparation for the upcoming urine transfer from the Service Module (SM) to Progress M-66/32P, Yuri Lonchakov & Mike Fincke set up the pumping equipment (compressor #41, power cable, hose & pressure adapters) and initiated the compression of the Progress Rodnik BV1 tank bladder, monitoring air flow to check for leak tightness (hermeticity). Later, the CDR also performed BV2 tank bladder compression. [Each of the spherical Rodnik tanks BV1 & BV2 consists of a hard shell with a soft membrane (bladder) composed of elastic fluoroplastic. The bladder is used to expel water from the tank by compressed air pumped into the tank volume surrounding the membrane and is leak-tested before urine transfers. Since the bladders were expanded against the walls of the empty tanks, the pump had to be restarted twice before its shutdown and equipment teardown. This took most of the crewmembers’ work hours.]
FE-1 Lonchakov also completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM, including the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow. Additionally, Yuri checked up on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for reporting to TsUP-Moscow. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]
The CDR & FE-2 had their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences) scheduled, via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Sandy at ~10:10am, Michael at ~3:05pm EST.
The station residents completed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1).
Working off the Russian discretionary “time permitting” suggestions list, the FE-1 conducted another session for Russia’s Environmental Safety Agency (EKON), making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on earth using the Nikon D2X with the SIGMA 300-800mm telephoto lens.
Still carried on the US “job jar” task list is a reminder for Mike Fincke to fill out his fourth FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer).
No CEO photo targets uplinked for today.
CEO photography can be studied at this “Gateway” website:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (as of 9/1/08, this database contained 770,668 views of the Earth from space, with 324,812 from the ISS alone).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:01am EST [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 355.4 km
Apogee height — 361.9 km
Perigee height — 348.9 km
Period — 91.65 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0009663
Solar Beta Angle — 12.3 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 84 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 58901
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible!):
03/06/09 — Flight Readiness Review for STS-119/Discovery/15A launch
03/08/09 — US Daylight Time begins at 2:00am
03/11/09 — Russian EVA 21A (tentative; hatch open ~12:50pm EDT)
03/12/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A launch – S6 truss segment (tentative target date)
03/14/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A docking (tentative)
03/25/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A undocking (tentative)
03/28/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A landing (tentative)
03/26/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S launch
03/28/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S docking (DC1)
04/07/09 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S undocking
04/07/09 — Progress 32P undocking & deorbit
05/12/09 — STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
05/15/09 — STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch – JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD
05/27/09 — Soyuz TMA-15/19S launch
Six-person crew on ISS
08/06/09 — STS-128/Discovery/17A – MPLM (P), LMC, last crew rotation
08/XX/09 — Soyuz 5R/MRM2 (Russian Mini Research Module, MIM2) on Soyuz
09/XX/09 — H-IIB (JAXA HTV-1)
11/12/09 — STS-129/Atlantis/ULF3 – ELC1, ELC2
12/10/09 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 + Cupola
02/11/10 — STS-131/Atlantis/19A – MPLM(P), LMC
04/08/10 — STS-132/Discovery/ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM1
05/31/10 — STS-133/Endeavour/ULF5 – ELC3, ELC4
12/XX/11– Proton 3R/MLM w/ERA.
