NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 10 June 2010
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
At wake-up, FE-3 Kornienko performed the regular daily early-morning check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O2 generator which Maxim Suraev had installed on 10/19/09 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). [FE-3 again inspected the filters before bedtime, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]
Kornienko also conducted the periodic maintenance of the active Russian BMP Harmful Impurities Removal System, starting the "bake-out" cycle to vacuum on absorbent bed #2 of the regenerable dual-channel filtration system. The process will be terminated at ~5:15pm EDT before sleep time. Bed #1 regeneration was performed yesterday. [Regeneration of each of the two cartridges takes about 12 hours and is conducted only during crew awake periods. The BMP’s regeneration cycle is normally done every 20 days. (Last time done: 5/19-5/20).]
At ~4:25am EDT, the three crewmembers performed the mandatory 60-min New Module Delta Emergency Procedure drill, intended to familiarize the station residents with changes associated with the arrival of a new module, today the MRM1, to be conducted not later than 7-10 days after arrival. [The OBT (Onboard Training) focused, among else, on identifying and memorizing the location of emergency equipment in MRM1 Rassvet including hatches and passageways, and on changes to the emergency procedures due to the new module. Equipment and locations reviewed include docking assembly accessories, PFE (portable fire extinguisher, between panels 203 & 104)), IP-1 airflow sensor (near MRM1-SU hatch), KVD valve for positive & negative pressure relief (“closed”), manual pressure equalization, and 3 IDZ-2 smoke detectors (behind panels 201, 203, 207). Any discrepancies between actual onboard equipment stowage/location areas and the areas specified in uplinked documents were to be reported to TsUP-Moscow.]
Good news from ISS: Tracy yesterday found the missing WRS WWBs (Water Recovery System Waste Water Bags), 17 of them, inside the TOCA (Total Organic Carbon Analyzer) hardware kit. The troubleshooting procedure to recycle the currently used WWB was not required. Instead, FE-2 today conducted the periodic WRS sampling using TOCA in Node-3, after first initializing the software and priming (filling) the TOCA water sample hose. [After the approximately 2 hr TOCA analysis, results were transferred to an SSC (Station Support Computer) via USB drive for downlink, and the data were also logged. Background: TOCA is necessary for checking drinking water quality. Total Organic Carbon is naturally present in the environment and by itself has no health effects, but it provides a medium for the formation of disinfection byproducts which may be harmful and are removed along with the Total Organic Carbon.]
After termination of the overnight charging of the KPT-2 Piren battery, Mikhail Kornienko & Alexander Skvortsov ran another session with the Russian KPT-2 BAR payload for about 2.5 hrs, taking background environmental parameters in the SM (Service Module) in areas found in the past to have high microflora growth indications. The crewmembers used the new Piren-B Pyro-endoscope instrument and Iva-6A Thermal Hygrometer (to identify potential condensation areas), with the RSE1 laptop. The measurements are required to forecast the rate of local shell micro-destruction and to develop measures to extend station life. Afterwards, Kornienko set up the Piren battery for recharge. [Piren-B, a video-endoscope with pyrosensor, is part of the methods & means being used on ISS for detecting tiny leaks in ISS modules which could lead to cabin depressurization. Objective of the Russian KPT-12/EXPERT science payload is to measure environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, air flow rate) and module shell surface temperatures behind SM panels and other areas susceptible to possible micro-destruction (corrosion), before and after insolation (day vs. night). Besides Piren-B, the payload uses a remote infrared thermometer (Kelvin-Video), a thermohygrometer (Iva-6A), a heat-loss thermoanemometer/thermometer (TTM-2) and an ultrasound analyzer (AU) to determine environmental data in specific locations and at specific times. Activities include documentary photography with the NIKON D2X camera and flash.]
Skvortsov ran another ~30-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining data on oceanic water blooms in the waters of North-West Africa, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop.
Afterwards, the CDR continued the current round of monthly preventive maintenance of RS (Russian Segment) ventilation systems, today in the FGB (Funktsionalnyi-Grusovoi Blok), inspecting & cleaning interior closeout panel vent screens (panels 201, 301, 401), replacing the PS1 & PS2 dust filter cartridges and cleaning the TsV1 fan grille.
Continuing her work in the ESA COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) on the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) for the CSLM (Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures)-2 experiment, Caldwell Dyson completed the second vacuum vent cycle (of four planned). The remainder of today’s CSLM vacuum activities was aborted. [Payload operators discovered a vacuum hose that was not connected. Its connection will be scheduled tomorrow. Tracy also reported some small pieces of acoustic foam coming from the outside of the MSG work volume (under investigation).]
In other activities on her busy schedule, Tracy Caldwell Dyson –
- Closed the GN2 (gaseous nitrogen) gas bottle valves of the BLB LSM (Biolab Life Support Module) in COL,
- Performed her second session with the MedOps experiment WinSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows), logging in on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) laptop and going through the psychological evaluation exercise on the PC-based WinSCAT application [WinSCAT is a monthly time-constrained questionnaire test of cognitive abilities, routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS every 30 days before or after the PHS (periodic health status) test or on special CDR’s, crewmember’s or flight surgeon’s request. The test uses cognitive subtests that measure sustained concentration, verbal working memory, attention, short-term memory, spatial processing, and math skills. The five cognitive subtests are Coding Memory – Learning, Continuous Processing Task (CPT), Match to Sample, Mathematics, and Coding Delayed Recall. These WinSCAT subtests are the same as those used during NASA’s long-duration bed rest studies],
- Filled out her weekly FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire) on the MEC,
- Completed the monthly inspection & reboot of all active PCS (Portable Computer System) laptops in the Lab and the COL PWS (Portable Workstation) laptop, including recording the battery SOC (state of charge) of each active PCS,
- Checked inside the ESA/NASA MSRR (Materials Science Research Rack) for a possible missing M10 bolt on the MSL (Materials Science Laboratory) furnace handle, found floating last month [now determined to come from the launch lock and inadvertently left inside instead of returned to the ground; also, Tracy discovered another loose screw in the work volume, downlinking photographs for examination],
- Inserting two Ziploc bags with 8 JAXA 2D Nano Template sample bags in MELFI-2 (Dewar 3, Tray C, Sect. 1&2) at +2 degC,
- Performed re-calibration on the two hand-held CSA-O2 (Compound Specific Analyzer-Oxygen) instruments #1041 and #1045, the 4th calibration after their delivery on 20A, and
- Completed the weekly 10-min. CWC (Contingency Water Container) inventory as part of the on-going WRM (Water Recovery & Management) assessment of onboard water supplies. Updated “cue cards” based on the crew’s water calldowns are sent up every other week for recording changes. [The current card (24-0007) lists 128 CWCs (3,056.0 L total) for the five types of water now identified on board: 1. technical water (26 CWCs with 1,034.9 L, for Elektron electrolysis, incl. 513.6 L in 14 bags containing Wautersia bacteria, 134.2 L in 3 clean bags for contingency use, 387.1 L in 9 bags still requiring sample analysis, 2. potable water (9 CWCs with 366.7 L, of which 2 bags with 66.6 L require sample analysis, 4 bags with 170.8 L are to be used with microbial filter & 129.3 L in 3 bags are good for contingency use, 3. iodinated water (84 CWCs with 1,550.1 L, including 26 CWCs with 472.3 L requiring analysis), 4. condensate water (7 bags with 73.0 L, including 2 CWCs with 43.4 L that are to be used with microbial filter, and 5. waste/EMU dump and other (2 CWCs with 31.3 L). Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources. These isolates pose no threat to human health.]
FE-3 Kornienko 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 and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]
Mikhail also performed the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, 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).
Later, FE3 collected & downloaded the periodic sensor readings of the Russian “Pille-MKS” (MKS = ISS) radiation dosimetry experiment which has 12 sensors placed at various locations in the RS (DC1, SM starboard & port cabin windows, ASU toilet facility, control panel, MRM2, etc.), with one, the “duty” dosimeter, in the Reader. Today’s readings were taken from all 11 deployed dosimeters, and dose data were logged and called down to TsUP. The dosimeters were then re-deployed. [The dosimeters take their readings automatically every 90 minutes.]
At ~10:50am EDT, FE-2 Caldwell Dyson supported two PAO TV events – (1) an interview with ESPN2 (Bob Ley) in Johannesburg on the occasion of the Soccer World Cup games in South Africa (live-to-air, featuring a soccer ball left aboard by STS-132 for this purpose), and (2) an exchange with 4th, 5th & 9th grade students and their educators at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY.
At ~2:40pm, Tracy was scheduled for a teleconference with ground specialists on the recent FDS PEPS (Fire Detection & Suppression Portable Emergency Provisions) inspection, discussing crew comments & inputs to the future scheduling of PEPS with QDMA (Quick Don Mask Assembly) harness inspection tasks.
The crew completed today’s 2-hr. physical exercise protocol, working out on the TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-3), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (FE-2, FE-3), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-2), and VELO ergometer bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR).
IWIS Thruster Firing: With the protective shutters of the Lab, JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) & Node-3 Cupola windows closed earlier by Caldwell Dyson, the US SAs (Solar Arrays) maneuvered to SARJ (Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) park position and feathered, and the station in TEA (Torque Equilibrium Attitude), a ground-controlled SM thruster firing test performed the SA 4A DTF (Dedicated Thruster Firing) for IWIS (Internal Wireless Instrumentation System) structural dynamics measurements during the firings for the current ISS configuration. [To obtain quiescence for the solar arrays, the station went into free drift at 10:00am for 200 sec, followed by the 5 thruster firings from 10:03am-10:16am, followed by another 200 sec of free drift. Attitude control authority returned to US momentum management at 10:55am after ISS had maneuvered back to duty attitude. The goal of these periodic DTO tests is not to excite the arrays by direct plume impingement like in tests in the past but to excite the arrays from their base via mechanical loads. The on-orbit data will be utilized to correlate math models utilized by structures & mechanism specialists.]
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets uplinked for today were Baku, Azerbaijan (this capital city [population >2 million] lies on the prominent Apsheronsky Peninsula. Numerous oil-field facilities should have been visible offshore in the Caspian Sea), Beirut, Lebanon (Beirut [pop. 2.1 million] occupies the most prominent promontory on the coast of the Levant, with the main airport on the coastline), Tripoli, Libya (looking left on Libya’s coastline. This capital city, with a population of 1 million, has been a port since Phoenician days, due to the natural harbor and defensible cape), Lusaka, Zambia (this capital city is home to more than 3 million people. Looking at nadir and just left of track. Like most cities, it can be difficult to discern: center-pivot circles and angular fields were the crew’s up-track visual cue), and St. Paul Rocks islets, Brazil (HMS Beagle Site: Reasonable opportunity between popcorn cumulus clouds to see these vegetationless rocks where Darwin landed in February 1832. These small islands should appear white with guano—as Darwin himself reported—with surf breaking on the shores enhancing the white color. Darwin reports that the huge numbers of birds on the islands, never having been hunted, were easily caught for food by members of the Beagle crew. Hats full of fresh eggs were collected. Here Darwin endured the ceremonies of crossing the Equator which required shavings and dunkings).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:20am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 353.9 km
Apogee height – 359.8 km
Perigee height – 347.9 km
Period — 91.62 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0008799
Solar Beta Angle — 8.1 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours – 84 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 66,242
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations—————–
06/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S launch – Wheelock (CDR-25)/Walker/Yurchikhin (5:35pm EDT)
06/17/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S docking (SM Aft) (~6:25pm)
————–Six-crew operations—————–
06/28/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S relocation (SM Aft to MRM1 @ FGB nadir; 1:56pm-2:21pm)
06/30/10 — Progress M-06M/38P launch (870kg props, 50kg O2, 100kg H2O, 1210kg dry cargo)
07/02/10 — Progress M-06M/38P docking
07/26/10 — Russian EVA-25 (Yurchikhin/Kornienko) – MRM1 outfitting
08/05/10 — US EVA-15 (Caldwell/Wheelock)
08/17/10 — US EVA-16 (Caldwell/Wheelock)
09/07/10 — Progress M-06M/38P undock
09/08/10 — Progress M-07M/39P launch
09/10/10 — Progress M-07M/39P docking
09/16/10 — STS-133/Discovery launch (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM)
09/22/10 — STS-133/Discovery undock
09/24/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S undock/landing (End of Increment 24)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/08/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S launch – Kelly (CDR-26)/Kaleri/Skripochka
10/10/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/26/10 — Progress M-05M/37P undock
10/27/10 — Progress M-08M/40P launch
10/29/10 — Progress M-08M/40P docking
11/xx/10 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02)
11/10/10 — Russian EVA-26
11/17/10 – Russian EVA-27
11/26/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing (End of Increment 25)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/10 — ATV-2 launch– Ariane 5 (ESA) U/R
12/10/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli
12/12/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/15/10 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
12/17/10 — ATV-2 docking (SM aft)
12/xx/10 — Russian EVA-28
12/26/10 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
12/27/10 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
12/29/10 — Progress M-09M/41P docking
01/20/11 – HTV-2 launch
01/27/11 — HTV-2 docking (Node-2 nadir)
03/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R, Garan/A.Samokutayev
04/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/26/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking
05/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/31/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking
08/30/11 — Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 — Progress M-12M/44P docking
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-22/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/28S launch
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-24/28S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/20/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/21/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/23/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-25/29S launch
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-25/29S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
12/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P undock
01/xx/12 — ATV-3 launch– Ariane 5 (ESA) U/R
