NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 12 April 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. The crew had a full holiday, with a large number of PAO downlinks via radio and TV.
Today Russia observes Denj Kosmonavtov (Cosmonauts Day) and the world Yuri’s Night — celebrating Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin’s pioneering flight into space 50 years ago. And NASA is observing, on Commemorative Space Day, the 30th anniversary of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle mission to orbit.
[Yuri was accepted into the cosmonaut unit in 1960, at age 26. After his historic 108-min. flight around the Earth in “Vostok 1” on April 12, 1961, which ended with a parachute ejection at 7 km altitude over a farm field near the city of Engels in Saratov Oblast (province), he was promoted to unit leader (Mayor). Promotions to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel followed. Seven years later, on March 27, 1968, Yuri died with a flight instructor in a MiG-15 fighter jet crash, at age 34. Chief Designer of the thusly inaugurated Soviet human space program was Sergey Pavlovich Korolev. Exactly 20 years after Yuri’s flight, John Young & Bob Crippen took the Columbia into space for a daring test mission lasting 2 days 6 hours 20 minutes 52 seconds. No other space rocket has ever carried humans on its very first test flight.]
Upon wake-up, CDR Kondratyev performed the regular daily check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O2 (oxygen) 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). [Dima will inspect the filters again before bedtime tonight, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]
FE-3 Garan, FE-5 Nespoli & FE-6 Coleman completed another post-sleep session of the Reaction Self Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS) protocol. It was the 2nd for Ron, the 25th for Paolo & Cady. [RST is done twice daily (after wakeup & before bedtime) for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following a sleep shift. The experiment consists of a 5-minute reaction time task that allows crewmembers to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while on ISS. The experiment provides objective feedback on neurobehavioral changes in attention, psychomotor speed, state stability, and impulsivity while on ISS missions, particularly as they relate to changes in circadian rhythms, sleep restrictions, and extended work shifts.]
Nespoli continued his 4th (FD120) suite of sessions with the medical protocol Pro K (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery), with diet logging after the urine pH spot test, for a 5-day period. Before sleeptime tonight, Paolo sets up the equipment for his NUTRITION/Repository/Pro K 24-hr urine collections starting tomorrow. FE-5 also readies the urine collection equipment for Ron Garan whose collections begin on 4/14. [For Pro K, there are five in-flight sessions (FD15, FD30, FD60, FD120, FD180) of samplings, to be shared with the NUTRITION w/Repository protocol, each one with five days of diet & urine pH logging and photography on the last day. The crewmember prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken. Urine collections are spread over 24 hrs; samples go into the MELFI (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS) within 30 min after collection. Blood samples, on the last day, are centrifuged in the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) and placed in MELFI at -80 degC. There is an 8-hr fasting requirement prior to the blood draw (i.e., no food or drink, but water ingestion is encouraged). MELFI constraints: Maximum MELFI dewar open time: 60 sec; at least 45 min between MELFI dewar door openings.]
For the PAO TV HD (High Definition) downlinks, Nespoli set up the G1 video camcorder in the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), connected to the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter). In the evening, Ron Garan will deactivate the equipment.
CDR Kondratyev completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM (Service Module). [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.]
At ~3:40am EDT, Dmitri, Andrey & Alexandr participated in a live broadcast of radio station Russian Radio (105.7 FM) on the Gagarin anniversary. [Russian Radio is the largest radio network in the world. It covers 1000 towns of Russia, the Russian Far East, and former republics, 24 hours of coverage presenting popular Russian language music, popular information, and news every hour. Radio station audience is in the millions. One can listen to Russian Radio at any location in the country. Hosts today were Alyona Borodina and Vadik Voronov.
At ~4:10am, the three Russian crewmembers had a PAO TV exchange with Roskosmos Management, exchanging “Pozdravlenie c Dnem Kosmonavtiki” (Congratulations on the Day of Cosmonautics).
Additional general PAO TV sessions for Pozdravlenie c Dnem Kosmonavtiki with all six crewmembers participating from JPM, followed at ~4:45am, ~5:40am and ~10:00am.
At ~6:35am, Garan, Coleman, Nespoli, Samokutyayev, Borisenko & Kondratyev joined up in the Kibo module to support two NASA PAO TV interviews, one with CNN American Morning (Kiran Chetry, Ali Velshi and Christine Romans), the other with the New York Times (Ken Chang).
At ~8:50am, Dima, Andrey & Sasha had another live broadcast on radio, this time on Russian New Service Radio (107.0 FM), dedicated today to Yuri’s flight. [Russian New Service is a unique FM radio information system, information agency, and Russian Radio news network, on the air in Moscow since October 2001. Its audience is mostly Russian middle class, and its on-air guests are Russian politicians, economists, leaders of public opinion, cultural figures, and also popular and famous people “who would always have something to tell”. Hosts for the ISS crew were Natalya Goncharova & Yuri Budkin.]
At ~11:45am, the entire crew held a News Conference with U.S. media at NASA centers (~6.5 min), ESA media in Brussels, Belgium (6.5 min), CSA media in Quebec, Canada (6.5 min) and JAXA media in Tokyo, Japan (6.5 min).
At ~3:45pm, the ISS crew is scheduled for a phone call from NASA JSC Center Director Michael Coats for Commemorative Space Day.
Before sleep time, Dmitri will prepare the Russian MBI-12 Sonokard payload and start his 11th experiment session, using a sports shirt from the Sonokard kit with a special device in the pocket for testing a new method for acquiring physiological data without using direct contact on the skin. Measurements are recorded on a data card for return to Earth. [Sonokard objectives are stated to (1) study the feasibility of obtaining the maximum of data through computer processing of records obtained overnight, (2) systematically record the crewmember’s physiological functions during sleep, (3) study the feasibility of obtaining real-time crew health data. Investigators believe that contactless acquisition of cardiorespiratory data over the night period could serve as a basis for developing efficient criteria for evaluating and predicting adaptive capability of human body in long-duration space flight.]
After setting up the video equipment for recording her run on the newly repaired ARED for biomechanical evaluation of herself and of the hardware status, Cady took the exerciser through its manned ACO (Activation & Checkout) session.
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise on the TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-5, FE-6) and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (CDR, FE-1, FE-2). [T2 snubber arm inspection is no longer needed after every T2 session but must be done after the last T2 session of the day.]
Robotics Operations: With Russian thrusters disabled from 10:35am-12:35am EDT due to load constraints during MT (Mobile Transporter) travel, major robotics operations are being conducted under ground control, starting at 8:50am with MSS (Mobile Service System) power-up and extending until ~6:10pm with MSS power-down. [Activities involve SPDM/SSRMS (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator/Space Station Remote Manipulator System) maneuvers on the MT on PDGF-3 (Power & Data Grapple Fixture 3) from WS-5 (Worksite 5) to the Lab, SPDM base change from SSRMS to Lab PDGF-1, SPDM power-up, SPDM maneuver to the Lab, and LEE B (Latching End Effector B) diagnostics as part of ULF6 prelaunch checkout requirements.]
Conjunction Advisory: Ballistics experts are tracking a conjunction with Object 33457 (Chinese CZ-4B Rocket Body) with a TCA (Time of Closest Approach) on 4/15 (Friday) at 6:31am EDT. This object is an intact rocket body with good tracking returns. It is classified as a medium concern at this time.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Lusaka, Zambia (looking right of track for this small capital city. Visual cues are the light tone of the city area, the Kafue River swamps beyond the city, and center-pivot farmland on the near side of the city), Harare, Zimbabwe (looking at nadir/just right of track. Harare lies on the near side [as seen from track] of two lakes, its main supplies), and Nuku’alofa, Tonga (looking left on the north shore of Tonga’s main island. Tonga is a small Pacific Ocean nation of ~104,000 people and consists of 176 islands, 36 of which are inhabited. The capital city is home to more than half the population).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:44am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 349.6 km
Apogee height – 351.5 km
Perigee height – 347.6 km
Period — 91.53 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0002852
Solar Beta Angle — 50.4 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.73
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 174 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 71,056
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–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 (DC-1 nadir)
04/29/11 — STS-134/Endeavour launch ULF6 (ELC-3, AMS) ~3:47:49pm EDT
05/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour docking ~1:31pm
05/13/11 — STS-134/Endeavour landing (KSC) ~9:29am
05/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/xx/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” undock (SM aft)
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking (SM aft)
06/28/11 — STS-135/Atlantis launch ULF7 (MPLM) ~3:30pm EDT NET
06/30/11 — STS-135/Atlantis docking ULF7 (MPLM) NET
07/27/11 – Russian EVA #29
08/29/11 — Progress M-11M/43P undocking
08/30/11 — Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 — Progress M-12M/44P docking (SM aft)
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-21/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-03M/28S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/25/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/28/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking (DC-1)
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
12/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P undock
12/27/11 — Progress M-14M/46P launch
12/29/11 — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
02/29/12 — ATV3 launch readiness
03/05/12 — Progress M-12M/44P undock
03/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov
04/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/05/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – launch on Proton (under review)
05/06/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
05/07/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) – docking (under review)
05/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/18/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/02/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/04/12 – Soyuz TMA-07M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-08M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/02/12 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-
