NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 15 July 2012

ISS On-Orbit Status 07/15/12

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew off duty. Ahead: Week 3 of Increment 32 (three/six-person crew).

>>>Today 37 years ago (1975), the US & USSR launched a Saturn-IB and Soyuz-U, resp., to conduct the joint ASTP (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) mission). Using a specially built docking module, the two spacecraft, Soyuz 19 & Apollo CSM-111, docked on 7/17 over the French city of Metz, for a handshake and joint meal by the crews – Astronauts Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand & Donald Slayton and Cosmonauts Alexei Leonov & Valeriy Kubasov. At splashdown, the Apollo crew survived a dangerous moment when highly toxic N2O4 (nitrogen tetroxide) from the RCS (Reaction Control System) streamed into the cabin through an inadvertently opened vent.<<< · Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launched late last on time at 10:40:03pm EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, with Yuri Malenchenko (Roskosmos/Russia, ISS-32/33 FE, Soyuz TMA-05M CDR), Sunita Williams (NASA/USA, ISS-32 FE, ISS-33 CDR) & Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA/Japan, ISS-32/333 FE). Docking at the MRM1 Rassvet module will be on Tuesday, 7/17, at ~12:50am EDT, for a 117-day stay, returning on 11/12.
>>>This is the 124th mission to the ISS. With the first launch of the FGB “Zarya” module on a Proton-K (1A/R) on 11/20/1998, there have been a total of 37 US missions, 82 Russian missions (1 failed), 3 European missions (ATV-1, ATV-2, ATV-3) and 2 Japanese missions (HTV1, HTV2). It is also the 4th post-Shuttle manned launch.<<< After wakeup, Gennady Padalka performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection. Padalka, Revin & Acaba joined in conducting the regular weekly three-hour task of thorough cleaning of their home, including COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) and Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module). [“Uborka”, usually done on Saturdays, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, damp cleaning of the SM dining table, other frequently touched surfaces and surfaces where trash is collected, as well as the sleep stations with a standard cleaning solution; also, fan screens and grilles are cleaned to avoid temperature rises. Special cleaning is also done every 90 days on the HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) bacteria filters in the Lab.] Sergei completed the routine daily & weekly servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM and FGB. [This included the weekly collection of the ASU toilet flush counter (SPKU) and water supply (SVO) readings of SM & FGB for calldown to TsUP-Moscow, as well as the weekly checkup on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s & FGB’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for calldown. SOZh servicing includes 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 as required.] Revin & Acaba had their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Sergei at ~7:50am, Joe at ~4:00pm EDT. The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (CDR, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-3), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-3) and VELO cycle ergometer with load trainer (FE-2). Tasks listed for Revin & Padalka on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were – • 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,
• A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of color bloom patterns in the waters of Central-Eastern Atlantic and coastal Africa, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop, and
• 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).

No CEO targets uplinked for today.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations————-
07/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking — ~12:50am EDT
————–Six-crew operations—————-
07/19/12 — ATV/ISS reboost
07/20/12 — HTV3 launch (~10:18pm EDT)
07/22/12 — Progress M-15M/47P undock
07/24/12 — Progress M-15M/47P re-docking
07/27/12 — HTV3 docking
07/30/12 — Progress M-15M/47P undocking/deorbit
07/31/12 — Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 — Progress M16M/48P docking
08/16/12 — Russian EVA-31
08/30/12 — US EVA-18
09/06/12 — HTV3 undocking
09/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/25/12 — ATV3 undocking
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitsky/E.Tarelkin
10/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/01/12 — Progress M-17M/49P launch
11/03/12 — Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–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
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/26/12 — Progress M-18M/50P launch
12/28/12 — Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/19/13 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–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
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/16/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–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
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–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
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–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
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-