NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 15 May 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – crew off duty. Ahead: Week 9 of Increment 27. Godspeed, Endeavour (Mark, Greg, Mike, Roberto, Drew, Taz)!
As part of the crew’s regular morning inspection tour, CDR Kondratyev performed the routine checkup of circuit breakers & fuses in the MRM1 Rassvet & MRM2 Poisk research modules. [The monthly checkup in DC1 (Docking Compartment), MRM1 & MRM2 looks at AZS circuit breakers on the BVP Amp Switch Panel (they should all be On) and the LEDs (light-emitting diodes) of 14 fuses in fuse panels BPP-30 & BPP-36. MRM2 & MRM1 were derived from the DC1 concept and are very similar to it.]
FE-3 Garan & FE-1 Samokutyayev completed a ~30 min Shuttle RPM (R-bar Pitch Maneuver) photography training session, using NIKON D2Xs digital still cameras with 400 & 800mm lenses for taking practice shots of CEO (Crew Earth Observation) ground features from SM (Service Module) windows #6 or #8 using manual focus only and shooting mapping images having 40-50% overlap, with about 20 images in each sequence. [The RPM drill prepares crewmembers for the bottom-side mapping of the Orbiter at their arrival at the ISS, currently STS-134/Endeavour/ULF6, to be launched tomorrow morning. During the RPM at ~600 ft from the station, the “shooters” have only ~90 seconds for taking high-resolution digital photographs of all tile areas and door seals on Endeavour, to be downlinked for launch debris assessment. Thus, time available for the shooting will be very limited, requiring great coordination between the two headset-equipped photographers and the Shuttle pilot.]
FE-2 Borisenko meanwhile conducted 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. [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].
Andrey also performed 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 reporting to TsUP.
Before sleeptime, Cady Coleman will close the protective window shutters in the Node-3/Cupola & JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) and verify shutters closed in the Lab.
Cady also sets up the equipment for the saliva collection of the INTEGRATED IMMUNE protocol scheduled for her first thing tomorrow morning. [INTEGRATED IMMUNE (Validating Procedures for Monitoring Crew member Immune Function) samples & analyzes participant’s blood, urine, and saliva before, during and after flight for changes related to functions like bone metabolism, oxidative damage and immune function to develop and validate an immune monitoring strategy consistent with operational flight requirements and constraints. The strategy uses both long and short duration crewmembers as study subjects. The saliva is collected in two forms, dry and liquid. The dry samples are collected at intervals during the collection day using a specialized book that contains filter paper. The liquid saliva collections require that the crewmember soak a piece of cotton inside their mouth and place it in a salivette bag; there are four of the liquid collections during docked operations. The on-orbit blood samples are collected right before undocking and returned to the ground so that analysis can occur with 48 hours of the sampling. This allows assays that quantify the function of different types of white blood cells and other active components of the immune system. Samples are secured in the MELFI. Also included are entries in a fluid/medications intact log, and a stress-test questionnaire to be filled out by the subject at begin and end. Urine is collected during a 24-hour period, conventionally divided into two twelve-hour phases: morning-evening and evening-morning.]
At ~5:25am EDT, Kondratyev, Aleksandr & Andrey supported a Russian PAO TV event, downlinking a message of greetings and congratulation to employees of the space industry who are graduates of the 3rd Radio-Technical Department of the USSR Marechal Krylov Kharkov Higher Military School on the 30th anniversary of their graduation. [Officers, graduates of the School, are in charge of ground control teams, taking part in all manned space flight programs throughout the term of their military service and now continuing their work at the Federal Space Agency and space industry enterprises.]
At ~8:10am, Dmitri, Sasha & Andrey conducted a second Russian PAO TV downlink, addressing participants in the International Scientific & Industrial Meeting “Great Rivers – 2011”, opening 5/17 in Nizhny Novgorod. [The primary subject of the meeting is “Ecological, Hydro Meteorological and Energy Safety”. Organizers of the meeting are branches of UN, UNESCO, World Meteorological Organization, Federal Agency of Water Resources, Federal Service for Hydro Meteorology and Environment Monitoring, Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, Russian Geographic Society, Government of Nizhny Novgorod. The work of the aero space monitoring section will be dedicated to the Russian Year of Space Exploration.]
CDR, FE-3 & FE-5 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), Dima at ~6:30am, Ron at ~10:55am, Paolo at ~12:30pm EDT.
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-3, FE-6), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-2, FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-2, FE-5) and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-1).
Jobs listed for Kondratyev, Samokutyayev & Borisenko today on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” task list were –
* Another ~30-min. run of the GFI-8 “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X digital camera photography with Sigma AF 300-800mm telelens [uplinked targets included Gomel landfill, Ugra National Park, Lipetsk, towns south of Berlin, the route from the Kursk nuclear power plant along the river, agricultural lands on the west bank of the Volga, floodplains, and the left bank of the river, the Caspian Sea, Aral Sea],
* 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,
* The periodic documentary close-up photography of the two SKK materials exposure payloads mounted on the outside of the station,- SKK-2 on the “Pirs” DC-1 from SM window #6 & SKK-9 on the SM hull, then transferring the digital images to the RSK-1 laptop for downlink to the ground via OCA, and
* Preparing & downlinking more reportages (text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website.
No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:31am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 344.6 km
Apogee height – 346.3 km
Perigee height – 342.8 km
Period — 91.43 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0002596
Solar Beta Angle — -32.2 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.75
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 104 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 71,576
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/16/11 — STS-134/Endeavour launch ULF6 (ELC-3, AMS) ~8:56am EDT
05/16/11 — Soyuz 25S thruster test firing
05/18/11 — STS-134/Endeavour docking – 6:15am
05/23/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock – 7:06pm EDT (End of Increment 27)
05/23/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S landing – 10:26pm (8:26am local on 5/24)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/11 — STS-134/Endeavour undock – 11:53pm
06/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour landing – ~2:32am
06/07/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/09/11 — 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)
xx/xx/11 — STS-135/Atlantis launch ULF7 (MPLM) ~3:30pm EDT
xx/xx/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————-
