NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 16 September 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Crew Wake/Sleep cycle shift: To accommodate Soyuz 26S departure last night, crew wake/sleep cycle changes were in effect, coming to an end today with a free day until tomorrow 2:00am EDT).
Yest posadka! (We have Landing!) Welcome back home, Andrey, Sasha & Ron!! After 164 days 5 hrs 42 min in space (162 days docked to ISS), Soyuz TMA-21/26S “Yuri Gagarin” carrying Exp-28 crewmembers Aleksandr Mikhailovich Samokutyayev (Russia, ISS-27/28 Flight Engineer, Soyuz 26S CDR), Andrei Ivanovich Borisenko (Russia, ISS-27 FE, ISS-28 CDR) & Ronald J. Garan (USA, ISS-27/28 & Soyuz 26S FE), landed successfully at 11:59:39pm EDT last night (local time: 9:59:39am, 9/16) in central Kazakhstan. The Descent Capsule tipped over, and the crew, which was in excellent condition, was quickly extracted by SAR (Search & Rescue) personnel. [TMA-21 (#231) undocked from the MRM2 (Mini Research Module 2) Poisk zenith port last night at 8:38pm EDT, after the crew had performed leak checks of the vestibule area between MRM2 and the Soyuz spacecraft, of their Sokol suits and of the hatch between the Descent Module (SA) and Orbital Module (BO). About 3 min after physical undocking, 26S performed the first separation burn. The actual de-orbit burn of 4 min 20 sec duration came at 11:05pm, resulting in 115.2 m/sec deceleration. Tri-module separation occurred at ~11:33pm. 16 sec after the separation command, software pitched the PAO (Instrumentation/Propulsion Module) in the rear to a specific angle (-78.5 deg from reference axis) which, if PAO would have remained connected to the SA, would have resulted in enough heating on the connecting truss to melt it, thus ensuring separation. Atmospheric entry followed at 11:36pm and nominal parachute deployment at 11:45pm. Following initial observation by Russian SAR personnel in their helicopters, the Soyuz vehicle landed at 11:59:39pm, falling on its side. SAR was there within 2 minutes. After the usual stopover in the medical tent, the crew was flown by helo to Karaganda where Ron boarded the waiting NASA-990 Gulfstream-III airplane which today is bringing him back to Houston/Ellington AFB (with 2 refueling stops),- the 6th direct return for USOS crewmembers. Sasha Samokutyayev & Andrey Borisenko meanwhile were flown on the GCTC Tu-134 back to Chkalovsky airfield of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Zvezdniy Gorodok (Star City).]
Remaining on board the ISS for Increment 29 are CDR Mike Fossum (USA), FE-4 Sergei Volkov (Russia) & FE-5 Satoshi Furukawa (Japan). The crew is having a free day today, getting back tomorrow to work for the remaining ISS- 29.
As currently planned, the next “troika” of Exp-30 crewmembers – Dan Burbank (CDR-30), Anton Shkaplerov (FE, Russia) & Anatoly Ivanishin (FE, Russia) will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the digital Soyuz TMA-03M/28S on 11/14 (tent.), docking two days later. Fossum, Furukawa & Volkov will depart in their Soyuz 27S spacecraft on 11/22 for landing in northern Kazakhstan. Burbank, Ivanishin & Shkaplerov will have 36 days for Expedition 30 to themselves. The remainder of the Exp- 30 crew -Don Pettit (USA), Oleg Kononenko (Russia) and Andre Kuipers (Europe) – will launch to the ISS on or about Dec. 26 on Soyuz 29S for docking two days later.
WRM Update: A new WRM (Water Recovery Management) “cue card” was uplinked to the crew for their reference, updated with their latest CWC (Contingency Water Container) water audit. [The new card (29-0002) lists 131 good CWCs (2,956.9 L total) for the five types of water identified on board: 1. technical water (31 CWCs with 1,249.2 L, for Elektron electrolysis, incl. 942.9 L in 24 bags containing Wautersia bacteria and 129 L in 3 clean bags for contingency use; 2. Silver potable water (no CWCs); 3. Iodinated water (88 CWCs with 1,591.4 L (also 19 expired bags with 345.4 L); 4. condensate water (79.3 L in 7 bags, plus 4 empty bags); and 5. waste/EMU dump and other (37.0 L in 2 CWCs, incl. 20.2 L from hose/pump flush). Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources. These isolates pose no threat to human health.]
No (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:32am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 384.3 km
Apogee height – 392.1 km
Perigee height – 376.5 km
Period — 92.24 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0011524
Solar Beta Angle — -44.9 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.61
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 110 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 73,516
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations (Increment 29)————-
10/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/30/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
11/01/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/14/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon — Target date
12/26/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit — (date “on or about”)
12/28/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S docking (MRM1) — (date “on or about”)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
TBD — Progress M-13M/45P undock
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P launch
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
02/29/12 — ATV3 launch readiness
TBD — 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————-
