NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 17 February 2012
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Sleep cycle shift: To compensate for yesterday’s extended (by 3 hrs) wake period, today’s crew work day was shortened by 4 hrs, returning to regular times (EST):
. Sleep – 7:30pm (last night)
. Wake – 5:00am (this morning)
. Sleep – 4:30pm
. Wake – 1:00am (2/18).
After wakeup this morning, FE-2 Ivanishin performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
In the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), CDR Burbank serviced the running BCAT-6 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-6) by replacing the BCAT-6 battery early in the morning with a fresh one and repeating the replacement about 8 hrs later. Sample 4 session reached its midpoint on 2/15. [The NIKON D2Xs with EarthKAM software running on an SSC laptop takes automated flash photography controlled by the software, photographing Sample 4 once every two hours for seven days. Crew performs two camera battery changes and a camera check each day. The camera battery changes are scheduled to be performed approximately every 8 hours per Mike Fossum’s recommendation during past BCAT-6 activities.]
After yesterday’s Part 1 of MARES (Muscle Atrophy Resistive Exercise System) Commissioning, FE-5 Kuipers today completed Part 2, consisting of MARES functional test, battery discharge, disassembly/disconnect & stowage, assisted by Dan Burbank, plus copying the log files to downlink laptop. [For the MARES VIF (Vibration Isolation Frame) realignment, Andre loosened, then retightened bolts on the three VIF guides A, then repeated yesterday’s VIF rigidity test using a mechanical dynamometer. Afterwards, the EPM (European Physiology Module) laptop was disconnected from the MARES Pantograph and reconnected to the EPM Rack for file copying. MARES was then disassembled and stowed, concluding the commissioning.]
Cleaning up after their EVA-30 yesterday, Oleg Kononenko & Anton Shkaplerov worked on –
* Drying out the Orlan water feed lines and Orlan-MK suits & gloves.
* Returning the EVA emergency first-aid medical packs, staged temporarily in the PkhO (Transfer Compartment) and DC-1, to their original stowage sites in the SM med locker and Soyuz TMA-22/28S (docked at MRM2),
* Removing the BNP #3 (portable air repress bottle 3) from the SM RO and transferring it to the 29S BO (Orbital Compartment, Divan), with IMS (Inventory Management System) update;
* Downloading the EVA photographs from the NIKON cameras to the SSC-15 (Station Support Computer 15) U drive for subsequent OCA downlink;
* Setting up, before sleep time, the first Orlan-MK 825-M3 battery pack for discharge and starting discharging it,
* Taking the readings of the three ID-Z individual radiation dosimeters and two PILLE-ISS dosimeters from the Orlans and then returning the latter to their original locations in SM, Node-3 & DC-1,
* Removing the U.S. EVA tools & equipment from the Russian spacesuits, and
* Completing Orlan and BSS Orlan Interface Unit equipment storage activities, and
In final close-out activities after EVA-30, Anatoly Ivanishin worked in the DC1 Docking Compartment to re-integrate the Progress M-14M/46P (#414) cargo ship, docked at the port, with the ISS by –
* Conducting a leak check on the DC1/46P vestibule,
* Opening the DC1/SU & SU/46P hatches and installing the QD (quick disconnect) screw clamps (BZV) of the docking & internal transfer mechanism (SSVP) to rigidize the coupling,
* Deactivating the cargo ship,
* Installing the ventilation/heating air duct, and
* Dismantling the docking mechanism (StM, Stykovochnovo mekhanizma) between the cargo ship and the DC1 [StM is the “classic” probe-and-cone type, consisting of an active docking assembly (ASA) with a probe (SSh), which fits into the cone (SK) on the passive docking assembly (PSA) for initial soft dock and subsequent retraction to hard dock. The ASA is mounted on the Progress’ cargo module (GrO), while the PSA sits on the docking ports of the SM, FGB and DC-1].
With the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) activated and the G1 camcorder set up in the Lab for real-time monitoring by the ground, Don Pettit configured the SLICE (Structure & Liftoff In Combustion Experiment) pyrometry hardware and performed the 3rd flame test operation. [Testing was preceded by pyrometry calibration using 70% methane and SLICE fan calibrations before and after the tests to evaluate the air flow. Standard flame testing was then conducted with 70% methane. Later, FE-6 installed another burner tube in the SPICE Experiment Assembly, replaced the flash/memory card with a new one and ran the flame test a second time. The research goal is to gain unique data to extend scientists’ predictive capability. Earth application: Increased efficiency and reduced pollutant emission for practical combustion devices, improved numerical modeling, hence improved design tools, hence improved practical combustion on Earth (currently, the good modeling-experiment agreement breaks down when flames are lean or heavily sooting). Measurements: still images (with camera that was blackbody calibrated for pyrometry), video & radiometer. Hardware: SLICE is conducted in the MSG using the SPICE hardware.]
At the Node-3/Cupola & Lab RWS (Robotic Workstations), Don later disconnected the DCP (Display & Control Panel) bypass power cables required yesterday for video coverage of the spacewalk.
FE-5 Kuipers conducted the weekly “T+2d” in-flight microbiology analyses of the potable water samples collected on 2/15 from the EHS PWD (Environmental Health Systems / Potable Water Dispenser) Hot port for in-flight analysis. [In-flight sample analysis was performed with the WMK MCD (Water Microbiology Kit/Microbial Capture Devices) for microbial traces, and the CDB (Coliform Detection Bag) for in-flight coliform bacteria (Escherichia coli) detection (Magenta for Positive, Yellow for Negative). Results of the on-board processing with the MWAK are available after 4-6 days of incubation.]
In COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), Burbank & Kuipers reviewed two ESA OBT (Onboard Training) videos to familiarize themselves with the upcoming job of inspecting & cleaning the CFAs (Cabin Fan Assemblies) and ventilation ducts. [The stability of the air flow through the CFAs in COL has been degrading in the past year. This is possibly due to build-ups of dust or FOD (foreign object debris) inside the ventilation ducts. This 2-day activity (1 day per CFA) is aimed at cleaning and inspecting the ventilation ducts using fiberscope and vacuum cleaner. The cabin fans will be temporarily removed but will not be replaced by new ones. The crew has to remove the cables dragged through the hatch overnight and will use gray tape on the fiberscope will be used as indicator for the maximum insertion length.]
Andre also conducted his weekly task of filling out his SHD (Space Headache) questionnaire which he started after Soyuz launch and continues on ISS (on an SSC/Station Support Computer) for every week after his first week in space.
At ~7:45am EST, Dan Burbank powered up the SDRM (Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix) system in support of subsequent troubleshooting conducted by ground commanding. Later (~12:15pm) the CDR powered the payload down again. [Ground engineers believe the end of the effector was over-extended. The crew may have heard the carousel moving this afternoon as the ground tried to force the effector to retract.]
Afterwards, Dan performed the routine check on the MELFI-3 (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS 3) to see if its internal N2 (nitrogen) pressure has remained within acceptable range. [During the last pressure check, on 2/7, the ground saw an unexpected value of 10,300 kPa (kilo-Pascal). The reading from December 2010 had been 9,500 kPa, and engineers want to verify the pressure since there is no reason the pressure should have increased 800 kPa.]
Dan reactivated the amateur/ham radio stations in COL & SM which had been turned off to prevent RF interference with the Orlan Tranzit radio system during the Russian EVA-30 spacewalk.
Later, Burbank powered off and relocated the EHS / TEPC (Environmental Health Systems / Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter) detector assembly from the SM Panel 327 to Node-3, loc. F3. [The TEPC detector assembly is the primary radiation measurement tool in the ISS.]
The CDR also restowed the material used yesterday in his IMS audit/inventory of crew provisions while being isolated/locked out in the MRM2 Poisk module.
Dan & Don filled out their weekly FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer), Dan’s 12th, Don’s 7th. [On the FFQs, USOS astronauts keep a personalized log of their nutritional intake over time on special MEC software. Recorded are the amounts consumed during the past week of such food items as beverages, cereals, grains, eggs, breads, snacks, sweets, fruit, beans, soup, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, chicken, sauces & spreads, and vitamins. The FFQ is performed once a week to estimate nutrient intake from the previous week and to give recommendations to ground specialists that help maintain optimal crew health. Weekly estimation has been verified to be reliable enough that nutrients do not need to be tracked daily.]
On TsUP-Moscow Go, Anatoly was to conduct the periodic refresh of the ISS cabin atmosphere with another O2 repress from Progress M-14M/46P SRPK tankage.
FE-1 & FE-4 conducted their post-EVA PMCs (Private Medical Conferences) via S- & Ku-band audio/video, Oleg at ~11:15am, Anton at ~11:30am.
At ~12:30pm, Burbank conducted the regular IMS (Inventory Management System) stowage conference with Houston stowage specialists.
At ~12:45pm, Andre & Dan conducted the weekly ESA crew conference via phone with COL-CC at Oberpfaffenhofen/Germany.
At ~2:40pm, the crew was scheduled for their regular weekly tagup with the Lead Flight Director at JSC/MCC-H.
Burbank & Pettit each had another time slot reserved for making entries in their electronic Journal on the personal SSC (Station Support Computer). [Required are three journaling sessions per week.]
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-1, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (FE-4), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE0), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-2). ). [FE-6 is on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions, followed by a USND leg muscle self scan in COL. No exercise is being timelined for Fridays. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day.]
Before Presleep, the CDR will turn on the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) and start the Ku-band data flow of video recorded during the day to the ground, with POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) routing the onboard HRDL (High-Rate Data Link). After about an hour, Dan will turn MPC routing off again. [This is a routine operation which regularly transmits HD onboard video (live or tape playback) to the ground on a daily basis before sleeptime.]
Conjunction Advisory: Flight controllers are monitoring a conjunction with Object 29423 (Chinese CZ-4B DEB) with a TCA (Time of Closest Approach) on 2/19 at 4:02pm EST. Currently predicted radial miss distance of this object is ~430m. The decision point (Go/NoGo for maneuver data Cyclogram development) is tomorrow (2/18) at 4:32pm, for a DAM (Debris Avoidance Maneuver) on 2/19 (Sunday) at 4:02pm EST, if required.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked today were Woollya Cove, Chile – Two opportunities. (HMS BEAGLE SITE. This hard-to-shoot target has relatively cloud free weather predicted. Looking right among the islands south of Tierra del Fuego [large island in foreground]. Darwin’s diary for 28th January 1833 reads: “The Beagle channel here is very striking; the view both ways is not intercepted, & to the West extends to the Pacific. — So narrow & straight a channel & in length nearly 120 miles, must be a rare phenomenon. — We were reminded that it was an arm of the sea, by the number of Whales, which were spouting in different directions: the water is so deep that one morning two monstrous whales were swimming within stone throw of the shore…. To everyone’s surprise the day was overpoweringly hot, so much so that our skin was burnt; this is quite a novelty in Tierra del F.”), and St. Helena Island, Atlantic Ocean (HMS BEAGLE SITE. Looking left for this island. Fifteen years after Napoleon died at Longwood House on St Helena, Darwin noted in his diary (1836): “In my walks, I passed more than once over the grassy plain … on which stands Longwood. — Viewed from a short distance, it appears like a respectable gentleman’s country seat. … It is quite extraordinary, the scrupulous degree to which the coast must formerly have been guarded. There are alarm houses, alarm guns & alarm stations on every peak.”)
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:31am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 390.5 km
Apogee height – 404.7 km
Perigee height – 376.3 km
Period — 92.37 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0020992
Solar Beta Angle — 20.6 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 126 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 75,919
Time in orbit (station) — 4837 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4124 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
03/09/12 — ATV3 launch — 5:00pm EST
03/18/12 — ATV3 docking — ~9:31pm EST
04/19/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
04/20/12 — Progress M-15M/47P launch
04/22/12 — Progress M-15M/47P docking
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon launch
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon berthing
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon unberth
04/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-22/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov (target date)
05/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S docking (MRM2) (target date)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
07/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
07/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
07/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking
07/31/12 — Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 — Progress M16M/48P docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/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————-
