NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 17 July 2008
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Crew Sleep Cycle: After last night’s sleeptime at 8:00pm EDT, wakeup today was at a more regular 4:30am, to extend again to 8:00pm tonight.
The CDR began the day by servicing the Russian BMP (Harmful Impurities Removal System), first terminating the regeneration cycle on filter bed #1 initiated yesterday, then starting the "bake-out"-to-vacuum cycle on absorbent bed #2 of the regenerable dual-channel filtration system. The regen process will be terminated tonight at ~5:20 EDT. [Regeneration of each of the two cartridges takes about 12 hours and is conducted only during crew awake periods. The BMP’s regeneration cycle, normally done every 20 days, is currently performed four times more frequently to remove any lingering Freon-218 from the cabin atmosphere (last time done: 6/19&20).]
Sergey Volkov & Oleg Kononenko then completed final post-EVA cleanup activities, by –
- Removing the O2 repressurization tanks (BK-3, primary & backup) as well as batteries from the Orlan & BSS radio telemetry units (BRTA),
- Starting the discharge/recharge cycle on the first 825M3 battery pack from Orlan-M #25 in the ZU-S battery charger in the DC1 Docking Compartment, later tonight (~7:50pm) terminating it and initiating the process on the second 825M3 pack,
- Setting up both Orlan-M suits for airing/drying and later stowing them, plus
- Tagging up with ground specialists (at ~6:30am) for a final post-EVA debriefing.
FE-2 Chamitoff meanwhile had 1.5 hrs set aside for collecting and stowing the US tools used in the two Russian EVAs.
In the DC1, Sergey conducted an inspection of areas behind panel 301 (equipment, connectors, shell) to check for any traces of coolant of the STR Thermal Control System.
The FE-2 completed the weekly 10-min. CWC (Contingency Water Container) audit as part of on-going WRM (Water Recovery & Management) assessment of onboard water supplies. [Updated “cue cards” based on the crew’s water calldowns are sent up every other week. The current card (17-0002R) lists 35 CWCs (Contingency Water Containers,~1401.8 L total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (650.6 L, for Elektron, flushing, hygiene, incl. 509.4 L non-usable water because of Wautersia bacteria), potable water (706.7 L, incl. 260.6 L currently on hold), condensate water (41.5 L), waste/EMU dump and other (7.9 L). Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources. These isolates pose no threat to human health.]
The FE-1 conducted the periodic (about twice a month) replenishing of the Elektron oxygen generator’s water supply for electrolysis, filling the KOV EDV container with water collected in a CWC (Contingency Water Container) from the Lab CCAA (Common Cabin Air Assembly) dehumidifier. [The 40-minute procedure is specially designed to prevent air bubbles larger than ~10 mm from getting into the BZh Liquid Unit where they could cause Elektron shutdown.]
Gregory performed the periodic deployment of four passive FMK (Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit) sampling assemblies in the Lab (at P3, below CEVIS) and SM (at the most forward handrail, on panel 307) for two days, to catch any atmospheric formaldehyde on a collector substrate for subsequent analysis on the ground. [Two monitors each are usually attached side by side, preferably in an orientation with their faces perpendicular to the direction of air flow.]
Kononenko gathered the equipment necessary for tomorrow’s planned periodic checkout of the spare BZh Liquid Unit (#056) for the Elektron O2 generator, [Objective of the checkout of the BZh, which has been in stowage for 1.5 years, is to check water passage through the feed line inside of the BZh (from ZL1 connector to the buffer tank) and to check the response of the Electronics Unit’s micro switches (signaling “Buffer Tank is Empty” & “Buffer Tank is Full”.]
The FE-1 completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the Service Module (SM). [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of 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.]
Working from the Russian discretionary “time permitting” task list, Oleg also performed the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, updating/editing its standard “delta file” including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).
The three crewmembers conducted their regular 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (FE-2), TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1), RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR, FE-1). Later, Greg transferred the exercise data file to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) laptop for downlink, including the daily wristband HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure
on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).
At ~7:50pm EDT, just before sleep time, Oleg will again set up the Russian MBI-12 SONOKARD (Sonocard) payload and start his sixth 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.]
As most every day, starting at ~9:00am this morning and running until 3:00pm, the US CDRA (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) was activated intermittently for two half-cycles to control ppCO2 levels. In this configuration for the daily ops, connecting & disconnecting the ITCS cooling loop is not required. [A forward plan is in work for cycling the CSV (CO2 Selector Valve) to prevent its sticking.]
At ~7:55am, the crew held the regular (nominally weekly) tagup with the Russian Flight Control Team (GOGU/Glavnaya operativnaya gruppa upravleniya = “Main Operative Control Group”), including Shift Flight Director (SRP), at TsUP-Moscow via S-band/audio, phone-patched from Houston and Moscow.
At ~8:00am, the crew downlinked a message of appreciation and greetings to a festive event at ESA Headquarters in Paris about ATV and ESA’s ISS efforts, taking place during today’s top-level HOA (Heads of Space Agencies) meeting. The footage shot by the crew earlier of the unveiling of original manuscripts by French author Jules Verne was also replayed at the event. [For the video, produced on 7/7, a crewmember was shown entering the ATV and conducting a “tour” of the large vehicle, then making presentations of four historic items, namely an original copy of the 19th century of Jules Verne’s book “De la Terre a la Lune” (From the Earth to the Moon), a Jules Verne poster showing three small original manuscripts, and a set of two original manuscripts within their protective plastic covers.]
CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today were Iceberg A43f (DYNAMIC EVENT: (This large iceberg broke away from the Antarctic Ice Shelf near the Antarctic Peninsula over 18 months ago. It is now in the area just north of South Georgia Island. Conditions were marginal for viewing as the ISS pass was in the low light of winter during early afternoon. Clouds were expected to be broken to scattered. Approach was from the W. Looking just right of track for this high contrast feature in the darkness of the sea and using the long lens settings for detail), and Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) over Northwestern Europe (DYNAMIC EVENT: The nighttime window of opportunity for this pass ran for about 10-12 minutes from just N of the eastern North Atlantic to northern Ukraine. These were to be high oblique views left of track towards the Earth’s limb.)
CEO photography can be studied at this “Gateway” website:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (as of 3/1/08, this database contained 757,605 views of the Earth from space, with 314,000 from the ISS alone).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:13am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 344.3 km
Apogee height — 350.7 km
Perigee height — 337.8 km
Period — 91.42 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0009612
Solar Beta Angle — 68.5 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.75
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 35 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 55330
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
07/23/08 — ATV1 reboost (~12:06pm EDT)
08/30/08 — Progress M-64/29P undocking, from FGB nadir
09/05/08 — ATV1 undocking, from SM aft port (loiter until ~9/25 for nighttime reentry/observation)
09/10/08 — Progress M-65/30P launch
09/12/08 — Progress M-65/30P docking (SM aft port)
10/01/08 — NASA 50 Years
10/08/08 — STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
10/11/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM aft port)
10/12/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch
10/14/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (FGB nadir port)
10/23/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S undocking (DC1 nadir)
11/10/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 launch – MPLM Leonardo, LMC
11/12/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 docking
11/20/08 — ISS 10 Years
11/26/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch
11/28/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking
02/10/09 — Progress M-67/32P launch
02/12/09 — Progress M-67/32P docking
02/12/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A launch – S6 truss segment
03/25/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S launch
05/15/09 — STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch – JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD
07/30/09 — STS-128/Atlantis/17A – MPLM(P), last crew rotation
05/27/09 — Six-person crew on ISS (following Soyuz 19S docking, May ’09)
10/15/09 — STS-129/Discovery/ULF3 – ELC1, ELC2
12/10/09 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 + Cupola
02/11/10 — STS-131/Atlantis/19A – MPLM(P)
04/08/10 — STS-132/Discovery/ ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM1
05/31/10 — STS-133/Endeavour/ULF5 – ELC3, ELC4 (contingency).
