NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 18 December 2010

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday – Crew rest day. First full day of the entire Exp-26 crew complement:

. CDR Scott Kelly (USA)
. FE-1 Alexander Kaleri (Russia)
. FE-2 Oleg Skripochka (Russia)
. FE-4 Dmitri Kondratyev (Russia)
. FE-5 Paolo Nespoli (Italy)
. FE-6 Cady Coleman (USA)

Another First: A full 24 hrs of rest and getting to know each other and their new home for the old and new crewmembers,- from 1:00am EST this morning to 1:00am tomorrow.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Twenty-Six — Week 4).

2D NANO Template (JAXA): No report.

3D SPACE: No report.

AgCam (Agricultural Camera): No report.

ALTCRISS (Alteino Long Term monitoring of Cosmic Rays on the ISS): Complete.

ALTEA SHIELD (NASA/ASI): No report.

APEX (Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit) -Cambium: No report.

APEX-TAGES (Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System): No report.

BCAT-4/5 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test 4/5): No report.

BIOLAB (ESA): No report.

BIORHYTHMS (JAXA, Biological Rhythms): No report.

BISE (CSA, Bodies in the Space Environment): No report.

BISPHOSPHONATES: “Cady, we have your first pill ingestion scheduled for 12/20. They will be scheduled every Monday per your preference.”

CARD (Long Term Microgravity: Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease, ESA): No report.

CARDIOCOG-2: Complete.

CB (JAXA Clean Bench): No report.

CBEF (JAXA Cell Biology Experiment Facility)/SPACE SEED: No report.

CCISS (Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Control on Return from ISS): No report.

CERISE (JAXA): No report.

CFE-2 (Capillary Flow Experiment 2): No report.

CFS-A (Fungi-A): Awaiting ULF5 launch.

CSI-3/CGBA-5 (CGBA Science Insert #2/Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 5): Ongoing.

CGBA-2 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 2): Complete.

CIR (Combustion Integrated Rack), MDCA/Flex: The goal of this investigation is to provide definition and direction for large scale fire suppression tests and selection of the fire suppressant for next generation crew exploration vehicles.
On 12/8, three test points were successfully performed with four counting towards the science matrix (one test point was skipped). The test points were performed with methanol fuel at a 1 atm chamber environment of 18% O2, 15% CO2, and 67% N2. None of the test points used the support fiber.
* Test #1 – Droplet diameter of 4 mm. Good dispense with no bubbles. There may have been some debris or particles in the droplet. A very long burn (~ 30 sec) with no disruption. The flame got dimmer throughout the early part of the test. There appeared to have been some flame instability with definite flame oscillations in the first half of the test, but no flame extinction. The flame then became stable with some small oscillations just prior to flame extinction.
* Test #2 – Droplet diameter of 3 mm. Good dispense with no bubbles. A few cloudy filaments appeared in the droplet briefly. A good burn (no flame disruption) that lasted ~ 20 sec.
* Test #3 – Droplet diameter of 2 mm. Good dispense with no bubbles. A few cloudy filaments appeared, then moved around on the droplet. A good burn with no disruptions visible. The droplet drifted then burned to completion/extinction.
On 12/9, four test points were successfully performed from the science matrix. The test points used heptane fuel at the same chamber environment discussed above. Once again, none of the test points used the support fiber.
* Test #4 – Droplet diameter of 4 mm. Small particles were moving around in the droplet. Very good deployment. Very quick burn and flame extinction, very likely radiative extinction. A vapor cloud formed some time after flame extinction.
* Test #5 – Droplet diameter of 3 mm. A few small particles were moving around in the droplet. Droplet may have been slightly cloudy. Very good deployment with very little motion after ignition. Radiative extinction after about 2 sec of burn time. A vapor cloud formed ~ 15 sec after the flame extinguished.
* Test #6 – Droplet diameter of 2.5 mm. Observed contamination in the droplet during the fuel dispense. Poor deployment. The droplet moved quickly out of camera view shortly after (~ 1-2 sec) ignition. The flame oscillated then burned steadily.
* Test #7 – Droplet diameter of 2 mm. Some residue still apparent on needles. Droplet left camera view before flame extinction. This could have been diffusive extinction.
On 12/14, four test points were successfully performed from the science matrix. The test points were performed with methanol fuel at a 1 atm chamber environment of 16% O2, 25% CO2, and 59% N2. No support fiber used again.
* Test #8 – Droplet diameter of 4 mm. Excellent deployment with almost no residual motion. Droplet burned with a flame that continued to grow and get dimmer. Burn time was ~ 10 sec. Flame oscillated before extinction, but the oscillations did not have the typical preferred (i.e. candle flame like) direction usually observed. This may be because the droplet had almost no residual motion and there was no preferred direction (like in the direction of translation).
* Test #9 – Droplet diameter of 3 mm. Similar to Test #8 with burn time of ~ 7 sec.
* Test #10 – Droplet diameter of 2 mm. This droplet drifted. The flame got dimmer (slightly) and shrunk with time before extinction. No flame oscillations before extinction, the flame was spherical in one frame and extinguished the next frame. Burn time was ~15 sec.
* Test #11 – Droplet diameter of 2.5 mm. Similar to Test #10 except with a good deployment and almost no residual motion. Burn time was ~18 sec.
It appears that we likely observed both radiative and diffusive extinction for these test conditions. Given how close the transition is (2.5 mm diffusive, 3.0 mm radiative), we are likely approaching the flammability limit for this series of tests. The decrement in ambient oxygen mole fraction should be smaller for the next series of tests.

Commercial Photo (JAXA): No report.

CSLM-2 (Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures 2): No report.

CubeLab: No report.

CW/CR (Cell Wall/Resist Wall) in EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): Complete.

DECLIC (Device for the Study of Critical Liquids & Crystallization, CNES/NASA): No report.

DomeGene (JAXA): Complete.

DOSIS (Dose Distribution Inside ISS, ESA): Acquiring science data with DOSTEL-2 detector. Monthly data downlink performed on 12/15.

EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students): No report.

EDR (European Drawer Rack, ESA): No report.

ELITE-S2 (Elaboratore Immagini Televisive – Space 2): Planned.

EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): No report.

ENose (Electronic Nose): No report.

EPM (European Physiology Module): Activated in support of CARD.

EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Hobbies): No report.

EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Kids in Space): No report.

EPO LES-2 (ESA): No report.

EPO COMMERCIAL (JAXA): No report.
.
EPO 3-min Video (JAXA): No report.

EPO J-Astro Report (JAXA): No report.

EPO Dewey’s Forest (JAXA): Closed out on 3/15.

EPO Space Clothes (JAXA): Complete.

EPO Hiten (Dance, JAXA): No report.

EPO-5 SpaceBottle (Message in a Bottle, JAXA): Space Bottle has been wrapped with Kapton tape and moved to the airlock for ULF5 EVA on 10/14. This bottle will be exposed in space by ULF-5 shuttle EVA.

EPO Moon Score (JAXA): No report.

EPO Try Zero-G (JAXA): No report.

EPO Kibo Kids Tour (JAXA): Complete.

EPO Paper Craft (Origami, JAXA): No report.

EPO Poem (JAXA): No report.

EPO Spiral Top (JAXA): No report.

ERB-2 (Erasmus Recording Binocular, ESA): [ERB-2 aims are to develop narrated video material for various PR & educational products & events, including a 3D interior station view.] No report.

ETD (Eye Tracking Device): Completed.

FACET-2 (JAXA): No report.

FERULATE (JAXA): No report.

FIR/LMM/CVB (Fluids Integrated Rack / Light Microscopy Module / Constrained Vapor Bubble): No report.

Fish Scales (JAXA): Completed on FD7/ULF-4 and returned on STS-132.

FOAM STABILITY (ESA): No report.

FOCUS: No report.

FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory, ESA): No report.

FWED (Flywheel Exercise Device, ESA): No report.

GENARA-A (Gravity Regulated Genes in Arabidopsis A/ESA): No report.

GEOFLOW: No report.

HAIR (JAXA): Hair sampling sessions for Walker and Wheelock were completed on 11/12.

HDTV System (JAXA): Was delivered by HTV1.

Holter ECG (JAXA): No report.

HQPC (JAXA): Was delivered by 34P.

HREP (HICO/Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean & RAIDS/Remote Atmospheric & Ionospheric Detection System/JAXA): No report.

HydroTropi (Hydrotropism & Auxin-Inducible Gene Expression in Roots Grown under Microgravity Conditions/JAXA): No report.

ICE CRYSTAL (JAXA): Complete.

ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular): No report.

IMMUNO (Neuroendocrine & Immune Responses in Humans During & After Long Term Stay at ISS): Complete.

INTEGRATED IMMUNE: No report.

InSPACE-2 (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions 2): No report.

IRIS (Image Reversal in Space, CSA): No report.

ISS Amateur/Ham Radio: No report.

IV Gen (Intravenous Fluids Generation): No report.

KID/KUBIK6: No report.

Kids in Micro-G: No report.

KUBIK 3 (ESA): No report.

LOCAD-PTS (Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System): No report.

Marangoni Exp (JAXA): Due to Ku outage, 22nd run was slipped and performed on 12/16.

Marangoni DSD – Dynamic Surf (JAXA): Payload name was change from Marangoni DSD to Dynamic Surf.

Matryoshka-2 (RSA): Acquiring nominal science data.

MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image, JAXA): Continuous operation from Inc19&20.

MDCA/Flex: See under CIR.

MEIS (Marangoni Experiment for ISS) in JAXA FPEF (Fluid Physics Experiment Facility): No report.

Microbe-2 (JAXA): No report.

Micro-G Clay (JAXA EPO): Complete.

MMA (JAXA/Microgravity Measurement Apparatus): No report.

MISSE-7 (Materials ISS Experiment): MISSE-7 is operating nominally and all Science data continues to be downlinked.

MPAC/SEED (JAXA): Completed on 19A FD4.

MSG-SAME (Microgravity Science Glovebox-Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment): No report.

MSL (Materials Science Laboratory, ESA): No report.

MTR-2 (Russian radiation measurements): Passive dosimeters measurements in DC-1 “Pirs”.

MULTIGEN-1: Completed.

MYCO 3 (JAXA): No report.

MyoLab (JAXA): Completed on 4/20.

NANOSKELETON (Production of High Performance Nanomaterials in Microgravity, JAXA): Returned on 19A.

NEURORAD (JAXA): No report.

NEUROSPAT (ESA/Study of Spatial Cognition, Novelty Processing and Sensorimotor Integration): No report.

NOA-1/-2 (Nitric Oxide Analyzer, ESA): Complete.

NUTRITION w/REPOSITORY/ProK: No report.

PADIAC (Pathway Different Activators, ESA): No report.

PADLES (JAXA, Area PADLES 3/4; Passive Area Dosimeter for Lifescience Experiment in Space): No report.

PASSAGES (JAXA): No report.

PCDF-PU (Protein Crystallization Diagnostic Facility – Process Unit): No report.

PCG (JAXA, Protein Crystal Growth): PCG removal from Ryutai Rack was completed on 11/25. The sample returned home on 23S Soyuz.

PCRF (Protein Crystallization Research Facility) Reconfiguration (JAXA): See PCG.

PMDIS (Perceptual Motor Deficits in Space): Complete.

POLCA/GRAVIGEN (ESA): Complete.

Pro K: No report.

RadGene & LOH (JAXA): Complete.

RadSilk (JAXA): No report.

RST/Reaction Self Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS): “Scott, thank you for your participation in Reaction Self Test! Next week you will begin your sleep shift sequence around the 25S docking. For a sleep shift session, Reaction Self Test is performed twice daily for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following the sleep shift. Therefore, Reaction Self Test will be scheduled from 12/14 to 12/23.”

RYUTAI Rack (JAXA): No report.

SAIBO Rack (JAXA): No report.

SAMS/MAMS (Space & Microgravity Acceleration Measurement Systems): No report.

SAMPLE: Complete.

SCOF (Solution Crystallization Observation Facility, JAXA): No report.

SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload, JAXA): Continuous operation from Inc 19&20.

SHERE (Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment): Complete.

SLAMMD (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device): No report.

SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight): “Scott: Thank you for performing another week of Sleep logging. Your next session of log-entries will begin on December 13th.”

SMILES (JAXA): 10th recooling warm-up process is on-going (it is in warming process now).

SODI/IVIDIL (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Influence of Vibration on Diffusion in Liquids, ESA): No report.

SODI/COLLOID (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Colloid): No report.

SOLAR (Solar Monitoring Observatory): Sun observation window #35 started on 12/03 and ended on 12/16. On 12/11, an Analogue Input Board failure occurred and SOLAR had to be rebooted (1 orbit of science measurements lost for SOLACES). On 12/14, 3 orbits of science measurements were lost for SOLACES due to a KU band outage.

SOLO (Sodium Loading in Microgravity): No report.

Space-DRUMS (Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System): No report.

SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite): No report.

SPHINX (SPaceflight of Huvec: an Integrated eXperiment, ESA): No report.

SPICE (Smoke Point In Co-flow Experiment): No report.

SPINAL (Spinal Elongation): No report.

SWAB (Characterization of Microorganisms & Allergens in Spacecraft): No report.

TASTE IN SPACE (ESA): No report.

THERMOLAB (ESA): No report.

TRAC (Test of Reaction & Adaptation Capabilities): Planned.

TRIPLELUX-B (ESA): No report.

ULTRASOUND: Planned.

VASCULAR (CSA): No report.

VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Module, NASA): No report.

VESSEL ID System (ESA): Acquiring nominal science data.

VESSEL IMAGING (ESA): No report.

VO2max (NASA): No report.

VLE (Video Lessons ESA): No report.

WAICO #1/#2 (Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots at Different g-levels; ESA): No report.

YEAST B (ESA): No report.

CEO (Crew Earth Observation): Through 12/10, for Increment 26, the ground has received 4,524 of ISS CEO frames for review and cataloging. “We are pleased to report your acquisition of the following targets with times corresponding to those of our daily CEO Target Request lists: Kerguelen Islands, S. Indian Ocean-34 frames of this target were acquired-cloudiness was much more than we anticipated – we will continue to request this target; Arabia and Persian Gulf at night – still under review – a number of excellent views of important cities in this region such as Riyadh, Ad Dammam, Al Manamah, Doha and Abu Dhabi were acquired; and Ascension Island, Equatorial Atlantic Ocean – a number of good context views were acquired – we will continue to seek more views with less clouds. As imagery requirements are met for our targets we are able to remove them from your Increment request lists. A 11/30 view of the Las Vegas, NV Metropolitan area at night was published on NASA/GSFC’s Earth Observatory website this past weekend. This is but one of numerous striking views of the Earth’s cities at night that you have been acquiring for us. We will be uplinking this article to you, look for it with next week’s WSS. Your patiently developed skills using the Nikon DS3 digital camera for these targets is producing a bounty of beautiful nighttime photography of our planet. Thanks for your fine efforts!”

CEO targets uploaded today were Storm Bay, Tasmania (HMS Beagle Site. ISS had a nadir-viewing overpass of this bay on the southeastern coast of Tasmania. Scattered cloud will have been present, but there may have been enough gaps in the cloud cover to collect useful imagery of the Bay. Charles Darwin visited Storm Bay in 1836), Aurora Borealis (night-awake opportunity) and Moroni, Comoros (weather was predicted to be clear over the capital city of the Comoros Islands located between Africa and Madagascar. The city is located on the western coast of Grande Comore Island. Overlapping mapping frames of the city and surrounding rural areas were requested).

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 4:11am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 349.2 km
Apogee height – 354.6 km
Perigee height – 343.7 km
Period — 91.52 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.000814
Solar Beta Angle — 27.5 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.73
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours – 106 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 69,244.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/20/10 — SPDM (Robotics) Test
12/22/10 — ISS Reboost (11:25am EST; 18min 54sec; delta-V 2.50 m/s)
01/20/11 — HTV2 launch
01/21/11 — Russian EVA-27
01/24/11 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
01/27/11 — HTV2 berthing (Node-2 zenith)
01/28/11 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
01/31/11 — Progress M-09M/41P docking (DC1)
02/03/10 — STS-133/Discovery launch – ~1:34am — NET (no earlier than)
02/21/11 — Russian EVA-28
02/15/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” launch
02/19/11 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
02/24/11 — HTV2 unberthing (Node-2 nadir)
02/26/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” docking (SM aft)
03/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-01M/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/20/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R.Garan/A.Samokutayev
03/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) launch – ~3:15am — NET
04/26/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking (DC1)
05/xx/11 — Russian EVA-29
05/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/04/11 — 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)
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-23/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-23/28S 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-22/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
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)
03/05/12 — Progress M-12M/44P undock
03/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-23/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Valkov
04/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/09/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/23/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O. Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
09/25/12 – Soyuz TMA-27/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-26/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-28/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
11/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-28/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S launch.
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-

To send holiday greetings to the crew and get more information about the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station