NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 18 March 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Upon wake-up, CDR Kondratyev performed the regular daily check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O2 (oxygen) generator which Maxim Suraev had installed on 10/19/09 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). [Dmitri will inspect the filters again before bedtime tonight, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]
FE-5 Nespoli continued HTV2 (H-II Transfer Vehicle 2) cargo transfers, working his way through several hours worth of “transfer choreography”. [HTV installation requirements included the REBR (Re-Entry Breakup Recorder), a kind of “black box” for reentry vehicles of 2 kg mass and ~12 inch diameter, containing GPS, temperature sensors, accelerometers, data recorder & an Iridium modem for taking reentry data and “phoning” them “home”, to be activated just before hatch closure. A second REBR will be installed in ATV2.]
Afterwards, Paolo & Cady removed & transferred the structural elements of two RSPs (Return Stowage Platforms) from the PMM (Permanent Multipurpose Module), bays A1 & A4, to the HTV and installed them in bays F1 & A1, resp. [The racks were mounted in the PMM on pivot fittings and knee braces. Setting up an HTV standoff frame and pivot fittings prior to RSP installation in HTV was up to crew discretion.]
In the ATV-2 (Automated Transfer Vehicle 2) “Johannes Kepler”, Paolo Nespoli configured the spacecraft’s GDS (Gas Delivery System) for a 10 mmHg O2 delivery and then opened the valve of the GCP (Gas Control Panel)’s gas line #1 for the repressurization, closing it ~3 hrs later.
While the repress was going on, Coleman & Nespoli performed cargo transfer activities in the ATV. [Activities in ATV included TSR (Temporary Stowage Rack) deployment, removal of large stowage bags (M-Bags) from the rack front and stowing them temporarily out of the way, retrieving a delivered RFTA (Recycle Filter Tank Assembly) & transferring it to the PMM for stowage, and removing two adapter plates to access rack cargo. Special attention was given to the location of a CTB (Cargo Transfer Bag) with ESA’s FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory) experiment “Geoflow” which will be set up tomorrow. Background: ATV cargo was loaded in Kourou, French Guiana, in a time-consuming process into racks which have specially designed shelves that accommodate the CTBs without wasting any available volume. For ATV-2 the racks were upgraded to hold 25% more volume than on ATV-1 “Jules Verne” and to take advantage of the previously unused curved volume at the rear of the rack. In addition, on the front of the racks, new adapter plates were installed which allow the mounting of either triple-size CTBs or very large M-Bags. For ATV-2, four M-01 bags were loaded (two on the lower port side rack, two on the lower starboard rack). Since ATV-2 arrived with six racks, two rack bays were empty. There are also two TSRs onboard ATV-2, made of cloth, which Paolo & Cady installed today in the empty bays. The old “Jules Verne” racks could carry 1 cubic meter of cargo, the new racks 1.25 cu.mt. The TSRs are of ATV-1 design and hold only 1 cu.mt. of volume.]
CDR Kondratyev had another 3 hrs set aside for continuing Progress 41P cargo unloading & transfer activities. Cady Coleman joined him for about an hour to unload & transfer US cargo from 41P, using an uplinked unpack list covering about 160 items. [US cargo includes food (18 items), shoes, eyewear, clothing, personal stuff, hygiene resupply, 10 ice bricks (+4 degC), a T61p USB camera, etc.]
The CDR serviced the running experiment TEKh-22 “Identifikatsiya” (Identification) in MRM1 (Mini Research Module 1) Rassvet, downloading the latest batch of structural dynamic data collected by the IMU-Ts microaccelerometer to the RSE1 A31p laptop for subsequent downlink to the ground via OCA. [IMU-Ts is a part of the MRM1 SBI onboard measurement system, installed in PGO behind panel 104.]
Afterwards, Dmitri continued the extended leak integrity checking of the spare BZh Liquid Unit (#056) for the Elektron O2 generator, repressed on 2/7/11 with nitrogen (N2) to 1 atm (1 kg/cm2), by conducting the usual pressure check and recharging it with N2 from BPA-1M Nitrogen Purge Unit as required to verify the unit’s hermeticity. [Objective of the monthly checkout of the only remaining spare BZh, which has been in stowage since March 2007, is to check for leakage and good 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”. During Elektron operation, the inert gas locked up in the BZh has the purpose to prevent dangerous O2/H2 mixing. A leaking BZh cannot be used. It is somewhat questionable if BZh #056 is fully functional since it has parts that were scavenged from previously failed Elektron Liquid Units, but a new BZh will be delivered on the next Progress, 42P, on 4/29.]
Later, FE-6 returned the two EMUs (Extravehicular Mobility Suits) #1009 & #1011 from the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) to the US Airlock’s CL (Crewlock) compartment.
Kondratyev completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]
Dima also took care of 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 performed a mandatory 15-min New Module Delta Emergency Procedure drill, intended to familiarize the station residents with changes associated with the arrival of a new module, today PMM “Leonardo”, to be conducted not later than 7-10 days after arrival. The two primary emergencies under consideration were depressurization and fire. [The OBT (Onboard Training) highlighted the identification & memorizing of the location of PMM hardware used in emergencies, including hatches and passageways, and changes to the emergency procedures resulting from the addition of PMM. The crew was to ensure the accessibility of hatches and the ability to rapidly clear hatchways in emergencies, with special attention to cables and all other obstructions at hatchways, to the integrity all hatch rubber seals and to the availability of foot restraints.]
At ~4:05am EDT, the three crewmembers held the regular (nominally weekly) tagup with the Russian Flight Control Team (GOGU/Glavnaya operativnaya gruppa upravleniya), including Shift Flight Director (SRP), at TsUP-Moscow via S-band/audio, phone-patched from Houston and Moscow.
At ~7:20am, Dmitri Kondratyev linked up with TsUP/Moscow stowage specialists via S-band to conduct the weekly IMS tagup, discussing inventory & stowage issues, equipment locations and cargo transfers.
At ~11:35am, Kondratyev supported three Russian PAO TV events, downlinking messages of greetings & well wishing to (1) the participants of an official reception of the Russian Ambassador in China marking the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight, (2) the attendants at the Forum “Young Intelligence – the Future of Karelia”, and (3) the participants of the 3rd All-Russian Robotics Festival in Moscow. [The Forum “Young Intelligence – the Future of Karelia”, initiated & supported by the Ministry of Education of Karelia and the Council of Rectors of the Karelian Republic, to be held on 3/28-31, is aimed at identifying talented students and creating conditions to support them, as well as drawing public attention to the problems of preserving and developing the intellectual potential of society and the development of interest in children and youth to intellectual creativity. The 3rd Robotics Festival will be held on 4/9 in the universal sports arena “Aquarium” at Crocus City, an impressive commercial development in the south of Moscow.]
At ~3:25pm, the crew is scheduled for their regular weekly tagup with the Lead Flight Director at JSC/MCC-Houston.
The crewmembers worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise on the TVIS treadmill (CDR), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-5, FE-6), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (CDR). [T2 snubber arm inspection is no longer needed after every T2 session but must be done after the last T2 session of the day.]
ATV2 Reboost Update: The one-burn reboost of ISS was completed nominally this morning at 2:00am EDT using the ATV-2 OCS (Orbit Correction System) thrusters. Burn duration was 14 min 43 sec, resulting in a delta-V of 2.22 m/s (7.28 ft/s), vs. planned 2.16/7.09. Mean altitude gain: 3.8 km (2.05 nmi), vs. planned 3.70/2.00. The burn used 290 kg of prop from ATV2 tanks, and 29 kg of prop from RS (Russian Segment) tanks for attitude control. Purpose: To set up phasing for the Soyuz 26S (NET 4/4) and ULF6 (4/19) launches.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (looking just left of track. The urban area is located in the Tuul River valley, and is the capital and largest city [1 million] of Mongolia. Overlapping mapping frames of the urban and surrounding rural area were requested), Pyongyang, North Korea (nadir pass over the capital city [3.25 million] of North Korea. The urban area is located along the Taedong River. Overlapping mapping frames of the metropolitan area were requested), and Seoul, South Korea (looking right for this capital city of more than 10 million people, one of the largest in the world. Visual cue again was the local river estuary. Greater Seoul, which includes Incheon, has more than 24.5 million inhabitants).
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/28/11 — HTV2 unberth (~12:00pm)
03/29/11 — HTV2 deorbit (~12:00am EDT)
TBD /11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S launch – A. Borisenko (CDR-28)/R.Garan/A.Samokutayev – NET 4/4 (“not earlier than”)
TBD /11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/19/11 — STS-134/Endeavour launch ULF6 (ELC-3, AMS) ~7:48pm EDT NET
04/21/11 — STS-134/Endeavour docking (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 (DC-1 nadir)
05/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour undock
05/03/11 — STS-134/Endeavour landing
05/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/04/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” undock (SM aft) – under review
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking (SM aft)
06/28/11 — STS-135/Atlantis launch ULF7 (MPLM) — ~3:30pm EDT NET
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/??/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-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/xx/12 – 3R Russian Proton — Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA
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————-
