NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 18 September 2008

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Crew wake-up time remained shifted forward by one hour (3:00am); sleeptime tonight is back on regular (5:30pm) as will be tomorrow’s schedule.

Hurricane Ike Recovery Update: JSC/MCC-Houston remains closed but will open on Monday (9/21). BAT/BCC (BCC Advisory Team/Backup Control Center) are maintaining monitoring and commanding through JSC assets. ISS FC (Flight Control) will resume from MCC-H tomorrow during the morning hours (9/19, Friday).

After yesterday’s nominal Progress M-65/30P docking (2:43pm EDT), crew activities today dealt mostly with cargo unloading, transferring, unpacking, stowing and IMS (Inventory Management System) logging. [Using an uplinked transfer list, CDR Volkov & FE-1 Kononenko had about 4.5 hrs reserved for stowing cargo items in the limited free volume zones of the FGB, including 26 KRP containers with Russian food rations (2 for ISS-17, 24 for ISS-18/Fincke, Lonchakov, Wakata), 6 containers and 2 CTBs (Cargo Transfer Bags) with American “bonus” food (Fincke, Lonchakov, Chamitoff). Food rations include “skip cycle” backup stock for the event of missed Progress 31P delivery. Eagerly awaited fresh food packages include tomatoes, apples, grapefruits, onions and garlic.]

In addition, Volkov & Kononenko applied special priority to the unloading & transfer of time-critical science experiment/payloads to the ISS, specifically –

• TKhN-9 (KRISTALLIZATOR/Crystallizer): for biological macromolecule crystallization and to obtain bio-crystal films under micro-G conditions. [Transferred to the SM (Service Module) plus activation of crystallization process and documentation with NIKON D2X digital photography by Oleg],
• BTKh-1,2,3,4,20 (GLICOPROTEID/Glycoprotein, MIMETIK-K, KAF, VAKTSINA-K/Vaccine, INTERLEUKIN-K): for biotechnological crystal growth and study of various proteins. [With the “Luch-2 biocrystallizer and the “Kriogem-03M” freezer, stowed in the SM and documented with NIKON photography],
• BTKh-29 ZHENSHEN-2 (Ginseng-2), in BIOEKOLOGIYA #10 container, for the study of new plants for biological products and genotypes with increased biological activity. [Transferred from 30P to the DC1 Docking Compartment & photographed], and
• SOLO PCBAs (Sodium Loading in Microgravity/Portable Clinical Blood Analyzers) for upcoming experimentation by Gregory Chamitoff. [Transferred from 30P to the MELFI (Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for the ISS) and stowed in a box module in Dewar 4, with photo documentation.]

After the unloading, with the Elektron O2 generator and BITS2-12 onboard measurement telemetry (TM) system turned off by ground commanding, Sergey Volkov worked in the new Progress cargo ship, installing the standard US-21 matching unit, a 1-hr. task, and then hooked up its TM connector to the BITS2-12. [The US-21 Matching Unit connects the SM with the Progress motion control and DPO thrusters systems, so that they can be commanded by the SM computer system (BVS). The BITS2-12 and its VD-SU control system mode were subsequently turned back on. A dynamic Progress thruster test of the complete integration of 30P into the ISS is scheduled tomorrow (2:01pm-2:04pm & 3:32pm-3:25pm), after installation of the LKT local temperature sensor commutator (TA251MB) of the BITS2-12, along with its ROM unit (read-only memory, TA765B).]

With BITS2-12 again up and running, TsUP-Moscow will restart the Elektron electrolysis unit at ~2:45pm EDT in 32A mode, while Volkov monitors the external temperature of its secondary purification unit (BD) for the first 10 minutes of operations to ensure that there is no overheating.

Also, as a new regular activity after deactivation/reactivation of the VD-SU control mode, Sergey will be checking the BRI Smart Switch Router computer and its new Ethernet connection to assess any potential impact of these activities on Ethernet comm. [BRI is part of the RS OpsLAN (Russian Segment/Operations Local Area Network), with connections to the three SSC clients, the Ethernet tie-in with the US network, and a network printer in the RS.]

FE-2 Chamitoff powered down the IWIS (Internal Wireless Instrumentation System), then downloaded the accumulated structural dynamics data of yesterday’s Progress docking from the IWIS RSUs (Remote Sensor Units) in the Lab, Node-1, Node-2, FGB and SM.

Performing corrective outfitting in the JAXA JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), Gregory installed hatch handle guide rings at the overhead & starboard hatches (EVA side), along with stowage decals for the two.

Also in the Kibo laboratory, the FE-2 connected the rack-to-module umbilicals of the ICS (Interorbit Communications System) Rack, one of the eight racks delivered on STS-123/Endeavour (1J/A) last March. [Note: The JEMRMS (JEM Robotic Manipulator System) checkout planned for tomorrow was deferred to a later date.]

In Node-2, Greg also installed a hatch handle guide ring, at its port hatch (EVA side).

In the SM, the CDR completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS), today as a discretionary job from the “time permitting” task list. [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.]

The crew completed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (CDR, FE-2), TVIS treadmill (FE-1), RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR, FE-1).

Later, Chamitoff transferred the exercise data files 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).

WRM Update: An updated WRM (Water Recovery Management) “cue card” was uplinked overnight for the crew’s reference, updated with the latest water audit. [The new card (17-0002Z) lists 30 CWCs (~1100.4 L total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (342.3 L, for flushing only because of Wautersia bacteria), potable water (706.7 L, incl. 174.6 L currently on hold), condensate water (34.4 L), waste/EMU dump and other (17 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.]

Dynamic 30P Thruster Tests: Standard Progress thruster test firings are scheduled tomorrow, in order to check 30P’s full integration into the ISS steering logic and ensure thruster functionality in providing attitude control, reboosts and debris avoidance maneuvers (DAMs). No powerdowns required. The DPO (Approach & Attitude Control) thrusters will be fired on Manifold 1 & 2 at 2:01pm EDT & 3:32pm, respectively. [These dynamic firings test the installation of the electronic US-21 Matching Unit box in the Progress vehicle, performed today, which connects its motion control and DPO systems to the SM so that they can be commanded by the latter’s BVS computer system. They are also used to determine which thruster manifold will be considered the primary one for reboosting and DAMs.]

TRRJ Anomalies: Three “tooth crashes” (temporarily misaligned gear teeth in weightlessness) occurred associated with TRRJ (Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint) operations during Progress docking; two were recovered by autorecovery and one was recovered manually. In all three cases, autorecovery software did not work as expected.

No CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today.

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, 7:48am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 352.8 km
Apogee height — 357.4 km
Perigee height — 348.2 km
Period — 91.60 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0006802
Solar Beta Angle — 52.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 58 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 56321

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
09/19/08 — Progress 30P dynamic thruster test
09/29/08 — ATV de-orbit (nighttime re-entry for observation from 2 NASA planes; 9:12pm)
10/01/08 — NASA 50 Years (official)
10/02/08 – ISS Reboost (~1.8 m/s)
10/10/08 — STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4) 12:33am
10/11/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM aft)
10/12/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch (~3:03am EDT; Lonchakov, Fincke, Garriott)
10/14/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (FGB nadir port, ~4:51am)
10/24/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S undocking (DC1 nadir) & landing
11/12/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 launch – MPLM Leonardo, LMC
11/14/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 docking
11/20/08 — ISS 10 Years
11/25/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking & deorbit
11/26/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch
11/30/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking
02/09/09 — Progress M-66/31P undocking & deorbit
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
02/14/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A docking
02/24/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A undocking
02/26/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A landing (nominal)
03/25/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S launch
03/27/09 – Soyuz TMA-14/18S docking (DC1)
04/05/09 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S undocking
04/07/09 — Progress M-67/32P undocking & deorbit
05/15/09 — STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch – JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD
05/25/09 — Soyuz TMA-15/19S launch
05/27/09 — Six-person crew on ISS (following Soyuz 19S docking)
07/30/09 — STS-128/Atlantis/17A – MPLM(P), last crew rotation
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).