Status Report

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 19 August 2008

By SpaceRef Editor
August 19, 2008
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NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 19 August 2008
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All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.

Before breakfast & first exercise, CDR Volkov, FE-1 Kononenko and FE-2 Chamitoff completed a full session with the Russian crew health monitoring program’s medical assessment MO-9/Biochemical Urinalysis. Afterwards, the FE-1 closed out and stowed the Urolux hardware. [MO-9 is conducted every 30 days (and also before and after EVAs) and is one of five nominal Russian medical tests adopted by NASA for U.S. crewmembers for IMG PHS (Integrated Medical Group/Periodic Health Status) evaluation as part of the "PHS/Without Blood Labs" exam. The analysis uses the sophisticated in-vitro diagnostic apparatus Urolux developed originally for the Mir program. Afterwards, the data are entered in the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer)’s special IFEP software (In-Flight Examination Program).]

Kononenko performed the periodic extensive audit/inventory of all lights (SD1-7) in the RS (Russian Segment), supported by an uplinked detailed listing of 42 deployed lamps (SM: 24; FGB: 12; DC1: 4+2 portable) and another 42 spare lamps in FGB stowage bags.

Later, Volkov conducted an audit/inventory of SVO Water Supply System equipment in the RS, checking three containers with undocumented contents, i.e., not detailed in the IMS (Inventory Management System).

After the CDR set up the equipment for the NOA/Nitric Oxide Analyzer (MBI-21) payload, both he and the FE-1 undertook the experiment session (Sergey’s fifth, Oleg’s fourth), filling in the electronic log book on the RSE1 laptop for downlink and restowing the hardware. Each subject took two NO (Nitric Oxide) measurements in exhaled air. Afterwards, the hardware was re-stowed. [Purpose of the ESA experiment ESANO1, consisting of the “Platon” analyzer and its power supply, is to monitor expired NO in the subject’s exhaled air to detect signs of airway inflammation and indications of venous gas emboli (bubbles) that may be caused by inhalation of pollutants in the closed environment of the ISS cabin and increased risk of decompression sickness.]

After configuring the JAXA FPEF MS (Fluid Physics Experiment Facility/Marangoni Surface) hardware last week, FE-2 Chamitoff today continued JMP (JEM Pressurized Module) preparations for Kibo’s first experiment by completing several FPEF post-launch reconfigurations plus checkout, preparatory to the scheduled start of the Marangoni experiment on 8/21 (Thursday). [Reconfiguration proceeded in six steps: Installing MS in FPEF, installing the IR (Infrared) camera on FPEF & connecting harnesses, installing FPEF experiment cover body, connecting the 1553B cable & silicone hoses between FPEF and the silicone filter, with rack power switch set on normal, and removing MS MWA I/F A & B (Maintenance Work Area Interface A & B) from MWA, plus relocating the MWA.]

Afterwards, Chamitoff configured the required cables connections for CBEF (Cell Biology Experiment Facility) and FPEF, removing the video cables between CBEF and the IPU Image Processing Unit) as well as between the SCOF (Solution Crystallization Observation Facility) and the IPU, also the payload bus cable between SCOF and its ISPR UIP (International Standard Payload Rack Utility Interface Panel), then connecting the FPEF by video cables to the IPU and by payload bus cable to the ISPR UIP.

Also in the JPM, the FE-2 activated the MMA (Microgravity Measurement Apparatus) and its laptop (MLT), by first powering up the MMA’s NCU/RSU (Network Control Unit/Remote Sensor Unit) set from the Ryutai rack’s UDC (Utility DC to DC Converter), then turning on both the NCU/RSU and MLT.

CDR Volkov set up the geophysical GFI-1 Relaksatsiya ("relaxation") payload’s SONY DCR camcorder at Service Module (SM) window #1 (port crew cabin). Purpose of today’s ~2.5hr exercise was to calibrate the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)-equipped camcorder with known observation targets, viz., stars of the constellation Cygnus (Swan). Afterwards the camcorder battery was re-charged and the equipment re-stowed. [Relaksatsiya normally deals with the study of the chemoluminescent chemical reactions and atmospheric light phenomena (emissions, i.e., molecular relaxation processes), including those that occur during high-velocity interaction between the exhaust products from space vehicles and the atmosphere at orbital altitude and during the entry of space vehicles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.]

The FE-2 performed CSA-CP (Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products) maintenance, first replacing the battery of the prime CSA-CP unit with a fresh spare, then performing visual & functional inspections of the CSA-CP probes for damage, using the sampling pumps in Node-1 and -2 for the checkup.

After yesterday’s equipment preparations in the US Lab for setting up an A31p laptop that can be used as a remote RS CP (Central Post) computer, Volkov & Kononenko today installed the laptop and connected it to the RS Command & Data Handling System (SUBA). The new Ethernet connection was tested by Oleg afterwards, and a system test of the A31p setup is scheduled tomorrow. [The Remote RS A31p laptop in the Lab is now connected via Ethernet and the BRI Smart Switch Router to the RS1 laptop and thus to the KTsP1 (Central Post Computer 1) in the SM. BRI is part of the RS OpsLAN network with connections to the three RS SSC (Station Support Computer) clients, the Ethernet tie-in with the US network, a network printer in the RS, and now also to the Remote US CP client.])

For the external VSPLESK (“Burst”) science payload installed during EVA-20 by Volkov & Kononenko on 7/15, Oleg connected two jumper cables to two array matching devices (USM) for the onboard data/telemetry system, with the BITS2-12 onboard telemetry measurement system temporarily deactivated (which also required the Elektron oxygen generator to be turned off). [VSPLESK, along with the BTN-M1 “NEUTRON” science payload, will create a physical model of charged and neutral particles generated during solar bursts and of the neutron albedo of the Earth atmosphere considering solar and geophysical aspects.]

Afterwards, the Elektron O2 generator was activated at 32 amps, supported by Oleg monitoring the external temperature of its secondary purification unit (BD) for the first 10 minutes of operations to ensure that there is no overheating. In support of the reactivation, at ~6:22am EDT the ground temporarily switched the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) to autonomous power (i.e., disconnected it electrically from ISS) and later reconfigured it to ISS power. [During nominal Elektron operations a gas analyzer is utilized to detect hydrogen (H2) in the O2 line (which could cause overheating) but is not included in the control algorithm until 10 minutes after Elektron startup.]

Sergey Volkov installed newly delivered extension springs on spare quick-release screw clamps (ZVB) for the standard Russian SSVP-StM docking mechanism.

In the U.S. Airlock (A/L), Chamitoff terminated the maintenance discharge on the second of two EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) batteries (#2073) and started its recharge. [Since the due date for the regular 85-day maintenance has expired, an additional maintenance cycle is required after the battery’s discharge. The periodic maintenance consists of fully discharging (and later recharging) the storage units to prolong their useful life. After end of the maintenance cycle, Greg restored the SSC laptop, which is used in DOS mode for the automated procedure, to nominal ops. Yesterday’s OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) check on EMU battery #2071 showed 13.4 volts, indicating a shorted cell within the battery. As a result of this finding, the formerly suspect BCM-4 (Battery Charger Module 4) has been cleared for nominal use.]

Gregory also completed the regular 30-day inspection of the new AED (Automated External Defibrillator) in the CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) rack. [The AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient. It then can treat them through defibrillation, i.e., the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. AEDs are generally either held by trained personnel who will attend events or are public access units which can be found in places including corporate and government offices, shopping centers, airports, restaurants, casinos, hotels, sports stadiums, schools and universities, community centers, fitness centers, health clubs and any other location where people may congregate.]

As a JAXA EPO (Educational Payload Operation) task, at ~11:00am EDT, at the moment of moonrise for the ISS, the FE-2 watched the Moon from the JPM window and took photography as it rose, including briefly through the upper atmosphere layers. [As per Greg: In the future, this should be timelined a bit earlier to allow for preparation of the shoot.]

Sergey conducted 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 and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]

Oleg performed the daily IMS 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).

Gregory had another 55 min reserved for ATV cargo transfers, i.e., moving consumables to the ISS via the SM and loading trash & excessed equipment on “Jules Verne”.

Kononenko unstowed and installed the equipment for the periodic Russian PZE-MO-10 "Hematokrit" testing which is scheduled for him and CDR Volkov tomorrow. [MO-10 measures the hematocrit (red blood cell mass) value of the blood (it is a well-known phenomenon of space flight that red blood cell mass {normal range: 30-45%} tends to go down over time).]

The crew had their periodic PMCs (Private Medical Conferences) via S- & Ku-band audio/video, Oleg at ~11:20am, Sergey at ~11:50am, Greg at ~2:30pm EDT.

The three station residents 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, Oleg 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).

As generally every day now, starting at ~9:00am 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 (Internal Thermal Control System) cooling loop is not required. [A forward plan is in work for cycling the CSV (CO2 Selector Valve) to prevent its sticking.]

At ~11:35am, the FE-2 powered up the SM’s amateur radio equipment (Kenwood VHF transceiver with manual frequency selection, headset, & power supply) and conducted, at 11:40am, a ham radio exchange with the Los Padres Council Boy Scouts Troop 105 of Santa Barbara, CA. Troop 105 is based in Goleta, California, founded in 1967. The troop belongs to the South Coast District of the Los Padres Council. Its monthly program includes weekly meetings and monthly outings, participation in the annual district Camporee and attendance at a week-long summer camp. It also performs service for its community and its sponsor, the St. Raphael Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Questions to Greg were uplinked beforehand. [“What is your favorite experiment on the space station?”; “What kind of computer do you have available to use on the space station?”; “How long do plants live in a space environment?”; “Can you tell us what weightlessness is like?”; “What does the food taste like?”; “What kind of shapes can you make with liquids in weightlessness?”; “How much sleep do you get?”; “What do you do when you get bored?”; “How did scouting help you in your career?”]

SHERE Feedback: “Greg, once again, outstanding work on SHERE! Getting four test points done plus the three repeats was really, really exciting. Thank you very much for the excellent science!”

VolSci Program Preview: For the weekend of August 23, Greg Chamitoff was offered two choices for the Voluntary Weekend Science program: (1) an “operations improvement” session with SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) with all three satellites, requiring ~4 hrs crew time; and (2) a LOCAD PTS (Lab-On-A-Chip Application Development – Portable Test System) surface sampling session in COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) using Glucan LAL cartridges, targeting fungus on ISS surfaces, requiring ~1h 45m crew time.

CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today were Hurricane Fay, Florida (Dynamic event. Fay was expected to be a minimal hurricane by the time of this pass, tracking north up the west coast of Florida. Second opportunity at 4:40pm. The earlier opportunity may have had the better viewing angle, with sunrise back-lighting. ISS passed close to the expected center over Fort Myers. Looking forward on the approach from the Yucatan peninsula), Tunis, Tunisia (shooting left at the head of a major bay for this ancient city. City margins are of greatest interest), Libyan megafans (overlapping images at nadir were requested as ISS passed directly above this site. A network of streams has created a vast plain of sediments deriving from the Tibesti Mountains hundreds of kilometers to the south. These streams stopped flowing at the end of the last wet period in the Sahara ~6000 years ago. Megafans are proving to be a feasible model for several regional Martian landscapes), and Algerian megafan (detailed overlapping images along track and just left of track were requested [immediately after ISS crossed a prominent field of parallel sand dunes] to allow researchers to understand more about the behavior of streams on this large, recently discovered feature. Visual cues are networks of parallel dry stream beds).

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).

Week 18 Scheduled Main Activities:

  • Wed. (8/20): Ku-Band Forward Receiver Relocation & Checkout; Ground Strap/Pivot Fitting install in JPM; MO-10 (all); CGBA-4/CGBA-5 subrack relocation; PFE-OUM setup & prep.
  • Thu. (8/21): LULIN dosimeter placement; EMU Battery maint.; PFE-OUM ops; BKS cabling outfit for Zveno (Link) unit; DOUG revw/prep for JEMRMS Checkout #4; COL Cycle 11 transition for PWS-1; WRM/CWC water audit.
  • Fri. (8/22): EMU batt. #2073 maint.; BKS cabling for Zveno (Link); Zveno unit install in ZVK LIV exp. video complex; RSE-2 laptop set-up for Zveno; PEPS inspect/checkout; Elektron BZh unit #56 leak check; Elektron On; JEMRMS Checkout #4; GANK & CDMK reading; Progress M-64 SSVP-StM docking mechanism install.
  • Sat. (8/23): Station cleaning (RS); BMP ch.1 regen; PFCs (CDR, FE-1); VolSci.
  • Sun. (8/24): Station cleaning (USOS); BMP ch.2 regen; PFC (FE-2).

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:56am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 355.9 km
Apogee height — 361.6 km
Perigee height — 350.2 km
Period — 91.66 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0008394
Solar Beta Angle — -38.7 deg (magnitude peaking)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 45 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 55850

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
09/01/08 — Progress M-64/29P undocking, from FGB nadir; de-orbit/re-entry ~9/8
09/05/08 — ATV1 undocking, from SM aft port (loiter until 9/29 for nighttime reentry/observation)
09/10/08 — Progress M-65/30P launch
09/12/08 — Progress M-65/30P docking (SM aft)
10/01/08 — NASA 50 Years (official)
10/08/08 — STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
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)
10/23/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S undocking (DC1 nadir) or 10/24?
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
11/25/08 — 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).

SpaceRef staff editor.