NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 19 February 2012
Today 26 years ago (1986, eastern), the Soviet Union launched the first component of the modular space station Mir on a Proton rocket, the 20-ton Core Module,. After 15 years of service, the 136-ton orbital complex was deorbited on March 21, 2001, to be replaced by the International Space Station ISS which incorporates a copy of the Core Module as Service Module Zvezda. Mir was the pride and mainstay of the Soviet & post-Soviet Russian space program, with 28 long-duration primary expeditions and 25 visiting expeditions on Soyuz & Space Shuttle vehicles. 104 cosmonauts & astronauts worked on board, using scientific equipment of a total mass of 11.5 tons. In all, more than 220 organizations of the former USSR were involved in the creation and operation of Mir. Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov became the absolute world record holder, spending 438 days continuously on the station and accumulating a total time for two flights of 679 days. Sergey Avdeyev set the record for the cumulative duration of time in space: 748 days. And U.S. Astronaut Shannon Lucid set the women’s record for spaceflight duration on Mir, 188 days.
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew off duty. Ahead: Week 13 of Increment 30 (six-person crew).
After breakfast, FE-1 Shkaplerov performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
In the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module), CDR Burbank serviced the running BCAT-6 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-6) by replacing the BCAT-6 battery early in the morning with a fresh one and repeating the replacement about 8 hrs later. Sample 4 session reached its midpoint on 2/15. [The NIKON D2Xs with EarthKAM software running on an SSC laptop takes automated flash photography controlled by the software, photographing Sample 4 once every two hours for seven days. Crew performs two camera battery changes and a camera check each day. The camera battery changes are scheduled to be performed approximately every 8 hours per Mike Fossum’s recommendation during past BCAT-6 activities.]
FE-4 Kononenko terminated the maintenance discharge process on second first Orlan 825M3 battery pack and started it on the third pack.
FE-6 Pettit unstowed and readied the experiment kit for his 3rd (FD60) suite of sessions with the controlled Pro K diet protocol (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery), starting tomorrow with breakfast and the urine pH spot test, collected the same time of day every day for 5 days. [For Pro K, there are five in-flight sessions (FD15, FD30, FD60, FD120, FD180) of samplings, to be shared with the NUTRITION w/Repository protocol, each one with five days of diet & urine pH logging and photography on the last day (science sessions are often referred to by Flight Day 15, 30, 60, etc. However, there are plus/minus windows associated with these time points so a “Flight Day 15” science session may not actually fall on the crewmember’s 15th day on-orbit). The crewmember prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken. On Days 4 & 5, urine collections are spread over 24 hrs; samples go into the MELFI (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS) within 30 min after collection. Blood samples, on the last day, are centrifuged in the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) and placed in MELFI at -80 degC. There is an 8-hr fasting requirement prior to the blood draw (i.e., no food or drink, but water ingestion is encouraged). MELFI constraints: Maximum MELFI dewar open time: 60 sec; at least 45 min between MELFI dewar door openings.]
FE-2 Ivanishin completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM and FGB. [This included the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow, as well as the weekly checkup on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s & FGB’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for calldown. SOZh servicing includes 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.]
After Go from TsUP-Moscow, Anton Shkaplerov repressurized the ISS cabin atmosphere with N2 (nitrogen) from Progress M-14M/46P’s SrPK air supply tankage for about an hour to make up total pressure.
At ~9:40am EST, Shkaplerov, Ivanishin & Kononenko engaged in a PAO phone interview via S-band with Ekaterina Beloglazova, Editor of Rossiyskiy Kosmos (Russian Space) Magazine and an old friend of ISS cosmonauts. [“We would like to know more about your work in open space. What part was the most difficult? And the most interesting? How does it feel after putting in six hours of hard work in space? Have you been able to get some rest? How did the spacesuits behave? Did you have a good contact with the ground? This winter is full of surprises. What does it look like from up above? Are you enjoying your space life? Is there anything left you would like to do or learn? Your new shift is coming soon. Do you feel that these months have passed quickly or slowly? Tell us about your plans.”]
CDR, FE-1 & FE-5 had their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Anton at ~6:00am, Andre at ~2:55pm, Dan at ~3:55pm EST.
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (CDR, FE-6), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-1, FE-2, FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-4, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-5), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-4).
Oleg Kononenko familiarized himself with the use of the T2 advanced treadmill as Andre Kuipers was exercising on it. [New crewmembers receive training from experienced crew on the use of the exercise equipment – one session for each apparatus. Since TVIS will be unavailable for use during its upcoming maintenance, FE-4 today observed Kuipers on T2 prior to exercising on it next week.]
Conjunction Update: Flight controllers continue to monitor the conjunction with Object 29423 (Chinese CZ-4B DEB) with a TCA (Time of Closest Approach) today at 4:02pm EST. The conjunction is still considered of Low Concern.
No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:50am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 390.4 km
Apogee height – 404.2 km
Perigee height – 376.5 km
Period — 92.36 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0020507
Solar Beta Angle — 13.1 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.59
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 83 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 75,951
Time in orbit (station) — 4839 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4126 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
03/09/12 — ATV3 launch — 5:00pm EST
03/18/12 — ATV3 docking — ~9:31pm EST
04/19/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
04/20/12 — Progress M-15M/47P launch
04/22/12 — Progress M-15M/47P docking
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon launch
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon berthing
xx/xx/12 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon unberth
04/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-22/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov (target date)
05/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S docking (MRM2) (target date)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
07/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
07/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
07/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking
07/31/12 — Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 — Progress M16M/48P docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/01/12 — Progress M-17M/49P launch
11/03/12 — Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/05/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/26/12 — Progress M-18M/50P launch
12/28/12 — Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/19/13 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
04/02/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
04/04/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/16/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/31/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-
