NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 2 January 2010

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday – off-duty day for the Expedition 22 crew.

First thing in the morning, Creamer performed the second urine pH spot test of the Pro K protocol and later in the day also logged his diet intact of today. [Under Pro K, the crewmember measures and logs the pH value of a urine sample, to be collected the same time of day every day for 5 days. The crewmember also prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken.]

Suraev started his day with the regular daily checkup of the aerosol filters at the Elektron O₂ generator. [The filters were installed by FE-1 Suraev on 10/19 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). Photographs are to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]

Williams & Creamer continued their week-long session of the experiment SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight), TJ’s first, logging overnight data from their Actiwatches to the HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1) laptop. [To monitor the crewmembers’ sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, the crewmembers sometimes wear a special Actiwatch device which measures the light levels encountered by them as well as their patterns of sleep and activity throughout the Expedition and use the payload software for data logging and filling in questionnaire entries in the experiment’s laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop. The log entries are done within 15 minutes of final awakening for seven consecutive days.]

The five station residents performed the regular weekly three-hour task of thorough station cleaning, including COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) and Kibo. ["Uborka", usually done on Saturdays, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, damp cleaning of the SM (Service Module) dining table, other frequently touched surfaces and surfaces where trash is collected, as well as the sleep stations with a standard cleaning solution; also, fan screens and grilles are cleaned to avoid temperature rises. Special cleaning is also done every 90 days on the HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) bacteria filters in the Lab.]

As part of the house cleaning, Suraev & FE-4 Kotov conducted regular maintenance inspection & cleaning of fan screens in the FGB (TsV2), DC1 (V3), and also Group E fan grills in the SM (VPkhO, FS5, FS6, VP).

Kotov also completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [This 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.]

Suraev serviced the BMP Micropurification Unit by cleaning its fan grille after deactivating the BMP. It was turned on again afterwards in scrubbing mode.

Noguchi completed the regular bi-monthly reboots of the OCA Router and File Server SSC (Station Support Computer) laptops.

For today’s VolSci (Voluntary Weekend Science) activity, on his free time, Jeff set up the video camcorder and recorded a 3-min science podcast segment on APEX (Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit)-Cambium, explaining and demonstrating the payload and its operations. [APEX-Cambium will determine the role of gravity in Cambium wood cell development (providing the pulp & paper and construction industries insight into the fundamental mechanisms of wood cell formation) and demonstrate non-destructive reporter gene technology & investigate spaceflight plant stress. APEX-Cambium provides NASA & the ISS community a permanent controlled environment capability to support growth of various organisms (i.e. whole plants). Podcast: a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication or on demand.]

Noguchi & Creamer completed their own VolSci program,- Soichi with the JAXA Paper Craft task, TJ on the FIR (Fluids Integrated Rack). [For the Paper Craft 1, the FE-5 made some Japanese seasonal tradition items with uplinked paper patterns to show Japanese culture in the ISS and to attract the attention of children by collecting design ideas. New Year items were KADOMATSU (Japanese New Year decoration) and TIGER (according to the Chinese zodiac, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. On the FIR, FE-6 installed the LMM AFC (Light Microscope Module) and prepared AFC’s interior for supporting science operations. Completing this activity gets LMM closer to being configured for its initial power-on.]

A discretionary task for Williams, Noguchi or Creamer from today’s “job jar” task list was the change-out of the WHC (Waste & Hygiene Compartment) KTO solid waste container when full.

The Russian discretionary task list for Maxim & Oleg for today called for –

• A photography run of the GFI-8 "Uragan" (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X with SIGMA AF 300-800mm telelens,
• Another session for Russia’s EKON Environmental Safety Agency, making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on Earth using the Nikon D3X digital camera, and
• The periodic service of the RS (Russian Segment) radiation payload suite “Matryoshka-R” (RBO-3-2), verifying proper function of the setup by taking readings with the LULIN-5 electronics box.

Jeff Williams donned the Glenn treadmill harness with installed transducer instrumentation (second time for him), then activated the harness for his exercise run on the T2/COLBERT treadmill. [Afterwards, the CDR downloaded the harness data and filled out a survey questionnaire to complete the SDTO (Station Development Test Objective).]

The crewmembers worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise on the TVIS treadmill (FE-1, FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-1, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-5, FE-6), and VELO ergometer bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1).

Later, Jeff transferred the exercise data files to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) for downlink, including the daily wristband HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) data of the workouts on ARED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

At ~6:40am EST, Max Suraev had his weekly PFC (Private Family Conference), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop).

At ~8:30am, the crew held their regular WPC (Weekly Planning Conference) with the ground, discussing next week’s "Look-Ahead Plan" (prepared jointly by MCC-Houston and TsUP-Moscow timeline planners) via S-band/audio, reviewing the monthly calendar, upcoming activities, and any concerns about future on-orbit events.

No Weekly Science Summary for Week 5.

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

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:20am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 338.6 km
Apogee height – 343.9 km
Perigee height – 333.3 km
Period — 91.31 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0007895
Solar Beta Angle — 28.0 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.77
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 47 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 63,737

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
01/11-12/10 — ESP-3 relocation
01/14/10 — Russian EVA-24
01/21/10 — Soyuz TMA-16/20S relocation (from SM aft to MRM-2)
02/03/10 — Progress M-04M/36P launch
02/05/10 — Progress M-04M/36P docking
02/07/10 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 “Tranquility”+Cupola
03/18/10 — Soyuz TMA-16/20S undock/landing
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/18/10 — STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC (~1:30pm EST)
04/02/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S launch – Skvortsov (CDR-24)/Caldwell/Kornienko
04/04/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————–
04/27/10 — Progress M-03M/35P undock
04/28/10 — Progress M-05M/37P launch
04/30/10 — Progress M-05M/37P docking
05/14/10 — STS-132/Atlantis/ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM-1 (~2:00pm EST)
05/10/10 — Progress M-04M/36P undock
05/31/10 — Soyuz TMA-17/21S undock/landing
————–Three-crew operations————-
06/14/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S launch – Wheelock (CDR-25)/Walker/Yurchikhin
06/16/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————–
07/xx/10 — US EVA-15
07/xx/10 — Russian EVA-25
06/28/10 — Progress M-06M/38P launch
07/02/10 — Progress M-06M/38P docking
07/26/10 — Progress M-05M/37P undock
07/27/10 — Progress M-07M/39P launch
07/29/10 — Progress M-07M/39P docking
07/29/10 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) (~7:30am EST)
08/30/10 — Progress M-06M/38P undock
08/31/10 — Progress M-08M/40P launch
09/02/10 — Progress M-08M/40P docking
09/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S undock/landing
09/16/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) (~12:01pm EST)
09/18/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) docking
09/22/10 — STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) undock
09/30/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S launch – Kelly (CDR-26)/Kaleri/Skripochka
10/xx/10 — Russian EVA-26
10/26/10 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
10/27/10 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
10/29/10 — Progress M-09M/41P docking
11/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing
11/18/10 — ATV2 launch– Ariane 5 (ESA) U/R
11/30/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli
12/15/10 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
12/17/10 — ATV2 docking
02/08/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
02/09/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
02/11/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking
03/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S launch
xx/xx/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S launch
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton