NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 2 September 2012
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Ahead: Week 10 of Increment 32 (six-person crew).
CDR Padalka performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
Gennady also completed the routine daily & weekly 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 of SM & FGB 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 as required.]
FE-2 Sergei Revin serviced the BTKh-26 KASKAD experiment, extracting the top of the bioreactor (#6) from the TBU-V incubator (+29 degC), shaking it with “moderately strong” movements for 2 minutes without taking it out of the case and inserting it again in TBU-V. [Started on 8/23, this activity is being carried out for 21 days, once in the morning and once in the evening.]
FE-6 Hoshide conducted another sampling run with the AQM (Air Quality Monitor), deactivating the system ~5 hrs later. [Consisting of the EHS GC/DMS (Environmental Health Systems Gas Chromatograph / Differential Mobility Spectrometer), the system is controlled with “Sionex” expert software from the SSC (Station Support Computer)-12 laptop. The AQM demonstrates COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) technology for identifying volatile organic compounds, similar to the VOA (Volatile Organics Analyzer). This evaluation will continue over the course of several months as it helps to eventually certify the GC/DMS as nominal CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) hardware.]
With EVA-19 currently planned for Tuesday, 9/4, the USOS crew had a busy day making preparations for the spacewalk. During EVA-19, Sunita Williams & Akihiko Hoshide will –
– Temporarily remove & stow the MBSU1 (Main Bus Switching Unit 1) near the worksite,
– Go through different inspection & cleaning techniques for the MBSU stanchion and coldplate, i.e. –
o Inspect with suit-mounted WVS (Wireless Video System) cameras,
o Inspect/clean with a magnet,
o Check H1 tolerance by hand,
o Perform cleaning as required,
o Lubricate, and
o Check thread quality of H2 bolt using a scavenged bolt (see below),
– Install the MBSU (it may also have to brought inside the station),
– Remove failed SSRMS Boom B CLPA (Camera, Light, Pan/Tilt Assembly) and replace with spare CLPA,
– Do Get-aheads.
Preparatory activities assigned to Joe Acaba today included –
– Terminating recharge of the EMU LLBs (Extravehicular Mobility Unit Long-Life Batteries) in the A/L (Airlock),
– Terminating recharge of the first batch of EVA Helmet Light, PGT (Pistol Grip Tool) & REBA (Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly) batteries in A/L BSA (Battery Stowage Assembly).,
– Initiating recharge on second batch of batteries in BSA,
– Building an interface tool to access/scavenge the ACME bolt from a spare PVCU MDM bracket, and
– Initiating EMU cooling loop scrubbing on EMU 3010 (EV1), recharging its water tanks, performing checkout & leak check and installing batteries & METOX canisters in 3010 & 3011 for EVA-19.
[In order to inspect & clean the threads of the bolt/posts on the S0 Truss, Joe scavenged a bolt from a spare PVCU MDM (Photovoltaic Controller Unit Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) bracket that is identical to the H2 bolt on the MBSU. The scavenged bolt will help to tell if the threads on the truss are damaged, and it will “chase” the threads to help remove any FOD (Foreign Object Debris). To turn the bolt and to perform cleaning, Joe, Sunita & Aki built a number of new hand-tools, such as a bolt interface tool, as well as cleaning & lubricating tools using a toothbrush and a wire brush for hand- or PGT use. For in-hole cleaning, Aki build a “chimney-sweep” tool.]
After FE-5 Williams & FE-6 Hoshide spent some time gathering the materials required for their spacewalk, Suni also –
.Recharged the NIKON EVA camera batteries,
.Readied (“turned around”) the cameras,
.Configured six IV (intravehicular) Connector Cleaner cartridges charged with N2 (nitrogen) for EVA (taped for thermal protection & affixed wire tie as tether point),
.Configured a tooth brush to an EVA T-handle to lube MBSU H2 post and bolt,
.Removed/scavenged & photographed bolt (same as H2) from PVCU MDM to be used to troubleshoot issues with MBSU H2 post, and
.Started regeneration on METOX (Metal Oxide) CO2 absorption canisters #0013 & #0022.
Aki meanwhile –
.Built the “chimney sweep” tool from a wire brush to clean FOD from the MBSU H2 post, and
.Installed the REBAs in the EMUs after their recharge [REBA #1012 in EMU 3011, #1008 in EMU 3010].
Using updated EVA-19/SSRMS “deltas”, Acaba & Hoshide performed a one-hour session of reviewing and rehearsing Robotics procedures on the ROBoT (Robotics On-board Trainer).
Afterwards, at ~8:35am EDT, Joe tagged up with ground specialist for an SSRMS pre-brief.
Later, Joe joined Suni & Aki in a 2-hr review & discussion of EVA-19 procedures.
Then, at ~2:30pm, FE-5 & FE-6 talked with EVA-19 specialists on the ground in a 30-min teleconference via S- and Ku-band. [Uplink to Suni & Aki: “We don’t have a smoking gun for why the box didn’t install… We are going outside to try our best guesses and hope we get lucky… If not, we have developed a flow to get the MBSU inside and potentially take the bolt out for install during EVA 20…”]
At ~4:20am, Aki Hoshide powered up the SM’s amateur radio equipment (Kenwood VHF transceiver with manual frequency selection, headset, & power supply) and at 4:30am conducted a ham radio session with students at the Iruma Junior Ham Club in Iruma, Japan.
FE-2, FE-3, FE-4 & FE-6 conducted 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), Aki at ~5:00am, Yuri at ~6:10am, Sergei at ~8:00am, Joe at ~4:15pm EDT.
The crew worked out on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration stabilization (FE-5, FE-6), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (CDR/2x, FE-2, FE-3, FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (FE-2, FE-3, FE-6), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-4) [FE-6 & FE-5 are on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions involving resistive and aerobic (interval & continuous) exercise, followed by a USND (Ultrasound) leg muscle self scan in COL. No exercise is being timelined for Friday. If any day is not completed, Suni & Aki pick up where they left off, i.e., they would be finishing out the week with the last day of exercise on her off day. Suni’s protocol for today was on CEVIS (interval, 2 min.), with ARED/CEVIS (cont.), CEVIS (int., 30 s.), ARED/T2 or CEVIS (cont.), T2 or CEVIS (int., 4 m.) & T2 Kinematics for the next 5 days. Aki’s protocol for today showed ARED/CEVIS (aerobic, cont.), with CEVIS (int. 30 sec), ARED/CEVIS & T2 or CEVIS (int., 4 min.) for the next 3 days.]
Due to power limitations with the current 3-MBSU jumper configuration, T2/COLBERT has been powered down because it is a big power draw on Channel 4. For the time being, T2 sessions have been rescheduled as CEVIS for Suni, Aki & Joe, and TVIS for Gennady.
Tasks listed for Revin, Malenchenko & Padalka on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
. More preparation & downlinking of reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb), and
. A detailed & general view photo session with TEKh-52 Vizir of the flooding which occurred overnight on 8/21-22 at the Black Sea; [the disaster zone includes the towns Novomikhalovsky, Lermontovo and Tenginka, the Shapsukho & Nechepsukho river valleys and the adjacent mountain region. Novomikhalovsky is located on the Tuapse-Novorossiisk Highway, 33 km from Tuapse and 14 km from Dzubgi. The town is situated in the Nechepsukho river valley and its tributary Psebe, where Nechepsukho is falling into Mikhalovsky Bay in the Black Sea. As a result of torrential rain the Nechepsukho River flooded. 600 houses, a hospital and a school were in the disaster zone. Four people died, 1500 were affected, including 275 children. Municipal infrastructures need to be restored. Lermontovo is located on the shores of Tenginsky Bay of the Black Sea, at the inflow of Shapsukho River. The valley of that river is approx. 40 km in length, 5 km to the east of Dzubgi on the Tuapse-Novorosskiisk highway and 55 km from Tuapse. The Tenginka village is located 4 km upriver],
. A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of color bloom patterns in the waters of Central-Eastern Atlantic and coastal Africa, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop, and
. Recording high-resolution video with the SONY HVR-Z7E to be used in a joint project of Roskosmos TV Studio with Karusel (Carousel) TV Channel for children ages 8 to 12 years, the “It’s Time to go to space!” program, which has a segment where Russian cosmonauts are discussing their work &, answer viewers’ questions; the footage was then to be downlinked to TsUP-Moscow.
MBSU1 Update: With the current configuration, ISS is in a stable but non-optimal power configuration. MCC-H flight controllers are managing the loads and making adjustments as necessary for specific requests. A second spacewalk, EVA-19, is being planned for Tuesday, 9/4, to attempt to install & connect MBSU1. SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) capability is required for the MBSU translations, but there will not be a certified SSRMS operator on board after Soyuz 30S departure (9/16) and prior to 32S arrival (10/17). Hardware teams are working to determine what caused the failure and propose alternate methods, including assessing any additional available tools, to seat the MBSU bolts. The crew started EVA preps today (Sunday) with tool preparation, procedure review, conferences & suit checks, followed by final procedure review and tool configuration tomorrow (U.S. Labor Day). Post-EVA events are being replanned as required. Due to issues with cooling loop temperatures in Aki’s EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) #3015 on 8/30, the suit was declared NoGo, and Suni & Aki resized replacement suits yesterday: Suni will be using a large-size EMU (#3010) adjusted on 8/31 to “medium size”, and Aki will don the medium-size EMU #1011 which Suni used on EVA-18. Also, NASA has asked JAXA to evaluate a delay of HTV3 (H-II Transfer Vehicle 3) unberthing until the week of 9/16 to relieve the onboard timeline.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 10:23am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude — 415.9 km
Apogee height — 426.4 km
Perigee height — 405.4 km
Period — 92.89 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0015428
Solar Beta Angle — -37.3 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.50
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 88 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 79,005
Time in orbit (station) — 5035 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4322 days.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Tehran, Iran (CAPITAL CITIES COLLECTION: Looking just right of for this large city), Volga-Ural Deltas region, Caspian Sea (overlapping mapping strip right of track was requested, to document changes along the north coast of the Caspian Sea. Progressive flooding of coastal facilities is occurring as sea level slowly rises), Mount Vesuvius, Italy (looking right for an oblique image of this famous volcano, set at the head of the Bay of Naples), Wild fires, Balkan Mts., SE Europe (DYNAMIC EVENT: Fires are burning in many parts of the Balkans. Weather only allows imaging of fires south of track. Smoke is sufficiently thick to appear on weather satellites. The recent heat wave in the Mediterranean basin is a partial cause), Belgrade, Serbia (CAPITAL CITIES COLLECTION: Looking just right of track, on the Danube River for this metro area of 1.64 million people), Nassau, Bahamas (CAPITAL CITIES COLLECTION: Looking right on small New Providence Island. Crew may have had a chance at this small capital [population 250,000] through partly cloudy skies), Tropical Storm Isaac IDC [INTERNATIONAL DISASTER CHARTER] (tropical Storm Isaac has drenched portions of Louisiana with more than 25 inches of rain. The area has just been designated an activation area by the IDC. Looking right of track where breaks in the clouds permit, for areas of flooding, trying for sunglint imagery), Mount Hood, OR-USA (looking just right for the snowy peak of Mt Hood), Mount St. Helens, WA-USA (looking left), and Wild Fires, US Northwest (DYNAMIC EVENT: Looking mainly right of track, between some clouds, just after crossing the volcanic chain, for numerous mid-size fires).
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/04/12 — U.S. EVA-19 (planned)
09/06/12 — HTV3 undocking
09/08/12 — HTV3 reentry
09/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing – 5:56pm/9:20pm
(End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/25/12 — ATV3 undocking
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitsky/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————-
12/25/12 — Progress M-16M/48P undocking
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————-
