NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 20 November 2007

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.   >>>Today 9 years ago, at Baikonur/Kazakhstan a Proton-K rocket, Flight 1A/R, launched the Khrunichev-built FGB (Funktsionalnyi-Grusovoi Blok) Control Module “Zarya” (Dawn), the first ISS element [see History Footnote, below].<<<

Crew sleep cycle: 1:00am – 4:30pm EST.

EVA-11 “Bravo” was completed fully successfully in 7 hrs 16 min, accomplishing all objectives plus several get-ahead tasks.  During the spacewalk, CDR Peggy Whitson (EV1) and FE-2 Dan Tani (EV2), supported by FE-1 Yuri Malenchenko as intravehicular (IV) crewmember, connected and configured one half of the Node-2 fluid, power, and cooling jumpers.  The other half will be done on EVA-12 “Charlie” on 11/24 (Saturday).
Specifically, the spacewalkers  –

• Removed the Stbd NH3 (ammonia) Shunt Jumper;
• Configured Vent Tools; then vented & stowed the Stbd NH3 Shunt Jumper;     
• Released Node-2 Fluid Caps, reconfigured P1 radiator SFUs (Squib Firing Units, fired on 11/9), and released the Node-2 Loop A Fluid Tray;
• Relocated the Loop A Fluid Tray, then attached it, deployed/mated it, and vented N2 (nitrogen) from it;
• Mated & opened hinge QDs (Quick Disconnects), S0 Fluid QDs, and Node-2 Fluid QDs;
• Connected 6 Node-2 Fluid Line Heater Cables;
• Connected 11 Node-2 Port Avionics cables to Node-2; and
• Mated Primary PMA-2/Node-2 Umbilicals.

In addition, accomplishing three get-ahead tasks, Peggy & Dan –

• Connected 5 stbd avionics umbilicals to Node-2;
• Connected PMA-2 redundant umbilicals; and
• Deployed SSPTS (Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System) cabling.

[Official start time of the spacewalk was 5:10am EST, and it ended at 12:26pm.  Total EVA duration (PET = Phase Elapsed Time) was 7h 16min.  It was the 98th spacewalk for ISS assembly & maintenance and the 70th from the station (28 from Shuttle, 48 from Quest, 22 from Pirs) totaling 422h 3m.  After today’s EVA, a total of 117 spacewalkers (86 NASA astronauts, 21 Russians, and ten astronauts representing Japan-1, Canada-4, France-1, Germany-1 and Sweden-3) have logged a total of 609h 27m outside the station on building, outfitting and servicing.  It also was the 120th spacewalk by U.S. astronauts.] 

For safety, the spacewalkers had been advised to wear APMAs (Adjustable Protective Mitten Assemblies), i.e., overgloves, at their discretion.   [Inspection of the EMU gloves was required frequently during the EVA..

Prior to the spacewalk, FE-1 Malenchenko verified closure of the protective Lab window shutter.  He also completed the pre-egress reconfiguration of the Russian onboard telephone/telegraph subsystem (STTS) to its EVA settings.  After crew ingress, Yuri reconfigured the STTS for nominal ops.   [The “Voskhod-M” STTS enables telephone communications between the SM (Service Module), FGB, DC1 Docking Compartment and U.S. segment (USOS), and also with users on the ground over VHF channels selected by an operator at an SM comm panel, via STTS antennas on the SM’s outside.  There are six comm panels in the SM with pushbuttons for accessing any of three audio channels, plus an intercom channel.  Other modes of the STTS include telegraphy (teletype), EVA voice, emergency alarms, Packet/Email, and TORU docking support.]

During the spacewalk, Yuri prepared the DCS 760 camera setup for post-ingress photographing of the EVA gloves.  CDR Whitson later downlinked the EVA imagery to the ground.

The FE-1 also performed the routine servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM.   [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]

After returning on board from the EVA, Peggy and Dan Yuri were scheduled for another session of the standard Russian crew health-monitoring program’s medical assessment MO-9/Biochemical Urinalysis.  Both spacewalkers also had their regular post-EVA PMCs (Private Medical Conferences) with the ground.   [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).]

STS-122/Atlantis/E1 Mission/EVAs:    The STS-122/Atlantis (1E) mission, expected to launch on 12/6, is baselined for 11+1+2 days and 3 scheduled EVAs.  Inspection of the flawed SARJ (Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) is not one of the scheduled objectives but would be a get-ahead task for the crew on the third EVA if there is time left for it.  If the 1E mission can be extended by two added docked days (i.e., 13+1+2), a fourth unscheduled EVA for dedicated SARJ work may be considered by the IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team).

History Footnote —  Zarya’s 9th Anniversary:   When the FGB was launched on 11/20/1998, our Russian partners had special reasons to choose this name for the first ISS element, which means “Dawn” (and not “Sunrise” as often reported in the US):   When Yuri Gagarin flew into space in Vostok-1 on April 12, 1961, his radio call name was “Kedr” (=Cedar), while the code word for the main ground station was “Zarya”, and Chief Designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev’s call sign was “Zarya-1”.  Later, when the Soviet Union launched their first space station, using the “TKS” spacecraft, its Khrunichev builders wanted to name it “Zarya” in Gagarin’s and Korolev’s honor, but word from “higher-up” changed it to “Salyut” (=Greeting).  That’s why Zarya was chosen for the ISS/FGB, to signify the dawn of a new era of international cooperation in space, while the old “space traditionalists” had the last laugh.

CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets uplinked for today were Lake Chad (DYNAMIC EVENT: Lake Chad is a landmark feature of the Sahel region of north central Africa.  Mostly dry now [sand dunes are exposed on the eastern side], the lake is a good indicator of climate and weather pattern shifts in the broad transition zone between savanna and desert.  With the rainy season over, the crew was to try for contextual views of the lake level and vegetation patterns in the surrounding area.  As ISS tracked SE-ward from the Sahara Desert in mid-morning, the target was well right of track), Bosumtwi Impact Crater (this well-marked impact crater is located about 150 km west of the south end of Lake Volta in south central Ghana.  It is a very young impact [just over a million years old], about 10.5 km in diameter, and almost completely filled by a lake.  There are only a few images of this crater in the CEO database because the area is usually cloud and/or haze covered.  On this mid-morning pass, as ISS approached the coast from the NW, the crew was to find Lake Volta and look just right of track), and Jarvis Island, equatorial Pacific (Jarvis Island [formerly also known as Bunker Island] is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean about one-half of the way from Hawaii to the Cook Islands.  As the station approached from the NW in late morning sun, this trapezoid-shaped island was left of track.)

CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (about 700,000 NASA digital photographs of Earth are downloaded by the public each month from this “Gateway” site);
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AstronautPhotography

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:28am EST [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 340.5 km
Apogee height — 341.8 km
Perigee height — 339.3 km
Period — 91.34 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.000184
Solar Beta Angle — 13.2 deg (magnitude increasing, to peak on 11/28)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.76
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 93 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 51544

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Standard, some changes possible):
11/24/07 — US EVA-12 “Charlie” (Whitson/Tani)
11/28/07 — ISS Reboost
12/06/07 — STS-122/Atlantis/1E launch — Columbus Module, ICC-Lite, ~4:41pm EST
12/08/07 — STS-122/Atlantis/1E docking
12/15/07 — STS-122/Atlantis undocking
12/18/07 — STS-122/Atlantis landing   ~11:27am EST
12/22/07 — Yuri Malenchenko’s Birthday
12/23/07 — Progress M-62/27P launch
12/26/07 — Progress M-62/27P docking (DC1)
01/31/08 — 50-Year Anniversary of Explorer 1 (1st U.S. Satellite on Redstone rocket)  [Check it out at http://usspace50.com/ ]
02/06/08 – Progress M-61/26P undocking (DC1) & reentry
02/07/08 — Progress M-63/28P launch
02/09/08 — Progress M-63/28P docking
02/14/08 — ATV-1 “Jules Verne” launch/Ariane V (Kourou, French Guyana)
02/14/08 — STS-123/Endeavour/1J/A launch/1J/A — SLP-SPDM, JEM ELM-PS (NET)
02/16/08 — STS-123/Endeavour/1J/A docking
02/27/08 — STS-123/Endeavour undocking
02/29/08 — STS-123/Endeavour landing
03/01/08 — Progress M-62/27P undocking (DC1) & reentry
03/06/08 — ATV-1 docking (SM aft port)
04/07/08 — Progress M-63/28P undocking (DC1) & reentry
04/08/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S launch
04/10/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S docking (DC1)
04/19/08 — Soyuz TMA-11/15S undocking (FGB nadir port)
04/23/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S relocation (from DC1 to FGB nadir port)
04/24/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J launch – JEM PM “Kibo”, racks, RMS.
04/26/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J docking
05/04/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J undocking
05/14/08 — Progress M-64/29P launch
05/16/08 — Progress M-64/29P docking (DC1)
07/29/08 — ATV-1 undocking (from SM aft port)
08/11/08 — Progress M-64/29P undocking (from DC1)
08/12/08 — Progress M-65/30P launch
08/14/08 — Progress M-65/30P docking (SM aft port)
09/13/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch
09/15/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking (DC1)
09/20/08 — (NET) STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 launch – MPLM(P), LMC
10/01/08 — (NET) STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 undocking.
10/01/08 — 50th Birthday of NASA
10/11/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM aft port)
10/14/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch
10/16/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (SM aft port)
04/??/09 — Six-person crew on ISS
04/15/09 — Constellation’s Ares I-X Launch.