NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 21 November 2010
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew rest day. Ahead: Week 9 (last week) of Increment 25.
At day’s begin, FE-2 Skripochka conducted the regular daily early-morning check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O2 generator which Maxim Suraev had installed on 10/19/09 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). [Oleg will again inspect the filters before bedtime tonight, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]
FE-6 Walker continued her current 4-day session of the medical protocol Pro K (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery), her 5th onboard run, with controlled diet and diet logging after the urine pH spot test. The session ends at 6:00pm EST tonight. [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 4 days. The crewmember also prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken.]
For the next 24 hrs, Walker is also collecting her FD180 NUTRITION/Repository/Pro K urine samples for deposit in MELFI (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS). Blood draw is scheduled tomorrow. This is her last session. [The operational products for blood & urine collections for the HRP (Human Research Program) payloads were revised some time ago, based on crew feedback, new cold stowage hardware, and IPV capabilities. Generic blood & urine procedures have been created to allow an individual crewmember to select their payload complement and see specific requirements populated. Individual crewmembers will select their specific parameter in the procedures to reflect their science complement. Different crewmembers will have different required tubes and hardware configurations, so they must verify their choice selection before continuing with operations to ensure their specific instruction.]
Walker & Wheelock performed their 2nd liquid saliva collection of the INTEGRATED IMMUNE protocol (Day 2) first thing in post-sleep, prior to eating, drinking, and brushing teeth. The collections are made every other day for six days. [INTEGRATED IMMUNE (Validating Procedures for Monitoring Crew member Immune Function) samples & analyzes participant’s blood, urine, and saliva before, during and after flight for changes related to functions like bone metabolism, oxidative damage and immune function to develop and validate an immune monitoring strategy consistent with operational flight requirements and constraints. The strategy uses both long and short duration crewmembers as study subjects. The saliva is collected in two forms, dry and liquid. The dry samples are collected at intervals during the collection day using a specialized book that contains filter paper. The liquid saliva collections require that the crewmembers soak a piece of cotton inside their mouths and place it in a salivette bag; there are four of the liquid collections during docked operations. The on-orbit blood samples are collected right before undocking and returned to the ground so that analysis can occur with 48 hours of the sampling. This allows assays that quantify the function of different types of white blood cells and other active components of the immune system. Samples are secured in the MELFI (Minus-Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS). Also included are entries in a fluid/medications intact log, and a stress-test questionnaire to be filled out by the subject at begin and end. Urine is collected during a 24-hour period, conventionally divided into two twelve-hour phases: morning-evening and evening-morning.]
Time again for F-5 Yurchikhin & FE-1 Kaleri to recharge the Motorola Iridium-9505A satellite phones in the Soyuz Descent Modules, completed by Fyodor for TMA-19/23S (docked at MRM1) and by Alex for TMA-20/24S (at MRM2), a monthly routine job and Fyodor’s 5th, Sasha’s first. [After retrieving the phones from their location in the spacecraft Descent Modules (SA, spuskayemyy apparat), the crewmembers initiated the recharge of the lithium-ion batteries, monitoring the process every 10-15 minutes as it took place. Upon completion, the phones were returned inside their SSSP Iridium kits and stowed back in the SA’s ODF (operational data files) container. The satphone accompanies returning ISS crews on Soyuz reentry & landing for contingency communications with SAR (Search-and-Rescue) personnel after touchdown (e.g., after an “undershoot” ballistic reentry, as happened during the 15S return). The Russian-developed procedure for the monthly recharging has been approved jointly by safety officials. During the procedure, the phone is left in its fire-protective fluoroplastic bag with open flap. The Iridium 9505A satphone uses the Iridium constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to relay the landed Soyuz capsule’s GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates to helicopter-borne recovery crews. The older Iridium-9505 phones were first put on board Soyuz in August 2003. The newer 9505A phone, currently in use, delivers 30 hours of standby time and three hours of talk, up from 20 and two hours, respectively, on the older units.]
Afterwards, Alex Kaleri had another ~30 min for the standard Shuttle RPM (R-bar Pitch Maneuver) onboard familiarization training, his 2nd, using a NIKON D2Xs digital still camera with 400mm & 800mm lenses and taking practice shots of CEO (Crew Earth Observation) ground features from SM windows #6 or #8, with images having 40-50% overlap and about 20 images in each sequence. Afterwards, FE-1 transferred the shots to an SSC (Station Support Computer) for subsequent downlink for ground analysis. [The RPM drill prepares crewmembers for the bottom-side mapping of the Orbiter at the arrival of the next Shuttle (STS-133/Discovery/ULF5), to be launched NET 12/3. During the RPM at ~600 ft from the station, the “shooters” have only ~90 seconds for taking high-resolution digital photographs of all tile areas and door seals on Discovery, to be downlinked for launch debris assessment. Thus, time available for the shooting will be very limited, requiring great coordination between the two headset-equipped photographers and the Shuttle pilot.]
Oleg Skripochka completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM (Service Module), including the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow. [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].
FE-2 also performed the weekly checkup on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for reporting to TsUP.
An additional task for Oleg in the SM was the routine weekly inspection of the SVO SRV-K2M (Condensate Water Processor) hoses from the MF-R Diaphragm Separator Filter to the BRPK Condensate Separation & Pumping Unit.
Yurchikhin & Kaleri (as part of Handovers) started copying measurement data collected by the external EXPOSE-R experiment from the BSMM Multiplex Bus Synchronization Unit/computer in the SM to the RSS1 laptop (deleting the data on the BSMM). After about an hour, they terminated the data transfer. [The European EXPOSE-R experiment, containing plant seeds and spores of bacteria & fungi, was mounted outside the SM during the Russian EVA-21A on 3/11/09 after some earlier problems.]
Fyodor continued loading Soyuz 23S for its undocking on 11/25, first removing an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) loader (#4) from a Russian A31p laptop (#1123) and packing it for return, then pre-packing other cargo in accordance with uplinked stowage instructions. Return cargo goes in the Descent Module for transfer to a representative at the landing site, and trash & other discarded stuff in the BO Orbital Module.
Kaleri, Skripochka & Yurchikhin then joined for ~40 min in another Russian Simvolika activity, preparing a pennant of the international youth project Kosmicheskiye Kolumby (“Space Columbuse”) for the Roskosmos press office, first taking photographs of each other with the pennant, then stamping the pennant with the ISS postmark and packing it for return on 23S.
FE-3 & FE-6 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), Scott at ~12:05pm, Shannon at ~12:50pm EST.
The crew worked out on today’s 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-1, FE-2, FE-5), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-3, FE-6), and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1, FE-2). [T2 snubber arm inspection is no longer needed after every T2 session but must be done after the last T2 session of the day.]
No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uploaded today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:16am EST [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 350.3 km
Apogee height – 355.0 km
Perigee height – 345.7 km
Period — 91.54 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0006904
Solar Beta Angle — -71.4 deg (magnitude bottoming out)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.73
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours – 69 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 68,822.
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/25/10 — ISS Reboost – 12:04am EST
11/25/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing ~8:22pm/11:46pm EST (End of Increment 25)
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/03/10 — STS-133/Discovery launch (2:52am EST) – NET (not earlier than)
12/05/10 — STS-133/Discovery docking (FD3)
12/15/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli (2:09pm)
12/17/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S docking (MRM1) (~3:09pm)
————–Six-crew operations————-
01/20/11 — HTV2 launch
01/24/11 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
01/27/11 — HTV2 berthing (Node-2 nadir)
01/28/11 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
01/31/11 — Progress M-09M/41P docking (DC1)
02/xx/11 — Russian EVA-28
02/15/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” launch
02/19/11 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
02/24/11 — HTV2 unberthing (Node-2 nadir)
02/26/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” docking (SM aft)
02/27/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) launch
03/01/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) docking
03/11/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) undock
03/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-01M/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/20/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R.Garan/A.Samokutayev
03/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/26S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/26/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking (DC1)
05/xx/11 — Russian EVA-29
05/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/04/11 — ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” undock (SM aft)
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking (SM aft)
08/29/11 — Progress M-11M/43P undocking
08/30/11 — Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 — Progress M-12M/44P docking (SM aft)
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-21/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-23/28S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/25/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/28/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking (DC-1)
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
12/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P undock
12/27/11 — Progress M-14M/46P launch
12/29/11 — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
03/05/12 — Progress M-12M/44P undock
03/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-23/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Valkov
04/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-24/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/09/12 — Soyuz TMA-25/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/23/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O. Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
09/25/12 – Soyuz TMA-27/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-26/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-28/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
11/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-28/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-27/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S launch.
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
