NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 22 October 2011
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday – Crew off duty.
FE-4 Volkov performed the routine checkup of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
The Russian flight engineer also completed the daily inspection of the recently activated Russian BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) payload with its LADA-01 greenhouse, verifying proper watering of the KM A32 & A24 root modules. [Rasteniya-2 researches growth and development of plants (currently wheat) under spaceflight conditions in the LADA greenhouse from IBMP (Institute of Bio-Medical Problems, Russian: IMBP).]
CDR Mike Fossum, FE-5 Satoshi Furukawa & Sergey Volkov joined in conducting the regular weekly three-hour task of thorough cleaning of their home, including COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) and Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module). [“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 Uborka house cleaning, Volkov completed regular weekly maintenance inspection & cleaning of fan screens in the FGB (TsV2) plus Group E fan grilles in the SM (VPkhO, FS5, FS6, VP) and the Potok Air Purification System pre-filters in SM & FGB. Before the cleaning, all fan screens were photographed for ground inspection.
Furukawa & Fossum filled out their weekly FFQs (Food Frequency Questionnaires) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer). [On the FFQs, USOS astronauts keep a personalized log of their nutritional intake over time on special MEC software. Recorded are the amounts consumed during the past week of such food items as beverages, cereals, grains, eggs, breads, snacks, sweets, fruit, beans, soup, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, chicken, sauces & spreads, and vitamins. The FFQ is performed once a week to estimate nutrient intake from the previous week and to give recommendations to ground specialists that help maintain optimal crew health. Weekly estimation has been verified to be reliable enough that nutrients do not need to be tracked daily.]
Mike & Satoshi also performed their 5th session each with the MedOps psychological evaluation experiment WinSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows), logging in on the MEC laptop and going through the psychological evaluation exercise on the PC-based WinSCAT application. [WinSCAT is a monthly time-constrained questionnaire test of cognitive abilities, routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS every 30 days before or after the PHS (periodic health status) test or on special CDR’s, crewmembers or flight surgeons request. The test uses cognitive subtests that measure sustained concentration, verbal working memory, attention, short-term memory, spatial processing, and math skills. The five cognitive subtests are Coding Memory – Learning, Continuous Processing Task (CPT), Match to Sample, Mathematics, and Coding Delayed Recall. These WinSCAT subtests are the same as those used during NASA’s long-duration bed rest studies.]
Volkov conducted the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]
Sergey also tended the current experiment with the Russian/German KPT-21 Plasma Crystal-3+ (Plazmennyi-Kristall/PK-3+) payload, running in the MRM2 “Poisk” module, by checking the hermeticity of the evacuated EB vacuum chamber after wakeup and before bedtime (any pressure increase above the vacuum should stay within 5 mmHg). [Main objective of PK-3 is to study wave propagation and dispersion ratio in a dust plasma, i.e., fine particles charged and excited by HF (high frequency) radio power inside the evacuated work chamber, at a specified power of HF discharge, pressure, and a varied number of particles.]
At ~8:45am EDT, the three crewmembers held the regular WPC (Weekly Planning Conference) with the ground, discussing next week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (prepared jointly by MCC-H and TsUP-Moscow timeline planners), via S-band/audio, reviewing upcoming activities and any concerns about future on-orbit events.
At ~10:25am, Sergey Volkov 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 ~11:25am, Volkov supported a Russian PAO TV event, downlinking congratulatory greetings to the Science and Research Institute of Long-Range Radio Communication (NIIDAR) at the Moscow Preobrazhensky Outpost on the occasion of their 95th anniversary, to be celebrated on 11/16 in Moscow. [NIIDAR Science and Production Facility is one of the oldest Radio Industry facilities in Russia in the area of design and operation of extremely complex radio systems, design and manufacturing of scientific and engineering products, software products, and industrial engineering products. Their key science and technology activities are: Designing high performance and high data rate facilities, radio electronic equipment, high information technology, telecommunication, and control systems.]
At ~2:15pm, Sergey will conduct a second R-PAO downlink, addressing the participants of the Fifth World Science Forum in Budapest, organized by the Hungarian Academy of Science in partnership with UNESCO, European Commission, ICSU (International Council for Science), and AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), to be held on 11/17-11/19. [Topic of the Forum: “The Changing Landscape of Science: Challenges and Opportunities”. The forum will focus on world science achievements in the last two years, discussion of strategic areas of scientific development in global community of the 21st century, and associated political and economic issues. Nearly two thousand participants representing 48 countries: scientists, politicians, members of international organizations, financial institutions, government agencies involved in science research, will be taking part in the forum. Reports of the UNESCO General Director, Pal Schmitt, the President of Hungary, Jozsef Palinkas, the President of the Hungarian Academy of Science, representatives of European Commission, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and World Bank, are included in the event agenda.]
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-5), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-5), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-4).
Tasks listed for Sergei Volkov on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
* Continuing the preparation & downlinking of more reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb),
* A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of bio-luminescent glow of high-production zones in the South-Eastern Pacific Ocean, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop, and
* Another ~30-min. 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 camera with the RSK-1 laptop.
Conjunction 1 Update: The conjunction with Object #27700 (H-2A Rocket Body) at 6:31pm EDT tonight now has a collision probability of Zero, requiring no action. Flight controllers continue to monitor subsequent tracking updates.
Conjunction 2 Alert: Flight controllers are tracking a second conjunction, with Object #30917 (Fengyun 1C debris). TCA (Time of Closest Approach): Sunday 10/23, 8:26am EDT. This event is a Low concern and no action is expected at this time, although flight controllers will continue to assess updates. A DAM (Debris Avoidance Maneuver), if required, would be scheduled at 6:08am tomorrow morning.
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Twenty-Nine — Week 5)
2D NANO Template (JAXA): No report.
3D SPACE: Complete.
AgCam (Agricultural Camera): No report.
ALTCRISS (Alteino Long Term monitoring of Cosmic Rays on the ISS): Complete.
ALTEA SHIELD (NASA/ASI): On 10/16 one Silicon Detector Unit (SDU 4) went off and since then only 5 out of 6 SDUs are delivering science data. However, since measurements in all 3 directions are collected, there is no real impact on science.
AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): All AMS payload and laptop operations are nominal. We are working extensively with JSC and MSFC FCTs to develop mitigation plans for the upcoming high beta period.
APEX (Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit) -Cambium: No report.
APEX-TAGES (Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System): No report.
Asian Seed 2010 (JAXA): Returned on ULF6.
BCAT-5 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test 5): Runs planned: 2 and runs completed: 2. This entails sample 5 ops and the mix/photograph of samples 4-10 then stow. To Mike Fossum, who asked about the lag time in feedback on the images: “We are sorry that our response cannot be faster at times. Here’s what is going on. The process to observe the images is somewhat arduous (photos go into the queue to have them retrieved from the on-board OCA, then they are sent to the JSC Digital Imaging Lab where they are then transferred to the proprietary ftp site (DIMS Exchange) during regular work hours; once the raw .nef file is saved to our computers, it takes a couple of minutes to open each one with the Fast Stone Image Viewer software. Then they are put in a secure e-room folder for the PIs to retrieve and perform their image enhancement which is yet another time-consuming task. At best, a day or two to receive, a day to open/view/post to e-room, and several days to image-enhance. The last step is sometimes circumvented when feedback is provided to you (when possible from seeing the raw images) just by viewing the .nef images and relaying information on the focus, alignment and contrast of the samples. The image enhancement is where the PI can offer in-depth scientific information about the evolution of the sample, as in the message that Dr. Peter Lu sent to you from Harvard about sample 4. Thank you for the exceptional quality of your work, which is much appreciated and of significant scientific value.”
BIOLAB (ESA): No report.
BIORHYTHMS (JAXA, Biological Rhythms): No report.
BISE (CSA, Bodies in the Space Environment): No report.
BISPHOSPHONATES: No report.
BXF-Facility (Boiling eXperiment Facility, NASA): No report.
BXF-MABE (Microheater Array Boiling Experiment, NASA): No report.
BXF-NPBX (Pool Boiling Experiment, NASA): No report.
CARD (Long Term Microgravity: Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease, ESA): No report.
CARDIOCOG-2: Complete.
CB (JAXA Clean Bench): No report.
CBEF-2 (JAXA Cell Biology Experiment Facility)/SPACE SEED: No report.
CCISS (Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Control on Return from ISS): No report.
CERISE (JAXA): No report.
CCF (Capillary Channel Flow, NASA): No report.
CFE-2 (Capillary Flow Experiment 2, NASA): No report.
CFS-A (Colored Fungi in Space-A, ESA): No report.
CSI-5/CGBA-5 (CGBA Science Insert #5/Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 5): No report.
CGBA-2 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 2): Complete.
CIR (Combustion Integrated Rack), MDCA/Flex: No report.
Commercial (Inc 23&24, JAXA): No report.
Commercial (Inc 25 & 26, JAXA): Sample returned by ULF6.
CSLM-2 (Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures 2): No report.
CsPins (JAXA): No report.
CubeLab: No report.
CW/CR (Cell Wall/Resist Wall) in EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): Complete.
DECLIC-ALI (Device for the Study of Critical Liquids & Crystallization-ALICE-like, CNES/NASA): No report.
DomeGene (JAXA): Complete.
DOSIS (Dose Distribution Inside ISS, ESA): No report.
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students): No report.
EDR (European Drawer Rack, ESA): No report.
EKE (Endurance Capacity by Gas Exchange and Heart Rate Kinetics During Physical Training, ESA): No report.
ELITE-S2 (Elaboratore Immagini Televisive – Space 2): Planned.
EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): Nominal water pump servicing was performed by ground commanding on 10/13.
ENose (Electronic Nose): No report.
EPM (European Physiology Module): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Eye in the Sky; Sleep 2): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Sesame Street): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Kids in Micro-G): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Earth/Moon/Mars Demo): No report.
EPO LES-2 (ESA): No report.
EPO GREENHOUSE (ESA): No report.
EPO 3-min Video (JAXA): No report.
EPO J-Astro Report (JAXA): On 10/15, Satoshi completed, as a Voluntary Weekend Science activity, JAXA Report 14 and Report 15 for the newspaper company Mainichi.
EPO Dewey’s Forest (JAXA): Closed out on 3/15.
EPO Space Clothes (JAXA): Complete.
EPO Hiten (Dance, JAXA): No report.
EPO Lego Bricks (NASA, JAXA): This activity will be used in classrooms in connection with Lego/NASA educational lesson plans. These lesson plans will be available to teachers as the videos are released on www.legospace.com. Once the crewmember has performed an experiment, the educational video with the Lego model will relay results to students doing the same activity on the ground. These results will then be posted on to www.legospace.com as part of the partnership between NASA and the Lego Group. It may take up to 3 months for the videos to be edited, captioned and posted to the website.
EPO-5 SpaceBottle (Message in a Bottle, JAXA): No report.
EPO Moon Score (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Try Zero-G (JAXA): No report.
EPO Kibo Kids Tour (JAXA): Complete.
EPO Paper Craft (Origami, JAXA): No report.
EPO Poem (JAXA): No report.
EPO-6 Spiral Top 2 (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Doctor Demo (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Green Tea Preparation (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Ink Ball (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Video (JAXA):
ERB-2 (Erasmus Recording Binocular, ESA): [ERB-2 aims are to develop narrated video material for various PR & educational products & events, including a 3D interior station view.] “Thanks, Mike, for performing the Russian Fly-Through filming with the ERB-2 camera as Voluntary Science on 10/16!. We are looking forward to seeing the video footage. The downlink of the video data is currently planned on 10/25-26.
ETD (Eye Tracking Device): Completed.
FACET-2 (JAXA): No report.
FERULATE (JAXA): No report.
FIR/LMM/CVB (Fluids Integrated Rack / Light Microscopy Module / Constrained Vapor Bubble): On 10/14, we completed observations of the third and final PACE Tissue Sample using the LMM Microscope with illumination from above the sample (epi-illumination). We were able to make observations of a leaf, a bee, a fluorescent sample, and a letter from the alphabet with the 10X and Bertrand objectives. We did not attempt to make observations with any higher magnification objectives as the 10X was sufficient for these samples. This completes PACE-2 tissue operations until the PACE LED Base arrives on 45P. We plan to observe three each of the PACE Particle Samples and the PACE Tissue Samples with the PACE LED Base, which provides illumination from below the sample (trans-illumination).
Fish Scales (JAXA): Completed on FD7/ULF-4 and returned on STS-132.
FOAM STABILITY (ESA): No report.
FOCUS: No report.
FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory, ESA): FSL VMU Hybrid Test and troubleshooting were successfully completed.
FWED (Flywheel Exercise Device, ESA): No report.
GENARA-A (Gravity Regulated Genes in Arabidopsis A/ESA): No report.
GEOFLOW-2 (ESA): GEOFLOW-2 science runs are on hold due the USOC preparing for other experiment’s ops.
HAIR (JAXA): No report. [Hair root cells actively divide in a hair follicle, and they sensitively reflect physical conditions. The hair shaft has an advantage in that it records the metabolic conditions of the environment where the subject is. The purpose of this experiment is to examine the effect of long duration space flight on gene expression and trace element metabolism in human body by analysing human hair.]
HDTV System (JAXA): No report.
Hicari (JAXA): On 10/17, Ground Activities completed GHF Heater Move to prepare trouble shooting on 10/20 and 10/21. Some of the objectives of Hicari include verification of crystal growth theory and to produce high quality crystals of silicon-germanium semiconductor.
Holter ECG (JAXA): No report.
HQPC (JAXA): Was delivered by 34P.
HREP (HICO/Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean & RAIDS/Remote Atmospheric & Ionospheric Detection System/JAXA): HICO has taken 4317 images to-date. The most recent HICO images include the New Zealand coast, the coast of New Caledonia, parts of Australia and parts of South America. RAIDS has lost low-rate telemetry containing the Science data as of Day 264 and is currently troubleshooting the problem with NASA engineers.
HydroTropi (Hydrotropism & Auxin-Inducible Gene Expression in Roots Grown under Microgravity Conditions/JAXA): No report.
ICE CRYSTAL (JAXA): Complete.
ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular): “Satoshi, thanks so much for your continued attention to detail during your ICV Ambulatory Monitoring and Resting Echo session this week. The ICV team is looking forward to receiving the data!”
IMMUNO (Neuroendocrine & Immune Responses in Humans During & After Long Term Stay at ISS): Complete.
INTEGRATED IMMUNE: “Mike & Satoshi, thanks to all of you for a successful blood draw on 9/14. The PI team is looking forward to analyzing the data.”
InSPACE-2 (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions 2): No report.
IRIS (Image Reversal in Space, CSA): No report.
ISS Amateur/Ham Radio:
ISSAC (ISS Agricultural Camera, NASA):
IV Gen (Intravenous Fluids Generation): No report.
KID/KUBIK6: No report.
KUBIK 3 (ESA): No report.
LMM/PACE-2 (Light Microscopy Module / Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment): On 10/14, we completed observations of the third and final PACE Tissue Sample using the LMM Microscope with illumination from above the sample (epi-illumination). We were able to make observations of a leaf, a bee, a fluorescent sample, and a letter from the alphabet with the 10X and Bertrand objectives. We did not attempt to make observations with any higher magnification objectives as the 10X was sufficient for these samples. This completes PACE-2 tissue operations until the PACE LED Base arrives on 45P. We plan to observe three each of the PACE Particle Samples and the PACE Tissue Samples with the PACE LED Base, which provides illumination from below the sample (trans-illumination).
LOCAD-PTS (Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System): No report.
Marangoni Exp (JAXA): “On 10/17, Satoshi completed VRU hard disk exchange. Ground Activities completed for MEIS3-13 on 10/17, MEIS3-14 on 10/18, MEIS3-15 on 10/19. “We continue experiment, thank you for your effort to exchange the Hard Disk.”
Marangoni DSD – Dynamic Surf (JAXA): Payload name was change from Marangoni DSD to Dynamic Surf.
Marangoni UVP (JAXA): No report.
MARES (Muscle Atrophy Research & Exercise System, ESA/NASA): No report.
Matryoshka-2 (RSA): No report.
MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image, JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
MDCA/Flex-2: “Mike: Excellent job reconfiguring the back of the CIR Optics Bench from MDCA/FLEX to MDCA/FLEX-2! We appreciate all your hard work and attention to detail during the many complicated tasks. The FLEX-2 configuration added another camera for collecting data and another FCF Image Processing and Storage Unit (IPSU) to process and store this data. The new camera will be able to gather soot temperature data of the flame during test points. We still have some FLEX test points to finish. Upcoming planned activities include replacement of the fuel reservoirs with FLEX-2 fuels, and then we will begin our FLEX-2 science matrix.” The MDCA facility is now in FLEX-2 configuration, but actual test points for FLEX-2 (using mixed fuels) will begin once FLEX (single fuel) testing is complete in the near future.
MEIS (Marangoni Experiment for ISS) in JAXA FPEF (Fluid Physics Experiment Facility): No report.
Microbe-2 (JAXA): Sample returned by ULF6.
Micro-G Clay (JAXA EPO): Complete.
MISSE-8 (Materials ISS Experiment 8): MISSE-8 is operating nominally although the Communication Interface Board (CIB) has reset daily over this past week. When the CIB resets, commands have to be sent by the ground controllers to restart the polling for experiment data. Both the ReflectArray and SEUXSE experiments were powered off due to high temperatures on Day 288. The SEUXSE experiment was re-enabled on Day 291 and ReflectArray is planned to be re-enabled by the end of the week once temperatures are within the limits. PASCAL is monitoring the status of the solar cells and analyzing data gathered from previous commanding. The SpaceCube experiment is running code for new radiation hardening by software.
MMA (JAXA/Microgravity Measurement Apparatus): No report.
MPAC/SEED (JAXA): No report.
MSG-SAME (Microgravity Science Glovebox-Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment): No report.
MSPR (Multi Purpose Small Payload Rack, JAXA): On 10/15, Satoshi completed VRU checkout 1 as Voluntary Weekend Science. A future experiment planning to use this facility is the Acquatic Habitat with the medaka fish, planned for launch on HTV3.
MSL (Materials Science Laboratory, ESA): No report.
MTR-2 (Russian radiation measurements): Passive dosimeters measurements in DC-1 “Pirs”.
MULTIGEN-1: Completed.
MYCO 3 (JAXA): On 9/22, Mike and Satoshi completed sample collection.
MyoLab (JAXA): Completed on 4/20.
NANOSKELETON (Production of High Performance Nanomaterials in Microgravity, JAXA): No report.
NEURORAD (JAXA): No report.
NEUROSPAT (ESA/Study of Spatial Cognition, Novelty Processing and Sensorimotor Integration): No report.
NOA-1/-2 (Nitric Oxide Analyzer, ESA): Complete.
NUTRITION w/REPOSITORY/ProK: No report.
ODK (Onboard Diagnostic Kit, JAXA): On 10/8, Satoshi completed manual check as Voluntary Science.
PACE-2 (Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment 2, NASA): (please see under FIR and LMM/PACE-2.
PADIAC (Pathway Different Activators, ESA): No report.
PADLES (JAXA, Area PADLES 3/4; Passive Area Dosimeter for Lifescience Experiment in Space): No report.
PASSAGES (JAXA): No report.
PCDF-PU (Protein Crystallization Diagnostic Facility – Process Unit): No report.
PCG (JAXA, Protein Crystal Growth): Returned on 26S on 9/16.
PCRF (Protein Crystallization Research Facility) Reconfiguration (JAXA): See PCG.
PLSG (Plant Signaling, NASA/ESA): No report.
PMDIS (Perceptual Motor Deficits in Space): Complete.
POLCA/GRAVIGEN (ESA): Complete.
Portable PFS: No report.
Pro K: No report.
RadGene & LOH (JAXA): Complete.
RadSilk (JAXA): No report.
Reaction Self Test (RST/Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS): “Mike and Satoshi, thank you for your participation in Reaction Self Test. As we say in Texas, y’all are doing great!”
Robonaut (NASA): No report.
RYUTAI Rack (JAXA): No report.
SAIBO Rack (JAXA): No report.
SAMS/MAMS (Space & Microgravity Acceleration Measurement Systems): No report.
SAMPLE: Complete.
SCOF (Solution Crystallization Observation Facility, JAXA): No report.
SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload, JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
SHERE II (Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment II): No report.
SLAMMD (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device): No report.
SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight): No report.
SMILES (JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
SODI/IVIDIL (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Influence of Vibration on Diffusion in Liquids, ESA): No report.
SODI/COLLOID (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Colloid): “Thanks Satoshi. You did a great job when installing the SODI and COLLOID#2 hardware in MSG on 10/17. Thanks to your work, activation of all systems went well and the first scientific run was started at the same day (10/17) in the evening. For all cells (4, 3, 2, 1), the so-called “reproducibility check runs” were completed by 10/19: looking at any potential aging effects at around the aggregation detection temperature that was previously determined in COLLOID#1. The “aggregation detection runs”, aiming at the determination of the current aggregation temperature per cell, have been started by 10/19 evening. TM is looking nominal. Images downlinked look good and as expected. The signals for some of the 4 cells are somehow lower than during COLLOID#1, but will allow to do the scientific investigation foreseen.”
SOLAR (Solar Monitoring Observatory, ESA): Out of Sun Visibility Window (SVW). On 10/14 SOLACES instruments were brought back to nominal temperature after warming for 10 days between the SVWs to avoid contamination. Heating of SOLACES for reboost on 10/19 was extended for some days. The next Sun Visibility Window #46 starting on 10/20.
SOLO (Sodium Loading in Microgravity): No report.
Space-DRUMS (Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System): No report.
Space Food (JAXA): No report.
SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite): No report.
SPHINX (SPaceflight of Huvec: an Integrated eXperiment, ESA): No report.
SPICE (Smoke Point In Co-flow Experiment): No report.
SPINAL (Spinal Elongation): No report.
SPRINT: No report.
SS-HDTV (Super Sensitivity High Definition Camera, JAXA): On 10/13-14, Satoshi completed video recordings of Japan Islands.
STP-H3 (Space Test Program – Houston 3): The MHTEX “High Power” tests have been completed and MHTEX is currently being reprimed. Canary took data during the ISS reboost on 10/19 and saw plasma signatures. VADER is currently reviewing the data that has been gathered to determine the next testing steps. DISC is processing images that were taken in previous weeks.
SWAB (Characterization of Microorganisms & Allergens in Spacecraft): No report.
TASTE IN SPACE (ESA): No report.
THERMOLAB (ESA): “Mike, since you will be performing your next session of the THERMOLAB experiment next week, we thought we could provide you with some background description on the experiment (although this is your last session): The human body regulates its core temperature to ensure that the temperature for the vital organs (brain, heart, liver and kidneys) is continuously at 37* C. Sweating or shivering are two of the mechanisms how the thermoregulatory system maintains the core temperature. In microgravity the thermoregulatory system is impaired. For example, sweating is no longer an efficient method of cooling down the body temperature, due to the absence of convection – warm air no longer rises up. THERMOLAB measures body skin temperature during strenuous exercises up to the maximum workout and oxygen uptake intensity, using two body temperature sensors positioned on the forehead and chest. The sensor on the forehead is positioned over the area where blood vessels that provide the blood supply to the brain surface through the skull, thus measuring the “brain temperature”. The chest sensor is positioned on the sternum, close to the heart. Astronauts from previous missions reported that they got very hot during work outs or when working outside the space craft in their space suits. The THERMOLAB experiment investigates how the body heats up and afterwards cools down in microgravity and then compares these temperature curves with the ones measured on the same crewmember on the ground before and after the mission.”
TRAC (Test of Reaction & Adaptation Capabilities): Planned.
TREADMILL KINEMATICS: “Thank you, Mike and Satoshi!”
TRIPLELUX-B (ESA): No report.
ULTRASOUND: Planned.
UMS (Urine Monitoring System (NASA): No report.
VASCULAR (CSA): “Thank you Mike and Satoshi for completing this second blood draw. The team is looking forward to welcome you back on your R+1 in Houston. Thanks again for the Crewnote listing the barcodes!”
VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Module, NASA): No report.
VESSEL ID System (ESA): Nominal measurements with NORAIS receiver. The HRM core switchover on 10/17 resulted in some data loss. Since the data loss is only for ~3hrs, it has only very minor impact on science. Assessment on-going if data is recoverable or not.
VESSEL IMAGING (ESA): [It is known that the ability of blood vessels to vasoconstrict – the ability of the muscular vessel wall to narrow the diameter of the blood vessel – is impaired during and after a human has been in space. “Vessel Imaging” is using the Ultrasound scanner on board the ISS to take images of the five different blood vessels in the lower abdomen and in the legs to study what changes occur to cause the blood vessels to be less able to vasoconstrict. For each vessel, a 5 second scan is performed to observe the blood vessel during several heart beats, followed by a scan where the ultrasound scan-head is tilted to allow a “cut through the blood vessel wall”. The same scans are also performed before flight, and these pre-flight images are used as the baseline to which the in-flight data is compared with. The images are analyzed to detect any changes in the blood vessel wall properties, such as wall thickness, elasticity or structure, changes in the size of the blood vessel or blood flow (volume) while the crewmember is in orbit.]
VIABLE (eValuatIon And monitoring of microBiofiLms insidE the ISS Payload Touch, NASA): No report.
VO2max (NASA): “Mike, great job on your VO2max session Wednesday! Like we said at the beginning of exercise, the error we saw during calibrations turned out to be a non-issue, but we couldn’t tell for sure until the first rebreathing. Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing. You’re in the home stretch- only one session left! Also, we gave Dan some additional training this week and were able to incorporate much of the info you have provided us about hardware issues, stowage, etc. Thanks for the help with that!”
VLE (Video Lessons ESA): No report.
WAICO #1/#2 (Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots at Different g-levels; ESA): No report.
YEAST B (ESA): No report.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation): Through 10/17, the ground has received 20,174 CEO frames for review and cataloging. “We are pleased to report your acquisition of imagery this week with times corresponding to those of our CEO Daily Target Lists for the following targets: NW Glaciers of N. Patagonian Gl. Field – a few frames early in your session were of the eastern area of these glaciers – apparently the northwestern ones were socked in – we will keep trying; US High Plains night imagery opportunity – a nice single frame looking southeastward from the Denver area was acquired and captioned by PAO for distribution; and Southeastern USA Night imagery pass – this successful run has been made into a video and posted on our public website – the actual session runs from Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest all the way to central Cuba – lots of nighttime geography! Your recent view of the Parinacota Volcano and its companion summit Pomerape in the Chile-Bolivia border region of South America was posted this past weekend on NASA/GSFC’s Earth Observatory website. These snowcapped peaks contrast well against the arid, actively volcanic landscape of the Altiplano region. Your view illustrates the complex volcanic and erosional processes in this remote, high-altitude environment. You found these beauties while searching for Ubinas Volcano, one of our science sites. Very nice shot!”
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Johannesburg, South Africa (Johannesburg [and surrounding gold-mining cities of the Witwatersrand] is the center of economic activity for a vast hinterland that extends as far north as Sudan. As such, it is changing rapidly, partly due to in-migration from countries to the north, with the resulting increases in shantytown size and density. Shooting overlapping near-nadir and nadir images), Pretoria, South Africa (imagery of this capital city, only 35 miles north of Johannesburg, ideally should be acquired with 180 mm lenses), and Pilcomayo River floodplain (Dynamic event. Flooding is reported in this major South American river. Looking just right of track [away from the Andes Mts] for a mapping pass using overlapping images. The Pilcomayo River stops flowing, for unknown reasons, at this point near the Andes [slight tectonic subsidence is the probable explanation since its flow has remained steady for decades]. CEO staff requested oblique panoramas looking right to capture recent flooding at this critical point. The end point of this river has retreated upstream 500 km since 1946. Argentina and Paraguay are concerned that river may retreat all the way back upstream into Bolivia, thereby depriving these downstream countries of the water of this major river [which acts as the international boundary between these countries]. Large engineering works are in progress to remove sand from the end point so that the river continues to flow into their territories).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:57am EDT [= epoch])
* Mean altitude – 387.6 km
* Apogee height – 400.1 km
* Perigee height – 375.1 km
* Period — 92.31 min.
* Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
* Eccentricity — 0.0018464
* Solar Beta Angle — 19.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
* Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.60
* Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 203 m
* Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 74,079
* Time in orbit (station) — 4719 days
* Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4006 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Three-crew operations (Increment 29)————-
10/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking (5:01am EDT)
10/30/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch (6:11am)
11/02/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking (~7:42am)
11/13/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin (11:14pm)
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S docking (MRM2) (~12:45am)
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-02M/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29) (~9:21pm)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon — Target date
12/26/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit — (date “on or about”)
12/28/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S docking (MRM1) — (date “on or about”)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
TBD — Progress M-13M/45P undock
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P launch
TBD — Progress M-14M/46P docking (DC-1)
02/29/12 — ATV3 launch readiness
TBD — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov
04/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S docking (MRM2)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/05/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – launch on Proton (under review)
05/06/12 — Progress M-14M/46P undock
05/07/12 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) – docking (under review)
05/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-07M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/12 — Soyuz TMA-08M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
03/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-08M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-09M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-10M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 – Soyuz TMA-12M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 – Soyuz TMA-11M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-
