NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 24 October 2008

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Full rest day for the Inc-18 crew of CDR Michael Fincke, FE-1 Yuri Lonchakov and FE-2 Gregory Chamitoff.

Yest posadka! (We have Landing!) Welcome back home, Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko, and Richard Garriott! After 199 days in space (197 docked to ISS), Soyuz TMA-12/16S, carrying two-thirds of the Expedition 17 crew plus the US SFP (10 days in space), landed successfully last night at ~11:37pm EDT in the steppes of Kazakhstan, with the crew in excellent condition. The crew was transported to Kustenai, Kazakhstan via helicopter and departed for Star City, where they were received by a large gathering of guests, including Roskosmos Head Perminov.]

The crew’s work/sleep cycle is shifting towards more regular times: Wake-up – 9:00am EDT (from 11:45pm last night), sleeptime – 5:30pm.

CDR Fincke set up the Kenwood amateur radio equipment and conducted a ham radio pass at ~1:10pm EDT with Scuola Media Statale Donato Forlani, Conversano, Italy

Due to the shortened work day, the crew completed an abbreviated physical workout program on the TVIS treadmill (FE-1), and RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-2). For their first seven runs on the TVIS, Mike & Yuri are using SPDs (Subject Positioning Devices) for safety.

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

The CDR set up NASA’s NUTRITION/Repository experiment hardware for his first session of urine & blood sampling scheduled tomorrow. For the phlebotomy (blood sample draw), Mike has to start fasting 8 hrs before, i.e., tonight, with only water consumption allowed. [The Clinical Nutritional Assessment profile currently required on all U.S. Astronauts, collects blood and urine samples preflight and postflight. NUTRITION expands this protocol by also capturing inflight samples and an additional postflight sample. Furthermore, additional measurements are included for samples from all sessions, including additional markers of bone metabolism, vitamin status, and hormone and oxidative stressor tests. The results will be used to better understand the impact of countermeasures (exercise and pharmaceuticals) on nutritional status and nutrient requirements. The Clinical Nutritional Assessment profile (MR016L), first started on two Mir crewmembers and then on all ISS US crews, nominally consists of two pre-flight and one post-flight analysis of nutritional status, as well as an in-flight assessment of dietary intake using the FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire). The current NUTRITION project expands MR016L testing in three ways: Addition of in-flight blood & urine collection (made possible by MELFI/Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS), normative markers of nutritional assessment, and a return session plus 30-day (R+30) session to allow evaluation of post-flight nutrition and implications for rehabilitation.]

Lonchakov performed 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 and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]

Currently carried open on Greg Chamitoff’s “job jar” task list are four jobs, at his discretion:

• FSL-VMU (Fluid Science Laboratory/Video Management Unit) troubleshooting (requires 2 hrs advance notice to COL-CC/Oberpfaffenhofen),
• BLB-INC-ECS (Biolab Incubator Experiment Containers) exchange (requires 2 hrs advance notice to COL-CC/Oberpfaffenhofen),
• BCAT-4 (Binary Colloid Alloy Test 4) sample homogenizing
• MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) Glove Ring search and separation into old/expired & new units.
  

CEO photography can be studied at this “Gateway” website:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov <http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/> (as of 9/1/08, this database contained 770,668 views of the Earth from space, with 324,812 from the ISS alone).

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
11/02/08 — Progress 30P reboost; Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends
11/14/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 launch – MPLM Leonardo, LMC
11/16/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 docking
11/20/08 — ISS 10 Years
11/25/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking & deorbit (UNDER REVIEW)
11/26/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch
11/30/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking
12/01/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 landing (~1:25pm EST est.) (UNDER REVIEW)
02/09/09 — Progress M-66/31P undocking & deorbit
02/10/09 — Progress M-67/32P launch
02/12/09 — Progress M-67/32P docking
02/12/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A launch – S6 truss segment
02/14/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A docking
02/24/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A undocking
02/26/09 — STS-119/Discovery/15A landing (nominal)
03/25/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S launch
03/27/09 — Soyuz TMA-14/18S docking (DC1)
04/05/09 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S undocking
04/07/09 — Progress M-67/32P undocking & deorbit
05/15/09 — STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch – JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD
05/25/09 — Soyuz TMA-15/19S launch
05/27/09 — Six-person crew on ISS (following Soyuz 19S docking)
07/30/09 — STS-128/Atlantis/17A – MPLM(P), last crew rotation
10/15/09 — STS-129/Discovery/ULF3 – ELC1, ELC2
12/10/09 — STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 + Cupola
02/11/10 — STS-131/Atlantis/19A – MPLM(P)
04/08/10 — STS-132/Discovery/ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM1
05/31/10 — STS-133/Endeavour/ULF5 – ELC3, ELC4 (contingency).