NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 26 June 2011

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew off-duty. Ahead: Week 15 of Increment 27/28.

FE-4 Volkov 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). With STTS onboard comm temporarily configured for MRM2 occupancy, Sergei tested the equipment with ground specialist tagup support, then terminated the experiment and reset STTS. [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.]

CDR Borisenko conducted 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. [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].

Andrey also performed 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 reporting to TsUP

Before sleeptime, FE-6 Fossum will transfer HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) and EarQ software data files from the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) to an SSC (Station Support Computer) for downlink to the ground. [Since MEC files cannot be pulled down directly by the ground after the recent SSCv4 software transition, the crew has to transfer the files to a USB drive and from there to an SSC server for subsequent downlink.]

For his chosen VolSci (Voluntary Weekend Science) activity, FE-5 Furukawa conducted Part 2 of the current new JAXA life science experiment CsPINs (Dynamism of Auxin Efflux Facilitators responsible for Gravity-regulated Growth and Development in Cucumber) by starting Run 2-3. [Yesterday’s steps included preparing CsPINs cucumber samples in two CsPINs Chamber As, inserting them in two MEU Bs (Measurement Experiment Units B, #004, #005) for Run 2-3 of the CsPINs experiment and finally attaching these in the CBEF (Cell Biology Experiment Facility) 1G incubator for ~18 hrs for germination. Today, Satoshi retrieved three KFTs (Kennedy Fixation Tubes, #401, #402, #902) from MELFI 1 (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS 1), detached the MEU Bs from the CBEF IU (Incubation Unit), inserted the samples in the KFTs for fixation in AAE (Acetic Acid Ethanol) and stored them in MELFI at +2 degC. Background: CsPINs studies the phenomenon of tropism, i.e., the growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant, in response to an environmental stimulus. Specifically focusing on gravity, the new JAXA experiment investigates how plants sense gravity as an environmental signal and use it for governing their morphology and growth orientation. CsPINs plays an important role in the regulation of gravity-dependent redistribution of auxin (a class of plant hormones) and thereby controls gravimorphogenesis (peg formation) in cucumber (Cucmis sativus L.) seedlings. Gravitropism also interferes with hydrotropism in cucumber roots, in which the dynamism of these facilitators may also play a role. Cucumber (Cucmis sativus) seedlings are used to analyze the effect of gravity on the expressions of CsPINs and unravel their contributions to peg formation. Hydrotropism is differentiated from gravitropism in roots, and the expressions of CsPINs are compared to determine the interacting mechanism between the two tropisms.]

At ~9:25am EDT, Andrey, Sasha & Sergei used the SM’s amateur radio equipment (Kenwood VHF transceiver with manual frequency selection, headset, & power supply) for the 2nd radio session (after yesterday) with the participants of the International Youth Meeting “-2011. Altai. Points of Growth” (about 300 participants, all prospective managers in the area of politics, business, culture and art.

The six crewmembers 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), Satoshi at ~3:45am, Sergei at ~6:30am, Andrey at ~9:25am, Sasha at ~10:40am, Ron at ~11:30am, Mike at ~3:15pm.

Jobs listed for Samokutyayev, Borisenko & Volkov today on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” task list were –
* Another ~30-min. run of the GFI-8 “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X digital camera photography with Sigma AF 300-800mm telelens [uplinked targets were the Altai Mountains, Adler, Krasnaya Polyana, Laganakskoe plateau, Kolka glacier, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Terek river, Olga waters, Caspian Sea, Kursk steppe, Don river, the city of Voronezh, pos. Monastyrshchina, a tributary of Hopper, glacier Allalin, Gomel.polig., Kursk steppe. River Don, Lipetsk],
* A 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,
* A photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining photo & video data on oceanic color bloom patterns in the Central-East Atlantic & the southeastern part of the Pacific, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop, and
* Preparing & downlinking more reportages (text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb).

The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-4), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-1, FE-4).

No CEO targets uplinked for today.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations————-
07/08/11 — STS-135/Atlantis launch ULF7 (MPLM) – 11:27am
07/10/11 — STS-135/Atlantis docking ULF7 (MPLM) ~11:09am
07/12/11 — EVA (Garan & Fossum) ~8:50am, 6h30m
07/18/11 — STS-135/Atlantis undock ULF7 (MPLM) – 1:59pm
07/20/11 — STS-135/Atlantis landing KSC ~7:07am
07/27/11 — Russian EVA #29
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)
09/08/11 – Soyuz TMA-21/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/22/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
09/24/11 — Soyuz TMA-03M/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-02M/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S docking (MRM1)
————–Six-crew operations—————-
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)
02/29/12 — ATV3 launch readiness
03/05/12 — Progress M-12M/44P undock
03/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Volkov
04/01/12 — 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)
05/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-06M/31S docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/18/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/02/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
10/04/12 – Soyuz TMA-07M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/16/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/12 — Soyuz TMA-08M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/02/12 – 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————-