Status Report

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 26 May 2012

By SpaceRef Editor
May 26, 2012
Filed under , , ,
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 26 May 2012
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 26 May 2012

ISS On-Orbit Status 05/26/12

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday – Crew half-day off.

Upon wakeup, FE-3 Acaba, FE-5 Kuipers & FE-6 Pettit completed their weekly post-sleep session of the Reaction Self-Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self-Test on the ISS) protocol, the 43rd for Don & André, the 3rd for Joe. [RST is done twice daily (after wakeup & before bedtime) for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following a sleep shift. The experiment consists of a 5-minute reaction time task that allows crewmembers to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while on ISS. The experiment provides objective feedback on neurobehavioral changes in attention, psychomotor speed, state stability, and impulsivity while on ISS missions, particularly as they relate to changes in circadian rhythms, sleep restrictions, and extended work shifts.]

After wakeup, Gennady Padalka performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.

CDR Kononenko, FE-1 Padalka & FE-2 Revin 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 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, Oleg, Sergei & Gennady also 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 BMP Harmful Contaminants Removal System grille in the SM.

Don Pettit started another sampling run with the AQM (Air Quality Monitor), deactivating the system ~5 hrs later. [Consisting of the EHS GC/DMS (Environmental Health Systems Gas Chromatograph / Differential Mobility Spectrometer), the system is controlled with “Sionex” expert software from the SSC (Station Support Computer)-12 laptop. The AQM demonstrates COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) technology for identifying volatile organic compounds, similar to the VOA (Volatile Organics Analyzer). This evaluation will continue over the course of several months as it helps to eventually certify the GC/DMS as nominal CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) hardware],

Next, Pettit & Kuipers set up the Node-2 camcorder with MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) and Firewire cable for Dragon hatch opening and powered down all CQ (Crew Quarters) laptops prior to removing power from the CQs for the Dragon ingress.

Afterwards, André & Don removed the CBM CPAs (Common Berthing Mechanism Controller Panel Assemblies) from the Node-2 nadir port and equalized the pressures between Dragon and ISS.

At ~5:53am EDT, Dragon’s internal hatch was opened, and Don Pettit & Oleg Kononenko entered Dragon wearing protective masks and goggles to set up for IMV (Intermodule Ventilation) for 20 min before final ingress.

Oleg sampled the atmosphere inside Dragon with the Russian AK-1M absorber, and Gennady retrieved the A-2 atmospheric scrubbing filter unit from MRM-1 stowage and set it up for operation in the FGB GA segment, with the inlet facing the PMA-1 (Pressurized Mating Adapter 1). The unit will be deactivated before sleeptime.

André unstowed SODF (Station Operation Data File) documents from Dragon, then deployed the new emergency procedures items in the ISS. [Two books (EMER-2 & Warning Procedures) went into the US Lab and SM, and the EVA Systems checklist was stowed in the A/L (Airlock).]

Afterwards, the six station occupants met for a 15-min Dragon Emergency Procedures OBT (On-board Training), reviewing the topics on an SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop.

FE-5 Kuipers completed Part 3 of the periodic acoustic measurement protocol, downloading the recorded data from the 3 acoustic dosimeters from the SMK (Sound Measurement Kit) deployed yesterday for static measurements in the station to a T61p laptop, then stowing the recorders. [Measurement locations: #1003 in ATV-3, #1004 in US Lab, #1005 in SM.]

Sergei Revin performed standard service on the running experiment TEKh-22 “Identifikatsiya” (Identification) in the MRM1 Rassvet, downloading the new batch of structural dynamics measurements of the IMU-Ts microaccelerometer of Dragon berthing ops and hatch opening to the RSE1 laptop for subsequent downlink to the ground via OCA. [IMU-Ts is a part of the MRM1 SBI onboard measurement system, installed in PGO behind panel 104.]

In the Lab, Joe continued troubleshooting on the failed laptop of the ISSAC (ISS Agriculture Camera) equipment at the WORF (Window Observational Research Facility). [Steps included manually powering on laptop while on internal battery power, correcting BIOS settings, disconnecting/reconnecting the Firewire cable and checking circuit breaker status. The failure was diagnosed as a corrupted BIOS.]

Don used the vacuum cleaner to remove any dust & debris from the vents of the OpsLAN (Operations Local Area Network) Server T61p SSCs located in Lab bay O1 (LS1 & ISS-SERVER1) to ensure their optimal performance.

After setting up the equipment, Joe Acaba performed his first (FD14/Flight Day 14) ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular) Resting Echo Scan in the US Lab, assisted by Don Pettit as Operator/CMO (Crew Medical Officer) to operate the USND (Ultrasound) scans. Joe’s first Pro K controlled diet session begins on 5/28 (Monday). [Wearing electrodes, ECG (Electrocardiograph) cable & VOX, Joe underwent the USND scan for ICV assessment, with video being recorded from the HRF (Human Research Facility) Ultrasound and COL cabin camera. Heart rate was tracked with the HRM (Heart Rate Monitor). There are dietary constraints, and no exercise is allowed 4 hrs prior to scan. After confirmed file transfer, the gear was powered down and stowed. Later, the data from the two HM-2 (Holter Monitor 2) HiFi Cards and two Actiwatch Spectrums were transferred from the USND-2 (Ultrasound 2) hard drive to the USND-2 USB drive. Voice required last 5 minutes for crew to inform ground copy process is complete. The USND echo experiment uses the Image Collector software on the laptop and requires VOX/Voice plus RT Video downlink during the activity. Goal of the ICV experiment is to quantify the extent, time course, and clinical significance of cardiac atrophy and identify its mechanisms. The ICV experiment consists of two separate but related activities over a one-week time period: an ultrasound echo scan & an ambulatory monitoring session. The sessions are scheduled at or around FD14, FD30, FD75, FD135 and R-15 (there are fewer sessions if mission duration is less than six months).]

Acaba, Kuipers & Pettit filled out their weekly FFQs (Food Frequency Questionnaires) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer), Joe’s first, André’s 15th, Don’s 16th. [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.]

Oleg completed 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.]

At ~11:25am EDT, Pettit, Acaba & Kuipers supported a PAO TV event with U.S. media at JSC and via “telephone bridge”, focused mainly on the Dragon arrival and unloading.

The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-5, FE-6), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (FE-1, FE-3, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-3), and VELO bike ergometer with load trainer (CDR, FE-2). [FE-6 is on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions involving resistive and aerobic (interval & continuous) exercise, followed by a USND (Ultrasound) leg muscle self scan in COL. No exercise is being timelined for Fridays. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day. Today’s exercise called for CEVIS (aerobic/interval), with ARED+T2 (resistive+aerobic/continuous), T2 (aerobic/interval), ARED+T2, CEVIS (aerobic/interval) and T2 (aerobic/continuous) following in the next 5 days. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day.]

ISS/ATV Reboost Update: A one-burn reboost of the ISS with the ATV-3 OCS (Orbit Correction System) thrusters was performed last night at 8:10pm EDT with a burn duration of 6 min 17 sec, achieving a delta-V of 0.84 m/s (planned: 0.9 m/s), increasing mean altitude by 1.55 km (planned: 1.66 km). After the burn, ISS was at 399.0 km mean altitude, with 407.5 km apogee height and 390.6 km perigee height. The reboost was a slight underburn, ~7% less than expected delta-V and altitude gain. Purpose of this reboost and a second one in June is to set up orbit phasing for Soyuz 29S landing (7/1).

WRM Update: A new WRM (Water Recovery Management) “cue card” was uplinked to the crew for their reference, updated with their latest CWC (Contingency Water Container) water audit. [The new card (31-0005E) lists 9 CWCs (89.9 L total) for the five types of water identified on board: 1. Silver technical water (no CWCs); 2. Condensate water (3 CWCs with 14.0 L, plus 2 empty bags); 3. Iodinated water (4 CWCs with 75.9 L; and 4. Waste water (1 empty bag EMU waste water). Also one leaky CWC (#1024) with 8.5 L). No bags with Wautersia bacteria. Other CWCs are stowed behind racks and are currently not being tracked due to unchanging contents. Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources. These isolates pose no threat to human health.]

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Thirty-One – Week 3).

2D NANO Template (JAXA): Mission completed.

3D SPACE: Complete.

ALTCRISS (Alteino Long Term monitoring of Cosmic Rays on the ISS): Complete.

ALTEA SHIELD (NASA/ASI): No report.

Amine Swingbed (NASA): No report.

AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): AMS Payload operations are nominal. AMS Laptop reboot OK on second try, thanks Don. As of 5/22, the AMS POCC has received data for over 17 Billion particle events.

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.

BASS (Burning and Suppression of Solids, NASA): We had no operations this week. Images and videos have been downlinked and we are in the process of analyzing the data.

BCAT-6 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test 6): No report. [Colloids are particles as small as a few tens of nanometers (a thousandth of a thousandth of a millimeter) that are suspended in a medium, usually a liquid or a gas. The name “colloid” comes from the Greek word for “glue”, and expresses very important properties of colloids: when small and light enough, particles can be influenced in their behavior by forces of electromagnetic origin, and make them stick together, or repel each other depending on the configuration. Colloids are widely studied in science because the forces between particles can be controlled and tuned and because particles, while being small enough to be influenced by such forces, are big and slow enough to be seen with a relatively simple and inexpensive laboratory instrument like a microscope. This is why colloids are often studied as model for molecular systems (like standard gases or liquids) where molecules, the individual constituents, are much smaller than colloids and cannot be seen with light. As mentioned, forces between colloids can be tuned giving rise to a rich variety of phenomena. One of them is aggregation, which is when particles stick together and tend to form structures. Among the many ways to induce particle aggregation, one allows to do so by controlling the temperature of the solution in which the particles are immersed, thanks to very weak forces called “critical Casimir forces” that have been predicted more than 30 years ago but just partially verified in experiments. The objective of SODI COLLOID is to measure such forces and produce a controlled aggregation of tiny plastic particles. This would allow to shed light on critical Casimir forces and to make a step towards the fabrication of new nanostructured materials with remarkable optical properties for industrial applications.]

BLB (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): No report.

CSAC (Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, SPHERES): No report.

CSLM-2 (Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures 2): No report.

CsPins (JAXA): “Don, thank you very much for a successful on-time start of the experiment.”

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): “Dear André, big thanks for setting up our radiation monitoring experiment. Since ULF7, we were on hold to refurbish the instrument, but now the radiation characterization research plan is starting again !”

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): “Don, data for EKE will be shared between the VO2max and EKE science teams.”

ELITE-S2 (Elaboratore Immagini Televisive – Space 2): Planned.

EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): No report.

ENERGY (ESA): “André, many thanks for your great support and dedication to complete the ENERGY experiment. We hope that you enjoyed being the first test subject for this experiment, and we look forward to hearing your feedback about the implementation of this experiment. Your and Don’s urine samples and water samples are currently foreseen to be returned with SpX-1. The ground teams were glad to hear that you liked the special menu ! Don, we appreciate very much your participation as control subject. The acquired data will be extremely valuable for the science team to be able to quantify the amount of Double Labelled Water that will be recycled in US system.” [Background: In the ENERGY experiment, astronauts are invited to participate in a study that aimed to evaluate how much food is needed for astronauts during long-term space missions. To do so, the science team will measure every component or variable of the astronaut’s energy expenditure reflecting his energy needs. Those variables will be measured twice: up to 4 months before flight and after at least 3 months in space but 3 weeks before landing. The changes in the astronaut’s energy balance and expenditure will be measured, which will help in deriving an equation for energy requirements in weightlessness. This will contribute to planning adequate, but not excessive cargo supplies for food.]

ENose (Electronic Nose): No report.

EPM (European Physiology Module): Rack activated in support of ENERGY armband data transfers.

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 (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Space Sports): No report.

EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (ISS Orbit): No report.

EPO (Educational Payload Operations, ESA): No report.

EPO CONVECTIONS (ESA): “No report.

EPO MISSION X (ESA): “Dear André and Don, thank you so much for a great IFC during the SpaceLab EMEA finalists event at EAC on 5/16. The kids loved it and the excitement was electric. They had opportunities to show their experiment ideas, tours of all facilities at EAC, learned about your training, racks, experiments etc. Students, teachers and parents alike all gave great feedback. The highlight was of course the IFC, interesting and challenging demo of harmonic oscillation- and the students were all delighted to hear the answers to their questions.”

EPO Spaceship Earth (ESA): 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): No report.

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): No report.

EPO Moon Score (JAXA): No report.

EPO Kibo Kids Tour (JAXA): Complete.

EPO Paper Craft (Origami, JAXA): No report.

EPO Poem (JAXA): No report.

EPO-5 SpaceBottle (Message in a Bottle, 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):

EPO-7 Try Zero-G (JAXA): No report.

EPO-8 Space Sakura (JAXA): No report.

EPO-8 Space Musical Instruments (JAXA): No report.

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.] No report.

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): No report.

Fish Scales (JAXA): Completed on FD7/ULF-4 and returned on STS-132.

FOAM STABILITY EPO (ESA): No report.

FOCUS: No report.

FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory, ESA): “Dear André, a very special thank you for completing the GEOFLOW EC removal and to install the FSL optical target to check out the facility for the next experiment to come (FASES on SpX3). Your activity will help us for the sequence of planned upgrades and tests for the remaining part of the Inc31-32.”

FWED (Flywheel Exercise Device, ESA): No report.

GENARA-A (Gravity Regulated Genes in Arabidopsis A/ESA): No report.

GEOFLOW-2 (ESA): Experiment completed! [Background: Everybody is familiar with liquids. In an average day we get to use, handle or drink water or other liquids. And everybody knows how fluids (that is liquids and gases) behave: when subjected to a net force, may be pressure, a temperature difference or gravity, they can move freely. Scientists have been studying how fluids move for centuries, and managed to write mathematical formulas that can describe and predict such movements. Unfortunately, these equations are extremely complex and only approximate solutions are known. As a result, our quantitative understanding of fluid movement is just partial. This is especially true for natural phenomena where the forces can be enormous and unpredictable, like in oceans or in the atmosphere. Or the interior of the earth, where rocks are exposed to pressures and temperatures so incredibly high that they slowly move and adapt their shape. That is, over hundreds of years rocks flow just like a very viscous liquid. Scientists try to study such flows but cannot observe them directly due to the fact that they take place deep beneath the surface of our planet. The only way is to have computers simulating those movements starting from the equations, but how to check whether computers are correct? This is what Geoflow II is trying to answer on board the International Space Station. Geoflow II is a miniature planet that has some of its essential ingredients: a fluid can freely move inside a spherical container that rotates, has temperature differences and has a simulated gravity directed towards the centre just like in a real planet. By taking pictures of the fluid movements, scientists are able to understand the essential characteristics of the flows and determine whether computer simulations are correct or whether they need to be refined and improved towards a better understanding of the elusive movements that take place inside our planet.]

HAIR (JAXA): No report.

HDTV System (JAXA): No report.

Hicari (JAXA): On 5/21, André completed the scopemeter setup to monitor the voltage at GHF-CE. During the Hicari dry run, this setup will record anomalies whenever they occur. Thank you very much. The ground team started heating up Material Processing Unit (GHF-MP) on 5/21. Now temperature reached 664C on 5/23, we continue heating up to 1250 degree C then maintain its temperature for 124 hours for the dry run of the next Hicari experiment.

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 5675 images to-date. The most recent HICO images include the coast of Italy, the English Channel, part of Hawaii, the coast of France and Munich, Germany. RAIDS is collecting secondary Science data including nighttime atmospheric disk photometry, spectra and temperatures. Extreme Ultra Violet airglow spectroscopy and optical contamination studies will also be performed.

HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1, NASA): No report.

HydroTropi (Hydrotropism & Auxin-Inducible Gene Expression in Roots Grown under Microgravity Conditions/JAXA): No report.

ICE CRYSTAL (JAXA): Complete.

ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular): “Joe, your first Integrated Cardiovascular session is halfway done and will conclude with your first inflight echo. Your ambulatory monitoring data is on the ground and is being routed to the PIs for analysis. Given the size of the Cardiopres data file and a quick look at the error log and data, we feel confident that the unit is functioning well, but we’ll get the PIs to confirm prior to your next session. Thanks so much!”

IMMUNO (Neuroendocrine & Immune Responses in Humans During & After Long Term Stay at ISS): No report.

INTEGRATED IMMUNE: No report.

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: No report.

ISSAC (ISS Agricultural Camera, NASA): “On 5/18 ISSAC witnessed an anomaly where we lost health and status from the payload. After deactivating ISSAC payload, ISSAC laptop remained Powered ON via battery and drained its battery fully causing Laptop BIOS setting to corrupt. This past week has been spent diagnosing the problem and coming up with a troubleshooting plan to resolve the issue. Since you were able to perform the first few steps of the troubleshooting activity on 5/25, the PD was able to confirm that the anomaly is in fact due to a corrupt BIOS setting. Further troubleshooting activities will get scheduled in the near future.

IV Gen (Intravenous Fluids Generation): No report.

JOURNALS (Behavioral Issues Associated with Isolation and Confinement, NASA): No report. [Studies conducted on Earth have shown that analyzing the content of journals and diaries is an effective method for identifying the issues that are most important to a person. The method is based on the reasonable assumption that the frequency that an issue or category of issues is mentioned in a journal reflects the importance of that issue or category to the writer. The tone of each entry (positive, negative, or neutral) and phase of the expedition also are variables of interest. Study results will lead to recommendations for the design of equipment, facilities, procedures, and training to help sustain behavioral adjustment and performance during long-duration space expeditions to the ISS, asteroids, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Results from this study could help to improve the behavioral performance of people living and working under a variety of conditions here on Earth.]

KID/KUBIK6: No report.

KUBIK 3/6 (ESA): “Thanks, André, for helping us on 5/4, now we can be sure that the KUBIK3 and 6 are still functioning well.”

LMM/PACE-2 (Light Microscopy Module / Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment): No report.

LOCAD-PTS (Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System): No report.

MAMS (Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System, NASA): No report.

Marangoni Exp. (JAXA): No report.

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): “Dear Don, thank you for your skillful repair of the MARES Ethernet cable. It is great to get all your detailed feedback about this activity. We now look good to envisage a repetition of the MARES Check-Out Part#1”

Matryoshka-2 (RSA): No report.

MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image, JAXA): External payload. Continuing telemetry monitoring. Ground Activity: Downloaded VSC Imagery on 5/14 and on 5/16.

MDCA/Flex-2: This week we continued with MDCA/FLEX-2 Surrogate Fuel test points using 100% decane. On 5/22, we performed three successful test points in a standard air mixture (21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen at 1 atm). A summary of our observations of the 100% decane test points will be included in next week’s input.

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 ReflectArray, HyperX and SEUXSE-II experiments continue with nominal operations. PASCAL is performing nominal commanding that produced IV curves of the solar cells. IV curves are plots of the current versus voltage for solar cells and tell a lot about how these are performing. The SpaceCube experiment is running code for new radiation hardening by software. The CIB has reset and MISSE-8 operators are now performing special commanding to prevent resets during this beta period.

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): No report.

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. [During microgravity stay, the human body goes through multitude of physiological changes in order to accommodate to the new environment. As the brain is a master organ where major crucial processes take place, it is fundamental to understand how it manages adaptation for living in Space. One of the main purposes of Neurospat (NES) experiment is to focus on how microgravity environment influences cerebral activity of astronauts aboard ISS. For this, the global electrical activity of the brain of the astronaut is measured thanks to electroencephalogram (EEG) technique, while he or she is executing specific tasks through a computer as if it was a kind of videogame. In practice, the astronaut is wearing a specially equipped cap with passive, gel filled electrodes that are in contact with his/her scalp while he or she is performing the specific tasks that we have designed. These are visual-orientation perception and visuo-motor tracking tasks that may be encountered on a daily basis. The tasks allow the study of 5 cognitive processes: Perception, Attention, Memorization, Decision and Action. Besides there are also task-irrelevant images that are showed to the astronaut in order to assess how well he or she processes novel visual stimuli. The electrodes all over the scalp are linked to sensitive amplifiers that allow us to measure small variations of electrical potential between different regions of the scalp. These signals are in turn used to estimate activity in the cerebral cortex related to the task being performed. Also, they serve to identify the mental processes associated with these tasks and to localize in the brain the sources of the underlying neural activity. After analysis of the data we can better understand whether the novel environment of microgravity accompanied by a multitude of stressors may place an increased load on the cognitive capacity of the human brain and whether the sensory signals and motor responses of astronauts are processed and interpreted differently because a new reference frame.]

NightPod (ESA): NightPod images have been presented in a news blog on the ESA PromISSe website: http://blogs.esa.int/promisse/2012/04/05/nightpod/

NOA-1/-2 (Nitric Oxide Analyzer, ESA): Complete.

NUTRITION w/REPOSITORY/ProK: No report.

ODK (Onboard Diagnostic Kit, JAXA): No report.

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 6/7; Passive Area Dosimeter for Lifescience Experiment in Space): Continuing radiation data acquisition of 17 Dosimeters installed inside of JEM. This experiment will continue until 30S return.

PASSAGES (JAXA): No report. [PASSAGES is an experiment about the strategies involved in the perception of the world around us. Seeing correctly the world is necessary to success our gestures, our actions, such as catching a ball, stepping an obstacle on the ground or passing through an opened door. In this experiment, we want to know if the strategies involved on Earth continue to be used when the astronaut is in a weightlessness environment for a long period. To investigate this question, the participant sees 3D scenes on the screen of a laptop such as a video game. The scene is a room with an opening which can vary in width. The task of the participant is to decide if yes or no he or she could pass through the aperture without rotating or scrunching the shoulders. The science team uses typical methods from psychophysics and manipulates several factors to highlight the strategies used by the participant. Then, the science team will compare the performances obtained on ground with those obtained onboard.]

PCDF-PU (Protein Crystallization Diagnostic Facility – Process Unit): No report.

PCG (JAXA, Protein Crystal Growth): Mission completed last week.

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: Used for VO2max / THERMOLAB / EKE sessions.

Pro K: No report.

RadGene & LOH (JAXA): Complete.

RadSilk (JAXA): No report.

Reaction Self Test (RST/Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS): “Don, André, and Joe! Thank you for your participation in Reaction Self Test, your efforts are greatly appreciated! Joe, welcome to Reaction Self Test, we look forward to working with you during your increment!”

ROALD-2 (Role of Apoptosis in Lymphocyte Depression 2, ESA): No report. [Background: The ROALD-2 experiment studies how the function of T-cells from the immune system are affected by microgravity and spaceflight. T-cells play an important role in controlling the immune systems response to infection. It has previously been shown that the immune response of astronauts can be reduced following spaceflight and it has also been shown that the activation of T-cells in culture is reduced in microgravity. A series of experiments on T-cells and other immune system cells have been previously performed by different scientific teams on Space Shuttle and the ISS over the last 30 years. The data from these individual experiments provides information which together can be used to understand the mechanisms by which gravity or the absence of gravity can affect T-cell function.]

Robonaut (NASA): No report.

RYUTAI Rack (JAXA): On 5/21, André completed the Lamp exchange on the Fluid Physics Experiment Facility (FPEF). Now we can proceed preparing for the coming Marangoni experiment. André completed the resistance measurement on the upstream side of the IPU Power Supply and we have confirmed that everything there is nominal. We will proceed with the next step to replace IPU Power Supply. Thank you very much for your effort. We really appreciate your support.

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.

SHD (Space Headaches, ESA): “Thanks, André, for filling in your 21th weekly questionnaire on 5/17. Your continuous support is much appreciated! Dear Joe, thank you for participating to this experiment. We appreciate your support filling all your daily questionnaires!” [Background: The neurologists from Leiden University want to study the question whether the astronauts, while in space, suffer from the headaches. With the help of simple questionnaires the astronauts will register the headache episodes and the eventual accompanying symptoms. The results will hopefully help to characterize the frequency and characteristics of space headache and to develop countermeasure to prevent/minimize headache occurrence during the space flight.]

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.

SLICE (Structure & Liftoff In Combustion Experiment): No report. [See under BASS.]

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): No report.

SODI-DSC (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Diffusion & Soret Coefficient, ESA): No report. [Background: Fluids and gases are never at rest. This statement is in apparent contradiction with our experience: when we pour water in a glass and wait until all flows have disappeared and the temperature of the liquid is in equilibrium with that of the room, we see that water appears to be completely at rest. However, if we were able to see the individual molecules of water with a very powerful microscope, we would discover that they are incessantly moving and collide with each other following frantic, random paths even if the liquid appears to be quiescent at naked eye. Scientists are interested in observing and measuring such movements because they reveal important, practical information: how fast does heat propagates in a fluid? How fast do liquid mixtures mix? Such phenomena occur in absence of a macroscopic flow, that is when the fluid appears to be at rest, and are called heat and mass diffusion respectively. While the theoretical prediction of heat and mass diffusion is still quite challenging, its measurement is a standard laboratory practice, but may become extremely difficult or impossible when dealing with mixtures of many liquids, due to the fact that such measurement needs to be carried out when the fluid is quiescent, a condition sometimes impossible to achieve on ground. This is precisely the objective of the SODI DSC experiment carried out on board the International Space Station: the measurement of diffusion in mixtures of liquids. By using very sensitive optical techniques, it will be possible to measure mass diffusion, compare with current theories, and improve our present understanding of how molecules move in liquid mixtures. The results will be used by the large team of scientists involved in the project to try to understand which of the many existing theories for mass diffusion is correctly predicting the experimental behavior.]

SOLAR (Solar Monitoring Observatory, ESA): Sun Visibility Window #53 (SVW#53) is on-going since 5/14. Nominal measurements with SOLSPEC (coordination with the VENUS EXPRESS project to perform simultaneous measurements). The SolACES instrument has been put in warmed up mode between 5/15 and 5/20 in conjunction with the US Thruster Only (USTO) momentum management and the Soyuz 30S docking. Due to the slip of SpaceX-D launch from 5/19 to 5/22, SolACES was shortly brought back to nominal temperature to perform measurements on 5/23. It is now back to warmed up mode. The current SVW is expected to end on 5/26.

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): Mission completed last week.

STP-H3 (Space Test Program – Houston 3): MHTEX plans to start a new test next week and the Capillary Pumped Loop evaporators are being primed in preparation for this test. VADER continues to characterize the performance of the Aerogel blanket attached to the backside of the experiment. Canary collected data during the Dragon rendezvous, fly-around and docking events. Canary also downloaded files from data collected while the ISS was in the -XVV TEA attitude last week. DISC has taken more imagery this week and 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): “Don, the THERMOLAB science team confirmed that the data of your 5th session on 5/4 were good.”

TRAC (Test of Reaction & Adaptation Capabilities): Planned.

TREADMILL KINEMATICS: “Thank you Don and André for completing your 5th session. One more to go!”

TRIPLELUX-B (ESA): No report.

ULTRASOUND: Planned.

UMS (Urine Monitoring System (NASA): No report.

VASCULAR (CSA): “Don, thank you for successfully completing the second session this week.”

VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Module, NASA): No report.

VESSEL ID System (ESA): Nominal data acquisition with the NorAIS receiver. [Background: As the ISS circles Earth, it has been tracking individual ships crossing the seas beneath. An investigation hosted by ESA in COL module has been testing the viability of monitoring global maritime traffic from the station’s orbit hundreds of kilometers above since June 2010. The ship-detection system being tested is based on the AIS (Automatic Identification System), the marine equivalent of the air traffic control system. Astronauts were instrumental in enabling the COLAIS experiment, which is an in-orbit demonstration project of ESA’s General Support Technology Program. COL was not originally outfitted with VHF antennas to capture the AIS signals; they were installed on the outside of the module during a spacewalk in November 2009, with the remaining piece of hardware, the ERNOBox control computer, installed inside COL along with the NORAIS receiver in May 2010.- The two operational phases with the first receiver from Norway, or NORAIS, which is operated by FFI/Norway, have been extremely successful, with data telemetry received by the N-USOC, in Trondheim, Norway, via ESA’s COL-CC in Germany. Data has been received by NORAIS in almost continuous operation, and all modes of operation have worked extremely well. On a good day, approximately 400,000 ship position reports are received from more than 22,000 different ship identification numbers (Maritime Mobile Service Identity, or MMSI).– The NORAIS Receiver has a sample mode that can collect the raw signal, digitize it and send it to ground for analysis of signal quality, which is proving very helpful in making additional improvements/ refinements to the system. This is used both to investigate the signal environment and to evaluate the performance of new receiver technologies on the ground. Several hundred data sets have been collected and processed with new candidate algorithms for next generation receivers.– From the assessment of these data sets, an updated version of the decoder algorithm has been worked. The development benefits from the investigations of the sampled data and ongoing work in other ESA projects. The firmware was uploaded to the NORAIS Receiver through the station’s communications network. This upgrade #1 (“NORAIS Receiver FPGA firmware v18”), was activated on 1/20/2012.– The on-orbit data of the NORAIS Receiver v18 have been analyzed since and show very good results. The teams are confident in the operation and performance of v18 and have now preliminary results of the comparison of the performance of the upgraded NORAIS Receiver (v18) relative to the version operated prior to the upgrade (v16).– Changes of the signal environment on ISS can influence the number of correctly decoded messages, which makes it important to compare the results of this upgrade to a period running the old algorithm with a similar background level.– The daily averages are calculated for 11 days for both receiver versions. For the upgrade, the period considered for comparison is 1/21-1/31/2012, which are the first 11 days of operation. When selecting the period for the reference data it was important to find a period with the same background signal level as the 11 days with the upgraded NORAIS Receiver. The period from 11/27 – 12/7/2011 was. Even though the two 11 day periods are 45 days apart, the ship traffic should not be very different around the world, except for some regions in the north that may be hampered by sea ice.– The performance has been studied as the average number of decoded messages per day for the current upgrade v18 of the firmware and the original NORAIS Receiver software. The improvement is the ratio of these numbers (so average numbers of messages per day before the upgrade divided by number of messages after the upgrade). The number of messages from ships in various geographic areas shows a variation in the ratio of messages from 1.2 to 2.0, whereas the ratio of MMSI’s ranges from 1.1 to 1.9. The improvement in the Mediterranean is almost a factor of 2.0 in number of messages, and more than 1.6 in number of distinct ships per day. The improvement in other high-traffic zones, at the Gulf of Mexico and East Asia, is even higher.]

VESSEL IMAGING (ESA): No report. [Background: 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): No report.

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.

YOUTUBE SpaceLab: No report.

CEO (Crew Earth Observation): Through 5/13 the ground has received 24,311 of ISS CEO frames from Expedition 31 for review and cataloging. “We are pleased to report that we have received imagery with times corresponding to our CEO target request times as follows: Moscow, Russia – frame – target acquired – incomplete coverage; W. African Dust Event – 15 frames – target acquired – candidate for publication; Bigach Impact Crater, Kazakhstan – 14 frames – under review for content; Podgorica, Montenegro – 3 frames – target not acquired; Chisinau, Moldova – 12 frames – target not acquired; Kiev, Ukraine – 2 frames – target not acquired; Beirut, Lebanon – 27 frames – target acquired – wrong lens setting for requirements; Central Cuba – target not acquired; Chandragup Mud Volcanoes, Pakistan – 65 frames in two sessions – one IR – under evaluation for content; and B.P. Structure, Impact Crater, Libya – 242 frames – 3 sessions – target not acquired – all automated high-oblique acquisitions. Thank you for your efforts to acquire our targets. Your striking view of Lake Powell and The Rincon, Utah was published on the NASA/GSFC’s Earth Observatory website this past weekend. This nicely illuminated and composed image provides a fine illustration of both the historical geomorphology of as well as the recent human impact on the Colorado River drainage centered on a renowned landmark. Nice shot!”

CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were Mt. Etna (looking right of track), Kunene River Fan, Namibia-Angola (looking right for the vast plains of the fan. Recent floods reached down the length of the fan to Etosha Pan, the low point of the basin. Open water may still be visible in many parts of the fan), and Hurricane “Bud,” Pacific coast of Mexico (DYNAMIC EVENT. ISS had a near nadir pass as the storm moves onshore).

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:52am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 399.4 km
Apogee height – 406.4 km
Perigee height – 392.4 km
Period — 92.55 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0010388
Solar Beta Angle — 17.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.56
Mean altitude gain in the last 24 hours – 1.5 km
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 77,462
Time in orbit (station) — 4936 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4223 days

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/31/12 — SpaceX Dragon unberthing (NET/not earlier than)
07/01/12 — Soyuz TMA-03M/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
————–Three-crew operations————-
07/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
07/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking
07/20/12 — HTV3 launch (~10:18pm EDT)
07/22/12 — Progress M-15M/47P undock
07/24/12 — Progress M-15M/47P re-docking
07/30/12 — Progress M-15M/47P undocking/deorbit
07/31/12 — Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 — Progress M16M/48P docking
————–Six-crew operations—————-
09/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/15/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitsky/E.Tarelkin
10/17/12 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/01/12 — Progress M-17M/49P launch
11/03/12 — Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 — Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/05/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
12/07/12 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/26/12 — Progress M-18M/50P launch
12/28/12 — Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/19/13 — Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
————–Three-crew operations————-
04/02/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S launch – P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin
04/04/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
05/16/13 — Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing (End of Increment 35)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/29/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S launch – M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano
05/31/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing (End of Increment 36)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S launch – M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD
09/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing (End of Increment 37)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S launch – K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD
11/xx/13 — Soyuz TMA-11M/37S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
03/xx/14 — Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing (End of Increment 38)
————–Three-crew operations————-

SpaceRef staff editor.