NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 27 May 2012
ISS On-Orbit Status 05/27/12
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew off duty. Ahead: Week 5 of Increment 31 (six-person crew).
After wakeup, Gennady Padalka performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
At ~9:00am EDT, the Russian crewmembers joined up for 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.
Gennady completed the routine daily & weekly servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM and FGB. [This included the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings of SM & FGB for calldown to TsUP-Moscow, as well as 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 calldown. 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 as required.]
FE-3 Joe Acaba unstowed the Pro K pH kit and prepositioned it with controlled diet menu items and daily consumables in preparation for his upcoming first (FD15) Pro K Controlled Diet activity, starting tomorrow with the first pH test and diet log entry. [For the Pro K (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery) protocol, there are five in-flight sessions (FD15, FD30, FD60, FD120, FD180) of samplings, to be shared with the NUTRITION w/Repository protocol, each one with five days of diet & urine pH logging and photography on the last day. The crewmember prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken. Urine collections are spread over 24 hrs; samples go into the MELFI (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS) within 30 min after collection. Blood samples, on the last day, are centrifuged in the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) and placed in MELFI at -80 degC. There is an 8-hr fasting requirement prior to the blood draw (i.e., no food or drink, but water ingestion is encouraged). MELFI constraints: Maximum MELFI Dewar open time: 60 sec; at least 45 min between MELFI dewar door openings. Background on pH: In chemistry, pH (Potential Hydrogen) is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a watery solution. Pure water is neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at 25 degC. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are “acidic” and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are “basic” or “alkaline”. pH measurements are important in medicine, biology, chemistry, agriculture, forestry, food science, environmental science, oceanography, civil engineers and many others.]
At ~8:05am EDT, André Kuipers supported a Russian PAO TV event, downlinking a message of greetings to the RusPrix Award ceremony on 6/1 in the Palace Hotel, Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. [The RusPrix Award has been established in 2004 as a joint initiative of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Embassy to the Netherlands, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the RF Union of Journalists, the Russian Culture Fund, the Russian community in the Netherlands, the Public Diplomacy Corps, The Netherlands-Russia Council for Trade Promotion (NRCH). Over the past years the award has gained wide recognition in the Dutch business community. The primary objective of the RusPrix Award is to mark and reward the efforts by Dutch companies, political and public figures, private individuals and artists to promote ties with Russia. The members of the jury consist of government officials, representatives of cultural organizations and artist unions. “…I was one of the first RusPrix laureates and got my award back in 2004, after my first space flight. I was glad to hear that in 9 years, so many respectable and well-known people, companies and projects have received the award. I have many ties with Russia, and I think that it’s very important to deepen the existing ties and to establish new, long-lasting contacts. I believe that cooperation today is the basis for our tomorrow. Let’s continue working together for our children, for our countries and for our planet.”]
CDR, FE-2, FE-3, FE-5 & FE-6 were scheduled for 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), Sergei at ~7:05am, Oleg at ~9:00am, André at ~10:00am, Don at ~11:50am Joe at ~4:20pm EDT.
Tasks listed for Kononenko, Revin & Padalka on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
• A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 (Distantsionnoye zondirovaniye zemli/Remote Sensing of Earth-13) “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of color bloom patterns in the waters of the Central-Eastern Atlantic, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop (Sergei),
• A ~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 (Gennady), and
• More preparation & downlinking of reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb) (all).
No CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today.
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 5:38am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 399.3 km
Apogee height – 406.2 km
Perigee height – 392.4 km
Period — 92.55 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0010214
Solar Beta Angle — 21.7 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.56
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 85 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 77,477
Time in orbit (station) — 4937 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) — 4224 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————-
05/31/12 — SpaceX Dragon unberthing
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————-
