NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 7 December 2007
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
After yesterday’s launch scrub for STS-122/Atlantis/Mission ISS-1E due to failure indications of two (of four) engine cut-off sensors in the LH2 tank, the Shuttle is now in a 48-hour turnaround to protect for launch no earlier than Saturday, at 3:43pm EST.
Aboard the space station, FE-2 Dan Tani again accessed the SLEEP experiment (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight) software after wakeup and before breakfast, for data logging, completing questionnaire entries in the experiment’s laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop for later downlink. [To monitor the crewmember’s sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, Dan wears a special Actiwatch device which measures the light levels encountered by him as well as his patterns of sleep and activity throughout the Expedition. The log entries are done within 15 minutes of final awakening for seven consecutive days, as part of the crew’s discretionary “job jar” task list.]
Afterwards, Tani started periodic maintenance work on the TVIS (Treadmill with Vibration Isolation & Stabilization) in the Service Module (SM) “pit”, first powering the exercise machine off, then one hour later performing the 4-hr job of removing and replacing five Roller Bearing (#6, #7, #8, #9, #10) on the forward left side of the treadmill. Afterwards the TVIS ready for use again.
CDR Peggy Whitson set up the EPO (Educational Payload Operations) camcorder for recording her subsequent EPO Demo of “Sanitation on the Station”, discussing "house-cleaning" methods and the importance of good sanitation onboard ISS. [The activities were also downlinked in real-time video/audio via Ku- & S-band.]
FE-1 Yuri Malenchenko spent several hours with the periodic collection of cabin air samples, i.e. by using —
- The SKDS CMS (Pressure Control & Atmosphere Monitoring System/Countermeasure System) to take readings of potentially harmful contaminants in the SM. [The CMS, part of the GANK-4M analyses (see below), uses preprogrammed microchips to measure Formaldehyde (H2CO, methanal), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Ammonia (NH3), taking one measurement per microchip. CMS is part of the GANK-4M analysis conducted today;
- The GANK-4M Real-Time Harmful Contaminant Gas Analyzer system. [GANK tests for Methane (CH4), Ammonia (NH3), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Formaldehyde (HCHO), Nitrogen Oxides (NO, NO2), Hydrogen Chloride (HCl), Hydrogen Fluoride (HF), and Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN).]; and
- The AK-1M adsorber and Draeger tubes to conduct the periodic sampling of cabin air for subsequent analysis on the ground. [Yuri started out by taking air samples in the SM and FGB and to check for leaked-out Freon in the SM, then switched to the IPD-CO Draeger tubes sampler to check for CO (carbon monoxide) in the SM.]
Dan Tani collected air samples also, with a U.S. GSC (Grab Sample Container) at the center of the Lab and SM.
Malenchenko had about 90 minutes set aside for major equipment servicing in the ASU toilet facility, changing out replaceable ASU parts with new components, viz., two receptacles (PR & MP), four hoses, a T-connector, an elbow fitting, an indicator, a filter insert (F-V), the pretreat container (E-K) with its hose. All old parts were discarded as trash. [E-K contains five liters of pre-treat solution, i.e., a mix of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid), CrO3 (chromium oxide, for oxidation and purple color), and H2O (water). The pre-treat liquid is mixed with water in a dispenser (DKiV) and used for toilet flushing.]
Peggy Whitson used the on-board OpsLAN printer to print out Node-2 Leak Pinpoint Procedures. The material was then placed in the ISS Leak Kit for reference.
Having finished the latest session of the German/Russian TEKh-20 Plazmennyi-Kristall/PK-3+ (Plasma Crystal-3+) experiment yesterday, the FE-1 disassembled the payload for subsequent removal and stowage.
Yuri performed the daily routine maintenance of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM, including ASU toilet facilities systems/replaceables. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists among else of replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.]
Later, Malenchenko completed the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance by updating/editing its standard “delta file” including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).
Yuri also performed the periodic (monthly) functional closure test of spare emergency vacuum valves (AVK) for the Vozdukh, in the spare parts kit. [The AVKs are critical because they close the Vozdukh’s vacuum access lines in the event of a malfunction in the regular vacuum valves (BVK) or a depressurization in the Vozdukh valve panel (BOA). Access to vacuum is required to vent CO2 during the regeneration of the absorbent cartridges (PP). During nominal operation, the AVK valves remain open.]
At 3:15pm EST, CDR Whitson is scheduled to conduct the periodic VHF1 emergency communications check over NASA’s VHF (Very High Frequency) sites at Wallops Island (3:14-3:18pm), talking with Houston/Capcom, MSFC/PAYCOM (Payload Operation & Integration Center Communicator) and Moscow/GLAVNI (TsUP Capcom) in the normal fashion via VHF radio from a handheld microphone and any of the U.S. segment ATUs (audio terminal units). [Purpose of the test is to verify signal reception and link integrity, and to ensure minimum required link margin during emergency (no TDRS) and special events (such as a Soyuz relocation).]
The crewmembers completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (CDR, FE-2), TVIS treadmill (FE-1), RED resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1).
Afterwards, the FE-2 copied 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).
At ~3:15am, the crew held the regular (nominally weekly) tagup with the Russian Flight Control Team (GOGU), including Shift Flight Director (SRP), at TsUP via S-band/audio, phone-patched from Houston and Moscow.
Job items on Peggy’s and Dan’s discretionary “job jar” task list today were crew departure preparations for Dan, Photo/TV bag audit/consolidation for both of them, and a session with the BCAT-3 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3) Magnet Unstick, using the CGBA-4 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-4).
CEO photo targets uplinked for today were Coastal dunes, Namibia (Dynamic event. Small crescent-shaped dunes are driven north along the hyperarid coast of Namibia by very strong southerly winds. Small dunes move fast, many yards per year. Looking immediately left and right of track as ISS crossed the coastline [the driest part of the desert], shooting a few detailed images of the coastal strip where these small dunes occur. There is interest in comparing positions of known dunes through time, both for geological and budgetary reasons–dunes 2-4 feet high often cross roads and other infrastructures. Clearing these dunes [or slowing them down by spraying with oil] is a major public-works expense around the few coastal towns in Namibia.
CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (about 700,000 NASA digital photographs of Earth are downloaded by the public each month from this “Gateway” site);
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AstronautPhotography
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:25am EST [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 338.6 km
Apogee height — 339.0 km
Perigee height — 338.2 km
Period — 91.30 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.000059
Solar Beta Angle — 11.9 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.77
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours — 122 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 51811
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Standard, some changes possible. NET = Not Earlier Than):
12/08/07? — STS-122/Atlantis/1E launch — Columbus Module, ICC-Lite, ~3:43pm EST
12/10/07 — STS-122/Atlantis/1E docking
- 12/11 — EVA-1 (Walheim/Schlegel)
- 12/11 — Columbus transfer & berthing @ Node-2
- 12/12 — Columbus ingress
- 12/13 — EVA-2 (Walheim/Schlegel)
- 12/15 — EVA-3 (Walheim/Love)
12/17/07 — STS-122/Atlantis undocking, ~8:22am
12/19/07 — STS-122/Atlantis landing ~12:29pm EST
12/22/07 — Yuri Malenchenko’s Birthday
12/22/07 — Progress M-61/26P undocking (DC1) & reentry
12/23/07 — Progress M-62/27P launch
12/26/07 — Progress M-62/27P docking (DC1)
01/31/08 — 50-Year Anniversary of Explorer 1 (1st U.S. Satellite on Redstone rocket) [Check it out at http://usspace50.com/ ]
02/07/08 — Progress M-63/28P launch
02/09/08 — Progress M-63/28P docking
02/14/08 — NET: ATV-1 “Jules Verne” launch/Ariane V (Kourou, French Guyana)
02/14/08 — STS-123/Endeavour/1J/A launch/1J/A, ~11:53am, w/SLP-SPDM, JEM ELM-PS
02/16/08 — STS-123/Endeavour/1J/A docking
02/27/08 — STS-123/Endeavour undocking
02/29/08 — STS-123/Endeavour landing
03/01/08 — Progress M-62/27P undocking (DC1) & reentry
03/06/08 — NET: ATV-1 docking (SM aft port)
04/07/08 — Progress M-63/28P undocking (DC1) & reentry
04/08/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S launch
04/10/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S docking (DC1)
04/19/08 — Soyuz TMA-11/15S undocking (FGB nadir port)
04/23/08 — Soyuz TMA-12/16S relocation (from DC1 to FGB nadir port)
04/24/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J launch – JEM PM “Kibo”, racks, RMS.
04/26/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J docking
05/04/08 — STS-124/Discovery/1J undocking
05/14/08 — Progress M-64/29P launch
05/16/08 — Progress M-64/29P docking (DC1)
07/29/08 — NET: ATV-1 undocking (from SM aft port)
08/11/08 — Progress M-64/29P undocking (from DC1)
08/12/08 — Progress M-65/30P launch
08/14/08 — Progress M-65/30P docking (SM aft port)
09/13/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch
09/15/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking (DC1)
09/20/08 — (NET) STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 launch – MPLM(P), LMC
10/01/08 — (NET) STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 undocking.
10/01/08 — 50th Birthday of NASA
10/11/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM aft port)
10/14/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch
10/16/08 — Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (SM aft port)
04/??/09 — Six-person crew on ISS
04/15/09 — Constellation’s Ares I-X Launch.
