NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 9 November 2008
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – rest day for CDR Fincke, FE-1 Lonchakov, FE-2 Chamitoff. Ahead: Week 3 of Increment 18.
After wakeup (1:00am EST), FE-2 Chamitoff again downloaded the accumulated data of the SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight) experiment from his Actiwatch to the HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1) laptop as part of his final week-long session with SLEEP. [To monitor the crewmember’s sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, Greg 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 and uses the payload software for data logging and filling in questionnaire entries in the experiment’s laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop. 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. This is Week 3 of 3 for the FE-2.]
CDR Fincke’s first activity this morning was to start on his Flight Day 30 session with the NASA/JSC experiment NUTRITION w/Repository. This was an all-day session, the second for Mike, of collecting urine samples several times for 24 hrs, to continue through first void tomorrow morning. [After performing phlebotomy with the help of FE-2 Chamitoff, i.e., drawing blood samples (from an arm vein), the samples were first allowed to coagulate in the Repository for 20-30 minutes, then spun in the HRF RC (Human Research Facility/Refrigerated Centrifuge) and finally placed in MELFI (Minus-Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS). No thruster activity was allowed during the blood drawing. The RC was later powered off after a temperature reset to limit wear on the compressor, and cleaned. The NUTRITION project is the most comprehensive in-flight study done by NASA to date of human physiologic changes during long-duration space flight. It includes measures of bone metabolism, oxidative damage, nutritional assessments, and hormonal changes, expanding the previous Clinical Nutritional Assessment profile (MR016L) testing in three ways: Addition of in-flight blood & urine collection (made possible by supercold MELFI dewars), 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.]
For FE-1 Lonchakov it was time again for recharging the Motorola Iridium-9505A satellite phone brought up on Soyuz 17S, a monthly routine job and his second time. [After retrieving it from its location in the TMA-13/17S Descent Module (BO), Yuri initiated the recharge of its lithium-ion battery, monitoring the process every 10-15 minutes as it took place. Upon completion at ~10:15am EST, the phone was returned inside its SSSP Iridium kit and stowed back in the BO’s operational data files (ODF) container. The satphone accompanies returning ISS crews on Soyuz reentry & landing for contingency communications with SAR (Search-and-Rescue) personnel after touchdown (e.g., after an “undershoot” ballistic reentry, as happened during the recent 15S return). The Russian-developed procedure for the monthly recharging has been approved jointly by safety officials. During the procedure, the phone is left in its fire-protective fluoroplastic bag with open flap. The Iridium 9505A satphone uses the Iridium constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to relay the landed Soyuz capsule’s GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates to helicopter-borne recovery crews. The older Iridium-9505 phones were first put onboard Soyuz in August 2003. The newer 9505A phone, currently in use, delivers 30 hours of standby time and three hours of talk, up from 20 and two hours, respectively, on the older units.]
Yuri also performed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the Service Module (SM), including the weekly collection of the toilet flush (SP) counter and water supply (SVO) readings for calldown to TsUP-Moscow. Additionally, the FE-1 today checked up on the Russian POTOK-150MK (150 micron) air filter unit of the SM’s SOGS air revitalization subsystem, gathering weekly data on total operating time & “On” durations for reporting to TsUP-Moscow. [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 performing US condensate processing (transfer from CWC to EDV containers) if condensate is available.]
The crew 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), Yuri at ~4:45am EST, Greg at ~10:50am, Mike at ~2:30pm.
The station residents conducted their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-1, FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1).
Working off the Russian discretionary “if time permits” task list, Lonchakov performed a session of the DZZ-2 "Diatomeya" ocean observations program, using the NIKON-F5 DCS still camera and the HDV (high-definition) video camcorder from SM window 8 for ~20 min to record water areas with highly pronounced color contrast blooms, including coral riff lagoons, optically irregular cloud patterns along the flight path. [Target zones today in the Atlantic & Indian Ocean were the geographic location over the underwater Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the area SW of Australia, in the Pacific Ocean the areas SW of Mexico to the coast of Chile, and S of Hawaii to the Chile coast.]
Also off the work suggestions list, the FE-1 conducted another session for Russia’s Environmental Safety Agency (EKON), making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on earth using the Nikon D2X with the SIGMA 300-800mm telephoto lens.
A new US “job jar” task list item for Mike & Greg called for checking for crystals in samples 8, 9, and 10 of the BCAT-4 (Binodal Colloidal Aggregation Test – 4: Polydispersion) experiment and photographing them if found, followed by homogenizing sample 3. [BCAT-4-Poly uses the micro-G environment and a colloid-polymer mixture as a test bed to study how particles in a homogenous mixture become ordered to form crystals, without the masking effects of gravitational sedimentation. It is hoped that observations of samples will provide insight about how the particle interactions, polydispersity and sedimentation affect phase changes, as well as questions about the relative packing fractions, and which crystallization phase is manifested. The samples are being photographed using the EarthKAM camera; one sample (#3) is being photographed for a 6 day period. The remaining three samples will be photographed if crystals form.]
Also off the voluntary task list, Fincke & Chamitoff were to conduct an audit of two CTBs (Cargo Transfer Bags) for hardware required for the upcoming setup operations of the JEM Robotics BDS (Backup Drive System).
No CEO photo targets uplinked for today.
CEO photography can be studied at this “Gateway” website:
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).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:10am EST [= epoch]):
Mean altitude — 351.8 km
Apogee height — 354.2 km
Perigee height — 349.3 km
Period — 91.57 min.
Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
Eccentricity — 0.0003657
Solar Beta Angle — 24.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 48 hours — 74 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 57140
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
11/14/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF-2 launch – MPLM Leonardo, LMC, PSSC; (7:55pm EST)
11/14/08 — Progress M-65/30P undocking
11/16/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF-2 docking; ~4:56pm
11/20/08 — ISS 10 Years
11/26/08 — Progress M-66/31P launch (nom.)
11/27/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF-2 undocking; 10:32am
11/29/08 — STS-126/Endeavour/ULF-2 landing; ~2:01 pm
11/30/08 — Progress M-66/31P docking (nom.) – DC1 Nadir
12/18/08 — Russian EVA-21
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
Six-person crew on ISS
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 (contingency)
05/31/10 — STS-133/Endeavour/ULF5 – ELC3, ELC4 (contingency).
