NASA ISS On-orbit Status Report 21 July 2010
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Upon wake-up, FE-5 Yurchikhin performed the regular daily early-morning check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O2 generator which Maxim Suraev had installed on 10/19/09 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V). [FE-5 will inspect the filters again before bedtime, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.]
Also at wake-up, FE-2 Caldwell-Dyson completed another run of the Reaction Self Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS) protocol. [The RST is performed 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.]
CDR Skvortsov conducted the periodic maintenance of the active Russian BMP Harmful Impurities Removal System, starting the "bake-out" cycle to vacuum on absorbent bed #2 of the regenerable dual-channel filtration system. The process will be terminated at ~5:15pm EDT before sleep time. Bed #1 regeneration was performed yesterday by Alex. [Regeneration of each of the two cartridges takes about 12 hours and is conducted only during crew awake periods. The BMP’s regeneration cycle is normally done every 20 days. (Last time done: 6/29-6/30).]
FE-6 Walker supported POIC (Payload Operations Integration Center/Huntsville) in the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) on the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) with the startup for the next (fifth) run of the SAME (Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment). [Later tonight, the MSG will be shut down again.]
FE-2 Caldwell-Dyson had several hours to perform Day 2 activities of repairing the US OGS (Oxygen Generator System) which performed an unexpected “Fast Shutdown” on 7/5, probably due to blockage in several cells within the H2 (hydrogen) Dome ORU (Orbit Replaceable Unit). [Yesterday’s Day 1 activities were delayed by an RPCM (Remote Power Controller Module) trip. Today, Tracy started off with a set-up activity to prepare for the OGS forward flush. After the ground completed this flush, FE-2 configured for the reverse flush which was increased in duration due to the lower than expected flow rate. After the reverse flush was complete, Tracy was to put everything in a good overnight configuration. The H2 Dome R&R activities planned for today were moved to FE-6 Walker’s timeline tomorrow (7/22). This should get OGS ready for activation, which will be attempted with the spare Pump ORU installed, but a second Pump ORU R&R was to be conducted if the reverse flush has not recovered the spare pump.]
FE-3 Kornienko & FE-5 Yurchikhin continued their preparations for the Orlan EVA (#25) on 7/26 and the suited training exercise on 7/23, performing further Orlan spacesuit activities in the DC1 “Pirs” Docking Compartment.
After configuring the DC1 STTS communications link to support their presence, Mikhail & Fyodor today –
- Readied Orlan spacesuit replaceable elements & equipment (SMEG),
- Installed the BNP portable repress O2 tank in the SM RO (Service Module Working Compartment),
- Completed individual fit sizing (central strap, lateral strap, hip strap, calf strap, arm cable and shoulder size, front & rear) on their Orlan-MK spacesuits,
- Ran leak checks & valve functionality tests on the Orlans and their BSS interface units in the DC1 & SM PkhO (Transfer Compartment) from the EVA support panels (POV);
- Conducted pressure checks on the SM BK-3 O2 (oxygen) tanks and the BNP portable repress O2 tank in the DC-1 airlock module, and
- Restored DC1 STTS communications to nominal settings.
Yurchikhin installed the second set of 825M3 Orlan batteries in the battery chargers and initiated the charging.
Alex Skvortsov readied the Progress M-05M/37P at the DC1 nadir port for undocking if required in an EVA-25 contingency. Steps included –
- Installing the docking mechanism (StM, Stykovochnovo mekhanizma) between the cargo ship and the DC1 nadir port [the StM is the "classic" probe-and-cone type, consisting of an active docking assembly (ASA) with a probe (SSh), which fits into the cone (SK) on the passive docking assembly (PSA) for initial soft dock and subsequent retraction to hard dock. The ASA is mounted on the Progress’ cargo module (GrO), while the PSA sits on the docking ports of the SM, FGB, MRM2 and DC1],
- Activating the spacecraft’s electronics and taking out the ventilation/heating air duct;
- Closing the hatches;
- Removing the QD (quick disconnect) screw clamps (BZV) of the docking & internal transfer mechanism (SSVP) which rigidized the joint,
- Starting the standard one-hour leak checking of the SU docking vestibule and fuel/oxidizer transfer line interface between Progress and DC1, and
- Downlinking Sasha’s formal report on loading completion and the video depicting the close-out activities, for review by ground specialists. [During hatch closure, leak checking and initial clamp installation, Russian thrusters were inhibited due to load constraints from ~6:20am – 8:00am.]
After deconfiguring the CEVIS cycle ergometer in the Lab to make room, FE-6 Walker performed Part 4 of WORF (Window Observation Research Facility) outfitting. CEVIS was later re-installed. [This was the final outfitting activity for WORF until it is handed over to the Payloads community for use. During today’s task Shannon configured/adjusted the Bumpshield, Shutter Actuator Mechanism (SAM) and Air Knife for nominal operations, performed photo documentation, installed the WORF hatch and completed final closeouts. Background: WORF, which surrounds the 20-inch Lab science window, serves for attaching sensors (cameras, multispectral scanners, and other instruments). It provides attachment points and power & data transfer capability for instruments to be mounted in the window. Multiple instruments can be mounted at the same time. The rack is designed to allow rapid changes of equipment by the crew. WORF has a bracket for small cameras such as 35mm, 70mm and camcorders. Larger payloads requiring nonstandard attachment or additional instrument isolation must supply their own brackets or platforms which mount to the WORF using available attachment points. WORF also provides protection for the interior of the Lab window and can control stray light exchange between the Lab interior and the external station environment.]
For Tracy’s next VO2Max session, scheduled tomorrow, Shannon set up the PPFS (Portable Pulmonary Function System) hardware with Thermolab, with power, data, front panel & gas connections from full stowage. [The experiment VO2Max uses the PPFS, CEVIS cycle, PFS gas cylinders and mixing bag system, plus multiple other pieces of hardware to measure oxygen uptake, cardiac output, and more. The exercise protocol comprises 5-min stages at workloads eliciting 25%, 50% & 75% of aerobic capacity as measured pre-flight, followed by a 250-watt increase in workload every minute until the crewmember reaches maximum exercise capacity. At that point, CEVIS workload increase is stopped, and a 5-min cooldown period follows at the 25% load. Constraints are: no food 2 hrs prior to exercise start, no caffeine 8 hrs prior to exercise, and must be well hydrated.]
Walker also assembled & configured her Glenn harness with its transducer instrumentation hardware for exercising on the T2/COLBERT treadmill, starting her first SDTO (Station Development Test Objective) session with the instrumented harness tomorrow. [Recent data have shown that several transducers are not providing usable data. In order to maximize data acquisition, ground specialists have identified six viable transducers plus two spares for Shannon’s use. These 8 transducers will be combined from both instrumentation kits and spares launched on Progress 38P. Shannon has 3 exercise sessions on T2 between each data collection session, and there will be 4 collection sessions using each Harness (Glenn for T2, followed by the TVIS harness for TVIS).]
Wheelock conducted the periodic status check & maintenance, as required, of the CGBA-5 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 5) payload in the Lab.
FE-4 also started another sampling run with the EHS GC/DMS (Gas Chromatograph/Differential Mobility Spectrometer), deactivating the system ~5 hrs later. [This was the 12th session with the new GC/DMS unit (#1004), after the previous instrument (#1002) was used for approximately 100 runs. Also known as AQM (Air Quality Monitor), the system is controlled with “Sionex” expert software from the SSC-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.]
The CDR serviced the running experiment “Identifikatsiya” (TEKh-22/Identification) in MRM1 (Mini Research Module 1) Rassvet, downloading structural dynamic data collected by the IMU-Ts microaccelerometer to the RSE1 A31p laptop for subsequent downlink to the ground via OCA. (Last time done: 7/16).
Alex worked on the ASN-M Satellite Navigation System in the SM, upgrading the software of its NVM-1 & NVM-2 navigational computing modules to Version 01.08 from the RSE1 laptop.
In the US A/L (Airlock), Doug Wheelock terminated the recharge of the first batch of EVA batteries in the BSA (Battery Stowage Assembly) and initiated the second round.
Also in the A/L, Wheelock conducted the standard one-hour scrub of EMUs (Extravehicular Mobility Units) #3005 & #3009 cooling loops with their SCUs (Service & Cooling Umbilicals), filtering ionic & particulate matter (via a 3-micron filter), then reconfigured the cooling loops and started the ~2hr biocide filtering. The activity included leak checking on the loops, with remedial actions to be taken if required. [Loop scrubbing, incl. iodination of the LCVGs (Liquid Cooling & Ventilation Garments) for biocidal maintenance is done to eliminate any biomass and particulate matter that may have accumulated in the loops.]
Additionally, Doug performed an inspection of the EVA BRTs (Body Restraint Tethers) to be used in US EVA 15.
FE-5 Yurchikhin did the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, 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).
Fyodor also 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 and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers],
At ~11:05am EDT, Shannon Walker had her weekly PFC (Private Family Conference), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop).
At ~11:30am, Shannon powered up the SM’s amateur radio equipment (Kenwood VHF transceiver with manual frequency selection, headset, & power supply) and conducted, at 11:36am a ham radio session with students at the International Space University (ISU), Illkirch-Graffenstaden near Strasbourg, France.
At ~12:20pm EDT, Tracy, Shannon & Douglas supported a PAO Educational TV live downlink event with about 400 6th– through 8th-grade students and their teachers at Conyers Middle School, Conyers, GA. [This event is part of a series with educational organizations in the US and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of Teaching From Space, a NASA project that uses the unique environment of human spaceflight to promote learning opportunities and build partnerships between the agency and kindergarten through 12th-grade educators. Conyers Middle School is part of NASA’s Explorer Schools Program, which gives educators, administrators, students, and families in sustained involvement with the agency’s education programs. Students have prepared for the downlink by holding a spacesuit fashion show during which students designed and modeled their own creations and participated in events with NASA’s Digital Learning Network.]
At ~2:05pm, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson had her weekly PMC (Private Medical Conference), via S- & Ku-band audio/video.
The crew worked out on today’s 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-2), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (CDR, FE-3, FE-5), ARED advanced resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-2, FE-3, FE-4, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (FE-4, FE-6) and VELO ergometer bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-3, FE-5). [T2 snubber arm inspection is no longer needed after every T2 session but must be done after the last T2 session of the
SLAMMD Postponement: Today’s body mass measurement activities of Caldwell-Dyson, Wheelock & Walker with the SLAMMD BMM (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device Bode Mass Measurement) equipment were postponed due to a missing deceleration pad (of two required). [Background: SLAMMD, performed first on Expedition 12 in December 2005, provides an accurate means of determining the on-orbit mass of humans spanning the range from the 5th percentile Japanese female to the 95th percentile American male. The procedure, in accordance with Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion, finds the mass by dividing force, generated by two springs inside the SLAMMD drawer, by acceleration measured with a precise optical instrument that detects the position versus time trajectory of the SLAMMD guide arm and a micro controller which collects the raw data and provides the precise timing. The final computation is done via portable laptop computer with SLAMMD unique software. To calculate their mass, crewmembers wrap their legs around a leg support assembly, align the stomach against a belly pad and either rest the head or chin on a head rest. For calibration, an 18-lbs. mass is used at different lengths from the pivot point, to simulate different mass values. Crew mass range is from 90 to 240 lbs.]
Dextre Checkout Activities: Today’s operations have stopped. Robotics ground controllers have been operating the SPDM (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) through a functionality & robotic maintenance demonstration program of grasping, unbolting, extracting, reseating & installing an RPCM (P11A). Yesterday’s (Day 2) extraction step jammed the RPCM in its soft dock position due to an underestimated pulling force applied by metal spring finger gaskets used for EMI (electromagnetic interference) shielding (34 lbf instead of expected 20 lbf). A plan has been proposed to reattempt the operations later with and without FMA (Force/Moment Accommodation) or line tracking enabled. [Russian thrusters are disabled during SPDM operations.]
CEO photo targets uplinked for today were Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (weather was predicted to be clear during your mid-morning, near-nadir overpass of the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Situated on a large plateau, Riyadh is a megacity in the heart of desert of the Arabian Peninsula with over 6 million people in the metropolitan area. Overlapping frames, taken along track, of the urban area were requested), Nicosia, Cyprus (ISS tracked northeastward over the eastern Mediterranean at mid-morning with clear skies below. This city of about 400,000 is located in the north central part of the island. Looking nadir for this target), Bern, Switzerland (the Swiss federal capital lies in the rolling plateau region north of the Alps and northeast of Lake Geneva. ISS had a midday pass approaching from the southwest in fair weather. Looking just left of track for this small city of about 125,000 in the valley of the Aare River), Volga – Ural Delta (the crew had a fine pass in mid-afternoon light just southwest of this target area with fair weather expected. As ISS tracked along the north coast of the Caspian Sea from the west-northwest, the crew was to begin a mapping pass of overlapping frames. Of particular interest is the coastal wetlands from just west of the Volga River to just east of the Ural River), Huachuca Mountains (ISS had a mid-morning nadir pass over this target located on the US border with Mexico. This roughly horseshoe-shaped cluster of mountains is situated on the Arizona-Sonora border of the United States and Mexico about 70 miles south-southeast of Tucson. With elevations ranging from about 4,000 to 9,500 feet, the Huachuca support an ecologically diverse, alpine-woodland habitat within the Sonoran Desert that includes them in the regional province of scattered highlands known as the Madrean Sky Islands of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. As ISS approached it from the southwest, CEO observers are seeking context mapping views of this target area for baseline and change detection of unique and threatened habitat), and Presquile Impact Crater, Quebec, Canada (ISS had a midday pass in fair weather over this area of west-central Quebec province. CEO observers have no images of this particular impact crater in our database. Presquile is 24 kilometers in diameter and estimated to be less than 500 million years old. As the crew tracked east-northeastward to the south of James Bay, they were to begin a 1-minute continuous mapping strip just left of track to acquire context views of this target area).
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
————–Six-crew operations—————–
07/23/10 — Russian EVA-25 Orlan suited dry-run (begin – ~4:45am EDT)
07/26/10 — Russian EVA-25 (Yurchikhin/Kornienko) – MRM1 outfitting (~11:25pm-5:25am)
08/05/10 — US EVA-15 (Caldwell/Wheelock)
09/07/10 — Progress M-06M/38P undock
09/08/10 — Progress M-07M/39P launch
09/10/10 — Progress M-07M/39P docking
09/24/10 — Soyuz TMA-18/22S undock/landing (End of Increment 24)
————–Three-crew operations————-
10/08/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S launch – Kelly (CDR-26)/Kaleri/Skripochka
10/10/10 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/26/10 — Progress M-05M/37P undock
10/27/10 — Progress M-08M/40P launch
10/29/10 — Progress M-08M/40P docking
11/01/10 — STS-133/Discovery launch (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) ~4:33pm EDT – “target”
11/10/10 — Russian EVA-26
11/17/10 — Russian EVA-27
11/26/10 — Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing (End of Increment 25)
————–Three-crew operations————-
12/10/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli
12/12/10 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/15/10 — Progress M-07M/39P undock
12/xx/10 — Russian EVA-28
12/26/10 — Progress M-08M/40P undock
12/27/10 — Progress M-09M/41P launch
12/29/10 — Progress M-09M/41P docking
02/02/11 — STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02) ~4:19pm EDT – “target”
03/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-20/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
————–Three-crew operations————-
03/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R, Garan/A.Samokutayev
04/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-22/26S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
04/26/11 — Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 — Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 — Progress M-10M/42P docking
05/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-21/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
————–Three-crew operations————-
05/31/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
06/21/11 — Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 — Progress M-11M/43P docking
08/30/11 — Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 — Progress M-12M/44P docking
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-22/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
————–Three-crew operations————-
09/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-24/28S launch
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-24/28S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
10/20/11 — Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/21/11 — Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/23/11 — Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/16/11 — Soyuz TMA-23/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
————–Three-crew operations————-
11/30/11 — Soyuz TMA-25/29S launch
12/02/11 — Soyuz TMA-25/29S docking
————–Six-crew operations————-
12/??/11 — 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
12/26/11 — Progress M-13M/45P undock.
