NASA ISS Status Report 16 Jul 2004
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 9
crew concentrated on a host of scientific experiments and
routine systems maintenance work in a busy 13th week in
orbit.
Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike
Fincke conducted numerous biomedical experiments. They
participated in a Russian experiment named “Profilaktika,”
which was designed to measure Padalka’s cardiovascular
condition while he pedaled on a bicycle in the Zvezda Service
Module.
Fincke began working with the Fluid Merging Viscosity
experiment. This physical science experiment is studying
viscosity, a property that causes fluids to resist flowing
because of the internal friction created as the molecules
move against each other. Understanding the viscosity of
molten materials is important for everything from designing
laboratory experiments to industrial production.
Fincke also set up the Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle
school students (EarthKAM) hardware for another run. EarthKAM
is available for students who submit image requests and
conduct geographic research. The requests are uplinked in a
camera control file to a laptop computer. The computer
activates an onboard digital camera at specified times and
receives the digital images for subsequent downlink.
Details on Station science operations, managed by NASA’s
Marshall Space Flight Center, can be found on the Payload
Operations Center’s Web site at:
The crew spent part of its week stowing trash in the Progress
resupply craft docked to the far end of Zvezda. The unpiloted
Progress will detach from the Station by Russian flight
controllers on July 30 and deorbited to burn up in the
Earth’s atmosphere. A new Progress cargo ship is scheduled
for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on
August 11 for a docking to the Station on August 14. It will
carry food, fuel, water, and supplies for Padalka and Fincke
and for the Expedition 10 crew that is scheduled to launch to
the Station in October.
On Thursday, Russian flight controllers were unable to upload
new software into the Zvezda’s computers in preparation for
next year’s maiden launch of the unpiloted European Automated
Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo ship that will operate in tandem
with the Russian Progress vehicles. Russian specialists are
analyzing what may have caused the unsuccessful upload and
plan to try again next Wednesday. The computers are operating
normally with the current load of software.
Earlier today, Padalka replaced a pump assembly in Zvezda
that malfunctioned on Wednesday, causing the temporary loss
of one of two redundant loops that provides cooling for
Russian segment systems. The backup cooling system kept all
Russian systems operating at the proper temperatures until
the replacement work occurred. Both cooling loops are now
working normally.
Padalka and Fincke also participated in a pair of simulated
emergency drills on board to maintain proficiency in handling
medical emergencies and the unlikely depressurization of the
Station cabin.
Next week, Fincke plans to conduct additional troubleshooting
work on U.S. spacesuits with help from Mission Control. The
Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) have cooling problems,
which have tentatively been traced to pumps that circulate
water inside the suits. Fincke plans to remove and examine
one of the pumps. Repair parts for the suits are to be
launched next month aboard the next Progress supply craft.
The next spacewalk, using Russian Orlan suits, is planned for
Aug. 3. During the spacewalk, the crew will retrieve science
experiments, install others, and prepare the outside of the
Zvezda module’s docking port for next year’s first flight of
the ATV. Next week, the crew will begin preparations for the
spacewalk and will review procedures for the excursion.
For information about NASA and agency missions on the
Internet, visit:
Information about crew activities on the Space Station,
future launch dates, and Station sighting opportunities from
Earth, is available on the Internet at:
