NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 June 2006

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2006) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.  EVA-16 Day.

Workday began this morning at 9:00am, extending through 6:30am tomorrow morning. Wake-up is then set for 3:00pm and sleep period will start at the shifted 10:30pm. Sleep cycle will shift back gradually until, by Monday (6/5), the crew will have finally returned to the normal schedule of 2:00am 5:30pm (all times EDT).

After morning inspection, all pre-EVA activities have proceeded smoothly and on schedule, starting out with Vinogradov and Williams taking another MO-9 Urolux urine biochemistry test before breakfast.  [A second session with the Urolux equipment will be conducted by both crewmembers overnight (~1:30am) immediately after post-EVA station repress from Progress 21 s air supply.]

As part of pre-EVA activities, the FE checked the setup of the usual video equipment in the Lab & Node for situational awareness/monitoring by the ground during the spacewalk, then transferred the Kodak DCS 760 EVA still camera from the U.S. segment (USOS) to the Russian segment (RS) and configured it for the EVA.

Next, after powering up the PCS (Portable Computer System) laptop in the FGB module, Williams prepared the onboard Ethernet/Operations Local Area Network (OpsLAN) for the RS/USOS hatch closure.  [OpsLAN will be restored to normal operations after the EVA (at ~5:30am). The reconfiguration of the network is required during EVA (or Soyuz relocation) when station modules are isolated, to place OpsLAN in a configuration that allows MCC-Houston to continue the uplink of timelines, procedures, crew mail, etc. Essentially, Jeffrey disconnected the Ethernet coaxial cables between the Lab and Node, between Node and PMA-1 (pressurized mating adapter 1) and between PMA-1 and FGB, while assuring connectivity between Lab SSC (Station Support Computer) clients and launching necessary applications, such as NetMeeting (which allows the ground to use the pre-aimed USB cameras on the laptops to monitor areas in the Lab not available for viewing on the Lab videocam).]

Vinogradov meanwhile had about two hours set aside to finish EVA preps of the Service Module Transfer Compartment (SM PkhO) and the DC1 airlock, later joined by Williams.  [Preparations include readying wet and dry wipes for wiping at the EVA worksites and for decontamination prior to and after DC1 ingress, half masks with filters, goggles, US chemical resistant gloves and long pants and long-sleeved shirts for each crewmember. Note: An alternate method for containment of the to-be-retrieved Kromka witness plate was approved by safety experts after the crew was unable to locate the certified semi-rigid containment bag. The Kromka payload, which was exposed to FORP (Fuel/Oxidizer Reaction Products, e.g., N-nitrosodimethylamine, NDMA) from the SM yaw/pitch thrusters, will be triple-bagged in soft-trash rubber bags and tightly secured with wire ties.]

USOS hatchways were closed by Jeff Williams afterwards (nominally ~11:00am) between Lab & Node (2 hatches), Node starboard port & Quest Airlock, and Node & PMA-1, with IMV (Intermodular Ventilation) valves remaining open and the MPEVs (Manual Pressure Equalization Valves) closed to support equalization of module pressures.

Pavel and Jeff then finished reconfiguring the DC1, the PkhO transfer tunnel, and RS systems.

Next steps to be taken by the crew currently are: (a) checking out the Orlan-M spacesuits and the suit interface control panels (BSS) in DC1 & PkhO, (b) disassembling the air duct in the DC1 (to gain room) while leaving the V3 fan in place for ventilation, and (c) retesting the BK-3 primary and backup oxygen (O2) tanks of the Orlans and DC1.  [Most activities are paced by RGS (Russian ground site) comm window passes.]

After a midday meal (~2:35-3:05pm), the crew will continue configuring ISS onboard systems for the unmanned period, equipping the DCS 760 camera with a fresh battery for the spacewalk, rerouting C&W (caution & warning) alarms from the C&W panel to the PkhO and DC1 EVA support panels (POV), and resetting communication links to extend the U.S. space-to-ground 2 (S/G2) channel into the DC1.

After final inspection of the suits, BSS interface units and biomedical parameter telemetry to RGS (Russian ground site, ~4:20pm), the hatchways between PkhO/FGB and PkhO/DC1 will be closed (~5:06pm), followed by donning of Orlans and ancillary gear, with closing of backpacks at about 5:16pm.

During subsequent depressurization of the DC1+PkhO volume, the crew will check the suits and closed RS hatches for leaks. After a final O2 purge of Orlan systems, prebreathe will start at ~6:00pm, lasting for 30 min (to denitrogenize the body for prevention of decompression sickness).

The DC1 will then be depressed to 15 mmHg as the crew conducts a final leak check of the airlock, followed by transitioning the Orlans to autonomous (battery) power (~6:45pm) and opening the EV hatch #1, planned to be accomplished by ~6:51pm, at the end of the current night pass.

The subsequent spacewalk is estimated to last about 5 hrs 41 min (ingress hatch opening ~12:26am).  [The EVA timeline shows the following major steps after DC1 egress (ISS on SM thruster control):

1. Install Yakor foot restraint on Strela crane (ISS to CMG control);
2. Begin Elektron H2 Vent installation on SM;
3. Take closeout photos of H2 Vent;
4. Translate on Strela to WAL-2 antenna at SM aft end to photograph site of engine cover obstruction during the aborted 4/19 reboost (SM thrusters inhibited);
5. Remove Kromka hardware. Remove Biorisk container (off Strela);
6. Remove WAL-3 antenna cable slack. Remove BKDO (Contamination Monitoring Unit);
7. Translate on Strela to DC1, thence to FGB for MBS task (SM thrusters enabled, CMG control);
8. MCC-H Handover begin MBS (Mobile Base System) Mast Camera swapout;
9. TsUP-Moscow Handover end MBS Camera swapout;
10. Translate on Strela to DC1;
11. Ingress DC-1 (12:26am).

EV2/Williams (EV2) will be crane operator, maneuvering one of the two Strela booms by cranking handles while secured in a foot restraint (IAPFR) at its DC1 base, with EV1/Vinogradov riding the Strela to the SM worksites and later toward the FGB for the MBS (Mobile Base System) mast camera R&R near the end of the EVA timeline.

EVA-16 Joint Groundrules are similar to EVA-15:

• EVA-16 will extend through three night passes (during which EV1 and EV2 can work using the US helmet lights on the Orlans).
• For the duration of the NASA/CSA task (SSRMS/MBS Camera R&R), EVA control will be handed over from TsUP-Moscow to MCC-Houston, and then returned.
• Attitude control handover from US to RS MCS (Motion Control System) at 4:20pm; returned to US Momentum Management (CMGs) at 7:30pm.
• Russian thrusters will be inhibited per TsUP command during tasks on the SM Large Diameter Section (RO2) and AO, nominally from ~8:00pm 9:30pm.
• When thrusters are re-enabled (~9:30pm), the crew will be in a clearly defined Safe Zone forward of SM RO2 (i.e., on the SM Small Diameter Section, DC1, or USOS).
• In the unlikely case of a U.S. CMG (control moment gyro) saturation event, the station can remain in free drift for up to 3 hours (2 orbits), before thrusters need to be re-enabled.

After return from the EVA and DC1 airlock repressurization from SM cabin air, starting at ~12:26am, the crew will open hatches and reenter the SM for their second MO-9 Urolux biochemical urine test and – for CDR Vinogradov – his second EVA/NOA (Nitric Oxide Analyzer) session.

At ~3:00am, Jeff Williams is expected to reopen the USOS transfer hatches from the RS.

This will be followed by the crew resetting communications, conducting ISS activation operations and restoring systems configurations in the DC1 and other RS modules to pre-EVA conditions, then installing the DC1 air ducts.

The FE will also reconfigure the OpsLAN computer network throughout the station (~5:30am) as well as other systems, such as C&W.

Sleep period will begin at 6:30am tomorrow morning, to extend through 3:00pm.

The station continues in LVLH XVV (local vertical local horizontal/x-axis in velocity vector) attitude, as required by the current solar Beta angle magnitude (-1.2 deg), until the reboost and the maneuver to LVLH YVV (y-axis in velocity vector) on 6/9.

The station reboost, by Progress 21 rendezvous & docking thrusters (DPO), is scheduled for 2:47pm EDT on 6/9 (Friday next week).  [Intended to set up proper phasing for 22P (docking 6/26) and STS-121/Discovery (docking 7/3, earliest), the maneuver will apply a delta-V of 0.7 m/s to boost mean altitude by 1.3 km, with a burn duration of 2 min 58 sec.]

No CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets uplinked today.

To date, more than 198,000 of CEO images have been taken in the first five years of the ISS, almost one third of the total number of images taken from orbit by astronauts.

CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:

• http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/station/CEO.html
• http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AstronautPhotography/

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:

• http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 13 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-13/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 13 Flight Crew Plans can be found at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/timelines/

Previous NASA ISS On-orbit Status Reports can be found here. Previous NASA Space Station Status Reports can be found here. Previous NASA Space Shuttle Processing Status Reports can be found here. A collection of all of these reports and other materials relating to Return to Flight for the Space Shuttle fleet can be found here.

ISS Orbit  (as of this morning, 6:42am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 342.3 km
• Apogee height– 348.1 km
• Perigee height –336.4 km
• Period — 91.38 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) <> — 51.63 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0008679
• Solar Beta Angle — -1.2 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.76
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 95 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 43068

Significant Events Ahead (all dates subject to change):

• 06/01/06 — EVA-16 (EV-1 hatch open ~6:45pm EDT; duration ~5hrs 41min)
• 06/09/06 — ISS reboost with 21P for phasing (2:47pm EDT, delta-V 0.7 m/s)
• 06/19/06 — Progress M-55/20P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 06/24/06 — Progress M-57/22P launch
• 06/26/06 — Progress M-57/22P docking (DC1)
• 07/01/06 — STS-121/ULF1.1 launch (earliest)
• 07/03-11/06 — STS-121/ULF1.1 docked mission w/ISS (earliest)
• 07/??/06 — US EVA-5
• 08/28/07 — STS-115/12A launch (earliest)
• 08/30-09/06 — STS-115/12A docked mission w/ISS (earliest) P3/P4 trusses
• 09/13/06 — Progress M-56/21P undocking (SM aft port) & reentry
• 09/14/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S launch (Expedition 14 + VC11)
• 09/16/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S docking (SM aft port)
• 09/24/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S undocking (FGB nadir port) & reentry
• 10/10/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)
• 10/18/06 — Progress M-58/23P launch
• 10/20/06 — Progress M-58/23P docking (SM aft port)
• 11/22/06 — Russian EVA-17
• 12/14/06 — STS-116/12A.1 launch (earliest)
• 12/16-23/06 — STS-116/12A.1 docked mission w/ISS (earliest) P5 truss
• 12/19/06 — Progress M-57/22P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 12/20/06 — Progress M-59/24P launch
• 12/22/06 — Progress M-59/24P docking (DC1)
• 01/22/07 — US EVA-6
• 01/26/07 — US EVA-7
• 01/31/07 — US EVA-8
• 02/06/07 — Progress M-59/24P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 02/07/07 — Progress M-60/25P launch
• 02/09/07 — Progress M-60/25P docking (DC1)
• 02/22/07 — STS-117/13A launch (earliest) S3/S4 trusses
• 02/24-03/03/07 — STS-117/13A docked mission w/ISS (earliest)
• 03/08/07 — Progress M-58/23P undocking (SM aft port) & reentry
• 03/09/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S launch (Expedition 15 + VC12)
• 03/11/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S docking (SM aft port)
• 03/19/07 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S undocking (FGB nadir port)
• ??/??/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)
• 06/11/07 — STS-118/13A.1 (earliest).

ISS Altitude History

Apogee height — Mean Altitude — Perigee height

For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website. Additional satellite tracking resources can be found at http://www.spaceref.com/iss/tracking.html.