NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 May 2004
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday off duty for the crew, and a major Holiday for our Russian partner, extending through Monday. In their “Inbox”, the crew found an uplinked video showing the landing and recovery of the Soyuz 7S capsule.
The crew’s daily sleep cycle has now returned to its normal hours, with wakeup at 2:00am EDT and sleep time at 5:30pm.
After wakeup and morning inspection, CDR Gennady Padalka did a quick routine check in the DC-1 “Pirs” docking module, conducting his first regular (monthly) inspection of AZS circuit breakers on the BVP Amp Switch Panel — they should all be On — and the LEDs (light-emitting diodes) of the 14 fuses in Fuse Panels BPP-30 & BPP-36 (last time done: 3/1).
Also early in the morning Mike conducted the daily leak check of the Lab window’s inter-pane volume, using the “Aeolus” scopemeter with pressure probe. [Past readings, dating back to March, have found a steady leak rate of ~27 Torr/day (from the cabin into the interstitial volume).]
Both crewmembers performed the regular weekly 3-hr. station cleaning, their first. [“Uborka” includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, wet cleaning of the Service Module (SM) dining table and other surfaces with “Fungistat” disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]
Fincke worked on the CCAA (common cabin air assembly) in the Airlock to complete its deactivation and replace the stowage items around its inlet that were temporarily removed for the air conditioner’s activation.
The crew also conducted the weekly planning conference with the ground, discussing next week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (regularly prepared jointly by MCC-H and MCC-M planners), via S-band/audio.
The crew supported a ground-requested activity to check out one of the battery chargers in the Airlock, preparatory to another maintenance discharge/charge cycle on batteries #2045 and #2046 beginning on Monday (5/3). [During the maintenance cycle on battery #2030 with Battery Charger 4 (BC4) on 4/26, the discharge auto-terminated about four hours earlier than expected. Today’s activities, an open circuit voltage (OCV) check on the EMU batteries that underwent last week’s maintenance cycle, were basically aimed at determining whether BC4 is reliable enough to be used in preparing for the upcoming unscheduled EVA. If it cannot be used, either the batteries will have to be discharged in series or an EMU must be used for discharging one of them. If the problem is with the battery, Progress 14P will be delivering a fresh pair for the EVA. If both the battery and the BC4 are OK, it’s more than likely a telemetry issue.]
Gennady held a 10-min. teleconference with payload specialists via Russian VHF/audio.
Working from the Russian task list, he then went on a search to gather the stowed equipment of the NEUROCOG experiment of Pedro Duque’s VC5 “Cervantes” program. [NEUROCOG investigates the integration of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive cues in the perception of body position in space.]
Also assigned on his task list for today was the continuation of the Uragan (“hurricane”) earth imaging session started yesterday. [Using the Kodak 760 electronic still camera with 400mm and 800mm lenses and the LIV video camera at SM windows #6-8, observations and imagery, mostly for geography lessons in schools, Gennady’s targets today were the North shore of Spain (overlapping photos), scenic photography of the Pyrenees, Mallorca Island and the African coast, the Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro volcanoes, Abuja, and video footage selected by the observer at his discretion.]
Update on RPCM Replacement EVA: The joint Houston/Moscow planning team has selected the date of 6/10 for the unscheduled EVA (designated E9 EVA#1). Current estimates are that the RPCM R&R will take 2h 45m, out of approximately 5h 25m available for EVA tasks (based on crew day length concerns). It is currently being assessed whether additional tasks are desirable in the 2h 40m time remaining available for this EVA. [The date selection of 6/10 is based on the requirements that (1) the EMU EVA occurs as soon as possible after completion of 14P docking, to recover CMG 2 capability, which in turn should be in place before the Go is given for the Russian EVA-10 (so that three CMGs are available to control attitude, for keeping the SM thrusters inactive during the EVA ops in their vicinity); (2) prior to the E9 EVA#1, an EMU self-don/doff dry run is required to verify two-person EMU don/doff capability (scheduled for 5/19); if unsuccessful (i.e., crew cannot self-don/doff EMU suits), consideration will be given to an Orlan-based EVA; (3) the EVA should not perturb 13P undocking (5/24) and 14P docking (5/27); and (4) all EVA activities should be completed before a Russian segment software upgrade scheduled for 6/21.]
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Nine 1st):
GASMAP: Increment 9’s first GASMAP activity is “just around the corner. We look forward to working with you.”
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Advanced Ultrasound (ADUM): Nothing new.
Hand Posture Analyzer (HPA: Nothing new.
In-Space Soldering Investigation (ISSE): Nothing new.
Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Nothing new.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS captured the Soyuz 7S undocking event. SAMS continues to monitor the microgravity environment.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS captured the 7S undocking event. MAMS and HIRAP continue to monitor the microgravity environment..
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Nominal.
Protein Crystal Growth Monitoring by Digital Holographic Microscope (PromISS): Nothing new.
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): Planned.
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): Next scheduled activity is a photography session on 5/5.
Renal Stone (RS): Nothing new.
Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SHERES): Nothing new.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight (FOOT): Nothing new.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside on the U.S. Airlock. Nominal and collecting data.
Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems-Fluid Dynamics Investigation (CBOSS-FDI): Nothing new.
Yeast Group Activation Packs (Yeast GAP): Nothing new.
Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Nothing new.
Earth Science Toward Exploration Research (ESTER): Nothing new.
Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2): Planned.
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): GCF (Granada Crystallization Facility) was successfully removed from CGBA and relocated to Soyuz on 4/29 at ~6:08am EDT. Shortly after CGBA was powered back up, its Set Temp was adjusted to 4C. The thermal system seemed to be performing similarly to its performance during previous temperature profiling. Looking ahead, its Set Temp will be commanded to 37C on 5/2, and then to 22C on 5/3, as well as issuing several commands to clean-off the disk storage one last time and obtain files still not received ground-side.
Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG): Four runs are remaining; they will be performed on Increment 9.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): The educational demonstrations performed on this increment are being edited for release and distribution to schools around the country.
Today’s CEO targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, except for the shutter closure and condensation-prevention plan (limited to 90 min. in 24 hours), were Tel Aviv, Israel (looking for this key Israeli port city on the coast just left of track as ISS approached from the NW, and trying to capture the entire city in a single frame), Amman, Jordan (ISS had a nadir pass over the Jordanian capital, situated 30-40 miles northeast of the Dead Sea), Grand Banks/Flemish Cap (the US Navy is studying internal wave patterns and formation in critical ocean areas. The weather over this target area, SE of Newfoundland was expected to clear by the time of the ISS pass. Looking obliquely left of track for views the glint areas visible on the sea surface to enhance the visibility of these phenomena), Bahamas (as ISS tracked southeastward over this archipelago, the crew was to use the long lens for near nadir views of the details of the coral reef structures of these islands. Images will support an international reef inventory and mapping project), Patagonian Glaciers (although light was low at the time of this pass, the usual poor weather may have held off just long enough for some nadir views of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Crew to use the long lenses to capture details of the small glaciers on the northern and eastern flanks of this feature), and Tuamotu Archipelago (although most of this extensive archipelago lied left of track this pass, the crew had excellent light and fair weather, using the long lenses for near-nadir views of the outlying islets and atolls and capture details of their coral reef structures).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites.
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
