NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 11 April 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. Underway: Week 1 of Increment 13
Crew wakeup has now settled down at the regular 2:00am EDT (06:00 GMT). Sleep time begins at 5:30pm.
Starting a new round of the monthly preventive maintenance of Russian segment (RS) ventilation systems, CDR Pavel Vinogradov worked in the “Pirs” DC1 Docking Compartment, first cleaning the air duct screen of the V3 fan, then replacing the two PF1 & PF2 dust filters of its air duct system and cleaning the protective mesh screens of the V1 & V2 ventilator fans.
FE/SO Jeffrey Williams performed the routine daily maintenance of the SOZh environment control & life support system in the Service Module (SM), which today included the regular weekly inspection of the air/liquid condensate separation and pumping unit (BRPK). [The BRPK is part of the SRVK condensate water processor that processes the condensate coming from the SKV air conditioner for the Elektron.]
Williams also updated/edited the standard IMS (Inventory Management System) “delta file”, including locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur). [Because the new OpsLAN (Operations Local Areas Network) update/reload hasn’t been done yet, the crew is still using IMS software vers. 1.45, although their training focused mainly on the new application, IMS 2.01.].
Vinogradov completed the periodic changeout of toilet facility (ASU) components behind SM panels 137, 138 & 139. [These include receptacle, hoses, elbow and tee segment, plus a sensor. Removed equipment was discarded and the IMS updated.]
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Both crewmembers worked for about half an hour on the CMRS (Crew Medical Restraint System), stowed in the CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) rack, performing checkout and inspection for the upcoming standard CMO (Crew Medical Officer) proficiency training. [The CMRS was inspected for cracks in the board and/or metal fastener exposed on top of CMRS (found on the ground units), either of which could provide a high-voltage defibrillation ground path from the patient to ISS structure. The board-like CMRS allows strapping down a patient on the board with a harness for medical attention by the CMO who is also provided with restraints around the device. The device can be secured to the ISS structure within two minutes to provide a patient restraint surface for performing emergency medical procedures, such as during ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support). It can also be used to transport a patient between the station and the Orbiter middeck. It isolates the crew and equipment electrically during defibrillations and pacing electrical discharges, accommodates the patient in the supine zero-G positions, provides cervical spine stabilization and, for a three-person crew, can also restrain two CMOs during their delivery of medical care.]
For his first MedOps WinSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool) session, Jeff Williams logged in on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) and performed the psychological evaluation exercise on the laptop-based WinSCAT experiment. [WinSCAT is a time-constrained questionnaire test of cognitive abilities, routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS every 30 days before or after the PHS (periodic health status) test or on special CDR’s, crewmembers or flight surgeons request.]
The FE also ran another periodic atmospheric status check for ppO2 (Partial Pressure Oxygen) and ppCO2 (pp Carbon Dioxide), using the CSA-O2 (Compound Specific Analyzer-Oxygen Sensor).
Working off his voluntary Russian task list, Pavel transferred newly arrived equipment of the Russian medical experiment PZEh-MO-7 (calf volume measurement) from a Progress 20 container to the SM, to support tomorrow’s MO-7 session.
As all new station crews, CDR Vinogradov and FE Williams had one hour each set aside on today’s schedule for ISS familiarization and adaptation, to help in adjusting to their new surroundings and activities. [This unstructured and discretionary session has become a valuable standard requirement for new station occupants for the first two weeks.]
Jeff completed the periodic (once per month) routine inspection of the RED (Resistive Exercise Device) with canister cords and accessory straps as well as the canister bolts for re-tightening if required.
Both crewmembers worked out in their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (Jeff), TVIS treadmill (FE), RED (CDR) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE). [Pavel Vinogradov’s daily protocol prescribes a strict four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill in unmotorized mode and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 2 of the first set).]
Afterwards, Williams transferred the exercise data files to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).
At ~4:15am EDT, the crew sent down PAO greetings for Cosmonautics Day (tomorrow, 4/12) to “Novosti Kosmonavtiki” magazine in Moscow and answered questions from readers and visitors to the magazine’s website (http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
Exchanges of messages and greetings on the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of Gagarin’s flight (and, incidentally, the 25th anniversary of the first Shuttle mission, Columbia/STS-1) were also held by the crew with the participants of the 16th Schoolchildren Aerospace Festival in Ulyanovsk, and at ~5:10am Pavel and Jeff downlinked a message, with brief interview, to be replayed tomorrow on a live show called “Let Them Speak” by Moscow’s TV Channel One. [Participating will be pilot-cosmonauts Svetlana Savitskaya, Talgat Musabayev, Alexei Leonov, Georgy Grechko, Vitaly Sevastianov, Yuri Gagarin’s daughter Elena Yurievna, Sergey Korolev’s daughter Natalia Sergeevna, and many others.]
Without requiring crew intervention, TsUP-Moscow uploaded a new software patch for the SM Terminal Computer (TVM) and conducted a standard ASN satellite navigation system/equipment test.
Today, MCC-H began periodic battery capacity tests, commencing with the P6 solar array battery set 2B2. Tests of each of the six battery sets are tentatively scheduled to occur through early June. [Nickel hydrogen (NiH) batteries can develop and display memory loss resulting in a temporary loss of capacity that can be periodically erased by fully discharging and charging cells (reconditioning). The battery state of charge (SOC) reported in telemetry does not include the effect of this reduced capacity. Reconditioning was performed on all P6 Battery sets starting in Oct. 2004 through Dec. 2005. These tests are necessary to improve battery health and to determine the amount of amp hour capacity retained since the reconditioning was performed.]
Today’s CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo target, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, was Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific (this was a nadir pass in fair weather over this oblong atoll with its distinct airstrip. Crew was to use the long lens settings for details of the coral reef structures. Astronaut photos are a valuable element of an international effort to map and monitor the Earth’s coral reef systems).
To date, more than 186,000 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. Increment 12 alone produced 12,962 pictures.
CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:
To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 13 crew visit:
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 Location NOW
Full Size/Update
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:26am EDT [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 343.9 km
- Apogee height — 350.1 km
- Perigee height — 337.8 km
- Period — 91.41 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0009165
- S0lar Beta Angle — 26.4 deg (magnitude increasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.75
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 135 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 42264
Significant Events Ahead (all dates subject to change):
- 04/19/06 — SM main engine test/ISS reboost
- 04/24/06 — Progress M-56/21P launch
- 04/26/06 — Progress M-56/21P docking (SM aft port)
- 05/20/06 — Progress M-56/21P loading complete; hatches closed
- 06/14-16/06 — Russian EVA-16
- 06/17/06 — Progress M-55/20P undocking (DC1) & reentry
- 06/18/06 — Progress M-57/22P launch
- 06/20/06 — Progress M-57/22P docking (DC1)
- 07/01/06 — NET STS-121/ULF1.1 launch
- 07/??/06 — US EVA-5
- 08/28/07 — NET STS-115/12A launch
- 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
- 10/08/06 — 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)
- 11/16/06 — NET STS-116/12A.1 launch
- 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)
- 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)
- ??/??/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)
- 03/22/07 — NET STS-117/13A launch
- ??/??/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)
- 06/14/07 — NET STS-118/13A.1.
(NET = no earlier than)
ISS Altitude History
Apogee height — Mean Altitude — Perigee height
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html. In addition, information on International Space Station sighting opportunities can be found at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website. The current location of the International Space Station can be found at http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Additional satellite tracking resources can be found at http://www.spaceref.com/iss/tracking.html.
