NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 12 September 2004
SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2004) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday rest for the crew. Ahead: Week 20 of Increment 9. Day 148 in space for Expedition 9; also Day 1380 of permanent human station residency and Day 2124 since first ISS launch (FGB/Zarya)
CDR Padalka conducted the routine inspection of the Service Module (SM)’s SOZh life support system, with the weekly data collection of toilet flush counter readings, inspection of the SP urine collection and pretreat assembly, and SVO water supply status counter readings, all for calldown to TsUP/Moscow.
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Previous Reports ISS On-orbit Status [HQ] |
FE/SO Fincke received kudos for yesterday’s successful “Saturday Science” effort, featuring a “great run” on the MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Microgravity) Thermal Operations Test #2 experiment at the Lab’s Maintenance Work Area (MWA). Part 2 today consisted of loading two hard drives with the HRF (Human Research Facility) common software load and audio drivers. To accomplish these tasks, Mike had to navigate between two procedures, the details of which were uplinked overnight.
The crew performed their regular 2.5 hr. physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED expander and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer.
Fincke had a PFC (private family conference) via S-band/audio and Ku-band/NetMeeting video.
Waiting on the Russian discretionary task list for Padalka today were a number of jobs, starting off with the third day of the GFI-8 geophysical Uragan (hurricane) earth-imaging program’s picture-taking of glaciers of the South Patagonia Ice Field descending into lakes.
A second task list item for Gennady was transferring new accumulated Matryoshka data tables from the BSPN Matryoshka server via the ISS Wiener laptop to a PCMCIA flash card for subsequent downlink on OCA comm. [Matryoshka automatically takes measurements in the SM and DC-1 docking compartment for studies of on-orbit radiation and long-term dose accumulation, using six SPD dosimeters deployed throughout the Russian segment as well as in a spherical body-simulating Matryoshka-R phantom and a human torso model outside on the SM hull, mounted there during EVA-9 on 2/27/04.]
As third task list job, the CDR conducted his fifth session with the biomedical MBI-9 “Pulse” experiment, preceded by setting up the equipment. These cardiology tests are done monthly. [Execution of the medical cardiological assessment is controlled from the Russian payload laptop, using a set respiration rate (without forced or deep breaths) and synchronizing respiration with computer-commanded “inhale” commands. First, arterial blood pressure is measured with the “Tensoplus” sphygmomanometer, followed by the “Pulse” test to record the ECG (electrocardiogram) and a report to TsUP in the next comm pass.]
Padalka also completed another daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) plant growth experiment in the Lada-5 greenhouse. Topping its water container off as required was an additional step included in the crew-choice task list.
MCC-Houston today has switched S-band to its string 1 to conduct the quarterly checkout of the alternate string while also getting characterization data on the string 1 operation. The checkout was to be terminated at ~12:15pm EDT near the end of the MFMG science ops.
In planning for next week are checkouts of the VHF2 voice communications between the docked 8S/Soyuz-214 crew return vehicle and U.S. VHF ground stations at Dryden (Monday, 9/13), Wallops (Tuesday, 9/14) and White Sands (Wednesday, 9/15).
Also scheduled for Week 20 are major IFM (inflight maintenance) activities on the SM air ventilation system, aimed at deadening acoustic noise by way of isolating fans from the structure with newly delivered vibration absorbers.
The station continues to fly in XPOP attitude (X-axis perpendicular to orbit plane), pitch: 180.5 deg, yaw: -6.9 deg, roll: 0 deg, until 9/17, when it will switch to LVLH XVV (such a transition maneuver between XPOP and XVV consumes an estimated 18 kg prop).
Expedition 9 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.
Today’s crew-optional CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the science window, which is available for only ~1/4 of each orbit when not facing forward (in ram), were Internal waves, Mariana Islands (looking left of track towards the glint point as it crosses the island chain. The glint was relatively distant due to this near-sunset pass), Pilcomayo R dynamics, N Argentina (mapping strip of images looking left was requested. Nearer and farther obliques will document the remarkable 60-year retreat of this river end point which now ceases to flow near the Andes (~4 deg left), and River dynamics, Beni River, NE Bolivia (looking right (cloud expected left) as near to track as feasible, for a mapping strip of this vast megafan surface. Past river courses on this megafan are of the greatest interest).
CEO images can be viewed at these websites:
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:
To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 9 crew visit:
- http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-9/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.
Major upcoming events:
- Reboost — 9/22 (phase angle correction for 9S)
- Soyuz 9S launch — 10/9, 1:04am EDT (w/Leroy Chiao, Salizhan Sharipov, Yuri Shargin);
- Soyuz 9S dock — 10/11, 2:15am EDT;
- Soyuz 8S undock — 10/18, 6:58pm EDT (w/Gennady Padalka, Michael Fincke, Yuri Shargin);
- Soyuz 8S land — 10/18, 10:22pm EDT;
- Soyuz 9S port relocate — 11/18;
- Progress 15P undock – 11/23;
- Progress 16P launch — 11/24;
- EVA-12 – 12/28;
- Progress 16P undock – 1/29/05;
- Progress 17P launch – 1/30/05;
- EVA-13 – 2/21/05;
- Shuttle/LF1 launch – NET 3/6/05;
- Shuttle/LF1 undock – NET 3/16/05.
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ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:46am EDT [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 360.1 km
- Apogee height — 363.9 km
- Perigee height — 356.3 km
- Period — 91.74 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.63 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0005582
- Solar Beta Angle — 51.2 deg (magnitude decreasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.69
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 90 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 33203
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.
