NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 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.

Before breakfast and exercise, the E13 crew completed their first session with the periodic Russian MedOps MO-10 test “Hematocrit”, which measures their blood s red cell count, as first part of today’s PHS (Periodic Health Status) assessment with blood labs.  [The blood samples were drawn from a finger with a perforator lancet and then centrifuged in two microcapillary tubes in the M-1100 kit’s minicentrifuge. Its hematocrit value was read off the tubes with a magnifying glass. It is a well-known phenomenon of space flight that red blood cell count (normal range: 30-45%) tends to go down over time. After the exam, the data were saved in the IFEP software (In-Flight Examination Program) on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer), and McArthur later stowed the MO-10 equipment kit.]

FE/SO Williams later underwent his first general US MedOps PFE (periodic fitness evaluation), a monthly 1.5-hr. procedure which checks up on blood pressure and electrocardiogram (ECG) during programmed exercise on the CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation) in the Lab. Readings were taken with the BP/ECG (blood pressure/electrocardiograph) and the HRM (heart rate monitor) watch with its radio transmitter, with Vinogradov assisting his flight engineer.  [BP/ECG provides automated noninvasive systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements while also monitoring and displaying accurate heart rates on a continual basis at rest and during exercise.]

Vinogradov and Williams shared close to two hours for further unloading and transferring of cargo equipment that had remained in Progress M-55/20P.  [The activities were supported by an uplinked 13-page list and commensurate BCR (Bar Code Reader) logging in the IMS (Inventory Management System). Most of the 286 listed items are to be stowed in the FGB.]

Afterwards, the CDR worked on the Russian ISS Wiener laptop and BSPN payload server in the Service Module (SM), uploading a software (s/w) modification for ROKVISS experiment operations during Increment 13 before a new BSPN (also called Payload Matching Unit ) is delivered to the station. The finished BSPN log file was then downlinked to the ground for s/w installation verification.  [The ESA/German ROKVISS external remote-control robotics experiment uses ground commanding and the onboard “Sigma” application (a ballistic navigation program to compute the station s ground track on the Earth) for automated files downlinking without crew involvement via the Russian BSR-TM Regul interface unit (part of the Russian radio control & communications system) and the BITS2-12 onboard data/telemetry system.]

The FE/SO conducted the regular weekly audit/inventory of the available CWCs (collapsible water containers) and their contents, to keep track of onboard water supplies.  [Updated cue cards based on Jeff s water calldowns are sent up every other week. The new card lists 16 water containers (~304.5 liters total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (for Elektron, flushing, hygiene; five CWCs were found leaking), potable water (~180 liters), condensate water (for processing) and other (TCS fluid, EMU waste water). As of 12/05/05, average water usage rate for Increment 12 is 1.8 liters daily for each crewmember. Water is re-supplied from processed humidity condensate.]

Vinogradov performed the routine daily maintenance of the SOZh environment control & life support system in the SM, including ASU toilet systems, while Williams updated/edited the standard IMS 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.]

As Valery before him (3/24), Pavel took additional situational photography of the space behind SM panel #425, to help clarify procedures for the upcoming routing and installation of the new Elektron hydrogen (H2) dump line, associated with the external installation of a new H2 vent port during EVA-16 in July (the old ZL-204 dump valve remaining failed).  [Panel 425 covers the flexible metal H2 hoses between the RPD pressure differential regulator (equalization unit) and the ZLVK-2 hydrogen vent valve toward the BMP micropurification unit inlet valve. Because of the failed vent valve, the Elektron currently still uses the same vacuum vent valve for regeneration as the BMP (the former for venting hydrogen), i.e., BMP can only be regenerated with Elektron turned off.]

Jeff ran another periodic atmospheric status check for ppO2 (Partial Pressure Oxygen) and ppCO2 (pp Carbon Dioxide), using the CSA-CP (Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products), CSA-O2 (CSA-Oxygen Sensor) and CDMK (CO2 Monitoring Kit).  [The FE took an additional one-time CO2 reading in the FGB today, motivated by a 4/11 crew comment on low air flow in Zarya . The use of the CSA-CP (-304) was approved by the IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team) to monitor O2 at ambient pressure as comparison to the CSA-O2 on a weekly basis, in consonance with applicable Flight Rule.]

Pavel meanwhile collected the weekly cabin air readings with the GANK-4M Real-Time Harmful Contaminant Gas Analyzer system of the SM SOGS (Pressure Control & Atmospheric Monitoring System), which tests particularly for NH3 (ammonia) and HCl (hydrogen chloride).

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 TVIS treadmill (FE, CDR), RED (CDR) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE). Jeff s protocol today took his earlier one-hour workout on the CEVIS for the PFE assessment into account.  [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 4 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).

As reported yesterday by Jeff, two D-rings on the right side of his TVIS harness are failing (opening up), and a third is in the process of failing.  [Based on subsequent ground analysis of downlinked pictures, both E13 harnesses are now suspect due to improper manufacturing. The crew was advised to use Tokarev s US and Russian harnesses instead until replacements can be provided.]

At 11:35am EDT, the ground deactivated/reactivated the AR (Atmosphere Revitalization) rack in the Lab in order to incorporate a new CDRA (CO2 Removal Assembly) software patch in the LA-3 MDM (Multiplexer/Demultiplexer, computer).  [The patch corrects a bus contention between the CDRA and the Vacuum System.]

The new software patch uploaded on 4/11 by TsUP/Moscow for the ASN Satellite Navigation System (to help reduce the errors between the Terminal Computer {TVM} and the ASN) was tested yesterday as planned, but the software terminated the test for an unknown reason. Ground specialists are collecting and analyzing the data.

MSS (Mobile Servicing System) MSS3.1 software patches were successfully uplinked to all three C&C (Command & Control) MDMs to fix a variety of minor issues that have accumulated for some time. Next step will be to power up the MSS to confirm nominal functionality.

At ~12:05pm EDT, Williams set up the PAO comm hardware, and at 12:25pm the two crewmembers engaged in a live TV exchange with WKOW-TV in Madison, WI (Christa Dubill, with students from Wisconsin in her studio) and SPACE.COM (Tariq Malik).

Later, at ~2:55pm, the crew used the Russian TV equipment in the SM to downlink a video message of greetings to the participants of the 7th Russian Olympiad Constellation , a science and technology competition among young people with emphasis on environmental protection projects, arranged by organizations of the City of Korolev and the GCTC (Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center) Research Institute.  [ &From the Space Station, we see how beautiful our planet is and realize with exceptional clarity how fragile and helpless it is. The Earth needs us just as much as we need the Earth. Let us work together to preserve it for future generations. ]

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.]

Later tonight, at ~5:50pm EDT, attitude control of the station will be handed over to the Russian MCS (Motion Control System) for conducting the planned dynamic test of an SM ODU (Integrated Propulsion System) manifold-2 yaw thruster (-RZ). After the test, scheduled for ~6:12-6:17pm, attitude control will be handed back to U.S. CMG momentum management at 6:40pm.  [USOS MAMS (Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System) and SDMS (Structural Dynamic Measurement System) sensors will collect on-orbit data during the thruster test. These data will be used to validate integrated truss dynamic responses due to the thruster firing, in support of the “ISS Life Validation and Extension” SDTO (Station Development Test Objective).]

Later, the station will be maneuvered from earth-pointing LVLH XVV (local vertical local horizontal/x-axis in velocity vector) to LVLH YVV (y-axis in velocity vector, i.e., flying sidewise ).  [The ~90-deg turn will be performed by the new USTO (US Thruster Only) controllers, which request thruster firings from the Russian segment (RS) without requiring prior attitude control handover to RS , thereby saving considerable time.]

The crew was reminded of the current vulnerability of the MT (Mobile Transporter) hardware to heating.  [With ISS continuing in YVV after the thruster test, solar Beta angles above 40 deg (starting today) could cause MT components to exceed allowable lower temperature limits if their single remaining heater string is lost (the second strip having been guillotined inadvertently by the MT Trailing Umbilical System 2 (MT TUS-2) cable cutter. For that eventuality, a contingency plan is in place to maneuver the station offnominally to XVV Z-Nadir (x-axis in velocity vector, z-axis vertically down). Beta will drop below 40 deg on 4/30.]

Update on P6 battery reconditioning: The reconditioning of Battery 2B2 was successfully completed yesterday. Subsequent to completion of the test the systems affected by the activity were reconfigured to their nominal state. Data analysis is underway to determine the battery capacity, and results will be available in approximately one week.

Update on MO-7/MO-8: The Russian calf measurement and body mass measurement activities originally planned (and erroneously reported) for yesterday were deferred due to the crew s PAO work load in the morning.

At Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, technicians today began loading Progress M-56/21P with propellants and compressed gases toward its launch on 4/24 and completed balancing (center-of-gravity verification) and weighing of the cargo spacecraft (see picture below).

Today’s CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Sao Paulo, Brazil (ISS had a nadir pass in good light and fair weather over this Brazilian mega-city. The crew was to use the long lens and try to map the urban edges where it encroaches on the forest and mountainous terrain around it), Patagonian Glaciers (the station had a good fair weather pass over the northern portion of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The crew was to try for context views of this north-south feature, concentrating on the less well-photographed areas to the right of track, specially on the western flank of the Andes), and Kingman Reef, Hawaiian Island chain (nadir pass in good light and fair weather over this target. Using the long lens settings to image details of the coral reef structures of this wedge-shaped reef system).

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:

• 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, 6:37am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 343.7 km
• Apogee height — 349.8 km
• Perigee height — 337.6 km
• Period — 91.41 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0009039
• Solar Beta Angle — 40.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.75
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 110 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 42295

Significant Events Ahead (all proposed dates subject to change):

• 04/13/06 — SM attitude control thruster testing
• 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)
• 12/14/06 — 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)
• 02/22/07 — NET STS-117/13A launch
• ??/??/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 TM
• 03/19/07 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S undocking (FGB nadir port)
• ??/??/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)

(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.