NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 January 2005

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. Salizhan Sharipov today completes 100 days in orbit on this mission. Prior to Expedition 10, he logged 8 days, 19 hours and 47 seconds in space in 1998 (1/22-31) aboard “Endeavour” with the crew of STS-89, an astronaut rotation mission to Mir. With today’s milestone, the Kirghizian Flight Engineer joins the elite ranks of wizened old “space centurions”. Congratulations and continued success, Salizhan!

Still working on preparing onboard systems for the new Russian “Rockviss” payload, FE Sharipov connected the Service Module (SM) onboard computer system (OVS) with a new power switching unit (BSKZ5-32) of the Russian segment’s (RS) onboard equipment control system (SUBA).

Also for Rockviss, Salizhan Sharipov temporarily deactivated the Elektron O2 generator, then connected the Rockviss hardware telemetry (TLM) connector to the BITS2-12 onboard telemetry system, supported by ground tagup via S-band.

Chiao signed in and performed his fourth session with the psychological MedOps WinSCAT experiment (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool) on the MEC. [This 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.]

Leroy rebooted the SSC OCA (station support computer/orbital communications adapter) laptop, a periodic requirement.

Later in the day, the CDR began software loading on the SSC system using procedures which include powering up/down electrical panels in the SM during the A31p laptop deploy in the RS on 1/14. [The new procedure obviates checking back with TsUP/Moscow before executing loading steps.]

Chiao connected the UOP-DCP (utility outlet panel to display & control panel) power cable for the RWS (robotic workstation) for outside TV coverage of SM nozzles scheduled tomorrow.

FE Sharipov performed the third and last part of the current MBI-8 Profilaktika (“countermeasures”) fitness assessment series (postponed on 1/7 due to Elektron troubleshooting), first with the usual blood tests (to determine lactate and creatine kinase levels in the blood with the AccuSport equipment), then by a physical exercise session on the TVIS treadmill, supported by tagup with a ground specialist. CDR/SO Chiao was available as CMO (crew medical officer) to assist as required. [The TVIS test is identical to the MO-3 test performed on the treadmill in idling (non-motorized) mode with free choice of speeds within certain specified ranges (idle/walk/slow run/moderate run/fast run/walk/recovery). In addition to the nominal test procedure, MBI-8/Part 3 calls for the use of the TEEM-100M gas analyzer during the test, the blood lactate measurements, and subjective evaluation of physical exertion levels (using the Borg Perceived Exertion Scale, viz., 10 steps from very light over hard and very hard to maximum) during the test. At the end of the creatine kinase tests, the results were logged, copied from Cardiocassette-2000 recording to OCA for downlink, and reported to the ground via tagup. The activity was also photo-documented with the Nikon D1 digital camera.]

In conjunction with yesterday’s MO-9/Biochemical Urinalysis and PHS (Periodic Health Assessment) sessions, Salizhan today prepared the test equipment for the periodic Russian MO-10 “Hematokrit” testing, scheduled for tomorrow. [While PCBA analyzes total blood composition, MO-10 particularly measures the hematocrit (red blood cell mass) value of the blood (it is a well-known phenomenon of space flight that red blood cell mass {normal range: 30-45%} tends to go down over time).]

Leroy did the routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system and prepared the regular IMS (inventory management system) delta file for export/import to the IMS databases.

The crew performed the daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer.

Leroy then transferred the daily TVIS and RED exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium.

The CDR also conducted the monthly maintenance of the CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation), which deals mostly with an examination of the wire rope isolators for damage.

At ~9:00am EST, the crew downlinked PAO messages, one to a banquet of the Economic Association, the other as a Farewell message to NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe.

The crew also participated in the ham radio exchange with students at John Baldwin Elementary School, Danville, CA, a “Leroy Chiao crew pick school”.

The BGA (Beta gimbal assembly) displays are exhibiting problems, for which the ground has developed a display navigational workaround that lets the crew bypass the display problems. A commensurate BGA-2B display test was run by the crew today.

The CCS (Command & Control System) R4 software upload activities continued. [Yesterday the Prime C&C MDM (with the old R3 Software load) was transitioned to standby mode and the newly loaded CCS R4 C&C MDMs transitioned to Prime and Backup configurations. The crew installed the previously “ghosted” PCS R8 hard drives into the PCSs and re-connected the laptops into the system. The ISS operated in this configuration overnight. Today, the standby MDM, with the old R3 software, was to be loaded with the new CCS R4 software. Once the CCS R4 software is loaded onto all three of the C&C MDMs, the CCS R4 upload procedure will be complete. The transition will retire a number of Station Program Notes (SPNs) and will add USOS Command and Control functionality.]

Yesterday, the crew completed the update of the Emergency and Warning book procedures necessitated by the CCS R4 transition. [The new Emergency 2 and Warning books, flown on 16P, were deployed on ISS. The Emergency 1 book change pages flown on 16P were incorporated into the onboard documentation. In addition, pen and ink changes and additional procedure updates to the documents were incorporated by the crew. The Emergency and Warning SODF is now consistent with the new CCS R4 and PCS software loads.]

Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, no longer limited in the current LVLH attitude, were Tsunami Damage, Sumatra (Dynamic Event. This nadir overpass provided an opportunity for high-resolution imagery of the northern tip of Sumatra. Variable clouds were predicted for the region. Looking for areas of bare soil, flattened vegetation, and brown sediment plumes along the western coastline), Tsunami Damage, Maldives Islands (Dynamic Event. This nadir overpass provided an opportunity for high-resolution images of tsunami damage in this island chain. Images of standing water in the island interiors are useful for assessing potential salt-water contamination sources to the islands’ shallow aquifers), Muglad Basin fans, SW Sudan (this overpass provided an opportunity for mapping swaths across this megafan complex. Looking for drainage patterns and wetland boundaries; eleven distinct fans have been identified in this region so far. High-resolution imagery is useful for further mapping of the megafans), Patagonian Glaciers, S. America (this overpass crossed the northern portion of the icefields. Mapping swaths across the small northernmost glaciers and icefields are useful as detailed imagery of this region is sparse), and Lower Amazon River Basin, S. America (weather was predicted to mostly clear over the southern portion of the delta. High-resolution mapping swaths across the southern delta boundary are useful for fine-scale detection of hydrologic and geomorphic change in islands and channels).

CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:

• 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 10 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-10/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 10 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.

Upcoming Key Events:

• ISS reboost (delta-V: 4 m/s) — 1/15/05;
• EVA-12 — 1/26/05 (Eastern)
• Progress 16P undocking & destructive reentry — 2/27/05;
• Progress 17P launch — 2/28/05.
• EVA-13 — 3/25/05;
• Soyuz 10 S launch — 4/15/05;
• Soyuz 9S undock — 4/25/05 (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS).

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.