NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 17 Aug 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Second crew rest day of this weekend. Ahead: Week 16 for Expedition 7.
As regularly on Sundays, CDR Yuri Malenchenko collected the weekly data readings of the Service Module (SM)’s toilet flush counter readings (with inspection of the SP urine collection and pretreat assembly) and SVO water supply status counter readings, both for calldown to MCC-M/TsUP.
FE/SO Ed Lu prepared the daily IMS delta file for automatic export/import to update the database, while Malenchenko attended to the daily routine maintenance of the SM SOZh life support system (including ASU toilet facilities).
Both crewmembers worked out in their daily 2.5-h program of physical exercise, on TVIS treadmill, RED expander, and VELO cycle with load trainer.
The crew had their the weekly PFCs (private family conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/video.
As a new item on the Russian task list, Yuri was asked to assemble the Telescience hardware from storage in the FGB and set it up for downlink of the video recordings of the Russian/German Plasma Crystal-3 (PK-3) experiment conducted by him on 7/31. [The experiment was performed on plasma, i.e., fine particles charged and excited by RF/radio frequency power inside the evacuated work chamber. On 7/31, Yuri recorded the investigation of the behavior of large particles (from Dispenser B), in two parts, viz., auto search for conditions promoting strong particle agglomeration (6 min.), and auto search for conditions creating “void-free” structures while varying HF discharge energy, chamber pressure, and number of particles involved (75 min.).]
Today’s CEO (crew earth observation) optional targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, were Lower Amazon River Basin (daylight declining in South America. Last opportunity for a while for detailed mages of the fast-changing estuary islands and coastlines), Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (looking just right of track. Halicarnassus is the modern port city of Bodrum in Turkey), Istanbul, Turkey (nadir pass), Great Falls, MT (LEWIS & CLARK SITE: The Missouri River drops more than 400 feet in ten miles here. The explorers spent more than a month here in June-July 1805. They noted the potential of this site for hydro-power generation–now the Ryan Dam occupies the site. The site lies on the river, at the city of Great Falls, where the highway crosses the river), Mouth of Marias River (LEWIS & CLARK SITE: The Marias is a large, meandering river that joins the Missouri from the northwest, about 80 miles northeast of Great Falls. Looking a touch right of track [visual cue: the Marias includes Lake Elwell Reservoir]. On the return trip in the summer of 1806, Lewis and nine men temporarily separated from the main party to explore this valley), and Gulf of Maine plankton (pointing under track and slightly left. Any shot will be interesting as documentation for sea conditions on this date–even if no color variation is seen. Inclusion of a coastline will allow orientation of the image).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/