Status Report

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 Jan 2004

By SpaceRef Editor

January 18, 2004

Filed under ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA HQ, US

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 Jan 2004 — iss

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Ahead: Week 13 of Increment 8. Flight Control to Crew: “The camping trip’s over, gentlemen! We’ll get the hatches open and all the functionality that goes with it back today. Thanks for being such troopers and helping us solve this leak problem.”

FE Alexander Kaleri conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SOZh life support system and ASU toilet facilities. He also performed the periodic inspection of the Elektron oxygen generator’s VM gas/liquid system for obstructing air bubbles,

At 8:55am EST, the crew downlinked a TV message for the celebration of the 100th
birthday of a great Russian aviation hero, Valery P. Chkalov, to be shown on the “Civilization” TV-Radio channel. [In 1937, V.P. Chkalov flew in an Antonov ANT-25 (which still exists) over the North Pole to Vancouver, Canada, a truly astounding pioneering feat at that time! There is a monument to Chkalov in Vancouver as well as a street named after him. His birthday is on February 2.]

The crew worked out on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser and VELO cycle with load trainer.

After spending most of Sunday, a rest day, in the Russian segment, the crew reopened the hatches to the U.S. segment (Node Aft & Lab Aft) at ~1:35pm EST and reconnected the FGB air duct #1.

Establishment of IMV (intermodular ventilation), return of Node aft starboard IMV valve to nominal, deactivation of the Airlock PCA (pressure control assembly) in preparation for power cable removal by the crew and other steps were remote-controlled from MCC-Houston.

The next task for the crew before starting their sleep time consisted of reconfiguring the OpsLAN (operations local area network) between the two segments.

Last night, pressure data indicated that the U.S. segment was very tight after 24 hours. Both sections — the Lab and Node/Airlock/PMA — were varying thermally within a 1-mmHg band around 748 mmHg. There were no concerns mentioned about the Russian segment (four manometer readings per day being read down). The US and Russian sides are today exchanging their pressure readings, and more definitive conclusions will be available later.

Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) targets, in the current XPOP attitude constrained by flight rule to fewer near-vertical targets due to Lab window shutter closure and current condensation-prevention plan, wereLake Eyre, Australia (looking left for water level status in this major environmental site),Icebergs, S Atlantic(Dynamic event. The two large ice masses you photographed were calved as a single mass from the ice shelf in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica in 1998. These are no longer being tracked by the National Ice Center. Looking right to document present positions), andPlankton blooms, Argentina(Dynamic event. Pass northeast along the coastline: looking nadir and right for plankton blooms).

CEO images can be viewed at the websites.

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at