NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 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.

Preparations continued for the Orlan EVA-12 on 1/26. FE Sharipov set up the ZU-S battery charger and initiated charging on the first (of two) 825M3 battery pack (28V) for the Orlan backpack. [The BITS2-12 telemetry system, VD-SU control mode, Elektron unit and SKV-1 air conditioner had to be temporarily deactivated for setting up the cable connections for the charging.]

Later the crew reviewed applicable EVA ODF (operations data files) and the preliminary spacewalk timeline uplinked two days ago (see Status report 1/16).

Chiao and Sharipov also searched for, gathered and prepared necessary EVA installed hardware and tools, supported by tagup with ground specialists via S-band.

In the Service Module (SM), the FE deactivated the IK0501 gas analyzer (GA) of the SOGS pressure control & atmospheric monitoring system and exchanged its BF carbon dioxide (CO2) filter assembly with a new unit from FGB stowage (replaced last: 12/7). GA was reactivated and the spent BF stowed for disposal. [IK0501 is an automated system for measuring CO2, O2, and H2O in the air as well as the flow rate of the gas being analyzed.]

The CDR/SO filled out the regular weekly FFQ (food frequency questionnaire), his twelfth, which keeps a log of his nutritional intake over time on special MEC (medical equipment computer) software. [The FFQ records amounts consumed during the past week of such food items as beverages, cereals, grains, eggs, breads, snacks, sweets, fruit, beans, soup, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, chicken, sauces & spreads, and vitamins. IBMP-recommended average daily caloric value of the crew’s food intake is 2200-2300 cal. If larger quantities of juices and fruits are taken into account, the value can go to 2400-2500 cal.]

The FE did the routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including ASU toilet facilities, and (from the Russian task list) prepared the regular IMS export/import delta file for updating the IMS databases.

The crew performed their daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer. Salizhan’s daily protocol currently prescribes a four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the TVIS (today: Day 4 of a new set) and one hour on VELO.

Chiao 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.

At ~11:30am EST, the crew conducted a tagup conference with MCC-Houston to discuss the upcoming EVA.

After setting up the amateur radio equipment in the SM, Leroy Chiao at 11:55am engaged in a ham radio exchange with students at the “Robespierre-B” Elementary school in the city of Rueil-Malmaison, 11 km west of Paris, France. [This is a primary school with 250 pupils aged 6-10 years. The school has set up a science and space oriented educational project to prepare for the ARISS/ham school contact. Seven classrooms of the school (total: 180 children) are happy to be involved in this radio-communication with the ISS. Members of the local amateur radio club and AMSAT-France provide the amateur radio ground station.]

During yesterday’s swap and reinitialization of the GNC MDMs (guidance, navigation & control computers) MCC-H successfully removed a software patch which was loaded after the GNC R4 upgrade. The current configuration is: C&C-1 = Backup (R4), C&C-2 = Standby (R4), C&C-3 = Primary (R4). [The purpose of the patch was to allow commanding with “quaternions”, but thanks to the new CCS (Command & Control System) R4 software, it is no longer needed. If crew intervention (non-prime) were ever required, R4 would now allow them to command USOS attitude via the PCS (portable computer system) using simple Euler angle sequences. ]

MCC-H is currently conducting a CMG (control moment gyroscope) wheel speed test in order to gather data at various speeds. [At each of 16 different rotor speeds (from 6269-6932 RPMs) CMG vibrations and spin motor current will be determined. Currently, engineers have on-orbit data at only one operational speed. Baseline data at all operational speeds would aid CMG evaluations, should the CMGs have to be operated at any operational speed other than 6600 RPM.

A minimum of 4 hrs is required at each speed, i.e., the test will stretch over three days. At its conclusion, wheel speed will be returned to the nominal 6600 RPM. CMG-2 will remain in the steering law and be used for attitude control throughout the test. If at anytime the CMG violates the criteria, proper actions will be taken and the test will be terminated.]

The ISS experienced a high solar particle event yesterday. MCC-H notified the crew of the higher radiation levels and reminded them to take shelter if the TEPC (tissue equivalent proportional counter) radiation-measuring instrument alarm sounded. Today the crew was informed that by the time the EVA occurs, the high-activity area on the Sun will rotate out of view and should not affect the spacewalk on 1/26.

Upcoming Key Events:

• EVA-12 — 1/26/05 (hatch opening 2:27am EST)
• 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).

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.

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.