NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 November 2005
SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2005) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Soyuz TMA-7 (11S) relocation went smoothly. After a brief ride in their crew return vehicle, Valery Tokarev and Bill McArthur docked at the FGB nadir port at 4:05am EST, completing the spacecraft’s relocation from the DC1 “Pirs” docking module in just 20 minutes. [After on-time undocking at 3:45am EST Tokarev backed away from the station 25-30 m, then translated the spacecraft to the left, flying sideways, along the ISS toward the bow for ~14 m before rotating (“indexing”) the Soyuz around its longitudinal axis through 135 deg to align its periscope with the docking target, spending about 8 min in station-keeping mode. Final approach began at ~4:00 am, with docking at 4:05 am, about 5 min ahead of time. After hooks and latches were engaged, the crew conducted leak checks and then reentered the station through the FGB at ~5:56 a.m.]
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After deactivating Soyuz systems, Valery and Bill reactivated all station systems that had been switched to autonomous (unmanned) configuration. [Activations, generally requiring the crew only for monitoring, involved the power system, PSS caution & warning (C&W) panels in Service Module (SM), FGB and DC1, DSD pressure sensor, Central Post BVS computer/control systems (Wiener laptop, printer, InPU displays), ventilation systems and air ducts in SM, DC1 and FGB, SM ASU toilet facilities, time clock, Vozdukh CO2 scrubber, Elektron O2 generator (with nitrogen flush), SKV air conditioner, SRVK-2M condensate water supply system & processor, SOTR thermal control system, SOP food systems, STTS onboard communications links, Pille radiation dosimeters, etc.]
As part of Russian segment (RS) post-docking activities, the crew set up their spacesuits for drying, supported by uplinked instructions.
Hatches to the U.S. segment (USOS) were opened at ~10:00am, followed by activation and reconfiguration of the station-wide OPS LAN network.
With ground commanding, the IMV (Intermodular Ventilation) fans & valves were reconfigured from their decrewed configuration, and McArthur also powered up the TEPC (Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter) in the SM’s starboard crew quarters area.
Still on a shifted sleep cycle, the crew then turned in at ~12:35 pm EST, about 4 hrs earlier than usual. Their wake/sleep rhythm will return to normal tomorrow, with wake-up at 1:00 am and sleep at 4:30 pm, after a total-rest day.
Shortly before Soyuz undocking, the U.S. P6 solar arrays 2B & 4B were feathered, for protection against Soyuz thruster plume contamination (2B: 85 deg; 4B: 270 deg). Later (~4:30am), they returned to Autotrack (i.e., Beta gimbals automatically tracking the sun).
For short intervals during undocking & redocking, station attitude was moded from LVLH XVV (local vertical local horizontal/x-axis in velocity vector, i.e., flying nose forward) to inertial/free drift. After the relocation, at ~4:30am, ISS maneuvered to LVLH YVV (y-axis in velocity vector, i.e. flying sideways). Along with the change, the P6 arrays were swiveled to their YVV setting (2B: 244 deg; 4B: 116 deg).
The U.S. SDMS (Structural Dynamics Measurement System) on the S1 truss was activated for about two hours to collect vibration data for the undocking/redocking activities.
As per request from Moscow, and with NASA approval, the next Russian spacewalk (EVA-15) has been rescheduled from currently 12/8 to January next year (e.g., 1/26-1/27), because of a very tight crew schedule and pressing Progress unloading/loading & replacement activities (see dates below). The EVA date remains under discussion (the high Solar Beta angle at that time will be the main constraint in determining the date).
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:
To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 12 crew visit:
- http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-12/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.
Expedition 12 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, 7:21am EST [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 352.2 km
- Apogee height — 357.9 km
- Perigee height — 346.6 km
- Period — 91.58 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0008393
- Solar Beta Angle — -44.0 deg (magnitude increasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 70 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 39997
Upcoming Events (all dates Eastern):
- 12/20/05 — Progress M-54/19P undocking & reentry
- 12/21/05 — Progress M-55/20P launch
- 12/23/05 — Progress M-55/20P docking
- 01/09/06 — 100 days for Expedition 12.
- end-01/06 — EVA-15 (Russian; date TBD).
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.
