Status Report

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 19 Oct 2003

By SpaceRef Editor

October 19, 2003

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

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 19 Oct 2003 — iss

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Expedition 7 has now been in space for 176 days (check below for some interesting not-so-trivial statistics from Flight Control).

Soyuz TMA-3 (7S) with Expedition 8 crewmembers Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri plus VC5 FE Pedro Duque continues to catch up with the station for the docking tomorrow morning at 3:20am EDT (11:20am Moscow time, 10:20am DMT [TsUP]). The spacecraft is looking good; the third maneuver burn (DV-3) occurred this morning at the planned time (~2:36am EDT). [Flight Day 2 activities, starting yesterday at ~6:40pm EDT, included systems & crew health status reports to TsUP, preparation of the Soyuz Orbital Module (BO) for the subsequent rotational (RUO-2) & translational (RUD-2) hand controller checkouts over RGS, building attitude for and executing the DV3 burn, placing Soyuz back in its sun-spinning “barbecue” attitude (ISK) and swapping CO2 absorption cartridges in the BO. Currently, the 7S crew is in their second sleep period (to end ~6:40pm). After 2-3 additional adjustment burns, station fly-around to align with the DC-1 “Pirs” module will start at ~2:46am, followed by station keeping at 2:55am. Final approach, initiated at 3:07am, will be concluded by docking and Soyuz hooks closure, at which time the ISS maneuvers from temporary free drift to earth-“fixed” LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal torque equilibrium attitude), reverting to U.S. CMG control.]

Today’s (largely) off-duty day on the ISS was 2.5 hours shorter than usual since the regular sleep period began already at 3:00pm this afternoon. This was to accommodate the sleep cycle shift for the docking that has CDR Yuri Malenchenko and FE/SO Ed Lu wake up tonight at 11:30pm EDT, instead of at the regular 2:00am tomorrow morning.

Malenchenko collected the weekly counter readings of the Service Module (SM)’s toilet flush system (with inspection of the SP urine collection and pretreat assembly) and SVO water supply status, both for calldown to TsUP/Moscow.

Yuri also conducted the periodic inspection of the Elektron oxygen generator’s VM gas/liquid system for obstructing air bubbles.

Ed Lu printed out and prepared the new pages of the Russian-language Handover Book which specifies the detailed steps of the “watch-transfer” from Expedition 7 to Expedition 8 coming up in the next few days.

Ed also 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).

In preparation for the new arrivals, the CDR deactivated the IK0501 gas analyzer (GA) in the SM and exchanged its BF carbon dioxide (CO2) filter assembly with a new unit from FGB stowage. GA was reactivated and the spent BF stowed for return to Earth disposal (replaced last: 9/8). [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.]

Also in the SM, Yuri activated the Russian Kriogem-03 refrigerator, setting it to -22 degC. He then placed the KV-03 cold unit of the ESA payload BIO-10 “Intercellular Interaction” in the refrigerator, to prepare it for Pedro Duque’s “Cervantes” research activities. Also for the BIO-10 experiment, Malenchenko assembled the required glove box kit from FGB stowage, setting it up in the DC-1.

For the planned commemorative ceremony after 7S crew arrival tomorrow morning, to be covered by PAO TV, Malenchenko and Lu decorated the SM rear wall with the flags of Spain and ESA. The CDR also recharged the battery of the DVCAM digital video camera.

The crew had their regular weekly PFCs (private family conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/video.

The crew worked out with their regular physical exercise on TVIS treadmill and RED expander.

Upcoming Soyuz Events:

7S docking: 10/20 (tomorrow morning), 3:20am Eastern, 10:20am DMT (TsUP);
7S hatch opening: 6:14am Eastern, 1:14pm DMT (TsUP);.
6S hatch closure: 10/27 (Monday), 3:10pm Eastern;
6S undocking: 6:20pm Eastern, 2:20am (10/28) Moscow;
6S landing: 10/27 (Monday), 9:36pm Eastern, 5:36am (10/28) Moscow.

Today’s optional CEO (crew earth observation) 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 Miami, Florida (nadir pass), St. Louis, Missouri (looking a touch left), Los Angeles, California (nadir pass), Las Vegas, Nevada (nadir pass), Casablanca, Morocco (nadir pass), Lisianski Reef, Hawaiian chain (nadir pass), Gui-shen, China (looking a touch right), Seoul, South Korea (nadir pass), Three Gorges Dam, Yangtze River (nadir pass. No detailed handheld imagery exists of this major engineering site),. Taiwan Smog (conditions appeared good for accumulation of visible smog haze. Taiwan is a major smog generator in its own right. Polluted air flowing from coastal China towards Taiwan should also have been visible. Shooting obliques [low and high] left and right of track for best visual rendering of smog blankets. Over- and underexposed images reveal different aspects of the internal structure of the masses. Margins of blankets are of interest), and Berlin, Germany (looking a touch left for the city center).

CEO images can be viewed at the websites

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/
U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 2:41pm EDT).

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):

Elektron O2 generator is powered On, 32A. Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (in Manual Mode 5/3). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is in Standby. TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is off (in Life Extending Mode). BMP Harmful Impurities unit: absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On SKV-2 is Off.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 742; temperature (deg C) — 26.3; ppO2 (mmHg) — 161.00; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 3.7.
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 761; temperature (deg C) — 20.7.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 760; temperature (deg C) — 22.0.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 762.97; temperature (deg C) — 24.7 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 764.61; temperature (deg C) — 24.8; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 764.71; temperature (deg C) — 25.0; shell heater temp (deg C) — 25.6, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.2
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 12.1.

(n/a = data not available)

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

Both P6 channels fully operational. BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B and 4B both in Directed Position (non-suntracking).
SM batteries: Battery #7 is enabled and will be tracked for the next few weeks, still in slot #8; all other batteries (7) are in “Partial Charge” mode (batteries #1 and #3 are degraded).
FGB batteries: Battery #1 is off; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

C&C-2 MDM is prime, C&C-1 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.
GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup.
INT-2 is operating; INT-1 is Off.
EXT-2 is On (primary), EXT-1 is Off (both now upgraded to R3).
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-1 MDM is Off; PL-2 MDM is Operational.
APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational; string #2 dropped out 9/26.
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Propulsion System (PS):

Total propellant load available: 3891 kg (8578 lb) as of 10/16 [SM(755) + FGB(2784) + Progress M(352) + Progress M-1(0)]. (Capability: SM — 860 kg; FGB — 6120 kg).

Attitude Control Systems:

3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).
State vector source — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Attitude source — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Angular rate source — RGA-1

Flight Attitude:

XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = “sun-fixed” [yaw: 0.5 deg, pitch: -6.9 deg., roll: 0 deg]), with CMG TA (thruster assist).

Communications & Tracking Systems:

FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operational.
All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
S-band is operating nominally (on string 2).
Ku-band is operating nominally.
Audio subsystem is operating nominally (IAC-2 is prime, IAC-1 is suspect).
Video subsystem operating nominally.
HCOR (high-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:

SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at MBS PDGF #2/LEE A, with Keep Alive (KA) power on both strings.
MBS: KA power on both strings.
MT: latched and mated at WS4.
POA: KA power on both strings.
RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is On (DCP connected); Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 11:40am EDT [= epoch]):