NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 April 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. Saturday, first weekend rest day for the crew. Today Expedition 10 completes 171 days in space (169 aboard ISS), with 23 days to go.

CDR/SO Chiao and FE Sharipov performed the regular weekly 3-hour task of thorough station cleaning, wearing protective garment. [“Uborka”, done every Saturday, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, wet cleaning of the Service Module (SM) dining table and other surfaces with “Fungistat” disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]

Chiao took the periodic (weekly) reading of the cabin air’s current CO2 (carbon dioxide) partial pressure in the SM and Lab, using the U.S. CDMK (CO2 monitor kit), for calldown (along with the battery status) for use in trending analyses.

Leroy also completed the regular weekly maintenance reboot on the operational PCS (portable computer system) laptops and the bi-monthly restart of the OCA comm router laptop.

Sharipov conducted a new session with the “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program that had him focus the Kodak 760 electronic still camera from SM window #9 on targets specified on an uplinked list. [Today’s targets were East Germany & Poland (spring river flooding), and the Volga river delta (spring fires harmful to fauna), with overall views and shots of fire beds, requiring a real-time downlink to TsUP/Moscow.]

For his “Saturday Science” program, Dr. Chiao performed the MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Micro Gravity) experiment (sample 3). [Thermal Test 3 involved pulling tinted water from a syringe, through a drinking straw, and into another syringe containing a honey/water (20%/80%) mixture. The fluid interaction was documented both via digital still shots (using the intervalometer for a series of unattended photos) and recorded to a Camcorder tape for later downlink. Background: Understanding the viscosity of molten materials is important for everything from designing laboratory experiments to industrial production of materials. One way to determine viscosity is to measure how long it takes two spheres of liquid to merge into a single spherical drop: on contact a neck will from between the two drops, increasing in thickness until the two drops become one single sphere. On Earth, gravity distorts liquid spheres, and drops are too heavy to be supported by strings. Drop distortion should not occur in the ISS’s microgravity environment, and the drops can be held on strings. To verify this technique as an accurate viscosity measurement method, the FMVM/MFMG experiment uses fluids with known viscosities: honey, corn syrup, glycerin, and silicone oil.]

Working off the Russian “job jar” task list, Salizhan conducted his sixth session with the biomedical MBI-9 “Pulse” experiment, preceded by setting up the equipment. [Execution of the medical cardiological assessment is controlled from the Russian payload laptop, using a set respiration rate (without forced or deep breaths) and synchronizing respiration with computer-commanded “inhale” commands. First, arterial blood pressure is measured with the “Tensoplus” sphygmomanometer, followed by the “Pulse” test to record the ECG (electrocardiogram) and a report to TsUP in the next comm pass.]

The FE also completed the routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including ASU toilet facilities and today also the weekly inspection of the air/liquid condensate separator apparatus (BRPK).

The crew performed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS, RED (resistive exerciser), and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer, plus a session on CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation) for Leroy. [Salizhan’s daily protocol currently prescribes a four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill and one hour on VELO (today: Day 1 of a new set).]

The CDR/SO 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.

With regard to some difficulties encountered by the crew with the MEC, ground specialists’ recommendation is to change out the hard drive and reload the Expedition 10 software. This activity has been scheduled for the CDR/SO tomorrow (Sunday, 4/3).

Analysis on the ground gave the green light for use of the RED with a bolt and captive fastener missing (reported 4/1). [RED is approved for unrestricted operations until the next cord change-out (53,000 cycles or 10-15 weeks from now).]

At ~3:05am EST, the crew conducted a TV “telebridge” live exchange with the Volga region Aerospace Education Center, talking with high school students, teachers, scientists, and representatives from local government administration gathered in a Nizhny Novgorod TV studio. [In addition to local people from Nizhny Novgorod, delegations from Dzerzhinsk, Saratov, and Kazan were present to participate in the teleconference. The telebridge concept with the ISS is being used in Nizhny Novgorod for the first time.]

As reported, the crew yesterday successfully activated the Elektron oxygen generator. [If the unit does not stay on through the weekend, the next activation attempt is expected to be on Monday. The oxygen levels are within flight rule limits and will not be violated over the weekend. There are adequate oxygen resources on 17P to provide for the crew metabolic needs if required.]

Yesterday morning, the crew replaced a light assembly in the Node, which had failed yesterday. They transferred a lamp from the Lab which was installed in a failed BBA (Base Ballast Assembly) location, and was not providing any illumination. The Node now has two operational lights operating on separate power channels. The crew was also given replacement options if they feel they need to recover a third light in the Node.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Ten — 22nd):

• GASMAP: Nothing new.
• Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
• Advanced Ultrasound (ADUM): The final scan Z for this Increment is scheduled for next week.
• In-Space Soldering Investigation (ISSI): Operations are complete. –>For a descriptive article on ISSI background & early surprising results, see AIAA’s “Aerospace America” Magazine, March 2005 issue (page 24)
• Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS remains in nominal operations.
• Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS remains in nominal operations.
• Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): PCG-STES is performing nominally.
• Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): All done for Increment 10.
• Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside on the U.S. Airlock. Nominal and collecting data.
• Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems-Fluid Dynamics Investigation (CBOSS-FDI): All done for Increment 10.
• Dust and Aerosol Measurement Feasibility Test (DAFT): Nothing new.
• Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Nothing new.
• Serial Network Flow Monitor (SNFM): All done for Increment 10.
• Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM): Nothing new.
• Space Experiment Module (SEM): Nothing new.
• Effects of Prolonged Space Flight on Human Skeletal Muscle (BIOPSY): Nothing new.
• Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG): Nothing new.
• Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Nothing new.
• Crew Earth Observations (CEO): As of 3/29, the ground has received a total of 13,984 CEO images. A fine photo of Mount Olympus, mythical home of the ancient Greek gods, in northern Greece will be featured on NASA’s Earth Observatory website this coming week (see URL below).

Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Dust and Smoke, eastern China (Dynamic Event. Significant plumes of dust and smoke continue to move northeastwards across China towards the Bay of Bohai. Looking to the right of track for clearly defined plume edges; these may be most visible over the Bay and Pacific Ocean), Alps, Central Europe (Dynamic Event. This pass paralleled the southern face of the Alps. A series of overlapping frames tracking along the mountains from SW to NE can be stitched together to form a mosaic panorama of the range), Ice, Baltic Sea (Dynamic Event. Weather over northern Europe was predicted to be virtually cloud-free, presenting a rare opportunity for photography of Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea. Looking to the left of track for ice in the Baltic Sea as well as general views of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), Internal Waves, Labrador Sea (weather was predicted to be clear over the eastern coast of Newfoundland for internal wave photography), and Stardust Landing Site, Utah (looking to the right of track for the landing ellipse region. Snow cover will likely be present over much of the landing site, but areas of standing water may also be visible).

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.

Upcoming Key Events:

• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) launch — 4/14 (8:46pm EDT); with Expedition 11 (CDR Sergei Krikalev, FE/SO John Phillips & VC8 cosmonaut Roberto Vittori/ESA-Italy); launch time at Baikonur: 6:46am on 4/15.
• Soyuz TMA-6 docking — 4/16 (10:17pm EDT);
• Soyuz TMA-5 (9S) undocking — 4/24 (2:36pm EDT) with Exp. 10 crew (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS) and VC8 cosmonaut Vittori;
• Soyuz TMA-5 landing — 4/24 (6:01pm EDT (Kustanai: 4:01am on 4/25) ;
• LF1 (STS-114) launch — 5/15;
• Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/10;
• ULF1.1 (STS-121) launch — NET 7/12;
• Progress M-54 (19P) launch — 8/24;
• Soyuz TMA-7 (11S) launch — 9/27.

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.