NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 June 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.   The crew received thanks for their excellent conference/chat with NASA Administrator Mike Griffin yesterday.

After successful checkout of the Russian laptop 2 (LT2), CDR Krikalev assisted TsUP/Moscow with the step-up of the Central Post computer 1 (KTsP1) and the LT1 and LT3 laptops to the new Vers. 7.03 software, thus completing the software transition of the Russian segment (RS) onboard computer systems.

FE/SO Phillips conducted Part 1 of this week s MFMG (Miscible Fluids in Microgravity) payload activities, first familiarizing himself with the experiment by reviewing procedures and conferring with the Payload Developer at MSFC/POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center). At the work table, he then performed Test 4 of the experiment s Thermal ops, in which he slowly injected tinted water into honey. There will be more tomorrow.  [The activities were video recorded with the Lab camcorder and the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) video drawer equipment, for which MSG ESEM (Exchangeable Standard Electronic Modules) were remote-commanded without crew involvement.]

In the Soyuz TMA-6/10S Orbital Module (BO), Krikalev reconfigured the ventilation air duct system to its initial state after his troubleshooting of its V2 fan on 5/31.

Sergei also switched the Vozdukh CO2 (carbon dioxide) removal system via on-board computer system from manual to automatic mode, after Vozdukh s reactivation yesterday.

The crew performed the periodic detailed inspection of the Lab nadir window, supported by still and video photography.  [In addition to the usual pane checkup for cracks, scratches, divots, etc., the inspection also looked for FORP (fuel/oxidizer reaction product) contamination due to the recent departure of Soyuz TMA-5/9S.]

In preparation for tomorrow s Phase 2 commissioning operations of SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) ground commanding, John Phillips hooked up the UOP-DCP (utility outlet panel-to-display & control panel) bypass power cable at the Lab RWS (Robotics Work Station) and conducted a review of the applicable new DOUG (Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics) software.  [DOUG is a software program on the MSS RWS (Mobile Service System/Robotics Workstation) laptops that provides a graphical birdseye-view image of the external station configuration and the SSRMS arm, showing its real-time location and configuration on a laptop during its operation.]

Krikalev performed the regular daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) experiment, including filling its water canister as required. Today, he also completed the regular periodic download of data & imagery collected of the experiment to the computer for subsequent downlink to the ground.   [Rasteniya researches growth and development of plants (currently horse radish) under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-7 greenhouse. The regular maintenance of the experiment (each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) involves monitoring of seedling growth, humidity measurements, moistening of the substrate if necessary, topping off the water tank if ~20-25% of the total amount (4 liters) remain, and photo/video recording. On Thursdays, data from the Lada greenhouse control unit are recorded on floppy disk for weekly downlink via REGUL.]

FE Phillips worked on Smoke Detector #2 (SD-2) in the Node, performing a re-cleaning of the sensor after the failed first attempt on 5/17.  [After its first cleaning with a syringe to restore it to full functionality, SD-2 did not exhibit significant improvement of its obscuration and scatter readings. The sensor was then inhibited for annunciation (leaving the Node with another healthy SD), while ground specialists developed a new cleaning method with a CCT (connector cleaning tool) and vacuum cleaner.]

Working off his voluntary task list, the CDR conducted another session with the “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program that had him focus the Nikon D1X digital camera with f400 or 800 mm lens from SM window #9 on targets specified by an uplinked list.  [Today’s targets included the largest cities of the southern Ukraine: Odessa, Nikolayev, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Lugansk, views of Central Russia, a large island where Volga River bed meanders upward of Kamyshin, with an oil rig on the island shore, Uralsk, the Aksai-Ilek oil field infrastructure, farm land NW of Orenburg, views of the Ural and Altai Mountains, the city of Minsk, areas along both banks of the Amudarya River, etc.]

As a second “job jar” task item, the CDR still has urine transfer from the EDV-U collection container to the empty water tanks 1 and 2 of Progress 17 waiting for completion.

Sergei completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including regular replacements of the ASU toilet facility, and prepared the regular IMS (Inventory Management System) delta file for export/import to the IMS databases.

Both crewmembers conducted their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, RED exerciser and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer.  [Sergei s daily protocol prescribes a strict four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 2 of a new set).]

Afterwards, the FE transferred the exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data of the workouts on RED and CEVIS, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium.

At ~5:25am EDT, John set up the SM s amateur radio equipment and then conducted a ham radio exchange with students at Brigidine College in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.  [The contact took place from the hall of the College in Randwick, a beachside suburb of Sydney. The school is a girls catholic secondary school with a population of 860 students and 85 staff members. Three students from each year group asked the crew questions, from age 12 to age 17. What kind of advice would you give kids aspiring to be astronauts in the future? ; If you are wearing a watch in space, would the second hand move at the same speed as it does on Earth? And would it be the same time? ]

At ~2:15pm, the crew held their standard (once every two weeks) teleconference with the JSC Astronaut Office (Kent Rominger), via S-band S/G.

The Russian condensate water processor (SRV-K) continues to operate nominally on the lane 3 air/liquid condensate separator (BRPK) after Krikalev installed a bypass around a clogged connector (K27) over the past weekend.  [The failed (leaking) BRPK water separator in lane 1 will be replaced within the next two weeks. The SKV-1 air conditioner is collecting humidity from the cabin atmosphere. The Lab CCAA (common cabin air assembly) is powered down.]

More troubleshooting on the failed Elektron Liquid Unit #5 (BZh-5) will soon be conducted in order to verify whether the unit can be restored to service or not.

Correction of LHA (Lamp Housing Assembly) note on 5/30:  Over the weekend, John Phillips removed only two failed LHAs in the Lab, not three as reported on 5/30. Removal of the third failed LHA was left for later.

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 Typhoon Nesat, W Pacific (Dynamic event. Good opportunity for a late afternoon, backlit view of this growing storm, right of track. The storm has just been declared a typhoon and is expected to be a Level 2 storm by the time of this pass, and then increase to a Level 3 storm), Internal waves, South China Sea (looking right for internal waves, following the sunglint point along the coast of Vietnam), Lahore, Pakistan (nadir view), Cairo, Egypt (nadir pass), and Nile River Delta (opportunity for a mapping pass along the west side of the delta, at nadir).

 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 11 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-11/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 11 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, 7:52am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 352.0 km
• Apogee height — 355.3 km
• Perigee height — 348.6 km
• Period — 91.58 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0004968
• Solar Beta Angle — -29.3 deg (magnitude has peaked, is decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 180 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 37337

Some Increment 11 Main Events (not final):

• Progress M-52 (17P) undock — 6/15 (4:13pm EDT);
• Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/16 (7:09pm EDT, Baikonur: 6/17, 5:09am)
• Progress M-53 (18P) dock — 6/18 (8:46pm EDT);
• Reboost — ~6/22 (delta-V 1.5 m/s);
• LF-1/STS-114 launch — 7/13 (18-day window opens);
• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) relocate (from DC-1 to FGB) — ~8/16;
• ULF1.1/STS-121 launch — NET 9/9 (launch window opens);
• 12A/STS-115 launch — NET 2/16/06;
• 12A.1/STS-116 launch — NET 4/23/06;
• 13A/STS-117 launch — NET 5/18/06.

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.