NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 February 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. Underway: Week 18 of Increment 10. In the U.S., it’s a Holiday (President’s Day). A Russian Holiday (Defenders Day) will be observed on Wednesday, 2/23.

Today’s main crew task aboard the ISS centered on trash transfer to and stowage on the Progress-351 (16P), scheduled for undocking and destructive atmospheric reentry next Sunday (2/27). [The activities, which utilized and were logged in the IMS (Inventory Management System), were supported by uplinked transfer lists from both Flight Control Teams.]

FE Salizhan Sharipov performed a second session of the Russian “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program that had him focus the LIV video camera from Service Module (SM) window #9 on targets specified on an uplinked list. [Targets for today were traverses of Gibraltar and the Sahara/Atlas region, extraordinary geological structures and rings protruding from the Sahara sands, Lake Chad, the Congo River bed, the main African Rift along large lakes, and the South African coast.]

Salizhan also completed another half-hour session of the “Diatomeya” ocean observations program, using the DSR PD-150P video camera on SM window #8 and the Nikon F5 digital still camera with 24/85-mm lens from window #9 to collect photo and video data that characterize the feasibility of using bioluminescent glow in high-productive oceanic water as an indicator of storm areas and focal points of underwater earthquakes. [Positive results received on the ground from the “night” survey of Pacific Ocean seismic regions by Sharipov aboard the ISS on 2/16 are considered to “justify conducting similar surveys of tsunami risk areas in the Indian Ocean”.]

CDR/SO Chiao meanwhile conducted the monthly IMS-based PEP (portable emergency provisions) audit and inspection (last time done: 1/17). [The procedure involves verification that PFEs (portable fire extinguishers), PBAs (portable breathing assemblies), QDMAs (quick-don mask assemblies) and EHTKs (extension hose/tee kits) are free of damage to ensure their functionality, and to track shelf life/life cycles on the hardware. PEPs are not removed from their locker unless obvious damage is discovered during the inspection. There are a total of 5 PBAs in the U.S. segment (USOS), viz., two in the Node, two in the Lab, and one in the Airlock.]

Leroy conducted the routine daily maintenance of the SOZh environment control & life support system, including the SM’s toilet facilities (ASU).

The crew performed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on TVIS, RED exerciser, CEVIS cycle 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 set on the treadmill and one hour on VELO (today: Day 4 of a new set).]

Leroy 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.

The CDR also completed the weekly TVIS maintenance, which generally checks the condition of the SPDs (subject positioning devices) and records timer data (time & date). [For running on the treadmill (motor-powered or passive), the crewmember wears a special harness with bungees that are hooked into the strut-like SPDs, one left, one right, to keep him centered and minimize the force transferred to the station during exercise, while keeping his feet in contact with the running surface.]

Sharipov unstowed and installed the equipment for the periodic Russian MO-10 “Hematokrit” testing, scheduled for tomorrow. [MO-10 measures the hematocrit (red blood cell mass) value of the blood (it is a well-known phenomenon of space flight that red blood cell mass {normal range: 30-45%} tends to go down over time).]

Tomorrow at ~11:00am EST, ISS will maneuver to XPOP attitude (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane). During the maneuver an attempt will be made to collect photogrammetric data for both P6 solar array wing (SAW) tips using the Lab video camera to view the 2B (starboard) tip and the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) Tip Elbow camera for the 4B (port) SAW tip. [Purpose of these data is to ascertain whether any shoulder bolts at the BGA (Beta Gimbal Assembly) housings are loose. A backed-out bolt would show up by its effect on SAW fundamental bending frequencies, and since the ground has baseline information on these, a loose bolt could be identified by a frequency shift showing up in the photogrammetric survey.]

U.S. power system 4B3 battery reconditioning was successfully completed last night. The battery has been returned to nominal operations and is providing power to the station again.

No CEO (crew earth observation) targets today.

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:

• Progress M-51 (16P) undocking & destructive reentry — 2/27/05;
• Progress M-52 (17P) launch — 2/28/05.
• EVA-13 — 3/25/05;
• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) launch — 4/15/05 with Expedition 11 (CDR Sergei Krikalev, FE/SO John Phillips);
• Soyuz TMA-5 (9S) undock — 4/25/05 with Exp. 10 crew (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS);
• Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/10/05;
• Progress M-54 (19P) launch — 8/24/05;
• Soyuz TMA-7 (11S) launch — 9/27/05.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 11:48am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 358.4 km
• Apogee height — 361.5 km
• Perigee height — 355.3 km
• Period — 91.71 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.65 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0004595
• Solar Beta Angle — 9.6 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.70
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 142 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 35752

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.