NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 Jul 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Day 89 in space for the Increment 7 crew.
CDR Yuri Malenchenko continued work on restoring the Russian laptop 1, begun on 7/8. [Today he was to create a backup HDD (hard disk drive) for laptop 1 using a boot-up floppy disk (for Norton Ghost 5.1D) on Russian laptop 2, then “cloning” a new HDD (#6059) on the machine from the Norton Ghost 5.1D disk, replacing HDD #6133.].
Preparatory to the task of decoupling the pipeline connected to the OK-19 port on the Russian NOK-1 condensate removal pump, Yuri was tasked to perform visual assessment behind Service Module (SM) panel 201 to determine if the pipeline can be decoupled. [The tip of the pipeline is 20 mm inside the NOK nozzle, and to make this decoupling possible, the gap between the pipeline and the nearest structural element in that area must be at least 25 millimeters.]
Yesterday’s scheduled CSLM (Coarsening in Solid/Liquid Mixtures) experiment run by FE/SO Ed Lu had to be terminated and deferred when too much humidity was found inside the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) work volume. Today’s MSG CSLM activities were aborted. [The critical parameter of the humidity problem turned out to be the dewpoint. Overnight the ground worked on updating the CSLM-2 procedures and pulling together a plan for recovering CSLM operations later this week.]
Yuri Malenchenko completed the regular weekly checkout of the IP-1 air flow sensors which are installed in the various RS (Russian segment) hatchways and the hatchway between FGB and Node.
For the CDR, Russian flight surgeons had prescribed the MO-5 MedOps KARDIO-ODNT session, an involved cardiovascular test protocol of the human pericardium (heart muscle) activity as well as primary parameters of central and regional blood circulation at rest and under the effect of lower body negative pressure (LBNP, Russian: ODNT). [The LBNP, generated by a specially designed “Chibis” suit, applies suction on the lower body ranging from 10 to 60 mmHg, thereby exerting a functional loading roughly equivalent to 10-60 kg of force on the musculoskeletal system to test the body’s adaptation to prolonged exposure to microgravity. After an initial setup period, during which a large number of electrodes are attached to the head, body and extremities of the test subject, cardiographic readings on the oscilloscope of the Gamma-1M medical complex are taken during one or two Russian ground sites (RGS) comm passes, first without, then with the Chibis suit. The complex experiment took several hours, and Yuri was assisted by Ed Lu during the entire procedure.]
Ed completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, and Yuri took care of the daily preparation of the IMS “delta” file for download.
The Science Officer continued the planned week-long EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) battery maintenance activities. [Today, charging of batteries #2032 and #2033 in the BSA (battery stowage assembly) was terminated, and the batteries were allowed to cool down for one hour. Next step then was start of their discharge.]
Both crewmembers conducted their regular daily physical exercise program of 2.5 hrs., and Ed Lu performed the weekly maintenance/inspection of the TVIS treadmill, with regular time & date check of the system. The TVIS exercise sessions were video taped for downlink, and the TVIS files were transferred to the MEC (medical equipment computer).
Later in the day, Malenchenko set up the “Urolux” equipment for his and Ed Lu’s next session with the Russian biochemical urine test (PZE MO-9), on tomorrow’s schedule for both crewmembers.
TsUP/Moscow is continuing checkout tests of the newly installed Russian ASN satellite navigation antenna system, but technical problems with the system have been encountered. The testing will be continued for the rest of this week, with conclusions to be drawn by the end of the week. [Using GLONASS satellites (the Russian equivalent of GPS), the ASN, when functioning, will allow state vector (SV) updates without using the ground (which up to now has to uplink daily SV updates) or requiring SV transfers from the USOS from time to time.]
Today’s optional CEO (crew earth observation) targets, no longer limited in the current LVLH attitude and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, were Sao Paulo, Brazil (looking slightly left for a general view of the urban region. It may be possible to get the entire region into two 180-mm frames for the comparative study), SE Africa aerosols (interesting pass along the SE coast of southern Africa. Oblique views left of track may reveal vertical structuring of the atmosphere, with different aerosol loading over the coastal plain versus the often more polluted plateau air), Patagonian Glaciers (gap in winter storm systems: looking at lower elevations for glacier tongues. Handheld images taken with low sun have revealed all kinds of micro-topographic detail in the ice of the glacier surfaces [crevasse systems and ridges usually related to darker moraines within the ice]), Congo basin rivers (Dynamic event. Very clear conditions remain over the Congo basin. Looking left of track for glint images of the drainage pattern [glint disc is large in the winter hemisphere]. The major question is what rivers and landforms develop where much sediment is deposited along the rim of this enclosed basin), and Peru – Machu Picchu (the ground has followed the crew’s systematic homing in on this small site. CEO now has good coverage along the interesting Yavero and Apurimac River canyons, and a swath long the Urubamba River [at the foot of the Machu Picchu site], yet to include the site.)
CEO images can be viewed at the websites
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/