NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 May 2006

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2006) 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’s sleep/work schedule remains shifted 6 hrs. to the right, with wakeup at 8:00am EDT, sleep time at 11:30pm, in preparation for next week’s late-night EVA-16.   [There will be one final work/rest cycle adjustment before the 6/1 spacewalk: wakeup at 9:00am, sleep time on 6/2 at 6:30am.]

Both crewmembers are continuing initial preparations for the Russian-controlled spacewalk a week from now (Thursday), today focusing on configuring & readying the Orlan gear and degassing the Orlan and BSS suit interface cooling loops.  Activities are being supported by ground specialist tagup.   [Vinogradov and Williams worked on the EVA support panels (POV) in the Russian segment (RS) to set them up and check them out for the standard EVA training run/suited drill on 5/30 and the spacewalk on 6/1, both in the Service Module Transfer Compartment (SM PkhO) and in the DC1 Docking Compartment.  The checkouts are to make sure that stowage caps are installed on the BSS fluid umbilicals and that Orlan depress tools and BK-3 custom wrenches are available and tethered in DC1 and PkhO.  Preparations will then be concentrated on separating water and air (“degassing”) of the cooling system at the Orlan BSS control panels at both locations.]

At the battery charger (ZU-S) in the DC1 docking module, CDR Vinogradov is to terminate charging on the second 28V battery pack (825M3) for the Orlan backpacks and remove the pack from the charger.

Later today, FE Williams will retrieve two new CSA-CP units (#1043 & #1045), which had been allowed to decontaminate (outgas) since their arrival on Progress 21, and perform monthly routine maintenance on them, before assigning them prime and backup roles.   [The old units, #1012 & #1017, used beyond their certified lifetime because of the decontamination, were stowed for return on ULF1.1.]

Afterwards, Jeff initiates a one-hour data take with the prime CSA-CP as a spot check.  The data logger will then be deactivated, but the CSA-CP will remain powered on for continuous passive sampling.

Continuing his activities to ready the Progress 20 vehicle, currently docked to the DC1, for remote commanded separation in case of an offnominal EVA event, Pavel Vinogradov will activate the cargo craft and deinstall the ventilation air duct between it and DC1.

Pavel’s next activity is removal and inspection of the threaded quick-disconnect (QD) screw clamps on the DC1 side, which rigidize the mating surfaces.  The interface will be inspected visually and video-recorded with the U.S. DVCAM to make sure that there is no damage.   [For these activities, ISS attitude was changed, at 10:35am EDT, from XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) to LVLH XVV (local vertical local horizontal/x-axis in velocity vector), the thrusters are to be disabled at 6:50pm and the automatic handover to RS inhibited.  Procedures are in place for the unlikely event of the station going into free drift as a result of loss of CMG attitude control or a primary GNC MDM failure.]

The CDR’s third step tonight is the closure of the DC1-20P transfer hatch and the subsequent one-hour hatch leak test.   [After a nominal EVA, 20P transfer hatch will be re-opened on 6/6 for more trash loading.]

This morning, Vinogradov set up the Russian Laptop 3 in support of a four-week test procedure initiated by TsUP-Moscow on the ASN-M satellite navigation system, required for the arrival of the European ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) “Jules Verne” next year.  [During the extensive checkout from Europe/Oberpfaffenhofen, special software on LT3 (running the “Solaris” Operating System) will be used for onboard storage of test data and logs.]

Jeffrey Williams meanwhile had another 2h 5m on the timeline for continuing equipment prepacking for Shuttle mission STS-121/ULF1.1, based on an uplinked updated 36-page prepack list.   [One recommendation by the FE to the timeliners was for them to schedule his prepack time in larger blocks.]

Later today, Jeff is to conduct the regular weekly audit/inventory of the available CWCs (collapsible water containers) and their contents, to keep track of onboard water supplies.   [Updated “cue cards” based on Jeff’s water calldowns are sent up every other week.  The current card lists 16 water containers (~270 liters total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (for Elektron, flushing, hygiene; one CWC was found leaking, #1027), potable water (~180 liters), condensate water (for processing) and other (TCS fluid, EMU waste water).  Current assumed rate of water use is 2.2 liters per person per day with Elektron (vs. 1.7 liters per person per day without Elektron).  Updated resupply rate for Expedition 12, as of 3/27, was 1.53 liters per person per day.  Total water currently on board is ~1200 liters, which would last ~273 days without resupply.  This includes 420 l delivered by Progress 21.  22P is expected to bring 130 l and ULF1.1 ~645 l.]

Another routine work assignment for the FE tonight is the daily check of alignment and focus of the EarthKAM (EK) camera and position of flash aimed at the sample of the BCAT-3 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test) science activity.   [The EK camera is taking automated time-lapse flash photography (once every hour) of BCAT sample #3 at the MWA (Maintenance Work Area), controlled from the SSC-7 laptop (Station Support Computer 7).  The imaging is to continue for two weeks.]

Williams will also take care of the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s environment control & life support system (SOZh), including the ASU toilet facility subsystems, and update/edit the standard IMS (Inventory Management System) “delta file”, with locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).

Later, Jeff performs his daily atmospheric status check for ppO2 (Partial Pressure Oxygen) and ppCO2 (pp Carbon Dioxide), using the CSA-CP (Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products), CSA-O2 (CSA-Oxygen Sensor) and CDMK (CO2 Monitoring Kit).

Both crewmembers are scheduled to work out in their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the TVIS treadmill (FE, CDR), RED resistive exerciser (FE) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR).   [Pavel Vinogradov’s daily protocol prescribes a strict four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill in unmotorized mode and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 2 of the latest microcycle).]

Afterwards, the FE transfers 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 CEVIS, when used, and RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

Still remaining on Pavel’s discretionary “time as available” task list is the search for “missing” Russian equipment items, specifically a transformer for the SOZh’s water management system with cable and accessories that were delivered about three years ago on a Progress cargo ship but never used.

At ~10:10pm EDT tonight, CDR Vinogradov and FE Williams will set up the Russian TV equipment in the SM and downlink, at 10:30pm, a video message of greetings to the participants of the 21st Interregional Celebration of Slavic Literature and Folklore “At the Land of Boyan” in the city of Trubchevsk.   [Trubchevsk is an ancient historic township in the Bryansk Oblast in Russia, about 80 km SW of the city of Bryansk.  Trubchevsk is mentioned in old East Slavic manuscripts dating back to at least the 12th Century.  It was founded in 975 during the time of the Vikings, and its inhabitants were famous for their bravery in war.  The town is referred to in a great Ruthenian poem, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, which called for the princes of the various Slavic lands to join forces in resisting the oncoming Tatar invasion.  Crew: “…You are lucky: you live in one of the most ancient towns of Russian land, which you treasure, love and cherish…We believe that because of the hard work and aspiration of the citizens of Trubchevsk the land of the Russian epic bard Boyan will become a source of inspiration for Russian culture and spirituality on the entire planet.  Cosmic cheer, well-being and prosperity to you all!”]

With the Elektron oxygen (O2) generator turned off until after the EVA, a repress with 10.8 mmHg (15.2lbs) of O2 from 20P was performed yesterday.   [Elektron is functional but awaiting the EVA-installation of a new outside nozzle for dumping its waste hydrogen.]

Also yesterday, the crew was able to some obtain outstanding imagery of an eruption of the Cleveland Volcano on Chuginadak Island, a remote and uninhabited island in the east central Aleutian Islands.   [The Flight Director informed various parties and the Alaska Volcano Observatory passed on the information to the National Weather Service and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).]

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 Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire (the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest [HBEF] is a 3,160 hectare reserve located in the White Mountain National Forest, near Woodstock, New Hampshire.  The on-site research program is dedicated to the long-term study of forest and associated aquatic ecosystems.  Documenting land cover and land use change in the region), Harvard Forest, Vermont (the Harvard Forest is located in a rural setting in north-central Massachusetts about 70 miles west of Boston.  The 1200-hectare site lies in the Transition Hardwood-White Pine-Hemlock forest region, and includes a variety of forests and wetlands.  Research at the Forest focuses on effects of natural and human disturbances on forest ecosystems), Plum Island Ecosystem, Maine (the Plum Island Ecosystems [PIE] LTER is an integrated research, education and outreach program whose goal is to develop a predictive understanding of the long-term response of watershed and estuarine ecosystems at the land-sea interface to changes in climate, land use and sea level.  The principal study site is the Plum Island Sound estuary, its coupled Parker, Rowley and Ipswich River watersheds and the adjacent coastal ocean, the Gulf of Maine.   Documenting land use and land cover change), Milk River (the Milk River site is one of a group of sites in the Time Travelers suite of sites.  Time Travelers addresses the issue of how this country met the growing needs of an expanding population from the time of its inception until the frontier shifted from the American West to space.  Milk River was one of the earliest transportation systems in the west.  New images of the trails from the ISS will help to facilitate discussions and enhance the learning process in classrooms and museums), Middlesboro Impact Crater (this 6km diameter impact crater has been photographed relatively few times.  The eastern rim is the most prominent structural feature and can be seen on the east side of the city of Middlesboro, Kentucky), Coweeta Forest, North Carolina (the Coweeta LTER research program is based in the eastern deciduous forest of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province of the southern Appalachian Mountains.  The LTER program was established in 1980 and is the centerpiece of a long-term cooperation between the University of Georgia and the USDA Forest Service Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and a member of the LTER Network.  The Coweeta LTER research program centers on the effects of disturbance and environmental gradients on biogeochemical cycling, and the underlying watershed ecosystem processes that regulate and respond to those cycles), Luquillo Forest, Puerto Rico (the Luquillo Experimental Forest [LEF] has been a center of tropical forestry research for nearly a century.  In addition, the LEF is a recreation site for over a half a million people per year, a water sup

To date, more than 198,000 of CEO images have been taken in the first five years of the ISS, almost one third of the total number of images taken from orbit by astronauts.

  CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:

• http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/station/CEO.html
• 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 13 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-13/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 13 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, 7:18am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 342.9 km
• Apogee height — 348.9 km
• Perigee height — 336.9 km
• Period — 91.39 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.63 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0008907
• Solar Beta Angle — -25.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.75
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 97 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 42958

Significant Events Ahead (all dates subject to change):

• 05/30/06 — Russian EVA-16 Dry-Run/Orlan Drill
• 06/01/06 — EVA-16 (EV-1 hatch open ~6:40pm EDT; duration ~5h 50m)
• 06/08/06 — ISS reboost with 21P for phasing (6:51pm EDT, delta-V 1.5 m/s)
• 06/19/06 — Progress M-55/20P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 06/24/06 — Progress M-57/22P launch
• 06/26/06 — Progress M-57/22P docking (DC1)
• 07/01/06 — STS-121/ULF1.1 launch (earliest)
• 07/03-11/06 — STS-121/ULF1.1 docked mission w/ISS (earliest)
• 07/??/06 — US EVA-5
• 08/28/07 — STS-115/12A launch (earliest)
• 08/30-09/06 — STS-115/12A docked mission w/ISS (earliest) – P3/P4 trusses
• 09/13/06 — Progress M-56/21P undocking (SM aft port) & reentry
• 09/14/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S launch (Expedition 14 + VC11)
• 09/16/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S docking (SM aft port)
• 09/24/06 — Soyuz TMA-8/12S undocking (FGB nadir port) & reentry
• 10/10/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)
• 10/18/06 — Progress M-58/23P launch
• 10/20/06 — Progress M-58/23P docking (SM aft port)
• 11/22/06 — Russian EVA-17
• 12/14/06 — STS-116/12A.1 launch (earliest)
• 12/16-23/06 — STS-116/12A.1 docked mission w/ISS (earliest) – P5 truss
• 12/19/06 — Progress M-57/22P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 12/20/06 — Progress M-59/24P launch
• 12/22/06 — Progress M-59/24P docking (DC1)
• 01/22/07 — US EVA-6
• 01/26/07 — US EVA-7
• 01/31/07 — US EVA-8
• 02/06/07 — Progress M-59/24P undocking (DC1) & reentry
• 02/07/07 — Progress M-60/25P launch
• 02/09/07 — Progress M-60/25P docking (DC1)
• 02/22/07 — STS-117/13A launch (earliest) – S3/S4 trusses
• 02/24-03/03/07 — STS-117/13A docked mission w/ISS  (earliest)
• 03/08/07 — Progress M-58/23P undocking (SM aft port) & reentry
• 03/09/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S launch (Expedition 15 + VC12)
• 03/11/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S docking (SM aft port)
• 03/19/07 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S undocking (FGB nadir port)
• ??/??/07 — Soyuz TMA-10/14S relocation (SM aft port to FGB nadir port)
• 06/11/07 — STS-118/13A.1 (earliest).

ISS Altitude History

Apogee height — Mean Altitude — Perigee height

For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website. Additional satellite tracking resources can be found at http://www.spaceref.com/iss/tracking.html.