Status Report

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 Sep 2003

By SpaceRef Editor

September 25, 2003

Filed under ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA HQ, US

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 Sep 2003 — iss

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.

Early in the morning, before breakfast, CDR Malenchenko concluded the third part of his current MBI-8 “Profilaktika” (countermeasures) fitness session. Today he conducted the blood test part, which determines lactate and creatine kinase levels in the blood with the AccuSport equipment, followed by the physical exercise session on the TVIS treadmill. FE/SO Lu assisted as CMO (crew medical officer). [The TVIS test is identical to the MO-3 test performed on the treadmill in idling mode with free choice of speeds within a certain specified range. In addition to the nominal test procedure, MBI-8/Part 3 calls for the use of the TEEM-100M gas analyzer during the test, the blood lactate measurements, and subjective evaluation of physical exertion levels during the test. At the end of the creatine kinase tests, the results were logged, copied from Cardiocassette-2000 recording and reported to the ground.]

FE/SO Ed Lu performed the first session with the HRF (human research facility) Ultrasound equipment. Today’s goal was to determine the feasibility of conducting heart/cardiac ultrasound scans during bicycle exercise on-orbit (exercise echocardiography). Malenchenko assisted with the test, taking the scans while Ed Lu was working out on the CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation).

Yuri Malenchenko worked in the Service Module (SM), removing the failed #7 storage battery and replacing it with a new 800A unit brought up by Progress 12P. The ZRU charge/discharge unit #4 was deactivated by TsUP/MCC-Moscow beforehand and later reactivated. [Extensive testing by MCC-Moscow, including a swap-out with battery #8, had determined that the failure of battery #7 was indeed due to the battery itself, exonerating the associated ZRU control electronics. The old battery was pre-packed for disposal in Progress. This should provide the SM with 8 (out of 8) functioning accumulators, of which #1 is still operating with degraded capacity. Of the three batteries delivered by 12P, only one, intended for the FGB, remains as spare.]

Ed Lu worked on the MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) PFMI (Pore Formation & Mobility Investigation) experiment which had successfully completed its last sample, #9. [Ed removed PFMI-9 from the thermal chamber, exchanged the PFMI g-LIMIT bypass micro drive assembly in the laptop and removed the video tape. The MSG was then powered down.]

Ed also completed a “zero” calibration run of the CSA-CP (compound specific analyzer-combustion products), then activated and deactivated the CSA-CP for a cabin air composition data take (see note on MCA, below).

Malenchenko prepared the daily IMS delta file for automatic export/import to update the database and attended to the daily routine maintenance of the SM SOZh life support system (including ASU toilet facilities).

The Science Officer collected and stowed the two passive FMK (formaldehyde monitoring kit) sampling badges which he had deployed in the Lab and SM on 9/23. He also deactivated and stowed the SSAS (solid sorbent air sampler) which he used in the last two days for atmosphere sampling in the Lab and SM.

Malenchenko prepared equipment in the DC-1 docking compartment and SM transfer compartment (PkhO) to get ready for tomorrow’s planned Orlan spacesuit preventive maintenance activities.

Yuri also continued downlinking videotaped payload data from the TEKh-20 Plasma Crystal 3 (PK-3) experiment in the SM, obtained during its run on 8/1. [The transmission, via “Telescience” equipment to Russian ground sites (RGS), began on 9/10 and goes on over several more TV downlink opportunities.]

The CDR conducted the regularly recurring task of photographing the internal cone of the SM aft-port’s docking assembly used for the recent Progress 12P arrival. These images are needed to refine current understanding of the docking conditions. [The objective is to take photos of the scratch mark left by the head of the docking probe on the internal surface of the docking cone. Yuri used a digital still camera (Kodak 760 or Nikon D1) to take two pictures with partially closed hatch and downlinked them later during the day via U.S. OCA assets.]

Late in the day, Ed Lu is scheduled to conduct an informal teleconference with a science team currently staying at the South Pole, via private S/G2 (space-to-ground channel 2).

Yesterday afternoon, a false fire alarm went off in the CHeCS (crew health care systems) rack, drawer D4. The crew did not notice any smell, and CPA-CP readings remained negative. The rack is now fully recovered. [The alarm may have been triggered by dust stirred up by Ed Lu working at an adjacent rack.]

As part of the ongoing troubleshooting of the recent GPS-2 (Global Positioning System #2) error indication, the GPS-2 was power-cycled this morning. It failed and is currently under further investigation.

The MCA (Major Constituents Analyzer) of the Lab ECLLS (environment control & life support system) has been in Life-Extending Mode (LEM) for the past 24 hours, because of concern about an increasing number of shutdowns due to gradually increasing current of the ion pump, which may be nearing the end of its life. Placing the MCA in a LEM will prolong its life. [In this mode, the MCA is no longer sampling the ISS cabin air, but the ion pump is kept operating in order to maintain vacuum in the mass spectrometer, which allows the MCA to be returned easily and quickly to Operational status. Its current is greatly reduced in this mode, as is the rate of erosion of the ion pump cathodes, thus prolonging the pump’s life. During the period in LEM, the MCA provides no atmosphere constituent partial pressure data. The SM Gas Analyzer (GA) is being used for measuring O2 and CO2 concentrations, and the CSA-CP and CDMK (carbon dioxide monitoring kit) are trending O2 and CO2 and also provide comparison with SM GA readings.]

Specialists from MCC-Houston and MCC-Moscow are working on a joint timeline for the complex “handover” period between arrival of Expedition 8 on Soyuz 7S on 10/20 and departure of Expedition 7 on 6S on 10/28.

Yesterday, the Soyuz TMA-3/7S GDR (General Designers’ Review) was conducted at RSC-Energia in Moscow. The mission was cleared for launch from Baikonur on 10/18.

Ed Lu was thanked by POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) for yesterday’s “great day” of CBOSS-FDI (Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System/Fluid Dynamics Investigation). Video from the run was received on the ground and found looking good. There will be further activities next week.

Today’s CEO (crew earth observation) targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Jakarta, Indonesia (Java very clear. Looking right on the north coast for this city. Looking for a possible smog plume rising from the city. Looking further right for the volcano Merapi which ISS/CEO successfully imaged recently [the eruption documented has yet to be announced on most volcano websites]. The crew should be able to acquire a panorama along the entire length of Java with its dramatic line of volcanoes. The most famous volcanic explosion of recent times was Krakatau [heard in Australia], visible now as three small islands at nadir in the strait between Java and Sumatra), Manila, Philippines (nadir and a touch right), Patagonian Glaciers (northern ice field still relatively clear. Nadir pass), Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (good pass over the flammable sub-Congo savannas. The heavy rains of 2000 have generated unusually dense biomass prone to burning this dry season. ISS also tracked over the Okavango delta, a dark green “hand” in the Kalahari Desert. Sun glint images left of track of the waterways of the Okavango and neighboring swamplands are highly desirable), Mt. Kilimanjaro (nadir pass. This is a long-term monitoring site small enough that nadir views seldom occur. Very detailed views were requested to monitor the size of the shrinking ice pack), Nairobi, Kenya (looking a touch left for Kenya’s capital city), Kinshasa, Zaire (looking right for Zaire’s capital city, which lies on the wide point of the Congo River [known as “Stanley Pool”]. More people live in Kinshasa than in the entire country of Congo Republic on the north side of the river), Lake Nasser, Toshka Lakes, Egypt (the quarterly imaging of the lakes is once again requested. Looking left of track for this vast development in southern Egypt), Recife, Brazil (looking right of track for this ancient colonial city, now one of Brazil’s poorest in the depressed coastal plantation region), St. Croix, Caribbean (detailed coral reef images are requested), St. John, Caribbean (detailed coral reef images were requested), and St. Thomas, Caribbean (detailed coral reef images are requested).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

You know you live on the ISS when…
…tech support calls you. (Upbeat uplink from Flight Control).

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 2:00pm EDT).

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):

Elektron O2 generator is powered On, 24A (air also being supplied by Progress 12P). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (in Manual Mode 5/3). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is off. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 742; temperature (deg C) — 27.3; ppO2 (mmHg) — data invalid; ppCO2 (mmHg) — data invalid.
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) — 761; temperature (deg C) — 21.4.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) — 752; temperature (deg C) — 22.0.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) — 753.43; temperature (deg C) — 24.7 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) — 755.02; temperature (deg C) — 24.8; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) — 755.12; temperature (deg C) — 30.2; shell heater temp (deg C) — 26.1, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.5
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) — 13.4.

(n/a = data not available)

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

Both P6 channels fully operational. BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B and 4B both in AutoTrack mode (solar tracking, with 45 deg bias for drag reduction).
SM batteries: Battery #7 has been replaced; all other batteries (7) are in “Partial Charge” mode (battery #1 is degraded).
FGB batteries: Battery #6 is disconnected; all other batteries (5) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.
GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup.
INT-2 is operating; INT-1 is Off.
EXT-2 is On (primary), EXT-1 is Off (both now upgraded to R3).
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-2 MDM is Off; PL-1 MDM is Operational.
APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Propulsion System (PS):

Total propellant load available: 3922 kg (8646 lb) as of 9/18 [SM(755) + FGB(2815) + Progress M(352) + Progress M-1(0)]. (Capability: SM — 860 kg; FGB — 6120 kg).

Attitude Control Systems:

3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).
State vector source — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Attitude source — U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)
Angular rate source — RGA-1

Flight Attitude:

XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = “sun-fixed” [yaw: 0.5 deg, pitch: -9.0 deg., roll: 0 deg]), with CMG TA (thruster assist).

Communications & Tracking Systems:

FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operational.
All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
S-band is operating nominally (on string 2).
Ku-band is operating nominally.
Audio subsystem is operating nominally (IAC-2 is prime).
Video subsystem operating nominally.
HCOR (high-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:

SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at MBS PDGF #2/LEE A, with Keep Alive (KA) power on both strings.
MBS: KA power on both strings.
MT: latched and mated at WS4.
POA: KA power on both strings.
RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is On (DCP connected); Cupola RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:39am EDT [= epoch]):