NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 27 January 2005

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

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2004) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.

Today’s early-morning Orlan EVA-12 by CDR/SO Chiao and FE Sharipov was yet another resounding success for the ISS program.  After opening DC1 airlock hatch #1 at 2:43am EST (21 min behind plan) and spending 5hrs 28 min outside the Russian segment (RS), the two spacewalkers

• Installed a Universal Work Platform (URM-D) with baseplate (FP-20) on the Service Module Working Compartment (SM RO),
• Installed the German robotics experiment RokvISS on the URM-D,
• Relocated the Japanese MPAC/SEED experiment package on its carrier rack,
• Mounted the RokvISS radio control antenna (TM/TC unit with boom) in the MPAC/SEED’s former place,
• Installed cables from the antenna to the SM (and later corrected two misinstalled connectors),
• Inspected and photographed the external valve vents of the Elektron, Vozdukh and BMP micropurification unit, discovering contamination residue of some 15 cm in diameter around the Elektron s vent, and
• Installed the Russian BIORISK-MSN experiment on the DC1 hull.

[RokvISS investigates the feasibility of robotic function and remote control in open space environment.  Its REU (Robotic External Unit) arm, installed on the URM-D, is controlled by the CUP (Communication Unit for Payloads) via the OBC (Onboard Controller) electronics, part of SM systems.  RokvISS communicates directly with the GOSC (German Space Operations Center) ground station in Germany via independent S-band comm link.  BIORISK (BIO-2), in three canisters, studies space flight impact on microorganisms, in support of ecological safety and planetary quarantine issues.]

The EVA proceeded smoothly and ended with return to the DC1 and hatch closing at 8:11am.  This was the 57th spacewalk in support of ISS assembly/maintenance and the 32nd from the station itself (14 from Pirs , including one aborted).  With today s EVA, ISS spacewalks have been staged by 39 NASA astronauts, 10 Russian cosmonauts, one Canadian and one Frenchman, totaling 343 hrs 45 min.

Earlier, after crew wake-up at 5:30pm last night, all pre-EVA activities had proceeded smoothly and on schedule, starting out with Leroy and Salizhan undergoing another MO-9 urine biochemistry test.  A second session with the Urolux equipment was conducted by both crewmembers immediately after post-EVA station repress from Progress 16 s air supply.

Final onboard pre-EVA activities by the crew included:

• Configuring the Ethernet OpsLAN (Operations Local Area Network) for the RS/USOS hatch closure (and resetting it after post-EVA hatch opening);
• Closing U.S. hatches between Lab & Node (2), Node strbd & Airlock, and Node & PMA-1 (at ~7:05pm), with IMV (Intermodule Ventilation) valves remaining open and the MPEVs (Manual Pressure Equalization Valves) closed to support equalization of module pressures;
• Reconfiguring DC1 & SM PkhO transfer tunnel and RS systems;
• Checking out Orlan suit interface control panels (BSS) in DC1 & PkhO;
• Reconfiguring EVA communications links;
• Rerouting C&W (caution & warning) alarms from the C&W panel to the PkhO EVA support panel;
• Checking out comm & medical monitoring gear as well as repress bottles (BK-3) in the DC1;
• Tearing down the air duct in the DC1 (leaving the V3 fan in place); and
• Conducting final inspection of the Orlans and their BSS units (11:55pm).

During the EVA, attitude control momentum again was observed to build up in the U.S. CMGs (Control Moment Gyros) from reacting to external torques, requiring control authority transfer to SM thrusters to permit gyro desaturation.  Attitude control then returned to the CMGs.

After return from the EVA and DC1 airlock repressurization from cabin air at ~8:15am, the crew opened hatches and reentered the SM for ISS activation operations.  Sharipov restored systems configurations in the DC1 and other RS modules to pre-EVA conditions, then installed the DC1 air ducts.

At ~10:30am, Leroy began reopening the USOS transfer hatches from the RS.  Afterwards, the CDR restored the ITCS (Intertnal Thermal Control System) and the OpsLAN network.

A cabin air repress from Progress 16 air supplies followed to replace the pressure drop from the DC1 repress.

At 1:43pm, shortly after start of crew sleep period, ISS attitude was changed from LVLH XVV (local vertical local horizontal/x-axis in velocity vector) by 90 degrees to LVLH YVV (y-axis in velocity vector), i.e., flying sideways , as required by the solar Beta angle approaching 60 deg.

Shifted sleep time, begun at 1:30pm, extends till 1:00am tomorrow morning, easing the crew back to their nominal sleep cycle and a short work day tomorrow to allow them additional rest.

Upcoming Key Events:

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

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.

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.