NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 28 Jul 2003
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. Day 95 in space and Week 13 for the Expedition 7 crew. Today, continuous manned occupancy of the ISS reaches 1000 days. What a milestone in human frontiers exploration history!
Before breakfast, both crewmembers completed a session of the periodic Russian medical experiment protocols PZEh-MO-7 (calf volume measurement) and PZEh-MO-8 (body mass measurement). CDR Yuri Malenchenko set up the MO-8 “scales” equipment and later broke it down and stowed it away. [Calf measurements (left leg only) are taken with the IZOG device, a custom-sewn fabric cuff that fits over the calf, using the knee and lower foot as fixed reference points, to provide a rough index of deconditioning in zero-G and effectiveness of countermeasures. For determining body ass in zero-G, where things are weightless (but not massless), the Russian IM “scales” measure the inertial forces that arise during the oscillatory motion of a mass driven by two helical metering springs with known spring constants. By measuring the time period of each oscillation of the unknown mass (the crewmember) and comparing it to the period of a known mass, the crewmember’s mass is calculated by the computer and displayed].
FE/SO Ed LU worked on the MSG (microgravity science glovebox), activating the rack for a research session with the CSLM (Coarsening in Solid/Liquid Mixtures) experiment series. After the experiment run, he turned the MSG off again. [Today he powered up the ECU (electronics control unit) and checked humidity level and temperature readings inside the sample chamber to ensure that no water is vented into the VES (vacuum exhaust system), calling the values down to POC (Payload Operations Center, Huntsville). On POC Go he was to initiate vacuum venting of SPU #1 which will continue for 24 hours unattended.]
CDR Yuri Malenchenko began another round of periodic preventive maintenance of Russian segment (RS) ventilation systems, starting out with cleaning the Group A fans and grilles in the SM (last time done: 6/23), then the VV2RO airduct fan grilles.
Yuri also worked in the “Pirs” DC-1 to change out its two dust filters (PF1 & PF2) and clean the mesh screens of the V1 & V2 ventilator fans (last time done: 6/26).
Malenchenko initiated his first experiment session with the Russian/German Plasma Crystal-3 (PK-3) payload, activating the evacuation turbopump, tagging up with ground specialists and starting the evacuation of the vacuum chamber (ZB) and PK-3 operations. Later, the experiment was to be terminated and the turbopump deactivated shortly before sleep time. [The experiment is performed on plasma, i.e., fine particles, charged and excited by RF/radio frequency power, inside the evacuated work chamber, where they are studied in three parts: (1) structure modes without void in center, manually (5 min); (2) structure modes without void in center at various RF-discharge power levels, various pressures, and various quantities of particles in automatic mode (60 min); (3) structure modes without void in center at various RF-discharge power levels in automatic mode and excitations (20 min).]
Weekly maintenance of the TVIS (treadmill with vibration isolation and stabilization) was scheduled for Ed Lu, as usual at the end of his exercise period. Both crewmembers completed their full daily physical exercise program (2.5 hrs.).
At 9:50am EDT, the crew were scheduled to participate in a South-American PAO event, TV Globo’s “Fantastico” Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [The downlink was also seen on NASA TV.]
The crew also was to downlink a TV message on the occasion of the 1000th day of manned station occupancy.
Malenchenko was scheduled to perform troubleshooting on the comm port 1 of SSC6 (station support computer 6)
Late in the day, Yuri CDR Malenchenko was to conclude the physical exercise part of his fourth MBI-8 “Profilaktika” (countermeasures) fitness session. The exercise was to be performed on the TVIS treadmill, supported by a tagup with a ground specialist. [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, this part of MBI-8 calls for the use of the TEEM-100M gas analyzer during the test.]
Ed Lu was scheduled to spend some time preparing for the upcoming EPO (educational payload operations) session with the Pu’ili Hawaiian flute and other music instruments.
The CDR conducted the daily routine maintenance of SOZh life support systems and prepared the daily IMS (inventory management system) “delta” file for updating the IMS database, while the SO conducted the periodic status checkup of autonomous Lab payloads.
Payload operators on the ground have been experiencing some minor problems with the HRDL (high rate data link) card in the Payload-1 MDM (multiplexer/demultiplexer). The MDM, presently the primary payload computer, may have to be rebooted.
Today’s 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 Guadalajara, Mexico (CITY AT NIGHT – This is the largest city in this area of Mexico and lay just right of track as ISS approached from the NW), Lima, Peru (CITY AT NIGHT – There may have been some coastal fog, but otherwise the crew had a nadir view of the Peruvian capital as it tracked southeastward along the coast), Buenos Aires, Argentina (CITY AT NIGHT – The city lay right of track, but about 120 miles east across the Rio de la Plata the crew had a nadir pass over the smaller Uruguayan capital of Montevideo), Angolan Biomass Burning (this was a nice opportunity for a long, mapping pass over the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Swamp noting fires and burn scar patterns), Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (continuing mapping fires and burn scars over the Lukanga Swamp onward to Lake Tanganyika), Egypt – Valley of the Kings (CREW SITE – Breaking out the long lenses for a nadir pass in clear weather over this target), Brasilia, Brazil (using the 180 lens, the crew was to try for to capture the extent of this unusual looking city in a single view, just left of track), Casablanca, Morocco (light was a little low, but it was a nadir pass in clear weather over this famous Moroccan port city), Manila, Philippines (CITY AT NIGHT – On this descending pass, the Philippine capital lay just right of track), and Tashkent, Uzbekistan (CITY AT NIGHT – This high, remote city should have been the brightest spot around and at nadir as ISS approached from the WNW).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/
