NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 Oct 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.  Week 1 for Expedition 8 is underway.

The crewmembers are back on a nominal sleep cycle (1:00am-4: 30pm EST) and have their second half-day off-duty to help them get “acclimated” to their new home for the next 200 days.

After lunch, Foale and Kaleri started a two-hour emergency OBT (on-board training) drill, with both Russian and US specialists standing by if the crew had any questions or comments.  The rule is that the emergency egress exercise should be performed by every new station crew once within seven days after departure of the previous crew.   [Purpose of the drill is to familiarize the station residents with the stowage locations of emergency equipment and the position of valves used in emergency situations, to work through the Russian Segment (RS) deactivation procedures, and to develop crew emergency joint measures.  Crewmembers are to verify ISS readiness for emergency response by performing specific actions such as inspection of all translation paths to the Soyuz CRV and determination of any obstructions that would hinder an emergency egress, inspection of all vehicle hatchways and determination if hatchways can be easily cleared in the event of an emergency, reviewing and discussing methods to disconnect air-ducts that run through Russian hatches (without disconnecting any permanent hardware), determining the accessibility of all communications panels and hardware, of all emergency equipment, of specific ports, instruments and kits, and confirming that specific valves are in the expected configuration. The exercise is usually topped off by a debrief with the ground.]

CDR/SO Mike Foale conducted his first PEP (portable emergency provisions) inspection, verifying that PFEs (portable fire extinguishers), PBAs (portable breathing apparatus), QDMs (quick-don masks) and the oxygen extension hose tee kit are all free of damage, to ensure their functionality.  [There are a total of five PBAs in the U.S. segment, viz., two in Node lockers, two in Lab module forward and aft endcone lockers, and one in the Airlock PEP locker.]

FE Alex Kaleri worked on the Russian ODF (operational data files), replacing pages to update the documentation to Expedition 8 status.

In the Service Module’s (SM) Assembly Compartment, Kaleri performed periodic inspection and tightening of the quick-disconnect clamps of the SSVP docking mechanism in the hatchway between the Progress 12P and the SM aft end.  [The SSVP is the “classic” probe-and-cone type, consisting of an active docking assembly (ASA) with a probe (SSh), which fits into the cone (SK) on the passive docking assembly (PSA).  The ASA is mounted on the Progress’ cargo module (GrO), while the PSA sits on the docking ports of the SM, FGB and DC-1.]

Sasha also conducted his first weekly status checkup of the air flow sensors (IP-1) that are installed in the various RS (Russian segment) hatchways and the hatchway between FGB and Node.

Mike Foale’s planned assignment to replace RED (resistive exercise device) canisters #1009 & #1010 with cans #1001 & #1003 in the Node today was deferred.  [The two canisters were installed by Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko on 9/18, and #1009 had begun making scraping noise at upper load levels and intermittently at about 78% load on 10/8.].

Kaleri replaced the hard disk drive (HDD) in the TP1 laptop with the photo HDD for the Uragan and Diatomeya programs.

Mike called down the “ad hoc” O2 partial pressure of the cabin air.  [O2 data for trending analyses by the ground are collected daily by the crew with the U.S. CSA-CP (compound specific analyzer-combustion products).]

The routine technical maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, incl. the toilet equipment (ASU) was conducted by Sasha, while Mike completed the regular routine status checkup of ISS-8 autonomous payloads in the Lab.

At 1:10pm EST, Kaleri prepared and set up the test equipment for the periodic Russian MO-10 “Hematokrit” testing scheduled for tomorrow.  [MO-10 measures the hematocrit (red cell mass) value of the blood (as a well-known phenomenon of space flight, red blood cell mass {normal range: 30-45%} tends to go down over time).]

The current energetic solar particle storm continued today, and the crew was informed of the event times during high-dose-rate passes when they were advised to go to the higher-shielded locations within ISS, viz., the aft end of the SM and the TESS (temporary sleep station) in the Lab.  If the ground discovered that an event was not going to take place, they were also to be notified.

The crew performed their daily physical exercise program for the full 2.5 hrs. on TVIS, CEVIS, RED and VELO with load trainer.

ISS flight attitude continues to be XPOP, until 11/3.

On 10/27, at 2:57pm EDT (eight minutes before Soyuz TMA-3 hatch closure), while ISS was in XPOP momentum management mode, the station experienced a large unexpected roll maneuver event, with momentum increasing from 16% to 90% in four minutes.  Since 90% triggers a desaturation of the CMGs (control moment gyroscopes) with SM thrusters, several desaturation burns followed, using several kilograms of propellant.  Proper attitude control was reestablished for the undocking.  [At one point 20 degrees of total attitude error was observed. The large error is attributable to the nature of the momentum manager controller of the U.S. motion control system, whoseobject is to conservemomentum at the expense of attitude error.  The controller is not designed to handle large external torques such as seen on this day, and hence the large deviations in attitude and momentum.  Troubleshooting by Moscow determined that the cause of the torque was a crewmember, during ingress, contacting the Soyuz hand controllers (HCs), which are not supposed to be active at that time.  TsUP further determined that the override commands to activate the HCs were inadvertently initiated via Soyuz control panel pushbutton while the crew was loading return items. The crew reconfigured the override pushbuttons and continued with nominal undocking activities.]

As per final Expedition 7 crew report, Soyuz 6S brought back the following U.S. payloads:

• Solid Sorbent Air Sampler (SSAS)
• Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK)
• Potable Water Samples (2)
• Crew Personal Dosimeters
• Condensate Water Sample
• ITCS Coolant Line Water Sample
• Airlock Water Line Sample
• EMU Gas Trap
• TVIS Treadmill Roller Bearings (3)
• No Grab Sample Containers (GSCs)

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:47pm EST).

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

• Elektron O2 generator is powered On, 17A.  Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (in Manual Mode 5/3).  U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Operating in single-bed mode after failure/shutdown.  TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating.  MCA (major constituents analyzer) is off (in Life Extending Mode).  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) — 27.5; ppO2 (mmHg) — 161.3; ppCO2 (mmHg) — 2.5.
• SM Transfer Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) — 765; temperature (deg C) — 20.9.
• FGB Cabin:  Pressure (mmHg) — 772; temperature (deg C) — 22.3.
• Node:  Pressure (mmHg) — 761.7; temperature (deg C) — 23.6; (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• U.S. Lab:  Pressure (mmHg) — 763.4; temperature (deg C) — 24.2; ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock):   Pressure (mmHg) — 763.5; temperature (deg C) — 27.8; shell heater temp (deg C) — 23.8, ppO2 (mmHg) — n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) — n/a.
• PMA-1:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 24.6
• PMA-2:  Shell heater temp (deg C) — 13.7.

(n/a = data not available)

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

• Both P6 channels fully operational.  BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B and 4B both in Autotrack (sun-trackung, biased for drag reduction). 
• SM batteries:  Battery #8, formerly known as #7, is off (still in slot #8); all other batteries (7) are in “Partial Charge” mode (batteries #1 and #3 are degraded). 
• FGB batteries:  Batteries #1 is off; battery #3 is in “Cycle” mode; all other batteries (4) are in “Partial Charge” mode.
• Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

Command & Data Handling Systems:

• C&C-2 MDM is prime, C&C-1 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-1 MDM is Off; PL-2 MDM is Operational.
• APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
• SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational; string #2 dropped out 9/26.
• SM Central Computer (TsVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational; string #3 dropped out 10/22.

Propulsion System:

• Total propellant load available: 3856 kg (8501b) as of 10/23  [SM(755) + FGB(2749) + 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:

• LVLH YVV (y-axis in velocity vector, i.e. flying “sidewise”) [yaw: -90 deg, pitch: -8.9 deg., roll: 1.8 deg]), with CMG Momentum Management.

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, IAC-1 is suspect).
• 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, 7:13am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 378.8 km
• Apogee — 383.2 km
• Perigee — 374.3 km
• Period — 92.1 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) —  51.63 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0006632
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.63
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. ’98)  — 28141
• For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html