NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 3 August 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.

Jeff Williams (EV1) and Thomas Reiter (EV2) successfully completed EVA-5 with Airlock hatch closure at 3:58pm EDT. Objectives of this spacewalk, in the disciplines of station assembly, maintenance, science and risk mitigation efforts, were –

• Installation of the FPMU (Floating Potential Measuring Unit) on the S1 truss to continue earlier measurements of the (static) electrical charge of the ISS external environment due to plasma;
• Inspecting and installing SPDs (Spool Positioning Devices) to aid future reconfiguration of fluid connectors;
• Installing several radiator cooling fluid jumper lines to improve pump flow performance when coolant is added later;
• Replacing a failed RJMC (Rotary Joint Motor Controller) and a failed MDM (Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) computer, both components associated with the starboard truss thermal radiator (the first maintenance item restored redundancy and the second enables deployment of two large radiators after STS-120/10A);
• Removing and replacing a shunt insert on the S0 starboard truss;
• Retrieval of GPS Antenna Assembly #2 (AA-2) for return to Earth (intermittent antenna #4 was left in place since #2 completely failed early this week);
• Installing a pair of MISSE material exposure experiments (-3 & -4);
• Installing a CETA (Crew External Translation Aid) S1-1 light for EVA support on the S-1 truss standoff;
• Installing an NPV (non-propulsive valve) on the Lab vacuum vent; and
• Evaluating the effectivity of an IR (infrared) camera for use in Shuttle TPS inspections. The camera will record video of damaged samples of the Orbiter’s nose cap and wing leading edge thermal protection materials.

[Official start time of the spacewalk was 10:04am EDT. Hatch opening posed some initial difficulty. Accomplished work includes some “get ahead” tasks. Total EVA duration was 5 hours 54 minutes. It was the 69th spacewalk devoted to space station construction and maintenance since assembly began in 1998. It was the third EVA for Williams, who performed an ISS assembly spacewalk in 2000 and a more recent outing in June, and the third for Reiter, who performed two Orlan-suited EVAs aboard the Russian Mir space station in 1995 and 1996.]

The crew’s wakeup time was shifted by two hours, from 2:00am to 4:00am EDT. Sleep time tonight will start at 7:30pm.

Preparations for the spacewalk after wakeup included activation of the DCS-760 photo camera for the EVA by FE-2 Williams, configuring the STTS intermodular communications network by CDR Vinogradov, powering up the PCS (Portable Computer System) laptop in the Airlock (A/L) by FE-2 Reiter, configuring the two EMUs (Extravehicular Mobility Units) for EVA and an EMU prebreathe, A/L CL (Crew Lock) depressurization, final preparations by Jeff and Thomas, and ISS egress from the US segment. Pavel Vinogradov stayed behind to provide IV (intravehicular) support.

As the spacewalk continued with FPMU installation, EVA equipment configuration and MISSE 3&4 attachment at the A/L, the CDR relocated the ALTCRISS (Alteino Long Term monitoring of Cosmic Rays on the ISS) ACT spectrometer in the Service Module (SM), installed new shielding tiles/blocks around it, and relocated the PCMCIA memory card. [The relocation of the ACT Spectrometer from the SM starboard crew cabin to panel 437 was done on crew’s request, so that the Z axis passing through the spectrometer entry ports would face the SM floor and ceiling (Z axis direction does not change relative to the previous ACT spectrometer configuration). ALTCRISS uses the ACT spectrometer employed by VC8 guest cosmonaut Roberto Vittori last year in the DC1 for the Italian LAZIO (Low Altitude Zone/Ionization Observatory) experiment.]

Pavel Vinogradov’s support of the EVA also included changing out the video tape in the VTR (Video Tape Recorder). [The ground recorded the EVA on the VTRs, including the audio from channel “Public 1” (S/G 1, UHF 1/3), and the video from the different cameras. This is the first time audio was also recorded; so the crew was made aware that even during S-band LOS (loss of signal) periods, their audio was recorded on the VTRs and will be heard on playback of the VTR Video following the EVA.]

The CDR also completed the routine daily maintenance of the SOZh environment control & life support system in the SM, including the ASU toilet facilities systems/replaceables.

Pavel brought the new ESA experiment CULT up to date by filling out its “cultural” questionnaire on the RSE1 laptop. [CULT is a study conducted currently by Russia for ESA. The multi-Increment investigation, which eventually will involve 12 subjects, including Thomas Reiter, is dedicated to the study of cultural aspects and leadership styles of on-board crews as a function of mission duration, including interactions within multinational crews. The questionnaire is contained on a PCMCIA memory card, to be used for all subjects and sessions.]

After external EVA cleanup and A/L CL ingress, Thomas and Jeff connected their EMU service and cooling umbilicals to the ISS, repressurized the CL and doffed the suits.

Later, Pavel, Thomas and Jeff conducted the regular post-EVA cleanup ops, and Reiter again powered up the A/L laptop, while Vinogradov reconfigured the STTS intermodular comm network for nominal ops.

At ~6:10pm, the CDR is scheduled to conduct a test of VHF comm over a Russian ground site (RGS 33).

Working off his “time permitting” task list, Pavel completed the daily status check of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) Lada-8 experiment. [Rasteniya researches growth and development of plants under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-8 greenhouse. The regular maintenance of the experiment (each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) involves monitoring of seedling growth, humidity measurements, moistening of the substrate if necessary, topping off the water tank if ~20-25% of the total amount (4 liters) remains, and photo/video recording.]

Also from the task list, the CDR was to search for the missing BPU electronic processor (converter-amplifier) box of the Beta-08 ECG (electrocardiogram) units #61 and #63.

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.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern and subject to change):

• 08/27/07 — STS-115/12A launch
• 08/29-09/05 — STS-115/12A docked mission w/ISS (earliest) – P3/P4 trusses
• 08/31/06 — Pavel Vinogradov’s birthday
• 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
• 10/08/06 — 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)
• 10/31/06 — Russian EVA-17
• 12/14/06 — STS-116/12A.1 launch (earliest)
• 12/16-24/06 — 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.