Status Report

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 May 2005

By SpaceRef Editor

May 5, 2005

Filed under ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA HQ/SpaceRef/NASA Watch, US

NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 May 2005 — http://images.spaceref.com/news/iss.21.jpg

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2005) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.

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

After today s major Elektron repair work, the O2 generator continues to be off. Presently (~1:00pm EDT) the O2 partial pressure (ppO2) is 157.6 mmHg. Total cabin air pressure is 753 mmHg. [As per plan, the crew worked for several hours this morning, performing major R&R (removal & replacement) on the electrolyzer by disconnecting the machine s Liquid Unit #5 (BZh-5) and installing instead the previously used BZh-6 (which had been checked out functionally on 4/6 & 4/8 by FE Sharipov and was found acceptable as a good spare). As part of the work, Krikalev also removed the O2 end-filter (BD, secondary purification unit) from the BZh5, which is now considered failed beyond repair , and installed it on the BZh-6, replacing its own BD. Afterwards, the Elektron was reactivated (~11:56am EDT), running for about 3 minutes before shutting down again. Russian specialists are reviewing the shutdown signature before deciding on a forward plan. No additional work will be performed today.]

CDR Krikalev and FE/SO Phillips completed the third and final day for the current renal (kidney) stone experiment session (the first for Expedition 11), with both of them collecting one final urine sample each, finishing their dietary/metabolic log entries and then stowing all equipment. [This long-range preventive medicine investigation features daily ingestion of either potassium citrate or placebo tablets. It is a double blind research study by NASA/JSC, investigating statistically whether potassium citrate is as effective in zero-G in preventing formation of kidney stones as it is on the ground. The experiment requires keeping a metabolic diet log (food & fluid intake), followed by collection of urine samples several times per day during the three-day session, with collections ending today.]

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Sergei and John also conducted a familiarization checkout with the CMRS (crew medical restraint system) and its attachment system, unstowed from the CHeCS (crew health care systems) rack. [The board-like CMRS allows strapping down a patient on the board with a harness for medical attention by the CMO (crew medical officer) who is also provided with restraints around the device. CMRS can be secured to the ISS structure (a rack) within two minutes to provide a patient restraint surface for performing emergency medical procedures, such as during ACLS (advanced cardiac life support). It can also be used to transport a patient between the station and the Orbiter middeck. It isolates the crew and equipment electrically during defibrillations and pacing electrical discharges, accommodates the patient in the supine zero-G positions, provides cervical spine stabilization and, for a three-person crew, can also restrain two CMOs (crew medical officers) during their delivery of medical care.]

The CDR did the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh environment control & life support system, including its ASU toilet system and today also the weekly inspection of the BRPK air/liquid condensate separator apparatus.

The SKV-2 air conditioner continues to run nominally, collecting condensate in the Russian segment (RS). SKV-1 is still off after its restoration with a wick cleaning on 2/17. Plans are to activate it soon for a checkout and to repeat the wick cleaning if required. [Also underway are discussions to determine whether the 60 liters of condensate water collected in the US segment (USOS) with the CCAA from 4/1 to 4/29 should be used as toilet flush water or, after processing, for electrolysis in the Elektron.]

The crew conducted their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, RED resistive exerciser and VELO ergometer cycle with bungee cord force loader (NS-1). [For the TVIS exercise, they are using the SLDs (subject loading devices) for holding the subject down. Krikalev also has a newly delivered training-loading suit (TNK-U-1), to create vertical loads (during the ease-off period of the first month of exercise, at least 52 kg load is recommended). As was the case for Sharipov, Sergei s daily protocol prescribes a four-day microcycle exercise with 1.5 hr on the treadmill and one hour on VELO plus load trainer (today: Day 3 of a new set). Use of the NS-1 is constrained by load limits on the ISS structure.]

As usual, John then transferred the daily TVIS and RED exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium.

The crew again had one hour each set aside on today s schedule for adaptation and ISS familiarization, to help in getting used to their new surroundings and activities. [This free activity session has become a valuable standard requirement for new station occupants for the first two weeks.]

At ~1:35pm EDT, the Expedition 11 crew held a teleconference with the previous Expedition 10 crew to discuss any items that they may have since their arrival on ISS.

Krikalev and Phillips were thanked by the ground for their hard work yesterday with equipment pre-packing for LF-1.

On 5/2, MCC-H had begun thermal mapping of Control Moment Gyroscope #1 (CMG-1), which is currently underway until tomorrow (5/6). Eight gimbal positions are being evaluated at a rate of two per day. [The purpose is to characterize CMG-1 thermal environment without major internal heat sources being present (such as the spin motor and bearing drag) and only the natural environment with solar heating and the Earth s back radiation (albedo) affecting the CMG. The thermal mapping may assist in root cause failure analysis of CMG-1 and provide a baseline for evaluating other CMG anomalies.]

On 5/3, MCC-H also started an experimental conditioning on the P6 BGAs (Beta Gimbal Assemblies), continuing through tomorrow. [BGA conditioning is an attempt during the current LVLH YVV (local vertical local horizontal/y-axis in velocity vector) attitude to replicate the conditioning motion observed during XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) when the solar arrays autotrack motion has allowed BGA performance to reset or smooth out between LVLH intervals. XPOP periods are not scheduled prior to LF-1, and engineers are investigating its ramifications.]

TsUP/Moscow will be using the LF-1/STS-114 slip for intensive testing of the newly installed PCE (Proximity Communication Equipment) that will be used for the approach & docking operations of the European ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) next year. Starting about 7/1, RS activities will then focus sharply on preparations for the Shuttle arrival. [An internal Russian test of the PCE equipment is planned for 6/1, with an external carrier test, done jointly with ESA ground controllers, following on 6/2. Details will be finalized with ESA later this month.]

MCC-H has fully recovered the primary PL1 MDM (Payload MDM #1, Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) which failed last Tuesday during biomed file transfers for downlinking CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) data. PL-2 MDM continues to serve as primary computer, while PL-1 is available as backup.

Today’s CEO (crew earth observations) photo targets, in the current LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, were Perth, Australia (this city lies inland and a single urban region [1.4 million people] is progressively connecting Perth to its port city of Fremantle on the south side of the Swan River, encircling the river estuary), Angola fires (Dynamic event. Looking mainly right for early season fires in the fire-prone woodlands of southern and central Angola. Handheld imagery has provided the most comprehensive existing perspective on biomass burning [areas, seasonality]), Lower Amazon River Basin (looking left, tracking near the sunglint point, for coastlines and islands in the Amazon mouth. Mapping sequence was requested), High Central Andean Glaciers (looking left and right near nadir for any ice- or snow-capped peaks. Continuing shooting for a few frames to assist locating the peaks), and Lima, Peru (the city lies inland but the corridor between Lima and its port, Callao, is rapidly urbanizing. The whole urban region is of interest for mapping expanding urban margins. Lima has almost 7 million inhabitants, many of them new immigrants from rural Peru. The city celebrates its 466th anniversary this year).

CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:

See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:

http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 11 crew visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-11/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 11 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.

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