NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 October 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.

This was the third & final day for CDR Lopez-Alegria’s RENAL STONE experiment session (his first), with collecting one final urine sample each in the morning, finishing his dietary/metabolic log entries and then stowing all equipment. [This long-range preventive medicine investigation features regular daily ingestion of either potassium citrate or placebo tablets at dinnertime. 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.]

Along with RENAL STONE, the CDR also completed the second day of the new NASA/JSC experiment NUTRITION, for which he had to forego exercising and food intake for eight hours. During the session, he collected urine samples for immediate insertion into the MELFI (Minus-Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS) freezer and blood samples (assisted by FE-2 Reiter), which were first spun in the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) and then also placed in MELFI. The RC was later powered off after a temperature reset to limit wear on the compressor, and cleaned. [Background: The Clinical Nutritional Assessment profile, currently required on all U.S. Astronauts, collects blood and urine samples preflight and postflight. NUTRITION expands this protocol by also capturing inflight samples and an additional postflight sample. Furthermore, additional measurements are included for samples from all sessions, including additional markers of bone metabolism, vitamin status, and hormone and oxidative stressor tests. The results will be used to better understand the impact of countermeasures (exercise and pharmaceuticals) on nutritional status and nutrient requirements. The Clinical Nutritional Assessment profile (MR016L), first started on two Mir crewmembers and then on all ISS US crews, nominally consists of two pre-flight and one post-flight analysis of nutritional status, as well as an in-flight assessment of dietary intake using the FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire). The current NUTRITION project expands MR016L testing in three ways: Addition of in-flight blood & urine collection (made possible by MELFI), normative markers of nutritional assessment, and a return session plus 30-day (R+30) session to allow evaluation of post-flight nutrition and implications for rehabilitation.]

Working on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer), LA filled out the regular weekly FFQ (food frequency questionnaire), his second, which keeps a log of his nutritional intake over time on special MEC software. [For NUTRITION, the FFQ records amounts consumed during the past week of such food items as beverages, cereals, grains, eggs, breads, snacks, sweets, fruit, beans, soup, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, chicken, sauces & spreads, and vitamins. IBMP/Moscow (Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russian: IMBP – Institute of Medico-Biological Problems) recommended average daily caloric value of the crew’s food intake is 2200-2300 cal. If larger quantities of juices and fruits are taken into account, the value can go to 2400-2500 cal.]

Thomas Reiter continued the ESA/Astrolab LDM (Long Duration Mission) experiment SKIN, initiated yesterday, by applying the experimental cream to the skin of an arm. [Objective is to characterize different parameters of human skin in weightlessness inside the ISS, comparing results to already-known effects on the skin of long duration stays in orbit. The noninvasive medical equipment used by the experiment are the Tewameter (from TEWL = transepidermal water loss, one of the most important biophysical parameters for evaluating the efficiency of the human skin water barrier), the Corneometer (to accurately determine the hydration level of the skin surface) and the VisioScan which takes direct measurements of the skin topography (structure & level of dryness) with a special UV-A (Ultraviolet A) light video camera with high resolution.]

Later, Reiter serviced the Russian BMP Harmful Impurities Removal System, starting the “bake-out” cycle to vacuum on absorbent bed #2 of the regenerable dual-channel filtration system. The bake-out will be terminated tonight before sleep time (~4:15pm EDT). [Regeneration of each of the two cartridges takes about 12 hours and is conducted only during crew awake periods.]

After setting up the necessary pump/hose hookup, Thomas also performed the final transfer of urine from all filled EDV-U liquid waste containers (#755, #795, #761, #797) to the BV1 “Rodnik” water tank of the 22P cargo ship-turned-trash can for disposal. [Each of the two spherical Rodnik tanks (BV1 & BV2) consists of a hard shell with a soft membrane (bladder) composed of elastic fluoroplastic. The bladder is used to expel water from the tank by compressed air pumped into the tank volume surrounding the membrane.]

Meanwhile, Mike LA and Mikhail Tyurin prepared the FGB for the Soyuz translation next week (10/10) from the Service Module (SM) aft port to the FGB nadir port. [During the brief flight of 12S with the station crew, all hatches in the ISS will be closed and systems configured to assure unmanned survivability even in the unlikely event of unsuccessful redocking. A number of items needed to be transferred to the FGB to be available after crew ingress; from the USOS (U.S. segment), this involved an A31p PCS (Portable Computer System) laptop, specific hardcopy ODF (Operations Data File) procedures books, CCPK (Crew Contamination Protection Kit), AMPs (Ambulatory Medical Packs) and ALSPs (Advanced Life Support Packs).]

Afterwards, the crew completed final close-out activities on Progress 22, to enable its potential contingency separation by TsUP in the crew’s absence. [FE-1 Tyurin first activated necessary vehicle systems on 22P, then dismantled the air duct in the hatchway between Progress and the DC1 Docking Compartment. Next, Misha and Thomas removed the threaded quick-disconnect (QD) screw clamps of the SSVP docking & internal transfer system in the hatchway between Progress and DC1, which rigidize the mating surfaces. The interface was visually inspected and videotaped to ensure that there is no damage to the cords, snap hooks or rings on the latches and to the slots for the clamps in the SSVP’s internal flanges. Finally, Tyurin closed the hatches between Progress and DC1, followed by depressurization of the DC1-to-Progress vestibule for the mandatory one-hour leak checking. RS (Russian segment) thrusters, which had been inhibited (at ~11:50am) prior to the QD clamps removal, were then re-enabled (~1:30pm). After the relocation, all the aforementioned steps will be reversed, to restore accessibility and connectivity of the Progress, which is to remain docked for another five weeks.]

At ~12:55pm, the video showing the DC1/Progress interface before hatch closing was downlinked by Thomas via S- and Ku-band for inspection.

Later, Misha collected weekly cabin air readings with the Russian GANK-4M Real-Time Harmful Contaminant Gas Analyzer system of the SM SOGS (Pressure Control & Atmospheric Monitoring System). [GANK tests for Methane (CH4), Ammonia (NH3), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Formaldehyde (HCHO), Nitrogen Oxides (NO, NO2), Hydrogen Chloride (HCl), Hydrogen Fluoride (HF), and Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN).]

Mike LA conducted the weekly audit/inventory of the available CWCs (collapsible water containers) and their contents, to keep track of onboard water supplies. [Updated “cue cards” based on the crew’s water calldowns are sent up every other week. The current cue card lists 31 water containers (~1225.2 liters total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (for Elektron, flushing, hygiene; ~999.1 liters), potable water (~151 liters), condensate water (for processing, 46.5 liters) and other (TCS fluid, EMU waste water, 28.6 liters). Water was delivered by 12A and is re-supplied from processed condensate.]

In preparation for the ROBoT payload and future portable loads in the Lab, LA deployed and configured a PS-120 (Power Strip) junction box by connecting it to the Lab UOP-6 (Utility Outlet Panel #6).

All crewmembers completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (CDR), TVIS (FE-1), RED (CDR, FE-2), and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1, FE-2).

Afterwards Mikhail transferred his, LA’s and Thomas’ exercise data files to the MEC for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

As all new station crews, Misha again had one hour set aside on today’s schedule for ISS familiarization and adaptation, to help in adjusting to their new surroundings and activities. [This unstructured and discretionary session has become a valuable standard requirement for new station occupants for the first two weeks.]

The FE-2 worked on the newly upgraded IMS to update/edit its standard “delta file”, including locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).

At 4:20pm EDT, ISS attitude control will be handed over to the Russian SUD motion control system (MCS), followed by a thruster-effected maneuver to XPOP test attitude (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) required for conducting today’s SM and FGB solar array efficiency testing. The test itself takes ~6.5 hrs, and ISS maneuvers back to LVLH TEA (local vertical local horizontal/torque equilibrium attitude) at 8:30pm, followed by control handover to the U.S. CMGs (Control Moment Gyroscopes) at ~9:35pm. During the efficiency test, MCC-H plans to perform a CMG Drag Characterization Test on all four gyros, to help determine if any degradation in the CMGs’ spin bearings exist (by letting each CMG spin without its spin motor during the RS thruster-controlled period). [The periodic efficiency testing keeps track of the energy-output performance of the Russian segment (RS) photovoltaics over time under the degrading effects of the space environment (mostly from ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen). The CMG test includes CMG-3, which was removed from the steering law on 9/29 due to high vibrations. Over the last 24 hours, CMG-3 has again exhibited high vibrations, and a final decision regarding its use for control will be made today after more data analysis and a meeting.]

An RPCM (Remote Power Controller Module) in the Lab (LA1A4E) suffered a trip by one of its RPCs (#18) overnight and set off (false) smoke detector alarms. Preliminary analysis indicate a temporary overcurrent due to powering on the RC centrifuge while additional loads were on, exceeding the preset 12 amps RPC limit. Team is evaluating plans to prevent recurrence.

Elektron Update: Due to yesterday’s failure of an Elektron control panel (blown fuse), the scheduled troubleshooting could not be completed. Preliminary data seems to implicate a valve solenoid (coil), but a formal determination will not be available until tomorrow. Necessary replacement hardware would be delivered on 23P. Meanwhile, MCC-H has made the decision to use oxygen from US Airlock HPGT (High Pressure Gas Tank) storage for the first time until 23P arrives. First US O2 repress occurred today.

Today’s CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets, from the Lab nadir/science window, were African Lakes (Dynamic Event: From what can be seen in satellite imagery this region should be unusually clear. Current caveat is that popcorn cumulus clouds cannot be seen but since this target occurs earlier in the day researchers think that there should be a few clouds. Lake Tanganyika is the first African rift lake that the crew could see, Lake Nyasa was the second. These lakes have formed because of rifting or separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates that began about 35 million years ago and by the separation of East Africa from the rest of Africa along the East African rift, which began about 15 million years ago. The lakes in these rifts include some of the deepest in the world. Noting the water color and levels in the lakes as well as land use around the lakes), Sao Paulo, Brazil (eleven million people live in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. When one includes the metropolitan area the number increases to 19 million, making it one of the most populous regions in the world. Since the ISS orbit was not exactly nadir [the city was left of the descending pass], the crew was to try to image the boundaries of the city, and also to take note of land use within and around Sao Paulo), Patagonian Glaciers (there could have been scattered clouds, however the crew may still have been able to see the glaciers. There are many great images of the larger glaciers in the existing database so researchers wanted the crew to concentrate on the western, smaller glaciers that feed into the larger glaciers), and Jarvis Island, equatorial Pacific (Jarvis Island lies just south of the equator and is part of the Line Islands. Jarvis is ringed by a narrow fringing reef with an extensive shallow reef platform extending to the east. The interest is continued documentation of these reefs.)

To date, over 250,000 of CEO images have been taken in the first six years of the ISS, about one third of the total number of images taken from orbit by astronauts.

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 14 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-14/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

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 Orbit (as of this morning, 6:45am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 340.1 km
• Apogee height — 348.8 km
• Perigee height — 331.4 km
• Period — 91.34 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0012938
• Solar Beta Angle — 22.5 deg (magnitude increasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.76
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 53 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 45055

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

• 10/10/06 — Soyuz TMA-9/13S relocation (from SM aft to FGB nadir, undock 3:11pm; redock 3:38pm; on NASA TV from 2:45pm)
• 10/23/06 — Progress M-58/23P launch
• 10/26/06 — Progress M-58/23P docking (SM aft port; on NASA TV)
• 11/22/06 — Russian EVA-17
• 12/07/06 — STS-116/12A.1 launch
• 12/09-16/06 — STS-116/12A.1 docked mission w/ISS – 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 – S3/S4 trusses
• 02/24-03/03/07 — STS-117/13A docked mission w/ISS (earliest)
• 3/08/07 — 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