NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 5 September 2005
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. Labor Day in the USA. Underway: Week 20 for Increment 11.
Following station inspection and morning hygiene, before breakfast and first exercise, CDR Krikalev and FE/SO Phillips performed another session of the periodic Russian biomedical assessments PZEh-MO-7 (calf volume measurement) and PZEh-MO-8 (body mass measurement), using the newly installed mass measurement device (IM), later breaking it down for stowage. [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 mass 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.]
The FE/SO supported a ground-controlled full calibration of the MCA (Major Constituents Analyzer) by opening the instrument s VGA (verification gas assembly) valve and closing it again a few hours later. [The MCA uses a mass spectrometer with a magnetic field to separate ionized air sample constituents in a work chamber that is kept at vacuum by a high-performance ion pump.]
Phillips spent about an hour and a half cleaning up the Node and Airlock, stowing equipment items and bags out of the way and updating the IMS (Inventory Management System) accordingly. Suggestions were uplinked from the ground to assist in this difficult task.
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The CDR, assisted by the FE, removed electronic equipment from the Progress-353 (18P), which will be recycled. TsUP/Moscow, via RGS (Russian ground site), was then ready to initiate charging of the Progress primary and reserve batteries, as required. [With Central Computer control transferred earlier from 18P thrusters to SM yaw, pitch and roll thrusters, the US-21 matching unit and SKV-1 dehumidifier were deactivated, followed by disconnecting the cables of the BITS 2-12 onboard telemetry measurement system and turning off its VD-SU monitoring mode. The crew then unbolted and removed the Progress US-21 in its container box. BITS and SKV-1 were later reactivated. The US-21, with its associated commutator gear, provides the electronic interface between the SM and the Progress for SM computer control of Progress propulsion. When a Progress is undocked and jettisoned, the valuable electronics are retained in storage, to be recycled on a future vehicle.]
The crew completed final preparations for Wednesday’s undocking of 18P, first by stowing remaining trash & disposable gear in the cargo ship-turned-garbage can with IMS support, then installing the SSVP docking mechanism in the hatchway between 18P 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. 18P will separate from the ISS at 6:23am EDT and subsequently perform destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.]
John Phillips worked on the LF-1-delivered HRF-2 (Human Research Facility 2) rack by installing umbilicals and documenting the work with the digital still camera.
Sergei performed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s environment control & life support system (SOZh) including toilet facilities (ASU), and also prepared the regular daily IMS delta /update file for automated export/import to the three IMS databases (MCC-H/TsUP/Baikonur).
Both crewmembers conducted their regular 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on the TVIS treadmill, RED resistive machine and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer. [Sergei s daily protocol prescribes a strict 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).]
Afterwards, John transferred the exercise data files to the MEC for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data of the RED workouts, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).
Working off his time available task list, Sergei conducted the regular daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 (“Plants-2”) experiment, including filling its water canister for the Lada-7 greenhouse as required.
Also listed on his task list was the completion of the urine transfer from EDV-U liquid waste containers to the two Rodnik water tanks in Progress 18 for disposal, begun on 8/26.
As a third assignment from his voluntary task list, Sergei had another session with the “Uragan” (hurricane) earth-imaging program, using the Nikon D1X digital camera with f800 mm lens. [From time to time a fire plume can be seen on Baikal Lake near Olkhon Island as a product of eruption from the bottom of the lake caused by enormous pressure of carbon material. This phenomenon can be identified from orbit only at night or at dusk. Taking into account the impact of petroleum products on Baikal Lake environment, it would be prudent to develop a procedure to photograph these plumes as indication of sources for contamination. Sergei’s task for today and coming opportunities is to locate Olkhon Island when ISS is passing over the southern part of Baikal Lake at dark or dusk with no visible clouds, and to find the brightest (possibly the only large) light spot of Khuzhir on the western shore of the island.]
At ~11:30am EDT, Sergei Krikalev downlinked congratulatory greetings to Kirill Yurievich Lavrov on the occasion of his 80th birthday. [Stage and movie personality Lavrov, a former aviator from Sergei’s birthplace Leningrad, is particularly known in the space community for his highly popular Soviet-era movie “Taming of the Fire” about a General Designer identifiable as Sergei Pavlovich Korolev and the beginnings of the Soviet space program.]
The crew also downlinked a congratulatory address to the upcoming 40th Annual K.E. Tsiolkovsky Research Seminar/Readings at Kaluga. [On 9/17, the 147th anniversary of the birthday of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky will be observed. Tsiolkovsky, the “Father of Space Flight”, was the first in the world who proposed a scientifically credible theory of human space exploration and the necessity of humans to inhabit outer space, as early as 1883. Still living in Kaluga today are one granddaughter and three great-granddaughters. The scientific conference at Kaluga near Moscow, where Tsiolkovsky worked as a teacher and died on September 19, 1935, is an annual affair.]
A third crew downlink went to the opening of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Conference from Russia, Europe, and Africa. [“The ISS crew would like to extend its greetings to you on the opening of the Region 1 Conference and wish you every success in your work. We have a ham radio on the ISS and when we have time after work we conduct radio sessions with ham enthusiasts on the ground. ]
No CEO photo targets uplinked today.
CEO photography can be viewed and studied at the websites:
- http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/AstronautPhotography/
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at:
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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ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:24am EDT [= epoch]):
- Mean altitude — 351.5 km
- Apogee height — 352.6 km
- Perigee height — 350.5 km
- Period — 91.57 min.
- Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
- Eccentricity — 0.0001578
- Solar Beta Angle — 39.8 deg (magnitude decreasing)
- Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.72
- Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 170 m
- Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) 38831
Upcoming Events (all times EDT):
- 09/07/05 — Progress M-53/18P undocking (6:23am)
- 09/08/05 — Progress M-54/19P launch (9:07:50am)
- 09/10/05 — Progress M-54/19P docking (10:50am).
Backup Opportunities:
- 09/10/05 — 19P launch (8:19:36am)
- 09/12/05 — 19P docking (10:24am).
19P is manifested to deliver to the ISS the following cargo: 800 kg propellants; 110 kg gas (oxygen/air, thanks to 14 additional gas tanks installed by RSC-Energia externally for an extra delivery capability of 60 kg O2); 300 kg water; 1230 kg dry cargo, comprising 139 Russian cargo items (including a new Elektron-VM Liquid Unit and 16 SFOG candles) and 83 NASA items (including two IBM 760XD laptops).
- 09/30/05 — Soyuz TMA-7/11S launch (~11:54pm)
- 10/03/05 — Soyuz TMA-7/11S docking (~1:20am)
- 10/11/05 — Soyuz TMA-6/10S landing (~9:06pm)
- 10/18/05 ISS Reboost
- 11/18/05 — Soyuz TMA-7/11S relocation (from DC-1 to FGB nadir port)
- 12/21/05 Progress M-55/20P launch
- 12/23/05 — Progress M-55/20P docking.
ISS Altitude History
Apogee height — Mean Altitude — Perigee height
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times, see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html. In addition, information on International Space Station sighting opportunities can be found at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ on NASA’s Human Spaceflight website. The current location of the International Space Station can be found at http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Additional satellite tracking resources can be found at http://www.spaceref.com/iss/tracking.html.
