NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 7 Sep 2003
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below. It was a regular Sunday for the crew, with plenty of time off.
CDR Yuri Malenchenko collected the weekly data readings of the Service Module (SM)’s toilet flush counter readings (with inspection of the SP urine collection and pretreat assembly) and SVO water supply status counter readings, both for calldown to TsUP/Moscow.
FE/SO Ed Lu prepared the daily IMS delta file for automatic export/import to update the database, while Yuri attended to the daily routine maintenance of the SM SOZh life support system (including ASU toilet facilities).
Both crewmembers worked out with their daily 2.5-h program of physical exercise, on TVIS treadmill, RED expander, and VELO cycle with load trainer.
The crew had their regular weekly PFCs (private family conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/video.
The Russian daily program plan (DPP) of comm exchange between the ISS and RGS (Russian ground sites) routinely consists of RCT (Russian contingency telemetry), regular telemetry, power bus checks in DC-1 “Pirs” and SM “Zvezda”, smoke detector test, uplinks to the automated timeline sequencer (SPP) and other sequencers, air flow meters test, BOKZ star tracker emergency buffer dump, daily time synchronization, and uplinks of state vector and FGB flight program. Telemetry monitoring includes the Soyuz and Progress vehicles,
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Seven — 18th):
GASMAP: Next 30-day check is scheduled for tomorrow (9/8).
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Ultrasound (USND): Next Ultrasound session is planned for 9/23.
Hand Posture Analyzer (HPA): Waiting to begin operations.
Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): PFMI had two successful sample runs this week and obtained excellent results. The PFMI-06 sample was an alloy with a small amount of water. The ground was able to observe how the spacing between dendrites varied as a function of growth rate. In PFMI-13 sample, the team observed “pipes” form as the sample solidified, and how bubbles were released from these pipes as the sample was re-melted. One session remains this Increment.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS is operating nominally since being brought back on line.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS continues to measure the quasi-steady acceleration environment. HiRAP (inside MAMS) downlink was disabled after the docking activity.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Behaving nominally, although the inlet/outlet temperatures are about 3 deg C more that we have seen in the past. Presents no problem.
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): Current test matrix is complete.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside. Nominal and collecting data.
Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems (CBOSS): CBOSS-FDI investigation will be scheduled sometime after 12P docking.
Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): Activities are completed for Increment 7.
Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2): Activities have been concluded for this Expedition.
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): CGBA is maintaining a nominal temperature of 20°C.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): EPO is looking forward to additional activities.
Crew Earth Observation (CEO): The crew’s incredibly detailed CEO photo of the Pyramids at El Giza will be published on Earth observatory this weekend (link see below). The crew also took a beautiful 400mm view of the Lewis & Clark site of Pompey’s Pillar as they carefully mapped the Yellowstone River valley northeast of Billings Montana. ISS also obtained an 800mm nadir view of target requested by Ed Lu, the Petra archaeological site in southern Jordan. In that same session the crew took a highly detailed view of a western Saudi Arabian city that was originally presumed without other context imagery to be Mecca. However, upon closer inspection during cataloging it was determined to be the ancient Moslem holy city of Medina some 200 miles to the north. The large white object in the center there is also a Mosque. The ground team has yet to see a convoy of ships reported by the crew to be off the coast of Greece. The ground also confirms a nice CEO shot of central Beijing. Work is still underway to confirm the crew’s suspected views of the Great Wall, Halicarnassus, and the Temple of Artemis sites.
Today’s optional CEO (crew earth observation) targets, taking into account the current LVLH attitude, and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, were Damascus, Syria (nadir pass. It should have been possible to encompass the whole built-up area within one 180-mm-lens image), Barcelona, Spain (looking a touch left of track. Crew should have been able to capture the urban region within two 180-mm-lens images), Missouri River sites (LEWIS & CLARK SITES: A series of sites lie along the Missouri. A detailed mapping pass can acquire several sites before sun illumination declines too far for the next couple of weeks), Puerto Rico (mapping swath along the coasts requested: to capture both urban growth and the concomitant color change [damage] to coral reefs, which is probably dependent on size and nearness of cities), St. Thomas, Caribbean (coral-reef site at nadir), St. Croix, Caribbean (coral-reef site at nadir), St. John, Caribbean (coral-reef site at nadir), Albuquerque, New Mexico (nadir pass), Gardner reef, Central Pacific (nadir pass over this coral reef), French Frigate Shoals (nadir pass over this coral reef. This shoal has one of the most photogenic patterns of any reef in the world), Necker reef, Central Pacific (looking a touch left for this coral reef), Lower Amazon River Basin (looking left for detailed views of this major estuary), and Amazonian smoke (Dynamic event. Numerous fires have generated a region-wide smoke pall over southern Amazonia. The classic pattern of smoke evacuation is arising–southward along the flanks of the Andes into central Argentina. The crew should have been able to capture the phenomenon, even including the thickness of the smoke layer, with views looking right towards the mountains.)
CEO images can be viewed at the websites
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
