NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 8 Nov 2003
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.
As regularly every Saturday, after wakeup (1:00am EST), morning chores and breakfast, CDR/SO Michael Foale and FE Alexander Kaleri completed the standard 3-hr. station cleaning.
Kaleri conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh life support system (including ASU toilet facilities) and completed the regular maintenance/inspection of the BRPK air/water condensate separator in the Service Module (SM).
The crew had their weekly planning conference with the ground via S-band/audio to discuss next week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (regularly prepared jointly by MCC-H and MCC-M planners and uplinked ahead of time).
Both crewmembers worked out with their daily 2.5-h program of physical exercise, on TVIS treadmill, CEVIS cycle ergometer, and RED expander.
Today was the second day for the current renal (kidney) stone experiment session, with Sasha and Mike collecting urine samples throughout the day and keeping their dietary/metabolic log entries up to date. Part of the investigation is the random ingestion, by the “subjects”, of either potassium citrate or placebo tablets at dinnertime.
Foale took the daily “ad hoc” cabin air ppO2 (oxygen partial pressure) measurement of the CSA-CP (compound specific analyzer-combustion products) for calldown to the ground, where it is used for trending analyses.
Both crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise program (2.5 hrs.) on TVIS treadmill, CEVIS cycle ergometer, and RED anaerobic exerciser.
The EarthKAM project team sent up a cordial message of thanks to the crew: “On behalf of the UCSD staff, we would like to thank you for all of your dedicated attention during our November mission. The invitation to watch video during the setup and activation is a first. For all of the schools and students that you helped touch, we send our most heartfelt thanks and greatly appreciate your work aboard the International Space Station.” [During this mission, over 700 images were requested by 46 middle schools around the globe. The range of studies spans full spectrum, from deforestation to urbanization, river studies and ecology. The participating students and teachers are very excited with the results so far and will continue to enjoy the images that have just now been downlinked.]
As an item off the discretionary Russian task list, Sasha was to set up the MBI-8 “Profilaktika” (preventive health maintenance) experiment for next week’s performance. [During the three “Profilaktika” days, Kaleri will use the VELO ergometer on Day 1, the Load Trainer on Day 2 and the TVIS treadmill on Day 3. The test is similar to the MedOps MO-3 test, except that it uses the TEEM-100M gas analyzer during exercise operations, blood lactate determination and subjective load assessment. The experiment is supported by the payload laptop 3, with Aerograph and Kardiokassetta-2000 software residing on its hard disk drive.]
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Eight — 2nd):
From Lead Increment Scientist Dr. Janice Voss to crew:”Welcome to the beginning of an exciting Increment of science on ISS. The payloads team would like to thank you again for all the work you performed this week. The HRF team would like to say thanks for the additional time you spent working on the RIC software load and that it will be rescheduled at a later date. Thanks for your efforts and have a great weekend!”
GASMAP: The first 30-Day Health Check for Increment 8 is scheduled for next Tuesday, 11/11. A CBT and procedure review will be scheduled the day before.
Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.
Advanced Ultrasound: Planned.
Hand Posture Analyzer (HPA): CDR Foale has completed your first flight session (of a total of 3 for Increment 8) of HPA experiments.
The data haven’t been fully analysed yet, but from a preliminary analysis they seem to be very good. The ground is looking forward to receiving the video of Mike’s performance to correlate data with the images and better understand the impact of the modified payload setup to the science. Mike reached “very good Maximum Voluntary Contraction” while exerting his force with HGD and PFD dynamometers.
In-Space Soldering Investigation (ISSE): Planned.
Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Planned.
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): Looking forward to working with Mike for troubleshooting SAMS ICU on 11/11.
Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS continues to measure the quasi-steady (below 1 Hz) acceleration environment using the OSS sensor. HiRAP telemetry downlink is enabled and will remain active assessing the general higher frequency microgravity environment until SAMS is recovered. MAMS recorded the change in ISS fundamental structural mode due to 6S undocking.
Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): Behaving nominally.
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): Planned.
Renal Stone: First session is underway this weekend.
Spheres: Planned.
Foot: Next week, Foale will be resupplying the Foot LEMS Kit, getting it ready for operations.
Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside. Nominal and collecting data.
Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems (CBOSS-FDI): Planned.
Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): See above.
Earth Science Toward Exploration Research (ESTER): Planned.
Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2): Planned.
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): Completed.
Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Planned.
Crew Earth Observation (CEO): Ground has received and reviewed the first of the crew’s downlinked imagery acquired this past weekend and is pleased to report that ISS got an excellent photo of the target city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that meets the investigators’ requirements. The crew’s long session during the ISS pass down the west coast of the U.S. and Mexico documented air quality of the region following last month’s massive fires there. It also illustrated the near-elimination of the fires after the first winter storm of the season. As more storms continue to pass in the coming weeks, the threat shifts to mudslides on fire-denuded mountain slopes. Thanks to the crew for their continued monitoring of this ongoing dynamic event.
Today’s optional CEO targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, wereSaharan dust, Atlantic Ocean (looking left towards the African coast for a light dust outblow event. The dust may extend far enough seaward to be visible right of track. Margins of the haze, and any islands are very useful details in analyzing the imagery),Nairobi, Kenya(looking right of track for this small but vibrant capital city),Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya(looking right of track for this ice-capped tropical volcano. Even obliques–such as this opportunity allows–are eagerly sought due to the anticipated disappearance of the ice by 2015), Cape Town, South Africa(nadir pass over the center of the city and Table Mountain. Looking left for the extensive ghetto sprawl out onto the “Cape Flats” east of Table Mountain. Margins of the entire city are of interest in the study of city growth),La Paz, Bolivia(nadir pass), andPatagonian Glaciers(brief clearing, even on the west side of the Andean ice fields. In our study of the two ice fields, the large glaciers have generally been photographed, the deficits being the smaller glaciers on the west side, which is usually cloudy).
CEO images can be viewed at the websites.
See also the website “Space Station Challenge” at
