NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 9 January 2005

SpaceRef note: This NASA Headquarters internal status report, as presented here, contains additional, original material produced by SpaceRef.com (copyright © 2004) to enhance access to related status reports and NASA activities.

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday — second crew off day “with a little cooperation from the Elektron”.

Salizhan Sharipov finished the second 24 hrs. of his second session of diet logging for the BIOPSY (Effect of Prolonged Space Flight on Human Skeletal Muscle) experiment. Similarly to the Renal (kidney stone prevention) experiment in the past, nutrition consumption was recorded over 48 hrs. three times a day, using the IMS BCR (inventory management system/bar code reader). This was postponed from (and erroneously reported for) 1/6, to allow for Elektron troubleshooting. [One of the human systems most affected by extended stays in space is the neuromuscular system. Past space missions have shown weightlessness can cause deterioration of muscle fiber, nerves and physical strength. BIOPSY investigates the reductions in limb muscle size, force and power at the cellular level that are induced by microgravity. This research will determine how long it takes for micro-G to affect skeletal muscles, so predictions can be made regarding muscle changes that may occur on a roundtrip flight to Mars. To help establish the cellular effects of weightlessness, biopsies are taken from the calf muscle (gastronemius) and foot-flexing muscle (soleus) 45 days before launch, and again immediately upon return to Earth. MRI (magnetic resonance imagery) also is taken of the calf muscle 90 and 30 days before launch, and again one and 21 days after return to Earth.]

Leroy Chiao collected and stowed the two FMK (formaldehyde monitoring kit) monitors, deployed by him on 1/7 in the Lab (below CEVIS) and Service Module (SM, most forward handrail).

FE Sharipov completed the weekly routine SOZh/ECLSS maintenance tasks of collecting SP toilet flush counter and SVO water supply readings in the SM for calldown to TsUP/Moscow.

The Science Officer was thanked for his understanding support of yesterday’s “Saturday Science” program, which consisted of a teleconference discussion of the FMVM (Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement) “Honey Status Check”.

Tomorrow, Leroy is scheduled for another one-month photography session of BCAT-3 (Binary Colloid Alloy Test 3) science investigation, this time focusing on Sample 10. [After setting up the SGSM (slow growth sample module) in the Lab MWA (Maintenance Work Area) at EXPRESS Rack 5 (ER5), Chiao will photograph Sample 10, which hopefully will develop surface crystallization.]

At ~4:30PM EST, the CDR is scheduled for his weekly PFC (private family conference), via S-band/video and Ku-band/NetMeeting video.

Working from the Russian task list, in the SM Salizhan transferred new accumulated Matryoshka data tables from the BSPN Matryoshka server via the ISS Wiener laptop to a PCMCIA flash card for subsequent downlink on OCA comm, to clean out the BSPN folder for the upcoming installation of the ROCKVISS experiment. [This had been on the Russian task list last week and was hard scheduled for today. The Matryoshka payload automatically takes measurements in the Service Module (SM) and DC-1 docking compartment for studies of on-orbit radiation and long-term dose accumulation, using six SPD dosimeters deployed throughout the Russian segment as well as in a spherical body-simulating Matryoshka-R phantom and a human torso model outside on the SM hull, mounted there during EVA-9 on 2/27/04. Note: Matryoshka is the name for the traditional Russian set of nestling dolls.]

Also remaining on the task for Salizhan was the replacement of Russian and U.S. ODFs (operations data files) with new ones.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Ten — 10th):

GASMAP: Next week the crew will conduct the GASMAP mid-increment Functional Check on the system. The GASMAP team looks forward to working with Leroy again.

Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS): Continuing.

Advanced Ultrasound (ADUM): The ADUM team is looking forward to the next bone scan session.

Hand Posture Analyzer (HPA: Nothing new.

In-Space Soldering Investigation (ISSI): Operations are complete.

Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI): Nothing new.

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS captured the Soyuz relocation and Progress Docking.

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): MAMS captured the Soyuz relocation and Progress docking.

Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES): PCG-STES is performing nominally.

Protein Crystal Growth Monitoring by Digital Holographic Microscope (PromISS): Nothing new.

Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): Nothing new.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 (BCAT-3): Nothing new.

Renal Stone (RS): Nothing new.

Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SHERES): Nothing new.

Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight (FOOT): Nothing new.

Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE): In progress. Deployed outside on the U.S. Airlock. Nominal and collecting data.

Cellular Biotechnology Support Systems-Fluid Dynamics Investigation (CBOSS-FDI): Nothing new.

Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC): Nothing new.

Yeast Group Activation Packs (Yeast GAP): Nothing new.

Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM): The EarthKAM students are eagerly awaiting their next session.

Earth Science Toward Exploration Research (ESTER): Nothing new.

Serial Network Flow Monitor (SNFM): Leroy was thanked for the “valiant effort” to load SNFM on ER1 (EXPRESS Rack 1). Since two CD-ROMs were not recognized by the laptop, the ground suspects a CD-ROM drive failure. A report has been generated and troubleshooting is in work.

Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM): The FMVM team appreciated talking to the crew about the FMVM experiment during the Saturday crew conference.

Space Experiment Module (SEM): The SEM payload was initiated on 1/7/05, and all operations were successful! The entire SEM team wishes to thank Leroy for a great job, and the SEM students from Central Park Middle School thank the crew for being so willing to answer their questions.

Viscous Liquid Foam–Bulk Metallic Glass (Foam): Nothing new.

Effects of Prolonged Space Flight on Human Skeletal Muscle (BIOPSY): Nothing new.

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2): Planned.

Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA): Nothing new.

Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG): Nothing new.

Educational Payload Operations (EPO): Nothing new.

Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE): Nothing new.

Crew Earth Observations (CEO): As of 1/5/05, investigators have received a total of 5,850 frames of Crew Earth Observations imagery. A striking nighttime view of Seoul, South Korea will be published on NASA’s Earth Observatory website this weekend. In general, ISS photography composition and quality are excellent. The ground will continue to work at identifying times and features of suitable targets in and around the tsunami-devastated Indian Ocean region and advise the crew of their progress in acquiring them.

No CEO targets for today. The last day for CEO target uplinks was yesterday until after the New Year.

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:

• http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

To view the latest photos taken by the expedition 10 crew visit:

• http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-10/ndxpage1.html at NASA’s Human Spaceflight website.

Expedition 10 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.

Upcoming Key Events:

• ISS reboost (delta-V: 4 m/s) — 1/15/05;
• EVA-12 — 1/26/05 (Eastern)
• Progress 16P undocking & destructive reentry — 2/27/05;
• Progress 17P launch — 2/28/05.
• EVA-13 — 3/25/05;
• Soyuz 10 S launch — 4/15/05;
• Soyuz 9S undock — 4/25/05 (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS).

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.