NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 9 July 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. Saturday — off-duty day for Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips, except for some housekeeping and voluntary work.

The crew completed the regular weekly 3-hr. task of thorough station cleaning, wearing protective garment. [“Uborka”, done every Saturday, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, damp cleaning of the Service Module (SM) dining table, other surfaces and the CDR’s sleep station with “Fungistat” disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]

In the US Airlock (A/L), FE/SO Phillips terminated session 1 of the EVA EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) batteries recharging and stowed the batteries in the A/L. Later, he initiated the second (and last) round of recharging on the remaining batteries. [Two charge sessions were required to complete all needed storage units. With LF-1 arriving next week (7/15), supporting the three scheduled Shuttle-based EVAs (in Shuttle EMUs) requires fully charged EVA batteries, some for actual use and others for backup. This includes the EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) batteries and the NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries for the PGT (pistol grip tool), REBA (rechargeable EVA battery assembly) and EHIPs (EMU Helmet Lights).]

CDR Krikalev collected the periodic reading of the cabin air’s current CO2 partial pressure in the SM and Lab, using the U.S. CDMK (carbon dioxide monitoring kit, #1013), for calldown, along with the battery status, for use in trending analyses.

John completed the regular the bi-monthly reboot of the OCA comm router SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop and checked its the battery SOC (state of charge) for recording in the crew notes or call-down to MCC-H.

The FE also did the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s environment control & life support system (SOZh).

Krikalev and Phillips 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 1 of a new set).]

Afterwards, the FE transferred the exercise data files to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

At ~8:00am EDT, the crew was scheduled for their weekly teleconference with ISS Program Management at JSC/Houston via S-band/audio.

At ~9:15am, the crew engaged in the regular weekly planning conference (WPC) with the ground, discussing next week’s “Look-Ahead Plan” (prepared jointly by MCC-H and TsUP/Moscow timeline planners), via S-band/audio, reviewing upcoming activities and any concerns about future on-orbit events.

At ~10:45am, the crew conducted their standard weekly teleconference with the JSC Astronaut Office (Kent Rominger), via S-band S/G (space-to-ground).

After ISS attitude control handover from US to Russian motion control (MCS) and configuring BGA (Beta Gimbal Assembly) 2B and 4B of the P6 solar array wings to Autotrack mode, at 9:00am the station maneuvered from LVLH YVV (local vertical local horizontal/y-axis in velocity vector) to LVLH XVV (x-axis in velocity vector), i.e. from flying broadside to bow-forward. Control authority returned to US CMG momentum management at 9:55am.

Note on Hurricane Dennis: NASA weather officers are tracking Hurricane Dennis and its possible impact at Kennedy Space Center. Because the storm has ended its eastward drift and the primary track is slightly more to the west, it was decided this morning that Discovery will not be rolled back from the launch pad.

No CEO (crew earth observations) targets 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:

• http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

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.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 11:51am EDT [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 354.7 km
• Apogee height — 357.3 km
• Perigee height — 352.2 km
• Period — 91.63 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0003958
• Solar Beta Angle — 44.5 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.71
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 62
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 37922

Some Increment 11 Main Events (not final):

• LF-1/STS-114 launch — 7/13 (3:51pm EDT) 18-day window opens;
• LF-1/STS-114 dock — 7/15 (12:26pm EDT), adding 110,713 kg to ISS mass;
• LF-1/STS-114 undock — 7/23 (9:23am EDT);
• LF-1/STS-114 landing @ KSC — 7/25 (11:01am EDT);
• Soyuz TMA-6/10S relocate (from DC-1 to FGB) — ~8/16;
• Progress M-54/19P launch – TBD;
• Progress M-53/18P undock — TBD;
• ULF1.1/STS-121 launch — NET 9/9 (launch window opens);
• ULF1.1/STS-121 dock — 9/11;
• ULF1.1/STS-121 undock — 9/19;
• Soyuz TMA-7/11S launch — 9/27;
• Soyuz TMA-7/11S dock — 9/29;
• 12A/STS-115 launch — NET 2/16/06;
• Soyuz TMA-7/11S relocate (from DC-1 to FGB) — ~10/15;
• 12A.1/STS-116 launch — NET 4/23/06;
• 13A/STS-117 launch — NET 7/13/06.

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.