NNASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 14 February 2005

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All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.  Underway: Week 17 of Increment 10.

FE Sharipov prepared equipment assembly and work area for his second session with the Russian biomedical experiment “Pilot” (MBI-15), which requires a worktable, ankle restraint system and control handles for testing piloting skill.  He then conducted the experiment, supported by tagup with ground specialists via S-band.  Later, Salizhan deactivated, disassembled and stowed the Pilot-R gear.   [The FE performed three flight control modes (fixed, slow and fast free-flyer), each one five times, after checkout and calibration of the control handles.  Results were later reported to the ground.]

Today s leading task for the crew was the full semiannual maintenance/checkup of the TVIS (treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization), extending through tomorrow.   [After turning off the TVIS power circuit breaker in the morning, the crew started on the lengthy procedure in the pit of the Service Module (SM) floor.  Today s Part 1, 4.5 hrs in length, involved opening up the treadmill s chassis for an inspection of the gyroscope wire ropes and of the chassis interior.  During Part 2 (2.5 hrs) tomorrow, the crew will conclude inspections, reassemble the TVIS, power on the machine, set time & date on its control unit, and perform speed characterization.  Wire ropes and roller bearing assemblies are to be replaced if found damaged, and a new battery will be installed in the electronics box.]

At ~12:50pm EST, the first of two refreshes of the cabin air with oxygen (O2) from its storage tank (SrPK) in Progress 16 was to be started, today with 10-mmHg/Torr of O2.  The second repress, with ~15 mmHg, is scheduled for 2/25.

Leroy performed his daily checkup of the Total Dose reading and End File values of the TEPC (Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter), which he had relocated to the Node on 1/31, and called the data down at the evening DPC (daily planning conference).   [This is currently a daily requirement since the UOP (utility outlet panel) near the TEPC s temporary location (for two weeks) does not allow automated telemetry monitoring by the ground.]

Working off the Russian discretionary task list, Salizhan completed the regular daily inspection of the Lada-5 greenhouse equipment.  [Rasteniya studies growth and development of plants (peas) under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-4 greenhouse.]

Sharipov also performed the routine daily maintenance of the SOZh environment control & life support system and, from the discretionary task list, prepared the regular IMS (Inventory Management System) delta file for the daily automated export/import to the three IMS databases on the ground.  

After the replacement, on Saturday (2/12), of almost all components of the ASU toilet facility with spares, and of an electronic control panel yesterday, the ASU system is continuing to work nominally, without any restrictions for Sharipov and Chiao.  During the IFM (inflight maintenance), the identical ASU in the Soyuz TMA-5 vehicle stood by for use.

The crew is conducting routine atmospheric sampling in the cabin to check on air composition, and, before the O2 repress, the U.S. MCA (Major Constituents Analyzer) in the Lab was commanded to Rapid Sampling and after the O2 enrichment to Autosequencing (4x Lab-Node-Airlock).

The crew worked out in accordance with their daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise protocol on CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation), RED exerciser and VELO cycle with bungee cord load trainer.

Chiao then transferred the accumulated TVIS and RED exercise data files to the MEC (medical equipment computer) for downlink, as well as the daily wristband HRM (heart rate monitor) data, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium.

Leroy set up the SM s amateur radio equipment and at 10:05am engaged in a ham radio exchange with students at Rockland District High School, Rockland, Maine.   [The contact school is part of Maine School Administration District #5, which draws students from Rockland and two neighboring towns, Owls Head and South Thomaston.  The High School has 500 students and 40 teachers and administrators.  The students that participated in the contact with the ISS either are taking or have just completed an Integrated Science course covering environmental science and earth science including astronomy.]

At ~2:45pm, Leroy Chiao will have his weekly PFC (private family conference) via S-band/audio and Ku-band/NetMeeting video.

The next station reboost by Progress 16 is scheduled for tomorrow evening at ~8:22pm EST, intended as phasing burn to set up the proper orbital rendezvous conditions for the next Progress launch (17P), on 2/28.

At ~9:00am EST, MCC-H initiated the next installment on the P6 battery reconditioning, this time focusing on the 4B battery charge/discharge unit #3 (BCDU 4B3).  The activity, intended to improve battery performance and assess battery health, will continue for about a week.  There are no crew actions associated with this activity.   [Crew intervention would be required for off-nominal events such as power channel loss or BGA (beta gimbal assembly) motor stall during an LOS (loss-of-signal, no-comm) period.  During the reconditioning, BCDU 4B3 will be offline and the 4B power channel will be supported in eclipse (darkness periods) by the other two BCDUs.  With one BCDU offline, channel 4B power levels will be limited to a max of 9.5 kW (normally limited to 12.2 kW).  When station attitude will be moded to LVLH tomorrow for the reboost, the P6 solar arrays will be switched to autotrack (to maximize power generation capability).]

No CEO (crew earth observations) photo 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 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 — 2/15 (~8:22pm EST, ~1.8 m/s; phasing for 17P launch);
• Progress M-51 (16P) undocking & destructive reentry — 2/26/05;
• Progress M-52 (17P) launch — 2/28/05.
• EVA-13 — 3/25/05;
• Soyuz TMA-6 (10S) launch — 4/15/05 with Expedition 11 (CDR Sergei Krikalev, FE/SO John Phillips);
• Soyuz TMA-5 (9S) undock — 4/25/05 with Exp. 10 crew (after 193 days on orbit, 191 days on board ISS);
• Progress M-53 (18P) launch — 6/10/05;
• Progress M-54 (19P) launch — 8/24/05;
• Soyuz TMA-7 (11S) launch — 9/27/05.

ISS Orbit  (as of this morning, 7:00am EST [= epoch]):

• Mean altitude — 356.2 km
• Apogee height — 362.8 km
• Perigee height — 349.6 km
• Period — 91.66 min.
• Inclination (to Equator) — 51.64 deg
• Eccentricity — 0.0009759
• Solar Beta Angle — -22.5 deg (magnitude decreasing)
• Orbits per 24-hr. day — 15.70
• Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours — 120 m
• Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) — 35639

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.