Status Report

Space Station Status Report #39 24 August 2000

By SpaceRef Editor
August 24, 2000
Filed under

International
Space Station Status Report #39
3 p.m. CDT, Thursday, August 24, 2000
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

International Space
Station flight controllers resumed the transfer of propellants this
week from tanks aboard the Progress cargo supply craft to tanks aboard
the station’s Zvezda module and made other preparations for the planned
arrival of the Space Shuttle Atlantis early next month.

One set of fuel
and oxidizer tanks aboard Zvezda is now full following the unloading
of propellants from the cargo craft. Propellants will be transferred
from the Progress tanks to a second set of tanks on Zvezda this week.
The transfer of propellants was interrupted last week due to a sensor
problem that was quickly resolved.

Also in preparation
for the rendezvous by Atlantis in a few weeks, station controllers in
the United States and Russia completed two firings of engines on the
Progress craft last week. The firings raised the station’s average altitude
by about 4.5 statute miles. Another engine firing is planned in early
September to further adjust the station’s orbit in preparation for the
shuttle’s launch. The seven-member crew of Atlantis, currently targeted
for launch Sept. 8, will open the doors to the station’s new Zvezda
living quarters for the first time in space and prepare the outpost
for the arrival of the first resident crew later this fall.

Early Monday, Station
flight controllers noted irregularities in the charging and discharging
of one of five batteries aboard Zvezda and are now troubleshooting the
problem. The other four batteries on Zvezda are operating well and the
single battery problem has no impact on the station’s normal operation.
Three additional batteries are currently planned to be installed in
Zvezda during Atlantis’ mission next month.

Station managers
are continuing to evaluate and plan the possibility of manually deploying
a docking target on the aft end of Zvezda during a space walk to be
conducted by astronauts Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko when Atlantis visits.
The target is positioned near where Lu and Malenchenko are already scheduled
to work on other tasks during the planned space walk

Meanwhile, International
Space Station partners agreed this week to update the station’s planned
assembly sequence launches, adjusting the launch schedule for some elements
in the latter years of station assembly. Target launch dates for the
first phase of assembly in orbit, missions planned through the end of
2001, remain basically unchanged. The launches of remaining missions
were, for the most part, adjusted later than the previous schedule.
The final station assembly flight is now planned for April 2006. The
full International Space Station Assembly Sequence, Revision F, is available
at

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/chron.html

At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations of Atlantis for
a Sept. 8 launch on mission STS-106 continue at Launch Pad 39B. Space
Shuttle managers are planned to meet Tuesday for a review of all mission
preparations called the Flight Readiness Review, following which an
official launch date will be announced. Also next week, the Canadian-built
Mobile Base System is scheduled to join the quarter million pounds of
station components now at KSC’s Space Station Processing Facility undergoing
preflight testing and launch preparations. When launched in 2002, the
Mobile Remote Servicer Base System will provide a base for the Canadian
Space Station Remote Manipulator System robotic arm as it moves along
the eventual 300-foot long station truss structure.

Now in an orbit
with a high point of 228 statute miles and a low point of 222 statute
miles, the 67-ton, 143-foot long International Space Station can easily
be viewed from the ground under proper lighting conditions. To see when
the station is visible, check the human space flight web site at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

For updates on
all aspects of human space flight, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

The next Mission
Control Center status report will be issued on Wednesday, August 30.
For more information, call the Johnson Space Center Newsroom at 281/483-5111.

-END-

SpaceRef staff editor.