XA/EVA Project Office Weekly Activity Report September 28, 2000
EMU O2 Contamination Recovery Status – Update 9/27
To date four Secondary Oxygen Pack (SOP) assemblies out of 15 flight units have completed cleaning and are ready to support flight. Three of these SOP’s have been integrated with the EMUs slated for launch on STS-92 and will be shipped to KSC on 9/28. The fifth and sixth SOP’s are expected to be delivered to USA on 9/29/00 and 10/9/00, respectively. This refurbishment pace will continue until at least nine SOPs are available for flight, after which follow on refurbishment will be expanded to include complete overhaul and replacement of wearable components to extend lifetime of each unit. The EMU community is now focusing on final resolution of this issue. Interim plans for controls of all contamination hazards are being finalized and documented. Long term corrective action plans will begin with defining new gas source and supply specifications as well as changes to EMU and ground support equipment maintenance procedures. Final closure rationale with appropriate long-term corrective action plans is expected by early November.
NASA-NASDA OPS #2 Technical Interchange Meeting
In preparation for the next two series of EVA underwater test simulations (designated “OPS #2” and “ASCAN WETS-EVA Skills Run”) at the NASDA neutral buoyancy facility, a joint EVA TIM was conducted at the NASDA-Houston Liaison Office on September 19-21, 2000. The 3-week OPS #2 test is currently planned for January 15 – February 2, 2001. Three suited subjects will evaluate a combination of end-to-end JEM assembly and contingency EVA tasks. The ASCAN Skills Training sessions will be held February 12-23, 2001, and each of the three, newly selected, NASDA Astronauts will receive three days of underwater EVA familiarization training. The current plan for OPS #2 is to conduct the first week of testing with a Japanese engineering test subject, the second week with an American Astronaut, and the third week with a Japanese Astronaut. The NASA side agreed to investigate the availability of Medium/Large EMU-sized crewmembers and to provide the names of the Astronaut test subjects no later than November 1, 2000. Additionally, the NASA side emphasized that American participation in the OPS #2 test will have to be on a non-interference basis with nominal planned NBL training operations in Houston (i.e. Crew, EMU, and EVA tool availability).
SAFER
EVA Project Office was informed that the repair to the damaged USA Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) serial number 1006, due to incorrect cable connection, would not be in time to support STS-92. Hence, one of the SAFER units from STS-106 is being processed to support STS-92. In addition, the SAFER batteries from STS-106 are also being processed to support STS-92. Preflight preparation for SAFER’s and battens is progressing in a timely manner and is not expected to have any impact on the STS-92 mission.
Bilateral MIOCB
NASA issues concerning Increment 2 EVA’s were presented at a special bilateral MIOCB on September 21, 2000. Mr. Van Laak and Mr. Gorshikov chaired the meeting. The discussion centered on the issues of crew training, tethering protocols, and Orlan consumables for contingency EVA’s. The meeting began with an initial statement from each partner on these issues. Following this discussion, it was agreed that a decision would be reached on crew training and tethering protocols prior to the beginning of the next training session for Increment 2, which begins October 9th. The engineering runs scheduled for the week of October 2nd will be used to perform evaluations of different tethering techniques. This information, along with information gathered from prior training sessions, will be used by the EVA specialists on both sides to develop a tethering protocol for use on the Russian segment. A telecon is scheduled for Friday, October 6th to finalize the agreements on tethering protocols and crew training plans. It was agreed that the issue of contingency consumables would be worked by the Orlan specialists
STS-97 (4A) COFR1
The 4A COFR1 was completed on 9/22/00 with representatives from the EVA Project Office, Engineering Directorate, EVA Safety, and USA EVA hardware presenting their status. The EVA COFR1 was signed, plans are in place to complete all open work, including several fitcheck items that remain open due to hardware availability.
Floating Potential Probe (FPP) TIM
ISS program is pursuing a new design of a devise to measure the characteristics of the plasma phenomenon being addressed on the vehicle. The basic requirements of the probe were discussed. However, there are numerous EVA design and operations questions and concerns regarding this item are yet to be resolved, and still under discussion. Representatives from Design Net are scheduled to travel to Houston on 9/29/00 for additional EVA discussions for resolution of these issues.
Gregory J. Harbaugh
Manager
