4 p.m. CST, Friday, Feb. 21, 2003
Expedition Six Crew
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02.21.03
| STATUS REPORT:
ISS03-8
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International Space Station Status Report #03-8
The Expedition 6 crew marked its 90th day in orbit today. Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit have been in orbit since their launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 23.
The crew began the week by taking samples of the station’s water supply to ensure its continued purity. Budarin also started a three-day process to disinfect equipment in the Russian water supply system using materials brought to the station aboard the latest Progress resupply craft. Both activities are part of routine maintenance procedures aboard the station.
During the week, the crew completed a variety of medical tests to ensure their continued good health and to collect data on how the human body adapts to microgravity. These included a Russian cardiovascular experiment and the testing of urine and blood samples. Bowersox and Pettit also completed a computer-based refresher training related to their duties as crew medical officers. Station maintenance during the week included the removal and replacement by Pettit of a remote power control module in the Destiny laboratory, which contained a bad power switch that was responsible for powering the video recorder in one of the robotics workstations. The changeout was successful and the video recorder is now working. Bowersox performed monthly maintenance on the cycle ergometer, which the crew uses to maintain their aerobic fitness – the station’s treadmill received its periodic maintenance last weekend. On Thursday, Bowersox and Pettit conducted an inventory of all the equipment in the Quest airlock to ensure it matched the data in the station’s Inventory Management System.
The loading of new software on the station’s command and control computers was completed today, as was the loading of the new software onto the guidance, navigation and control computers.
On Monday, Bowersox and Pettit plan to don U.S. spacesuits without the help of Budarin to practice techniques that could be used if only two crewmembers are present aboard the ISS.
Information on the crew's activities aboard the space station, future launch dates, as well as station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, is available on the Internet at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
Details on station science operations can be found on an Internet site administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:
http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, Feb. 28, or sooner, if events warrant.
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text-only version of this release |
