Blogs

New Status:  51 Progress (P) Reboost – Yesterday the International Space Station (ISS) performed a nominal 1.53 meters per second reboost using 51P thrusters. This reboost provided phasing for the upcoming 33 Soyuz landing and 35 Soyuz launch. Nutrition and Pro-K Experiment Sample Collections: Cassidy collected blood and urine samples and stowed them in the Minus Eighty …

51 Progress (51P) Docking: 51P successfully docked to the ISS Russian Segment Service Module (SM) aft port with this morning with contact and capture occurring at 7:26 am CDT. All Progress systems operated nominally with the exception of Kurs АСФ2 antenna which had still not deployed. A software patch was uplinked to the 51P vehicle which …

New Status: 51 Progress (51P) Docking Status: Following yesterday’s launch, the Progress 51P Kurs-A antenna АСФ2 failed to deploy nominally.  All attempts by MCC-M to deploy the antenna have been unsuccessful.  MCC-M is working a plan to dock Progress to the SM AFT docking port with the antenna in the stowed configuration, which will be reviewed …

New Status: 51 Progress (51P) Launch: 51P launched at 5:12 am CDT. Ascent was nominal and the vehicle reached orbital insertion at 5:21 am CDT. All appendages except Kurs-A antenna АСФ2 were deployed.  Telemetry shows the АСФ2 antenna remains in its fully stowed position. The Russians are troubleshooting in the hopes of deploying the antenna. A …

New Status: Columbus Water On Off Valve 7 (WOOV7) Remove and Replace (R&R): During a WOOV8 R&R on January 18, 2013, the crew observed that WOOV7 was notably contaminated from condensation deposits. This morning Commander (CDR) Hadfield pre-gathered required tools and with assistance from Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn, removed and replaced the contaminated unit with a …

  (Credit: MSFC Meteoroid Environment Office)A Lyrid meteor streaks though the dawn sky over North Georgia College and State University. Moving at 105,800 mph, this inch-diameter piece of Comet Thatcher lasted less than one and a half seconds, burning up 46 miles above Earth’s surface. The second image shows the same meteor seen from the Tellus …

New Status: Columbus Water On Off Valve 7 (WOOV7) Remove and Replace (R&R) Preparation: Commander (CDR) Hadfield pre-gathered hardware in preparation for the WOOV7 R&R scheduled for tomorrow. Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) Hardware Replacement: Cassidy reviewed procedures, gathered hardware, accessed the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) Combustion Chamber and removed the MDCA Chamber Insert Assembly (CIA). He …

New Status: Russian Segment (RS) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #32: Flight Engineer (FE)-1 Vinogradov and FE-4 Romanenko performed a 6 hour 38 minute EVA. Egress was at 9:03 am. All planned tasks were completed nominally, including installation of the Obstanovka experiment, and the removal and replacement of the Laser Radar Reflector (LRR).  The LRR is used as …

New Status: Ku-Comm Unit #1 High-Rate Communications System (HRCS) COAX Connections: Commander (CDR) Hadfield and Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn connected Ku Comm Unit 1 to the Space to Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller (SGTRC) final configuration.  The Ground activated Ku-Comm Unit 1 and confirmed video, payload data and Orbiter Communication Adapter (OCA) were functioning nominally. This completes …

New Status: Blood Pressure (BP) Regulation (Reg) Experiment: Hadfield set up the Human Research Facility (HRF) PFS (Pulmonary Function System) and the European Physiology Module (EPM) Cardiolab (CDL) Leg/Arm Cuff System (LACS) and conducted the first ever session of this experiment. Marshburn is scheduled to conduct the experiment Friday. The test will help to identify the …