New Status: ENERGY Experiment: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn began Day 1 of this 10-day experiment by powering on the equipment and performing 4 sessions of metabolic measurements. A loss in astronauts’ body mass is a systematic observation during space flight. The aim of ENERGY is to measure changes in energy balance during long term space flight; …
New Status: Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Last evening Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and the Crew unbolted and unlatched Dragon from the Node 2 Nadir Common Berthing System (CBM). Ground controllers then uninstalled Dragon using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and maneuvered it to the release position. After the crew …
New Status: SpaceX-2 Dragon Cargo Transfers and Departure Preparation: Commander (CDR) Chris Hadfield and Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Tom Marshburn loaded five full coldbags and an active GLACIER with returning science samples into the Dragon vehicle forward rack, and at 8:25 am CDT closed the Dragon hatch. Afterwards they configured the Dragon Pressurized Segment for closeout …
New Status: SpaceX-2 Unberth Delay: The SpaceX Dragon vehicle unberth and departure from ISS was scheduled for Monday March 25th but has been deferred due to rough seas predicted at the splash-down location. The new unberth and departure date is Tuesday March 26, 2013. On-board Training (OBT) for Emergency Response: All 3 crewmembers participated in this training. …
New Status: Marangoni Inside (MI) Fluid Physics Experiment Facility (FPEF): In preparation for the start of the experiment tonight, Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Tom Marshburn installed the sample cassette in the FPEF. The experiment will run through early July during crew sleep. Marangoni convection is the flow driven by the presence of a surface tension gradient which …
New Status: Amine Swingbed Payload Review: Commander (CDR) Hadfield unstowed Amine from its temporary stowage configuration inside Express Rack 8 and placed it in the payload’s double locker chassis. Then he re-assembled the payload in its normal operating configuration. This task follows Kevin Ford’s troubleshooting activities earlier this month when he replaced the Amine gear box. …
New Status: SpaceX (SpX)-2 Cargo Operations: Commander (CDR) Hadfield and Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn loaded cargo in preparation for unberth scheduled on March 25, 2013. Marangoni Inside (MI) Core Cleaning: Following yesterday’s completion of this experiment, Marshburn cleaned the inside of the Marangoni core. When he was finished cleaning he powered off the camcorder to terminate real …
New Status: Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixture 3 (CSLM-3) Experiment: Over the weekend Hadfield transferred data from the 3rd sample and started the 4th of 6 runs of this experiment. CSLM-3 is a materials science investigation that studies the growth and solidification processes (i.e., coarsening) in lead-tin solid-liquid mixtures that contain a small amount of tin branch-like …
New Status: 32 Soyuz (S) Undock & Landing: Following a delay in undocking yesterday due to adverse weather conditions, 32 Soyuz undocked from ISS tonight at 6:43pm CDT bringing Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin back to earth. The Soyuz performed a nominal automated de-orbit burn and following a nominal separation of modules, descended successfully under parachutes. The …
New Status: 32 Soyuz (S) Undock Preparation: The Soyuz Landing Commission postponed the 32S landing by one day due to weather conditions at the landing site near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Specialists are continuing to monitor the weather conditions at the landing site, and ground teams are re-working the landing plan for tomorrow. Spinal Ultrasound: Marshburn completed his second …
