ISS On-Orbit Status 03/30/10 All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
100th Day in space for Oleg Kotov, Timothy Creamer & Soichi Noguchi --- Congrats! At wake-up, CDR Oleg Kotov performed the regular daily early-morning check of the aerosol filters at the Russian Elektron O
2 generator which Maxim Suraev had installed on 10/19 in gaps between the BZh Liquid Unit and the oxygen outlet pipe (filter FA-K) plus hydrogen outlet pipe (filter FA-V).
[CDR again inspected the filters before bedtime this morning, currently a daily requirement per plan, with photographs to be taken if the filter packing is discolored.] FE-6 Creamer & FE-5 Noguchi completed another Reaction Self Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS) protocol.
[The RST is performed twice daily (after wakeup & before bedtime) for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following a sleep shift. Originally planned for a total of 121 RST runs, Jeff completed 108 runs by the time of his return last week. The experiment consists of a 5-minute reaction time task that allows crewmembers to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while on ISS. The experiment provides objective feedback on neurobehavioral changes in attention, psychomotor speed, state stability, and impulsivity while on ISS missions, particularly as they relate to changes in circadian rhythms, sleep restrictions, and extended work shifts.] After breakfast, Oleg Kotov began his first session of the standard 24-hour ECG (electrocardiogram) recording under the Russian MedOps MO-2 protocol.
[For the ECG recording and blood pressure measurements with the Kardiomed system, Oleg donned the five-electrode Holter harness that reads his dynamic (in motion) heart function from two leads over the next 24 hours and records data on the “Kardioregistrator 90205” unit. The Holter gear will be doffed tomorrow. The examination results will then be downlinked from the RSE-Med laptop.] CDR Kotov downlinked the video he had recorded in the last few days of Lake Baikal for Roskosmos.
[Roskosmos’ Vesti TV channel is working on a feature on Lake Baikal and its importance as natural heritage, called ‘Planet Baikal’. The feature will be broadcast in Vesti channel’s weekly program Kosmonavtika. The Baikal Lake contains 20% of the world’s water reserves; it is a beautiful and a mysterious lake. The producers want to highlight the grandeur of this natural gem and raise awareness about its pollution problems. The metaphor used throughout the feature is one of a planet, an element of the Universe and a cosmonaut talking about Baikal while on orbit is thought to be a perfect choice to convey it. The feature item will be filmed and broadcast to Earth in real time later (April 6-9).] In the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), FE-6 Creamer removed four HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) from HRF-2 WS2 (Human research Facility 2 / Workstation 2) and stowed them in an HRF Electronics Media kit in COL.
Afterwards, Timothy had ~3 hrs set aside for the scheduled IFM (Inflight Maintenance) on the WPA (Water Processor Assembly) catalytic reactor, removing the reactor ORU (Orbit Replaceable Unit) from the back of the rotated rack and taking off the top & bottom thermal covers of the assembly for a close inspection of the internal water lines for a leak. Water was indeed found in the ORU (whose components are rated for humid/wet service).
[Suspect fittings will be re-torqued to specifications. Then the catalytic reactor will be reassembled and reinstalled in the rack to allow the WPA to be powered for the waste tank offload scheduled tomorrow.] Kotov worked in the SM (Service Module), installing a third antenna on the WAP (Wireless Access Point, Russian: ABP) unit of the Ethernet ISL (Integrated Station LAN).
[Laptops and printer were temporarily powered down for the installation.] Afterwards, Oleg ran a series of functional tests on the SM’s Ethernet outlet/connections.
[Activities included first setting up the central, starboard & port Ethernet outlet configurations, then using the RSK1 laptop to check (”ping”) the connections using the RSCE PingMaster application. After applying labels to the SM crew cabin network cables, the CDR took photographs of the equipment setup (BRI/Smart Switch Router & ABP/WAP) for ground inspection.] After the recent (3/22) failure of two of the four gyro wire ropes of the TVIS (Treadmill with Vibration isolation & Stabilization), Noguchi & Kotov performed major IFM on the treadmill, removing it from the SM “pit” and replacing the ropes, actually 4 segments created by a bisecting retainer plate.
[However, during the wire rope R&R, a problem occurred with the retainer plate at the aft left isolator corner bracket, and ground specialists are currently developing a workaround plan using an older retainer plate. TVIS remains NoGo for exercise until the issue has been resolved. Two spare ropes are manifested on Progress 37P.] Kotov also performed troubleshooting on the TVIS power supply system, attempting to determine which ORU was causing the power problem for the forward right stabilizer, either the VIS (Vibration Isolation System) controller and power/data cable or the Stabilizer itself.
In the Lab, in preparation for the upcoming installation of VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor) in ER2 (EXPRESS Rack 2), Soichi relocated a CTB (Cargo Transfer Bag) and moved the ISS locker from Bay J2 to D2.
[VCAM will identify gases that are present in minute quantities in the station’s breathing air that could harm the crew’s health. If successful, instruments like VCAM could accompany crewmembers during long-duration exploration missions.] Later, Noguchi & Creamer worked in the “Quest” Airlock, bundling & relocating the three EMUs (Extravehicular Mobility Units, #3005, #3009, #3010) for stowage in Node-1 & Node-3.
Afterwards, Soichi made preparations for the teardown of the TESS (Temporary Sleep Station), relocating EDV & KTO containers from inside the TESS to Node-3.
The FE-5 also relocated the IWIS (Internal Wireless Instrumentation System) triaxial accelerometer assembly from nearby the T2/COLBERT treadmill to the Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module). With WIS then powered up and the Node-2 IWIS accelerometer connected to the Node-2 RSU (Remote Sensor Unit), nominal IWIS configuration was established for taking structural dynamics data during Soyuz 22S docking and 19A arrival.
TJ Creamer & Soichi Noguchi completed the regular monthly session (their second) of the CHeCS (Crew Health Care Systems) emergency medical operations OBT (On-Board Training) drill, a 30-min. exercise to refresh their CMO (Crew Medical Officer) acuity in a number of critical health areas. The video-based proficiency drill today focused on nosebleed for TJ, eye treatment issues for Soichi.
[The HMS (Health Maintenance Systems) hardware, including ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) equipment, may be used in contingency situations where crew life is at risk. To maintain proficiency, crewmembers spend one hour per month reviewing HMS and ACLS equipment and procedures via the HMS and ACLS CBT (computer-based training). The training drill, each crewmember for him/herself, refreshes their memory of the on-orbit stowage and deployment locations, equipment etc. and procedures.] Timothy re-installed the PaRIS (Passive Rack Isolation System) lock-down alignment guides on the FCF (Fluids & Combustion Facility) in the CIR (Combustion Integrated Rack) which he had removed yesterday to allow PaRIS activation for ground-commanded FCF ops in micro-G.
TJ also hooked up the UOP DCP (Utility Outlet Panel/Display & Control Panel) power bypass cable at the Lab & Cupola RWS (Robotic Workstations). Later, the FE-6 performed checkouts on the DCPs of both stations.
Noguchi worked on three CWC-I (Contingency Water Containers-Iodine, #2009, #1022, #1020) to “degas” them, i.e. to remove any free air bubbles that may have been ingested since their last use.
[The traditional procedure for “degassing” the container by first draining, then refilling it with a fully charged water CWC was replaced in 2004 by a rather ingenious new procedure developed and checked out on the KC-135 aircraft flying zero-G parabolas at JSC/Houston: Essentially, it involves the crewmember himself centrifuging the selected container by holding it away from the body and applying a slow rotation of ~15 rpm to himself, to separate air and water in the bag through centrifugal force, while simultaneously squeezing out the air by cinching down on bungee cords wrapped around the CWC.] Creamer removed the failed EU (Electronic Unit) from MELFI-2 (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS 2) and prepacked it for return on 19A. Its now empty rack location was closed off.
TJ also completed the monthly maintenance of the T2 advanced treadmill, checking its components, pin alignment, rack centering and the snubber jam nut witness marks.
[Witness marks (12 total) are applied to the X-, Y- & Z-axis jam nuts on each (of four) snubber arm. Their inspection serves to determine to what degree and which jam nuts are backing off.] Oleg Kotov completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS).
[Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers.] The crew performed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical workout program on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (FE-6), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-5, FE-6) and T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-5, FE-6).
At ~4:15am EDT, JAXA staged a special celebratory event for Soichi’s 100
th day in space at SSIPC (Space Station Integration & Promotion Center)/Tsukuba, with Noguchi tied in via S-Band/audio and Ku-Band/video.
At ~2:10pm, Oleg had his periodic PMC (Private Medical Conference), via S- & Ku-band audio/video.
BCC Checkout: MSFC/Huntsville performed a BCC (Backup Control Center) checkout this morning at 1:30am-2:00am EDT. The TDRS (Tracking & Data Relay Satellite) forward link was “swung” from MCC-H to the BCC in Huntsville, with a brief voice check on S-band from the BCC Capcom.
SSRMS Walk-off: During the 2-hr period of 10:50am-12:50pm, the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) was “walked off” to Node-2 by ground commanding, grappling its PDGF (Power & data Grapple Fixture) to establish its base and maneuvering its other end to the proper start position for 19A support.
A task added to Creamer’s voluntary “job jar” task list today was to reload the A31p CPSD (Crew Personnel Support Disk) of Jeff Williams to become Tracy Caldwell’s CPSD.
Jobs listed for Oleg for today on the Russian discretionary “as time permits” task list were –
- The daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, updating/editing its standard “delta file” including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur), and
- Another video shoot with the SONY HVR-Z7U camcorder of Lake Baikal. [Roskosmos TV studio is working on a feature on Lake Baikal and its importance as natural heritage, called ‘Planet Baikal’. The feature will be broadcast in Vesti channel’s weekly program Kosmonavtika. The Baikal Lake contains 20% of the world’s water reserves; it is a beautiful and a mysterious lake. The producers want to highlight the grandeur of this natural gem and raise awareness about its pollution problems. The metaphor used throughout the feature is one of a planet, an element of the Universe and a cosmonaut talking about Baikal while on orbit is thought to be a perfect choice to convey it. The feature item will be filmed and broadcast to Earth in real time later (April 6-9).]
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) photo targets uplinked for today were
Volga - Ural Delta (ISS had a mid-morning pass in clear weather over this immense delta region with an approach from the WSW. The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It drains much of western Russia and empties into the Caspian Sea. Since 1978 Caspian Sea level has risen over 2 meters, submerging valuable wetland habitats. Shallow coastlines like the Volga delta are especially sensitive to sea level rise. As the crew approached the northwestern shore of the Caspian, they were to look nadir and shoot a mapping strip of the coastal margin of the delta. These kinds of images will be used to document coastal changes), Doha, Qatar (ISS had a late afternoon pass in clear weather over this target. As the station tracked southeastward along the west coast of the Persian Gulf, the crew was to look nadir for the capital city of Qatar. Doha with a population of over a million is located on the east coast of the peninsula comprising Qatar), Lynchburg, TN (this target is located in the Tennessee River Valley about midway between Huntsville, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee. On this mid-morning pass in clear weather it lied right of track. Lynchburg [population 6,000] is less than 5 miles NW of the Tims Ford Lake reservoir and roughly centered in the triangle formed by the larger Tennessee cities of Shelbyville, Tullahoma, and Fayetteville), Lake Nasser, Toshka Lakes, Egypt (the Toshka Lakes formed in the late 1990’s when record high water in the Nile River and Lake Nasser spilled out into desert depressions to the west. Since then the lakes have persisted, but continue to slowly dry up. The crew was asked to update CEO database’s monitoring record of this event with nadir context views of the lakes. Looking for them as ISS approached the Nile River valley from the NW. It was late afternoon with clear weather expected), and
Ile Rouleau Impact Crater, Quebec, Canada (the crew had a late-morning, fair weather pass over this target located in western Quebec Province SE of Hudson Bay. Ile Rouleau is a small impact crater [~4 km in diameter] and lies partly under water in the long, narrow Lake Mistassini. However, it is relatively easy to locate as the center uplift forms an island. Looking nadir for this target, but Lake Mistassini is still frozen).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:26am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 347.3km
Apogee height – 351.6 km
Perigee height – 342.9 km
Period -- 91.48 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006486
Solar Beta Angle -- -47.7deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.74
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours -- 127 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 65,108
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change): --------------Three-crew operations-------------
04/02/10 -- Soyuz TMA-18/22S launch –
Skvortsov (CDR-24)/Caldwell/Kornienko – 12:04:34am EDT 04/04/10 -- Soyuz TMA-18/22S docking –
~1:26am --------------Six-crew operations-----------------
04/05/10 -- STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC –
launch 6:21:21am 04/07/10 -- STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC –
docking 3:46am 04/16/10 -- STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC –
undocking 4:01am 04/18/10 -- STS-131/Discovery/19A – MPLM(P), LMC –
land/KSC 8:35am 04/27/10 -- Progress M-03M/35P undock
04/28/10 -- Progress M-05M/37P launch
04/30/10 -- Progress M-05M/37P docking
05/10/10 -- Progress M-04M/36P undock
05/12/10 -- Soyuz 21S relocation (FGB Nadir to SM Aft)
05/14/10 -- STS-132/Atlantis/ULF4 – ICC-VLD, MRM-1 “Rassvet”
06/02/10 -- Soyuz TMA-17/21S undock/landing
(End of Increment 23) --------------Three-crew operations-------------
06/14/10 -- Soyuz TMA-19/23S launch –
Wheelock (CDR-25)/Walker/Yurchikhin 06/16/10 -- Soyuz TMA-19/23S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-----------------
06/28/10 -- Progress M-06M/38P launch
06/30/10 -- Progress M-06M/38P docking
07/07/10 -- US EVA-15
(Caldwell/Wheelock) 07/23/10 -- Russian EVA-25
(Yurchikhin/Kornienko) 07/26/10 -- Progress M-05M/37P undock
07/29/10 -- STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02)
08/30/10 -- Progress M-06M/38P undock
08/31/10 -- Progress M-07M/39P launch
09/02/10 -- Progress M-07M/39P docking
09/16/10 -- Soyuz TMA-18/22S undock/landing
(End of Increment 24) 09/16/10 -- STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM)
09/18/10 -- STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) docking
09/22/10 -- STS-133/Discovery (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) undock
09/30/10 -- Soyuz TMA-20/24S launch –
Kelly (CDR-26)/Kaleri/Skripochka 10/xx/10 -- Russian EVA-26
10/27/10 -- Progress M-08M/40P launch
10/29/10 -- Progress M-08M/40P docking
11/26/10 -- Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing
(End of Increment 25) 12/10/10 -- Soyuz TMA-21/25S launch –
Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli 12/15/10 -- Progress M-07M/39P undock
12/26/10 -- Progress M-08M/40P undock
12/27/10 -- Progress M-09M/41P launch
12/29/10 -- Progress M-09M/41P docking
03/16/11 -- Soyuz TMA-20/24S undock/landing
(End of Increment 26) 03/30/11 -- Soyuz TMA-22/26S launch –
A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R, Garan/A.Samokutayev 04/01/11 -- Soyuz TMA-22/26S docking
04/27/11 -- Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/28/11 -- Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/30/11 -- Progress M-10M/42P docking
05/17/11 -- Soyuz TMA-21/25S undock/landing
(End of Increment 27) 05/31/11 -- Soyuz TMA-23/27S launch –
M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov 06/02/11 -- Soyuz TMA-23/27S docking
06/21/11 -- Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 -- Progress M-11M/43P docking
08/30/11 -- Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 -- Progress M-12M/44P docking
09/30/11 -- Soyuz TMA-24/28S launch
10/28/11 -- Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/30/11 -- Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/25/11 -- Soyuz TMA-25/29S launch
11/27/11 -- Soyuz TMA-25/29S docking
12/??/11 -- 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
