ISS On-Orbit Status 03/24/12 All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.
Saturday – Crew off duty. Conjunction Update: Early this morning, the six-member crew took precautionary shelter in their respective Soyuz vehicles, about 30 min before TCA (Time of Closest Approach) of a small piece of Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite debris which passed by the ISS at 2:38:33am EDT.
[At TCA, the debris was moving from left to right in front of the station at an estimated overall miss distance of between 11 & 14 km and a radial miss distance of 120 m. The piece of debris was a remnant of a 2/10/2009 collision between the dormant Cosmos 2251 satellite and an operational Iridium 33 communications satellite. The collision added about 2,000 trackable items to the orbital debris catalog. CDR Burbank, FE-1 Shkaplerov & FE-2 Ivanishin sheltered in the Soyuz TMA-22/28S spacecraft attached to the DC1 Poisk module while FE-4 Kononenko, FE-5 Kuipers and FE-6 Pettit took to the Soyuz TMA-03M/29S on MRM1 Rassvet. The debris initially was tracked Friday morning, but the late notification to the flight control team of a possible conjunction between the debris and the station precluded planning for a DAM (Debris Avoidance Maneuver). This is the third time that a crew had to seek shelter in the Soyuz vehicles; the other times were 3/12/2009 and 6/28/2011.] After breakfast, FE-1 Shkaplerov performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.
Ivanishin performed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM.
[Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.] At ~10:35am EDT, Kuipers turned on the MPC (Multi-Protocol Converter) and started the Ku-band data flow of video/data recorded during his preceding EPO (Education Payload Operation) MISSION X session for ESA to the ground, with POIC (Payload Operations & Integration Center) routing the onboard HRDL (High-Rate Data Link). After about one hour, André turned MPC routing off again.
FE-2 & FE-4 conducted their weekly PFCs (Private Family Conferences), via S-band/audio and Ku-band/MS-NetMeeting application (which displays the uplinked ground video on an SSC laptop), Oleg at ~7:15am, Anatoly at ~10:35am EDT.
At ~8:50am, the six crewmembers held the regular WPC (Weekly Planning Conference) with the ground, discussing next week's "Look-Ahead Plan" (prepared jointly by MCC-H and TsUP-Moscow timeline planners), via S-band/audio, reviewing upcoming activities and any concerns about future on-orbit events.
At ~9:20am, Burbank conducted a phone conference with the PLUTO (Plug-In Port Utilization Officer) flight control team at MCC-Houston.
At ~8:15am, the six crewmembers joined for a Russian PAO TV comm session, downlinking messages of greetings to the participants of a solemn meeting and gala concert to be held at the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army in Moscow and to the GCTC (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) employees for Cosmonautics Day on April 12.
The crew worked out with their regular 2-hr physical exercise protocol on the CEVIS cycle ergometer with vibration isolation (FE-5), TVIS treadmill with vibration isolation & stabilization (FE-1, FE-2, FE-4), ARED advanced resistive exerciser (CDR, FE-4, FE-5, FE-6), T2/COLBERT advanced treadmill (CDR, FE-6), and VELO ergometer bike with load trainer (FE-1, FE-2).
[FE-6 is on the special experimental SPRINT protocol which diverts from the regular 2.5 hrs per day exercise regime and introduces special daily sessions, followed by a USND (Ultrasound) leg muscle self scan in COL. Today’s exercise called for ARED+T2, with CEVIS, ARED+T2, T2, ARED+T2 & CEVIS, following in the next 5 days. If any day is not completed, Don picks up where he left off, i.e., he would be finishing out the week with his last day of exercise on his off day.] Tasks listed for Shkaplerov, Kononenko & Ivanishin on the Russian discretionary “time permitting” job for today were –
- A ~30-min. run of the GFI-8 "Uragan" (hurricane) earth-imaging program with the NIKON D3X digital camera with Sigma AF 300-800mm telelens, focusing on the volcanoes Cleveland, Mt. Etna, Karymsky, Sangay and Hudson;
- A 10-min. photography session for the DZZ-13 “Seiner” ocean observation program, obtaining HDV (Z1) camcorder footage of color bloom patterns in the waters of the Central-Eastern Atlantic, then copying the images to the RSK-1 laptop,
- A ~30-min. session for Russia's EKON Environmental Safety Agency, making observations and taking KPT-3 aerial photography of environmental conditions on Earth using the NIKON D3X camera with the RSK-1 laptop, and
- More preparation & downlinking of reportages (written text, photos, videos) for the Roskosmos website to promote Russia’s manned space program (max. file size 500 Mb).
Weekly Science Update (Expedition Thirty/Thirty-One -- Week 25).
2D NANO Template (JAXA): The experiment is continuing in Dewar 4 of MELFI-1. The samples are proceeding by arranging peptides slowly on base plates. The samples will be returned on 28S.
3D SPACE: Complete.
AgCam (Agricultural Camera): No report.
ALTCRISS (Alteino Long Term monitoring of Cosmic Rays on the ISS): Complete.
ALTEA SHIELD (NASA/ASI): No report.
Amine Swingbed (NASA): No report.
AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): AMS Payload and Laptop operations are nominal. As of 3/19, the AMS POCC at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland has received data on the ground for 14 Billion cosmic ray events. AMS reconfigured power consumption on 3/22 to 100% on Bus 3A and on 3/23 to 100% on 4B, in support of the Solar Array Maximum Power Output Test. AMS returned to split power consumption on both buses following these reconfigurations.
APEX (Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit) -Cambium: No report.
APEX-TAGES (Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System): No report.
Asian Seed 2010 (JAXA): Returned on ULF6.
BASS (Burning and Suppression of Solids, NASA): “Don, next week we plan to have you transition MSG from SLICE to BASS.“
BCAT-6 (Binary Colloidal Alloy Test 6): Our science team is looking forward to analyzing the latest set of pictures from samples 6-10. The lighting for sample 5 has shadows which does not allow the PI to compare this sample with the previous runs. However, this is a low contrast sample, very close to the critical point, so this sample is probably the most difficult to photograph.
[Colloids are particles as small as a few tens of nanometers (a thousandth of a thousandth of a millimeter) that are suspended in a medium, usually a liquid or a gas. The name “colloid” comes from the Greek word for “glue”, and expresses very important properties of colloids: when small and light enough, particles can be influenced in their behavior by forces of electromagnetic origin, and make them stick together, or repel each other depending on the configuration. Colloids are widely studied in science because the forces between particles can be controlled and tuned and because particles, while being small enough to be influenced by such forces, are big and slow enough to be seen with a relatively simple and inexpensive laboratory instrument like a microscope. This is why colloids are often studied as model for molecular systems (like standard gases or liquids) where molecules, the individual constituents, are much smaller than colloids and cannot be seen with light. As mentioned, forces between colloids can be tuned giving rise to a rich variety of phenomena. One of them is aggregation, which is when particles stick together and tend to form structures. Among the many ways to induce particle aggregation, one allows to do so by controlling the temperature of the solution in which the particles are immersed, thanks to very weak forces called “critical Casimir forces” that have been predicted more than 30 years ago but just partially verified in experiments. The objective of SODI COLLOID is to measure such forces and produce a controlled aggregation of tiny plastic particles. This would allow to shed light on critical Casimir forces and to make a step towards the fabrication of new nanostructured materials with remarkable optical properties for industrial applications.] BIOLAB (ESA): No report.
BIORHYTHMS (JAXA, Biological Rhythms): No report.
BISE (CSA, Bodies in the Space Environment): No report.
BISPHOSPHONATES: No report.
BXF-Facility (Boiling eXperiment Facility, NASA): No report.
BXF-MABE (Microheater Array Boiling Experiment, NASA): No report.
BXF-NPBX (Pool Boiling Experiment, NASA): No report.
CARD (Long Term Microgravity Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease, ESA): “The first PFS rebreathing data looked excellent, André. But as you know, the decision had to be made to abort the CARD protocol to allow for further assessment of the anomaly with the PFS Bag Filling Assembly as no rebreathing sessions would have been possible and the results of the rebreathing and related cardiac output are crucial for the CARD experiment. We hope together with you, that we soon can replan the experiment!”
CARDIOCOG-2: Complete.
CB (JAXA Clean Bench): No report.
CBEF-2 (JAXA Cell Biology Experiment Facility)/SPACE SEED: No report.
CCISS (Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Control on Return from ISS): No report.
CERISE (JAXA): No report.
CCF (Capillary Channel Flow, NASA): No report.
CFE-2 (Capillary Flow Experiment 2, NASA): No report.
CFS-A (Colored Fungi in Space-A, ESA): No report.
CSI-5/CGBA-5 (CGBA Science Insert #5/Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 5): No report.
CGBA-2 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 2): Complete.
CIR (Combustion Integrated Rack), MDCA/Flex: No report.
Commercial (Inc 23&24, JAXA): No report.
Commercial (Inc 25 & 26, JAXA): No report.
CSAC (Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, SPHERES): No report.
CSLM-2 (Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures 2): No report.
CsPins (JAXA): No report.
CubeLab: No report.
CW/CR (Cell Wall/Resist Wall) in EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): Complete.
DECLIC-ALI (Device for the Study of Critical Liquids & Crystallization-ALICE-like, CNES/NASA): No report.
DomeGene (JAXA): Complete.
DOSIS (Dose Distribution Inside ISS, ESA): No report.
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students): No report.
EDR (European Drawer Rack, ESA): No report.
EKE (Endurance Capacity by Gas Exchange and Heart Rate Kinetics During Physical Training, ESA): No report.
ELITE-S2 (Elaboratore Immagini Televisive - Space 2): Planned.
EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System): No report.
ENose (Electronic Nose): No report.
EPM (European Physiology Module): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Eye in the Sky; Sleep 2): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Sesame Street): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Kids in Micro-G): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Earth/Moon/Mars Demo): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (Space Sports): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, NASA) (ISS Orbit): No report.
EPO (Educational Payload Operations, ESA): No report.
EPO CONVECTIONS (ESA): “No report.
EPO MISSION X (ESA): No report.
EPO LES-2 (ESA): No report.
EPO GREENHOUSE (ESA): No report.
EPO 3-min Video (JAXA): No report.
EPO J-Astro Report (JAXA): No report.
EPO Dewey’s Forest (JAXA): Closed out on 3/15.
EPO Space Clothes (JAXA): Complete.
EPO Hiten (Dance, JAXA): No report.
EPO Lego Bricks (NASA, JAXA): No report.
EPO Moon Score (JAXA): No report.
EPO Kibo Kids Tour (JAXA): Complete.
EPO Paper Craft (Origami, JAXA): No report.
EPO Poem (JAXA): No report.
EPO-5 SpaceBottle (Message in a Bottle, JAXA): No report.
EPO-6 Spiral Top 2 (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Doctor Demo (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Green Tea Preparation (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Ink Ball (JAXA): No report.
EPO-7 Video (JAXA): EPO-7 Try Zero-G (JAXA): No report.
EPO-8 Space Sakura (JAXA): No report.
EPO-8 Space Musical Instruments (JAXA): No report.
ERB-2 (Erasmus Recording Binocular, ESA): [ERB-2 aims are to develop narrated video material for various PR & educational products & events, including a 3D interior station view.] No report.
ETD (Eye Tracking Device): Completed.
FACET-2 (JAXA): No report.
FERULATE (JAXA): No report.
FIR/LMM/CVB (Fluids Integrated Rack / Light Microscopy Module / Constrained Vapor Bubble): No report.
Fish Scales (JAXA): Completed on FD7/ULF-4 and returned on STS-132.
FOAM STABILITY EPO (ESA): No report.
FOCUS: No report.
FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory, ESA): No report.
FWED (Flywheel Exercise Device, ESA): No report.
GENARA-A (Gravity Regulated Genes in Arabidopsis A/ESA): No report.
GEOFLOW-2 (ESA): No in-flight activities performed this week. The science team confirmed that a few temperature set-points will have to be repeated for some No-Rotations runs, as these have been impacted by ISS dynamic events (i.e. g-disturbances).
[Background: Everybody is familiar with liquids. In an average day we get to use, handle or drink water or other liquids. And everybody knows how fluids (that is liquids and gases) behave: when subjected to a net force, may be pressure, a temperature difference or gravity, they can move freely. Scientists have been studying how fluids move for centuries, and managed to write mathematical formulas that can describe and predict such movements. Unfortunately, these equations are extremely complex and only approximate solutions are known. As a result, our quantitative understanding of fluid movement is just partial. This is especially true for natural phenomena where the forces can be enormous and unpredictable, like in oceans or in the atmosphere. Or the interior of the earth, where rocks are exposed to pressures and temperatures so incredibly high that they slowly move and adapt their shape. That is, over hundreds of years rocks flow just like a very viscous liquid. Scientists try to study such flows but cannot observe them directly due to the fact that they take place deep beneath the surface of our planet. The only way is to have computers simulating those movements starting from the equations, but how to check whether computers are correct? This is what Geoflow II is trying to answer on board the International Space Station. Geoflow II is a miniature planet that has some of its essential ingredients: a fluid can freely move inside a spherical container that rotates, has temperature differences and has a simulated gravity directed towards the centre just like in a real planet. By taking pictures of the fluid movements, scientists are able to understand the essential characteristics of the flows and determine whether computer simulations are correct or whether they need to be refined and improved towards a better understanding of the elusive movements that take place inside our planet.] HAIR (JAXA): No report.
HDTV System (JAXA): No report.
Hicari (JAXA): Our ground team has continued the Pre-Vacuum of GHF for communication trouble-shooting; these activities will complete on 3/24 (Saturday), the Vacuum Evacuation Equipment (VEE) will be operated just one day on 3/24 to confirm healthy communication. The pre-vacuum for the Hicari first experiment run will be started on 3/30 (Friday). We are expecting this sample to be returned by 28S on GMT121.
Holter ECG (JAXA): No report.
HQPC (JAXA): Was delivered by 34P.
HREP (HICO/Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean & RAIDS/Remote Atmospheric & Ionospheric Detection System/JAXA): HICO has taken 5308 images to-date. The most recent HICO images include the English Channel, the Long Island Sound, the Gulf of Mexico just south of Louisiana and the coast of California. RAIDS is collecting secondary science data including nighttime atmospheric disk photometry, spectra and temperatures. Extreme Ultra Violet airglow spectroscopy and optical contamination studies will also be performed.
HRF-1 (Human Research Facility 1, NASA): No report.
HydroTropi (Hydrotropism & Auxin-Inducible Gene Expression in Roots Grown under Microgravity Conditions/JAXA): No report.
ICE CRYSTAL (JAXA): Complete.
ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular): No report.
IMMUNO (Neuroendocrine & Immune Responses in Humans During & After Long Term Stay at ISS): No report.
INTEGRATED IMMUNE: No report.
InSPACE-2 (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions 2): No report.
IRIS (Image Reversal in Space, CSA): No report.
ISS Amateur/Ham Radio: No report.
ISSAC (ISS Agricultural Camera, NASA): No report.
IV Gen (Intravenous Fluids Generation): No report.
JOURNALS (Behavioral Issues Associated with Isolation and Confinement, NASA): No report.
[Studies conducted on Earth have shown that analyzing the content of journals and diaries is an effective method for identifying the issues that are most important to a person. The method is based on the reasonable assumption that the frequency that an issue or category of issues is mentioned in a journal reflects the importance of that issue or category to the writer. The tone of each entry (positive, negative, or neutral) and phase of the expedition also are variables of interest. Study results will lead to recommendations for the design of equipment, facilities, procedures, and training to help sustain behavioral adjustment and performance during long-duration space expeditions to the ISS, asteroids, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Results from this study could help to improve the behavioral performance of people living and working under a variety of conditions here on Earth.] KID/KUBIK6: No report.
KUBIK 3 (ESA): No report.
LMM/PACE-2 (Light Microscopy Module / Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment): No report.
LOCAD-PTS (Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System): No report.
Marangoni Exp. (JAXA): No report.
Marangoni DSD – Dynamic Surf (JAXA): Payload name was change from Marangoni DSD to Dynamic Surf.
Marangoni UVP (JAXA): No report.
MARES (Muscle Atrophy Research & Exercise System, ESA/NASA): No report.
Matryoshka-2 (RSA): No report.
MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image, JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
MDCA/Flex-2: No report.
MEIS (Marangoni Experiment for ISS) in JAXA FPEF (Fluid Physics Experiment Facility): No report.
Microbe-2 (JAXA): Sample returned by ULF6.
Micro-G Clay (JAXA EPO): Complete.
MISSE-8 (Materials ISS Experiment 8): All MISSE-8 experiments are nominal and the CIB has not reset this week. PASCAL is performing nominal commanding of its solar cells including induced discharge experiments and IV curves. IV curves are plots of the current versus voltage for solar cells and tell a lot about how these are performing. The SpaceCube experiment is running code for new radiation hardening by software.
MMA (JAXA/Microgravity Measurement Apparatus): No report.
MPAC/SEED (JAXA): No report.
MSG-SAME (Microgravity Science Glovebox-Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment): No report.
MSPR (Multi Purpose Small Payload Rack, JAXA): No report.
MSL (Materials Science Laboratory, ESA): No report.
MTR-2 (Russian radiation measurements): Passive dosimeters measurements in DC-1 “Pirs”.
MULTIGEN-1: Completed.
MYCO 3 (JAXA): On 9/22, Mike and Satoshi completed sample collection.
MyoLab (JAXA): Completed on 4/20.
NANOSKELETON (Production of High Performance Nanomaterials in Microgravity, JAXA): No report.
NEURORAD (JAXA): No report.
NEUROSPAT (ESA/Study of Spatial Cognition, Novelty Processing and Sensorimotor Integration): No report.
[During microgravity stay, the human body goes through multitude of physiological changes in order to accommodate to the new environment. As the brain is a master organ where major crucial processes take place, it is fundamental to understand how it manages adaptation for living in Space. One of the main purposes of Neurospat (NES) experiment is to focus on how microgravity environment influences cerebral activity of astronauts aboard ISS. For this, the global electrical activity of the brain of the astronaut is measured thanks to electroencephalogram (EEG) technique, while he or she is executing specific tasks through a computer as if it was a kind of videogame. In practice, the astronaut is wearing a specially equipped cap with passive, gel filled electrodes that are in contact with his/her scalp while he or she is performing the specific tasks that we have designed. These are visual-orientation perception and visuo-motor tracking tasks that may be encountered on a daily basis. The tasks allow the study of 5 cognitive processes: Perception, Attention, Memorization, Decision and Action. Besides there are also task-irrelevant images that are showed to the astronaut in order to assess how well he or she processes novel visual stimuli. The electrodes all over the scalp are linked to sensitive amplifiers that allow us to measure small variations of electrical potential between different regions of the scalp. These signals are in turn used to estimate activity in the cerebral cortex related to the task being performed. Also, they serve to identify the mental processes associated with these tasks and to localize in the brain the sources of the underlying neural activity. After analysis of the data we can better understand whether the novel environment of microgravity accompanied by a multitude of stressors may place an increased load on the cognitive capacity of the human brain and whether the sensory signals and motor responses of astronauts are processed and interpreted differently because a new reference frame.] NightPod (ESA): No report.
NOA-1/-2 (Nitric Oxide Analyzer, ESA): Complete.
NUTRITION w/REPOSITORY/ProK: No report.
ODK (Onboard Diagnostic Kit, JAXA): No report.
PACE-2 (Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment 2, NASA): (please see under FIR and LMM/PACE-2.
PADIAC (Pathway Different Activators, ESA): No report.
PADLES (JAXA, Area PADLES 6/7; Passive Area Dosimeter for Lifescience Experiment in Space): The experiment is continuing on walls of the JPM and the JLP. The dosimeters will be returned on 28S.
PASSAGES (JAXA): No report.
[PASSAGES is an experiment about the strategies involved in the perception of the world around us. Seeing correctly the world is necessary to success our gestures, our actions, such as catching a ball, stepping an obstacle on the ground or passing through an opened door. In this experiment, we want to know if the strategies involved on Earth continue to be used when the astronaut is in a weightlessness environment for a long period. To investigate this question, the participant sees 3D scenes on the screen of a laptop such as a video game. The scene is a room with an opening which can vary in width. The task of the participant is to decide if yes or no he or she could pass through the aperture without rotating or scrunching the shoulders. The science team uses typical methods from psychophysics and manipulates several factors to highlight the strategies used by the participant. Then, the science team will compare the performances obtained on ground with those obtained onboard.] PCDF-PU (Protein Crystallization Diagnostic Facility - Process Unit): No report.
PCG (JAXA, Protein Crystal Growth): Since 1/28, we are monitoring temperature until the day of the return of 28S.
PCRF (Protein Crystallization Research Facility) Reconfiguration (JAXA): See PCG. PLSG (Plant Signaling, NASA/ESA): No report.
PMDIS (Perceptual Motor Deficits in Space): Complete.
POLCA/GRAVIGEN (ESA): Complete.
Portable PFS: No report.
Pro K: No report.
RadGene & LOH (JAXA): Complete.
RadSilk (JAXA): No report.
Reaction Self Test (RST/Psychomotor Vigilance Self Test on the ISS): "Dan, Don and André, Thank you for your participation in Reaction Self Test!"
ROALD-2 (Role of Apoptosis in Lymphocyte Depression 2, ESA): No report.
[Background: The ROALD-2 experiment studies how the function of T-cells from the immune system are affected by microgravity and spaceflight. T-cells play an important role in controlling the immune systems response to infection. It has previously been shown that the immune response of astronauts can be reduced following spaceflight and it has also been shown that the activation of T-cells in culture is reduced in microgravity. A series of experiments on T-cells and other immune system cells have been previously performed by different scientific teams on Space Shuttle and the ISS over the last 30 years. The data from these individual experiments provides information which together can be used to understand the mechanisms by which gravity or the absence of gravity can affect T-cell function.] Robonaut (NASA): No report.
RYUTAI Rack (JAXA): On 3/19, André completed maintenance checkout for 1-G and micro-G Measurement Equipment Unit (MEU) for the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF). Now, we are ready to start CsPINs experiment in Week 29. Thank you very much.
SAIBO Rack (JAXA): No report.
SAMS/MAMS (Space & Microgravity Acceleration Measurement Systems): No report.
SAMPLE: Complete.
SCOF (Solution Crystallization Observation Facility, JAXA): No report.
SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload, JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
SHD (Space Headaches, ESA): “Dear André, you completed your 12th weekly questionnaire on 3/16. Thanks a lot for your continuous support every week! All of the available weekly questionnaires kept on-board have now been securely downlinked and passed on to the science team. The ground teams have noticed that one questionnaire (filled in GMT041) is missing.“
[Background: The neurologists from Leiden University want to study the question whether the astronauts, while in space, suffer from the headaches. With the help of simple questionnaires the astronauts will register the headache episodes and the eventual accompanying symptoms. The results will hopefully help to characterize the frequency and characteristics of space headache and to develop countermeasure to prevent/minimize headache occurrence during the space flight.] SHERE II (Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment II): No report.
SLAMMD (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device): No report.
SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight): No report.
SLICE (Structure & Liftoff In Combustion Experiment): " Don, it’s been a pleasure working with you on SPLICE. We are thankful for your interest and dedication in making the research a success. With the SLICE and SPICE testing on Monday, using respectively the remaining 70% methane and 100% propane, we got a wide range of data with bracketed sets of still photos at approximately 28 flow conditions (including the pyrometry calibration). It was interesting to see the soot in the 70% methane flames, as that dilution wasn’t expected to approach or reach smoking conditions. Yet with the near absence of buoyant convection in microgravity, the reduced velocities lead to longer residence times and enhanced soot production. We also got interesting SPLICE results with the 100% ethylene on Friday, although didn’t anticipate how dramatically the final tests would reduce the air flow. On Friday there were 11 flames collectively (i.e., for SPICE and SLICE) for approx. 100 flow conditions. While SPLICE ops are over, as a reminder SLICE is a precursor for an experiment in development for the CIR, so the results will be valuable for refining that study. And perhaps we’ll be able to get approval for further SPLICE tests, but meanwhile we have a wealth of results to analyze. We obtained about 4,000 high-resolution still flame photos of more than 600 flow conditions. FYI, the tilt of the lifted flames isn’t too much of an issue for modeling comparison when the flames are close to the burner, e.g., less than 1 cm per Co-Investigator Mitch Smooke. And the broad range of conditions in the microgravity flames is helpful in revealing shortcomings in existing combustion codes for chemical kinetics, e.g., GRI-Mech. We also look forward to hearing about the progress on our colleagues’ Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment. Thanks and best wishes!”
SMILES (JAXA): Continuing telemetry monitoring.
SODI/IVIDIL (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Influence of Vibration on Diffusion in Liquids, ESA): No report.
SODI/COLLOID (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Colloid): No report.
SODI-DSC (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument/Diffusion & Soret Coefficient, ESA): No report.
[Background: Fluids and gases are never at rest. This statement is in apparent contradiction with our experience: when we pour water in a glass and wait until all flows have disappeared and the temperature of the liquid is in equilibrium with that of the room, we see that water appears to be completely at rest. However, if we were able to see the individual molecules of water with a very powerful microscope, we would discover that they are incessantly moving and collide with each other following frantic, random paths even if the liquid appears to be quiescent at naked eye. Scientists are interested in observing and measuring such movements because they reveal important, practical information: how fast does heat propagates in a fluid? How fast do liquid mixtures mix? Such phenomena occur in absence of a macroscopic flow, that is when the fluid appears to be at rest, and are called heat and mass diffusion respectively. While the theoretical prediction of heat and mass diffusion is still quite challenging, its measurement is a standard laboratory practice, but may become extremely difficult or impossible when dealing with mixtures of many liquids, due to the fact that such measurement needs to be carried out when the fluid is quiescent, a condition sometimes impossible to achieve on ground. This is precisely the objective of the SODI DSC experiment carried out on board the International Space Station: the measurement of diffusion in mixtures of liquids. By using very sensitive optical techniques, it will be possible to measure mass diffusion, compare with current theories, and improve our present understanding of how molecules move in liquid mixtures. The results will be used by the large team of scientists involved in the project to try to understand which of the many existing theories for mass diffusion is correctly predicting the experimental behavior.] SOLAR (Solar Monitoring Observatory, ESA): Sun Visibility Window (#51) started on 3/19. Minor operational glitches (platform communication error on 3/19 and MMU switch-over during SOLSPEC calibration 3/20, leading to some loss of KU data) have impacted the science operations by inducing some delay. At the time of writing, both instruments are active and acquiring science.
SOLO (Sodium Loading in Microgravity): No report.
Space-DRUMS (Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System): No report.
Space Food (JAXA): No report.
SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite): No report.
SPHINX (SPaceflight of Huvec: an Integrated eXperiment, ESA): No report.
SPICE (Smoke Point In Co-flow Experiment): No report.
SPINAL (Spinal Elongation): No report.
SPRINT: “Don, great job with your FD90 Sprint ultrasound! The PI has the data and is analyzing. Thank you for keeping the marks on your leg and re-measuring to ensure accurate data.”
SS-HDTV (Super Sensitivity High Definition Camera, JAXA): No report.
STP-H3 (Space Test Program – Houston 3): The MHTEX Capillary Pumped Loop evaporators are currently repriming in preparation for further tests and steady state operations. VADER continues to characterize the performance of the Aerogel blanket attached to the backside of the experiment. Canary is analyzing data from previous data takes and plans to take data during the ATV3 rendezvous and docking events next week. DISC has taken more imagery this week and is processing images that were taken in previous weeks.
SWAB (Characterization of Microorganisms & Allergens in Spacecraft): No report.
TASTE IN SPACE (ESA): No report.
THERMOLAB (ESA): No report.
TRAC (Test of Reaction & Adaptation Capabilities): Planned.
TREADMILL KINEMATICS: “Thanks, André, for your 3rd session!”
TRIPLELUX-B (ESA): No report.
ULTRASOUND: Planned.
UMS (Urine Monitoring System (NASA): No report.
VASCULAR (CSA): “No report.
VCAM (Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Module, NASA): No report.
VESSEL ID System (ESA): Nominal data acquisition with the NorAIS receiver.
VESSEL IMAGING (ESA): No report.
[Background: It is known that the ability of blood vessels to vasoconstrict - the ability of the muscular vessel wall to narrow the diameter of the blood vessel - is impaired during and after a human has been in space. "Vessel Imaging" is using the Ultrasound scanner on board the ISS to take images of the five different blood vessels in the lower abdomen and in the legs to study what changes occur to cause the blood vessels to be less able to vasoconstrict. For each vessel, a 5 second scan is performed to observe the blood vessel during several heart beats, followed by a scan where the ultrasound scan-head is tilted to allow a "cut through the blood vessel wall". The same scans are also performed before flight, and these pre-flight images are used as the baseline to which the in-flight data is compared with. The images are analyzed to detect any changes in the blood vessel wall properties, such as wall thickness, elasticity or structure, changes in the size of the blood vessel or blood flow (volume) while the crewmember is in orbit.] VIABLE (eValuatIon And monitoring of microBiofiLms insidE the ISS Payload Touch, NASA): No report.
VO2max (NASA): No report.
VLE (Video Lessons ESA): No report.
WAICO #1/#2 (Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots at Different g-levels; ESA): No report.
YEAST B (ESA): No report.
YOUTUBE SpaceLab: No report.
CEO (Crew Earth Observation): Through 3/20 the ground has received 135,086 of ISS CEO frames for review and cataloguing. “We are pleased to report that we have received imagery with times corresponding to our CEO target request times as follows: San Marino, San Marino – 2 frames – target not acquired; Irrawaddy River Sand Bar, North, Myanmar – 7 frames – session under evaluation; Chaing Mai, Thailand – 14 frames – session under evaluation; Cairo, Egypt – 10 frames – taken with 1200 mm lens, very nice, crisp imagery, great job of mapping sections of the city, Rio-Sao Paulo city lights-night pass- 7 frames – automated session, requirements not met; Canberra, Australia, city lights-night pass – 3 frames – target not acquired; Aurora australis – 4 frames – automated session, ISS and cupola windows more prominent in images than aurora, requirements not met; Vaduz, Liechtenstein – 1 frame – target not acquired; Luxembourg – 1 frame, target not acquired. Your outstanding image of the Parana River Floodplain along the Mato Grosso-Sao Paulo border, Brazil was published on the NASA/FSFC Earth Observatory website this past weekend. Your imagery continues to be extremely popular – keep up the great work!”
CEO (Crew Earth Observation) targets uplinked for today were
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (World Capitals Collection Site: This capital city of about 3.5 million lies in the heart of the Ethiopian Highlands at an elevation 7,726 ft. Today's pass offered a nadir, early afternoon, and fair weather view with the city. At this time, as ISS tracked southeastward over the highlands, the crew was to aim for the landmark, dark vegetated areas north of the city and try to capture the entire urban area in a single frame), Juba River fan, Somalia (Exploration Initiative Sites: ISS passed over the eastern part of the Juba River megafan site located along the Somalia coastline, just left of track. Overlapping mapping frames of the eastern Juba megafan and lower Shebelle River floodplain were requested. The imagery will be of use to the Somalia Water and Land Information Management organization), St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda (World Capitals Collection Site: Antigua and Barbuda is a small Caribbean island-nation with an estimated population of 85,700 people. ISS had a late morning pass in fair weather with its approach from the NW. At this time the crew was to begin looking slightly right of track for the capital city of St. John's located on the NW coast of the island. Trying to get a context view of the city in one frame if possible), Sian Kaan Bay Mangroves, Yucatan, MX (IR Photography Collection Site: ISS had a late morning pass in fair weather for this target area located on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. This large World Heritage Site of ~1.3 million acres was established as a biosphere area in 1986, and preserves fauna, flora and archeological sites. As ISS tracked southeastward over the northeastern Yucatan, looking right of track for this area with its visual cues of two major bays on the Caribbean Sea. At this time, trying for mapping views of the darker vegetated areas using the IR filter #99), and
Shanghai, China (ISS had a night pass over the largest city by population in the People’s Republic of China, and the largest city proper by population in the world: approximately 23 million as of 2010. As it tracked NE over the eastern coast of China, the crew was to shoot nadir to acquire night images of this city). ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:07am EDT [= epoch])Mean altitude – 389.0 km
Apogee height – 399.9 km
Perigee height – 378.1 km
Period -- 92.34 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0016062
Solar Beta Angle -- -6.2 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.59
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours -- 118 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) -- 76,481
Time in orbit (station) -- 4873 days
Time in orbit (crews, cum.) -- 4160 days
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
--------------
Six-crew operations----------------
03/28/12 -- ATV3 docking
(~6:34pm EDT)04/19/12 -- Progress M-14M/46P undock
04/20/12 -- Progress M-15M/47P launch
04/22/12 -- Progress M-15M/47P docking
04/30/12 -- SpaceX Dragon launch
(12:22pm EDT; target date)04/30/12 -- Soyuz TMA-22/28S undock/landing
(End of Increment 30)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
05/15/12 -- Soyuz TMA-04M/30S launch –
G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/S.Revin 05/17/12 -- Soyuz TMA-04M/30S docking (MRM2)
--------------
Six-crew operations----------------
07/01/12 -- Soyuz TMA-03M/29S undock/landing
(End of Increment 31)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
07/15/12 -- Soyuz TMA-05M/31S launch –
S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide 07/17/12 -- Soyuz TMA-05M/31S docking
07/20/12 -- HTV3 launch
(~10:18pm EDT)07/31/12 -- Progress M16M/48P launch
08/02/12 -- Progress M16M/48P docking
--------------
Six-crew operations----------------
09/17/12 -- Soyuz TMA-04M/30S undock/landing
(End of Increment 32)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
10/15/12 -- Soyuz TMA-06M/32S launch –
K.Ford (CDR-34)/O.Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin10/17/12 -- Soyuz TMA-06M/32S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
11/01/12 -- Progress M-17M/49P launch
11/03/12 -- Progress M-17M/49P docking
11/12/12 -- Soyuz TMA-05M/31S undock/landing
(End of Increment 33)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
12/05/12 -- Soyuz TMA-07M/33S launch –
C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko12/07/12 -- Soyuz TMA-07M/33S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
12/26/12 -- Progress M-18M/50P launch
12/28/12 -- Progress M-18M/50P docking
03/19/13 -- Soyuz TMA-06M/32S undock/landing
(End of Increment 34)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
04/02/13 -- Soyuz TMA-08M/34S launch –
P.Vinogradov (CDR-36)/C.Cassidy/A.Misurkin04/04/13 -- Soyuz TMA-08M/34S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
05/16/13 -- Soyuz TMA-07M/33S undock/landing
(End of Increment 35)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
05/29/13 -- Soyuz TMA-09M/35S launch –
M.Suraev (CDR-37)/K.Nyberg/L.Parmitano05/31/13 -- Soyuz TMA-09M/35S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
09/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-08M/34S undock/landing
(End of Increment 36)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
09/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-10M/36S launch –
M.Hopkins/TBD (CDR-38)/TBD09/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-10M/36S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
11/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-09M/35S undock/landing
(End of Increment 37)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
11/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-11M/37S launch –
K.Wakata (CDR-39)/R.Mastracchio/TBD11/xx/13 -- Soyuz TMA-11M/37S docking
--------------
Six-crew operations-------------
03/xx/14 -- Soyuz TMA-10M/36S undock/landing
(End of Increment 38)--------------
Three-crew operations-------------
