There are 2 messages totalling 67 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. STS-126 MCC Status Report #18
2. STS-126 MCC Status Report #19

Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:20:42 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-126 MCC Status Report #18

STS-126 Report #18 Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 10 a m CST Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke will continue work Sunday on a system in the International Space Station's Destiny lab that converts urine and condensate into potable water Endeavour and station crew members also will transfer equipment and supplies between the station and the shuttle and prepare for Monday’s final planned spacewalk

Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff, and the Expedition 18 crew, Fincke and flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus, got their wakeup music at 8:05 a m CST

The music was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” performed by Frankie Valli It was for Ferguson It was his 23rd wedding anniversary

Endeavour crew members will have as much as four hours of free time beginning a little after 11 a m Fincke is scheduled to spend some of that time on the Urine Processer Assembly The UPA is part of the Water Recovery System, which recycles condensate and urine

The UPA has experienced several shutdowns during testing Engineers believe vibration caused physical interference with the UPA’s centrifuge, resulting in increased current draw and temperatures and causing the shutdowns They believe Fincke can fix the problem

Transfer activities continue to go well, with crew members a little ahead of schedule

At 3:05 p m Ferguson, Boe, Fincke and Magnus will gather in the station’s Harmony node to talk with media representatives They’ll take questions from ABC News, CBS News and NBC News

Today’s spacewalk preparations include tool assembly, an hour-long spacewalk procedures review and the beginning of the campout in the Quest airlock for the spacewalkers Bowen and Kimbrough are scheduled to leave the station’s Quest airlock at 12:45 p m Monday on the mission’s fourth spacewalk

During Monday's spacewalk, Bowen and Kimbrough will install a multi-layer insulation blanket from the station's Kibo module and complete other maintenance tasks Bowen will install a final trundle bearing assembly on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) on the right side of the station while Kimbrough lubricates the SARJ on the left side

Endeavour’s crew is scheduled to go to bed at 11:55 p m today and be awakened at 7:55 a m Monday The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier if events warrant

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:29:00 -0600 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-126 MCC Status Report #19

STS-126 Report #19 5:30 p m CST Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON –- Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Endeavour Mission Specialist Don Pettit have proven their knack for detailed maintenance work during previous stays at the International Space Station and have once again put their skills to use

The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) inside the Water Recovery System (WRS), which recycles condensate and urine onboard the station, has experienced several shutdowns during testing Engineers believe motion of the centrifuge caused physical interference within the UPA, resulting in increased power draw and temperatures

Fincke and Pettit removed grommets from the UPA and hard-mounted it into the WRS rack The grommets were serving as isolators to dampen vibrations from the centrifuge, but might have been allowing too much motion and causing the interference Mission Control has been monitoring the UPA’s operation and it has been running normally for two hours without prematurely shutting down

Endeavour crew members enjoyed four hours of free time, Pettit choosing to join Fincke during that time to work on the UPA Then transfer activities continued, with more than 76 percent of that work complete, as well as preparations for Monday’s spacewalk

Bowen and Kimbrough are scheduled to leave the station’s Quest airlock at 12:45 p m Monday on the mission’s fourth spacewalk and continue work on the station’s Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJ) They both will remove insulating covers on the port SARJ and Kimbrough will follow through with its lubrication Bowen will finish tasks on the starboard SARJ to install the final trundle bearing assembly

Bowen will install a multi-layer insulation blanket on the station's Kibo module that was removed during the first spacewalk The cover is associated with the Exposed Facility Berthing Mechanism on Kibo, which has since been remotely tested from inside station, and the cover can be reinstalled During that testing, however, one of the four latches did not close properly and Bowen will help complete the checkout procedure in person

Other tasks include installing a television camera on the port truss and a Global Positioning System antenna on Kibo that will be used for Japanese cargo craft arrivals

Endeavour’s crew is scheduled to go to bed at 11:55 p m today and be awakened at 7:55 a m Monday The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew awakens, or earlier if events warrant

#

NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 23 Nov 2008 to 24 Nov 2008 (#2008-127)

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