ISS On-Orbit Status 6 Sep 2003<br /><br /> All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously<br />or below. Saturday, day off for the crew.<br /><br />After wake-up (at the regular 2:00am EDT), morning inspection, post-sleep<br />activities and breakfast, the crew undertook the standard 3-hr. station<br />cleaning that is usually done on Saturday. [This includes removal of food<br />waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, wet cleaning<br />of the Service Module (SM) dining table and other surfaces with "Fungistat"<br />disinfectant and cleaning fan screens to avoid temperature rises.]<br /><br />At SM window #2, CDR Yuri Malenchenko dismantled the GFI-10 Molniya-SM-LSO<br />geophysical experiment, powered down yesterday, and stowed the gear at its<br />location in the FGB.<br /><br />At SM window #9, working off the Russian task list, Yuri also disassembled<br />and removed the Molniya VFS-3M UV (ultraviolet) video-photo spectrometer<br />equipment for stowage, putting protective covers on the lenses.<br /><br />A second new item on Malenchenko's discretionary task list for today was<br />picture taking behind SM panel locations (#338 & #228), to help evaluate the<br />possibility of later installation of four new navigation receiving (NPM)<br />units and two navigation calculating (NVM) devices. [The images were to be<br />taken with the Kodak 760 or Nikon D1 digital camera, showing several views<br />of the areas in question, and then downlinked via OCA for evaluation by<br />TsUP/Moscow.]<br /><br />A third task list item for Malenchenko was to configure final power<br />connections for the new Russian payload Laptop-3 and the comm Laptop-PAKET,<br />using a new U.S. power source located by the crew and a former SSC-1 cable<br />provided by the U.S. side.<br /><br />The CDR conducted the daily routine maintenance of SOZh life support systems<br />(including toilet facility, food containers, water containers and solid<br />waste containers) and performed the regular periodic inspection of the<br />BRPK-1 air/liquid condensate separator in the SM, while Ed Lu attended to<br />the preparation of the daily automated IMS (inventory management system)<br />database file update.<br /><br />The Science Officer also performed the regular once-a-week maintenance<br />reboot on the operational PCS (portable computer system) laptops in the<br />station.<br /><br />Both crewmembers completed their daily 2.5-h program of physical (aerobic &<br />anaerobic) exercise, on TVIS treadmill, CEVIS bike, RED expander and on the<br />Russian VELO cycle ergometer with load trainer.<br /><br />FE/SO Ed Lu completed the regular periodic transfer of data files from the<br />TVIS and RED to the MEC (medical equipment computer) via memory card and RED<br />log entries, for downlink on OCA comm. Subsequently, he also transferred<br />accumulated data files from the wrist-band HRM (heart rate monitor) receiver<br />stations to the MEC for downlink, then deleted them on the HRM.<br /><br />After yesterday's successful attitude maneuver, the station flies again in<br />sun-oriented XPOP mode (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane),<br />momentum-controlled by the U.S. CMGs (control moment gyroscopes), with TA<br />(Russian thruster assist) for momentum desaturation. [Yaw: 0.6 deg,<br />Pitch: -6.8 deg., Roll: 0 deg]<br /><br />Moscow uplinked instructions for use of the new Motorola-9505 Iridium phone<br />and Garmin GPS (global positioning system) receiver brought up by Progress<br />12P. Both systems and their batteries and antennas are to be transferred to<br />the Soyuz TMA-2 descent module and stowed in the ODF (operational data file)<br />container, to be available for the Soyuz 6S return on 10/28. Also, pending<br />safety certification (in work), the Iridium phone must not be activated on<br />board and its battery not recharged without prior Go from Mission Control.<br /><br />Today's CEO (crew earth observation) targets, limited in the current XPOP<br />attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science<br />window, and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial<br />locations, were Eastern Mediterranean Dust (dust plumes probable over the<br />Gulf of Sidra [NE Libya]. Looking right towards the African coast), Statue<br />of Zeus at Olympia (nadir pass. The site lies inland from the coast),<br />Hurricane Fabian, NW Atlantic (well formed storm over Bermuda, with ISS<br />tracking right over the eye), Navassa Island, Caribbean (nadir pass over<br />this reef-fringed island between Jamaica and Haiti), Midway Islands (nadir<br />pass and a touch left. Coral reef mapping site), Johnston Island, Central<br />Pacific (nadir and a touch left. Coral reef mapping site), Johannesburg,<br />South Africa (much interest in the growth of this megacity, as workers from<br />neighboring countries flood into the urban areas. The Witwatersrand cities<br />are an economic magnet even north of the equator, with handicrafts from<br />Libya arriving for the tourist trade in southernmost Africa), High Central<br />Andean Glaciers (tropical glaciers imaged with high magnification lenses are<br />proving usable for ice-cap size mapping. Looking a touch left along the<br />high Andes for about 2 mins.), Lima, Peru (offshore wind flow should make<br />this usually foggy city open to view. Nadir pass. It may be possible to<br />image the city in one, certainly two, 180-mm images), and Tuamotu<br />Archipelago (ideal pass along the axes of this double island chain. Coral<br />reef mapping is the main interest). CEO images can be viewed at the websites<br /><br />http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov<br />http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov<br /><br />See also the website "Space Station Challenge" at<br />http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/<br /><br />ISS Orbit (as of this morning,7:25am EDT [= epoch]):<br /><br />Mean altitude -- 381.4m<br />Apogee 385.5 km<br />Perigee -- 377.3 km<br />Period -- 92.2 min.<br />Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg<br />Eccentricity -- 0.0006099<br />Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.62<br />Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 180 m<br />Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 27370<br />For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times, see<br /> http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html