ISS On-Orbit Status 25 Apr 2004<br /><br /> All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted<br />previously or below. During the night (~1:13am EDT) the station completed<br />31,000 revolutions of the Earth since FGB/Zarya launch. Day 5 of joint<br />Exp.8/Exp.9 operations. Ahead: Week 27 for Expedition 8 -- their last week<br />in space.<br /><br />*Sunday* -- though not much of a rest day for the five station residents,<br />after their wake-up at midnight (EDT), followed by another demanding<br />15.5-hr. day (sleep: 3:30pm). But they must have felt good on receiving<br />more kudos on a "really good job with the payload and SSRMS ops yesterday".<br /><br />Handover activities between Exp. 8 & Exp. 9 continued on schedule, with a<br />last-minute change for Mike Foale and Mike Fincke for resizing the onboard<br />EMU/spacesuits. Gennady Padalka and Alexander Kaleri worked Russian<br />experiments besides their handovers. [In his handover, Kaleri particularly<br />emphasized procedures (incl. "lessons learned") for rebooting the PACKET<br />laptop and ISS "Wiener" power laptop every morning, including<br />synchronization of the Matryoshka's BSPN payload server from the Wiener<br />after setting up the latter with the exact time as per the station clock,<br />working with Email on the PACKET laptop (receiving, printing, archiving,<br />copying), and working with photographs on the ÒÐ1 laptop (pictures of EVA,<br />Earth, service systems & devices, inside and PAO views, Uragan, personal,<br />etc.).]<br /><br />VC6 FE-1 André Kuipers, on his FD7, again concentrated on his scheduled<br />payloads of the European "Delta" science package, today predominantly<br />featuring the experiment ARGES, for which he performed the manual Helical<br />Instabilities investigation on lamps 11-20 in the MSG (Microgravity Science<br />Glovebox). This completes ARGES, and the MSG was powered off. Other<br />experiments for Kuipers were ICE in its incubator, SAMPLE, MOUSE, MOP,<br />MUSCLE, and Seeds in Space. In addition, on his optional task list André<br />had the photographic activities of documenting his work and taking pictures<br />of Holland during suitable overflight passes. [An investigation is underway<br />why four of the six "Makita" batteries did not seem to charge properly in<br />support of CIRCA (and would not run the power tool), as reported by "Spanky"<br />Fincke.]<br /><br />Foale and Fincke had two hours set aside for resizing three EMUs plus one<br />hour for a communications check. [The resizing of all three on-orbit EMUs<br />was necessary to prepare for an unscheduled EVA in support of the<br />replacement of the failed CMG-2 RPCM (remote power controller module). The<br />resizing, which involved EMUs #3011 for Fincke (EV1) and #3005 for Padalka<br />(EV2), plus EMU #3013, kept in stowage as backup, was entirely successful.<br />The subsequent comm check was to test both radios of #3011 on high and low<br />frequency as well as hardline. After the midterm checkout a data drop out<br />had been noticed that might be tied to the transition procedure between comm<br />modes. All modes operated as expected. The switch from Alternate to<br />Primary radio again experienced a delay of ~4 min, but good data was<br />received in all modes. It was determined that this delay is peculiar to the<br />data processing software. The crew commented that the suits look really<br />good and that the task was excellently suited for Mike Fincke to familiarize<br />himself with the "Quest" Airlock.]<br /><br />Sasha Kaleri worked on the Russian segment (RS) air ventilation system to<br />restore the nominal IMV (intermodule ventilation) configuration up to the<br />4/29 departure of 7S/Soyuz-213 from the DC-1 docking module. [The task<br />involved disconnecting an air duct from the SKV-1 air conditioner,<br />re-installation of a ventilation grille in its nominal location and stowing<br />the removed air duct.]<br /><br />Mike Fincke performed the daily leak check of the Lab window's inter-pane<br />volume, using the "Aeolus" scopemeter with pressure probe. The pressure at<br />1:40am EDT this morning was 58.8 Torr (yesterday @ 1:55am: 28.5 Torr).<br /><br />Fincke then floated through the station to set up the 16 new RAMs (radiation<br />area monitors) that had arrived with Soyuz-214. After the deployment, he<br />took digital pictures to document the placements.<br /><br />FE Sasha Kaleri set up the equipment for the Russian MBI-2 Deuraz<br />("Diuresis") experiment, to be conducted by him tomorrow and on Tuesday.<br />[Deuraz requires Sasha tomorrow to record toilet use time in the morning,<br />perform urine sample collections throughout the day, and log meal and fluid<br />intake on a record card. Additional work, to be completed on Tuesday,<br />consists of collecting his venous blood samples, followed by centrifugation<br />to separate the blood into cells and plasma, and finally closeout and<br />stowage.]<br /><br />Kaleri used the IPD Draeger tube air samplers to sample for ammonia (NH3),<br />collecting samples in the SM. [NH3 sampling is regularly done before and<br />after the MBI-2 Deuraz experiment.]<br /><br />Also, the MCA (major constituents analyzer) was activated for a "zero"<br />calibration and data take, after exhibiting a "MCA Pressure Out of<br />Tolerance" caution that cleared within 10 seconds. MCA has now been placed<br />back in LEM (Life Extending Mode).<br /><br />CDR-9 Padalka attended to the daily routine maintenance of the SOZh<br />environmental control & life support systems in the SM and prepared the<br />daily "delta" file for updating the IMS (inventory management system)<br />database.<br /><br />Alex Kaleri worked on the electronics of the GTS (Global Timing System),<br />replacing the used flash card with a new one, delivered on 8S. [The<br />electronics systems of the Russian/German GTS (Global Timing System) are<br />installed in the SM, with two transmitters intended to broadcast a time<br />signal at 400.1 MHz (1 watt) and 1428 MHz (0.5 watt) straight downward<br />(nadir) for worldwide clock synchronization. The system has been<br />experiencing problems for a long time.]<br /><br />Sasha also performed his regular daily inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2<br />("Plants-2") experiment which researches growth and development of plants<br />under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-4 greenhouse.<br /><br />Later, Kaleri also set up the equipment for the Russian MBI-11 Gematologia<br />("Hematology") experiment, which he will undergo tomorrow. [MBI-11<br />investigates the decrease in red blood cell mass during long duration<br />exposure to micro-G. The test requires drawing blood samples for analysis<br />with the special "Erythrocyte" kit.]<br /><br />Gennady Padalka conducted another run with the Russian Fluorestsentsiya<br />("Fluorescence") experiment using the FORREY apparatus, again being<br />photographed by Kaleri during the activity with the Nikon D1. Begun on<br />4/22, the experiment is performed daily until 4/28.<br /><br />André had another live television event with media in Holland, during which<br />he was interviewed by TV journalists Frits Barend and Henk van Dorp.<br /><br />A second media event for Kuipers was a Dutch radio interview on "NOS Radio 1<br />Journaal" by journalist Sander van Hoorn.<br /><br />During today's experiment session with the ARISS ham radio equipment in the<br />SM, Kuipers chatted with students of the "Saltoschool Hanevoet" elementary<br />school, "Sint Joriscollege" middle school and the Technical University of<br />Eindhoven, assembled at Hanevoet School in Eindhoven, Netherlands.<br /><br />The two Expedition crews performed the full regimen of physical exercise on<br />RED (resistive exercise device) and TVIS (treadmill with vibration isolation<br />and stabilization), and Foale took Fincke through a familiarization session<br />of scheduled RED inspection as well as the monthly tightening of the RED's<br />bolts.<br /><br />Yesterday's Robotics handover and training operations with the Mobile<br />Servicer System (MSS) went well, introducing Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke<br />to the on-orbit hardware and Ground-as-M2 operations (for a 2-person crew).<br />[The ops went as planned except for a problem encountered during the grapple<br />exercise: Near the end of the "rigidize" step during the grapple at MBS<br />PDGF-3 (Mobile Base System/Power & Data Grapple Fixture #3), the capture<br />aborted and the SSRMS "safed" itself due to a lower than required tension<br />value indicated by the carriage load cell. The crew performed a manual<br />procedure to recover from the capture abort and completed the grapple<br />successfully.]<br /><br />U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of today, 11:00am EDT).<br /><br />Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):<br /><br />Elektron O2 generator is On. Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On (Auto). U.S. CDRA<br />CO2 scrubber is On. TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is<br />operating. SM Gas Analyzer has been calibrated and is used for ppO2 and<br />ppCO2 monitoring. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is in Life Extending<br />Mode (LEM). BMP Harmful Impurities unit: absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode,<br />bed #2 in Purify mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On, SKV-2 is Off (SM<br />panel mods completed 4/8; SKV-2 activation failed 4/20). SFOG slot#2 fan<br />suspect (not usable).<br /><br /><br />SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 742; temperature (deg C) --<br />26.9; ppO2 (mmHg) -- 159.1; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 2.5;<br />SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 761; temperature (deg C) --<br />21.4.<br />FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) -- 760; temperature (deg C) -- 22.7.<br />Node: Pressure (mmHg) -- 752.16; temperature (deg C) -- 21.8 (shell); ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.<br />U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) -- 754.11; temperature (deg C) -- 25.4; ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.<br />Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) -- 754.31; temperature (deg<br />C) -- 23.5; shell heater temp (deg C) -- n/a, ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a.<br /><br />(n/a = data not available)<br /><br /><br />PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- n/a<br />PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- n/a.<br /><br />Electrical Power Systems (EPS):<br /><br />Both P6 channels fully operational. BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B and 4B<br />both in Autotrack (solar-tracking, "sun slicer", i.e., drag reduction-biased<br />by 47 deg).<br />SM batteries: All batteries (8) are in "Partial Charge" mode.<br />FGB batteries: Battery #1 is off-line (capacity restoration mode, ROM); all<br />other batteries (5) are in "Partial Charge" mode.<br />Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 is in Standby mode; PCU-2 is in Manual mode.<br /><br />Command & Data Handling Systems:<br /><br />C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.<br />GNC-2 MDM is prime; GNC-1 is Backup.<br />INT-2 is operating; INT-1 is Off.<br />EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is Off.<br />LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.<br />PL-1 MDM is Off; PL-2 MDM is Operational.<br />APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.<br />SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational (string 1<br />dropped out 11/22/03).<br />SM Central Computer (TsVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational (string #3<br />dropped out 10/22/03).<br />FGB MDM-1 is Off (failed, 11/21/03); MDM-2 is Operational.<br /><br />Propulsion System:<br /><br />Total propellant load available: 3875 (8543 lb) as of 4/15/04; [SM(755) +<br />FGB(2461) + Progress M-1(659)]. (Capability: SM -- 860 kg; FGB -- 6120 kg).<br /><br />Attitude Control Systems:<br /><br />3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed, since 6/6/02).<br />State vector source -- U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)<br />Attitude source -- U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)<br />Angular rate source -- RGA-1<br /><br />Flight Attitude:<br /><br />LVLH YVV (local vertical/local horizontal = "earth-fixed": z-axis in local<br />vertical, y-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -90 deg, pitch: -9 deg, roll: 1.7<br />deg]), with CMG/TA (thruster assist) Momentum Management.<br /><br />Communications & Tracking Systems:<br /><br />FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operational.<br />All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.<br />S-band is operating nominally (on string 2).<br />Ku-band is operating nominally (may require a mask).<br />Audio subsystem is operating nominally (IAC-1 is prime, IAC-2 is off).<br />Video subsystem operating nominally.<br />HCOR (high-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.<br /><br />Robotics:<br /><br />SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at Lab PDGF/LEE A, operational on redundant string,<br />off on prime.<br />MBS: KA (keep alive) power on both strings.<br />MT: latched and mated at WS4.<br />POA: KA power on both strings.<br />RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is On (DCP connected); Cupola RWS is<br />Off.<br /><br />ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:25am EDT [= epoch]):<br /><br />Mean altitude -- 362.3 km<br />Apogee -- 369.9 km<br />Perigee -- 354.8 km<br />Period -- 91.79 min.<br />Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg<br />Eccentricity -- 0.0011195<br />Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.69<br />Mean altitude loss last 24 hours -- 140 m<br />Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 31004<br /><br />For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times,<br />see<br /><br /> http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html