ISS On-Orbit Status 30 May 2004<br /> <br /> All ISS systems continue to function nominally except those noted<br />previously. Second off-duty day for the crew. Ahead: Week 5 of Expedition<br />9.<br /> <br />Early in the morning, working off the Russian discretionary task list prior<br />to his physical exercise, CDR Padalka performed another session with the VC6<br />"Delta" program's ETD experiment (Investigation of the Coordination of Eye<br />and Head Movements). [After a calibration with the calibrating unit, the<br />experiment investigated eye and head movement coordination, measured<br />Listing's plane, and determined the orientation of the vestibulo-ocular<br />coordinate system. Each step required another prior calibration run, using<br />visual target cues or the calibration unit.]<br /> <br />Padalka also completed the weekly data collection of the Service Module<br />(SM)'s toilet flush counter readings, with inspection of the urine<br />collection (SP) & pretreat assembly and water supply status (SVO) counter<br />readings, both for calldown to MCC-M/TsUP. The task today included the<br />regular weekly inspection of the BRPK air/condensate water separator system.<br /> <br />FE/SO Fincke performed the daily leak check of the Lab window's inter-pane<br />space ("Volume D"), using the "Aeolus" scopemeter with pressure probe.<br />These tests are to continue through 6/7, at which time the leak testing<br />equipment will be disassembled for leak checks on the equipment itself to<br />characterize the "net" leakage rate of the window. [This is to be followed<br />by a detailed ULD (ultrasound leak detector) window inspection (to determine<br />if the tiny leaks found previously with the ULD are venting to Volume D or<br />possibly directly to space). Next will be a fit check of the new protective<br />box brought up by Progress 14P over window ports C & D, and finally<br />installation of the new U-jumper flexhose and protective shield, plus any<br />procedure developed meanwhile for fixing the pinhole leaks.]<br /> <br />Fincke had his weekly PFC (private family conference) via S-band for audio<br />and Ku-band/NetMeeting for video.<br /> <br />Both crewmembers completed their daily 2.5-hr. physical exercise program on<br />TVIS, RED exerciser, and VELO cycle with load trainer.<br /> <br />Padalka conducted the second part of the new task-listed session of the<br />Russian Uragan earth-imaging program, using the Kodak 760 DSC (digital still<br />camera) with 800mm-lens from SM windows #9, now available again in LVLH<br />attitude. After the activities, he commanded the external shutter of window<br />#9 closed again. [Today's task featured imagery of the Nureksky and<br />Rogunsky hydropower facilities, the Pamir glaciers Medvezhiy and RGO, and<br />Lakes Issyk Kul and Baikal, including panoramic shots of the latter's region<br />to assess ice condition.]<br /> <br />The CDR also performed the second part of the task-listed session of the<br />"Diatomeya" ocean observations program, using the DSR PD-150P video camera<br />and Nikon F5 digital still camera with 24/85-mm lens to collect photo and<br />video data on cloud cover structure and color fields of bioproductive areas<br />in ocean waters. [Uplinked suggested targets today specified the North<br />Atlantic in the South delta between Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift,<br />focusing on algae blooms in flight traverse.]<br /> <br />Using the Nikon D1 (800mm-lens), Gennady took areal photography for Russia's<br />Environmental Safety Agency (ECON). [Target regions for today again were<br />Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Yeisk, and Volgograd, the first three to image oil<br />spills, the last to help assess local flooding.]<br /> <br />Today's optional CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets, in the current<br />LVLH attitude no longer limited by flight rule constraints on the use of the<br />Lab nadir/science window, except for the shutter closure and<br />condensation-prevention plan (limited to 90 min. in 24 hours), were Bombay,<br />India (looking a touch right for the bay and peninsula where Bombay is<br />located), Aral Sea (nadir pass over center of the depression. One or two<br />images to show the whole basin and complement available detailed images were<br />requested. Looking left and right of track), Glacial Features, SW Libya<br />(when Africa was centered over the South Pole around 450 million years ago,<br />the Sahara was occupied by a continental ice sheet. Rivers of melt water<br />flowed under the ice, forming meandering courses that are re-exposed by<br />erosion today and can be made out from orbit. Space images are key to<br />reconstruction of the wider sub-ice river network. Also, it is suspected<br />that the river channels may host hydrocarbons in places. The crew was to try<br />for a mapping pass of overlapping, nadir images), Internal waves, Aegean Sea<br />(looking left for any internal waves), Athens, Greece (nadir pass),<br />Istanbul, Turkey (a recent image published on NASA's Earth Observatory<br />website showed a wide oblique view of the Istanbul region. Weather should<br />hold up to allow the whole city to be imaged in one or two shots), and<br />Iguazu, Argentina (this city lies at the junction of Brazil, Argentina and<br />Paraguay and is one of the fastest growing cities in South America).<br /> <br />CEO images can be viewed at the websites.<br /> <br /> <br />http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov<br />http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov<br /> <br />See also the website "Space Station Challenge" at<br /> <br /> <br />http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/<br /> <br />ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:47am EDT [= epoch]):<br /> <br />Mean altitude -- 362.9 km<br />Apogee -- 366.9 km<br />Perigee -- 358.9 km<br />Period -- 91.8 min.<br />Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.6327 deg<br />Eccentricity -- 0.000594<br />Solar Beta Angle -- 5.9 deg<br />Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.68<br />Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 125 m<br />Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 31553<br /> <br />For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times,<br />see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

"Nikon F5 digital still camera with 24/85-mm lens"<br /><br />Show me a digital Nikon F5 and I'll stop laughing. The F5 is NOT digital.