Report #1<br />4 p.m. CST Friday, Jan. 3, 2003<br />Expedition 6 Crew<br /><br />The Year 2003 began quietly for the International Space Station Expedition 6<br />crew. Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, and NASA ISS<br />Science Officer Don Pettit crossed the international date line 15 times<br />during the last day of 2002, officially greeting the new year at midnight<br />Greenwich Mean Time during their sleep shift. The first day of the new year<br />involved only a few routine maintenance tasks, exercise and time off for the<br />crew.<br /><br />Work aboard the orbiting outpost resumed on Jan. 2, highlighted by a<br />practice fire drill, set-up of the ultrasound equipment associated with the<br />Human Research Facility and a leak check of the Quest airlock module using a<br />jumper hose that is being evaluated for future support of airlock window<br />replacements. The ultrasound equipment provides enlarged, three-dimensional<br />images of the heart and other organs, muscles and blood vessels for both<br />research and diagnostic applications.<br /><br />The following day was dedicated to sound level measurements inside the<br />various modules of the space station, part of an on-going effort to<br />characterize the level of noise inside the station, and operation of the<br />Zeolite Crystal Growth experiment, which scientists are using in an effort<br />to grow crystals larger than can be grown on Earth. Zeolites form the<br />backbone of the chemical processing industry. Larger, purer zeolite crystals<br />could increase the amount of gasoline that can be produced from a barrel of<br />oil, making the petrochemical industry more efficient.<br /><br />Budarin worked with a Russian plant-growth experiment, and on inventories of<br />Russian median equipment and supplies and videotapes available for use on<br />the station. He also conducted an inspection of the aft docking port of the<br />Zvezda Surface Module, where a Progress resupply vehicle will dock in<br />February.<br /><br />The crew is scheduled to enjoy a fairly relaxed weekend, with weekly<br />housekeeping activities and routine private family and medical conferences<br />on tap.<br /><br />Bowersox is scheduled to resume work Monday with the FOOT (Foot/Ground<br />Reaction Forces During Spaceflight), which looks at how the hips, legs and<br />feet move in the absence of gravity, and at what changes occur in bones and<br />muscles using a special pair of tights with 20 sensors.<br /><br />Information on the crew's activities aboard the space station, future launch<br />dates, as well as station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,<br />is available on the Internet at:<br /><br />http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/<br /><br />Details on station science operations can be found on an Internet site<br />administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space<br />Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:<br /><br />http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/<br /><br />The next station status report will be issued on Friday, Jan. 10, or sooner<br />if events warrant.