ISS On-Orbit Status 1/27/03<br /><br />All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously<br />or below. Week 9 for Expedition 6 is underway.<br /><br />After station inspection and morning hygiene, before breakfast and first<br />exercise, all crewmembers underwent the regular periodic Russian biomedical<br />assessments MO-8 (body mass measurement, BMM) and MO-7 (calf volume<br />measurement). [FE-1 Nikolai Budarin set up the BMM mass measuring device,<br />which uses calibrated springs to determine the subject's mass in weightless<br />space, and stowed it away after the tests. Calf measurements (left leg only)<br />are taken with the ISOG device, a custom-sewn fabric cuff that fits over the<br />calf, using the knee and lower foot as fixed reference points, to provide a<br />rough index of deconditioning in zero-G and effectiveness of<br />countermeasures.]<br /><br />Later in the day, it was again time for Nikolai to conduct a session of the<br />MO-5 MedOps protocol of cardiovascular evaluation during graded exercises on<br />the VELO cycle ergometer, assisted by FE-2/SO Don Pettit as CMO (crew<br />medical officer). [Using the Gamma-1 ECG equipment with biomed harness, skin<br />electrodes, and a blood pressure and rheoplethysmograph cuff wired to the<br />cycle ergometer's instrumentation panels, the cosmonaut worked the pedals<br />after a prescribed program at load settings of 125, 150, and 175 watts for<br />three minutes each. All measurements were recorded and telemetered to MCC-M,<br />from where the workout was controlled by a specialist.]<br /><br />CDR Kenneth Bowersox continued his job of loading the new R.3 software<br />version on the EXPRESS racks,- today on ER3, the fourth of five ER upgrades.<br />[The loading of ER3, which is the first of two racks equipped with the ARIS<br />(active rack isolation system), involved the ELC (EXPRESS laptop computer),<br />RIC (rack interface controller) and ARIS displays, all from a compact disk<br />(for the previous racks Sox used the floppy drive). Test of the ER3 ARIS<br />with the new s/w will begin later this week, and to avoid disturbances<br />during the test, the crew today relocated some HRF (human research facility)<br />hardware items needed while the test is in process.]<br /><br />FE-1 Nikolai Budarin continued the renal (kidney) stone prevention<br />experiment on his second day of the regimen, which required him to collect<br />urine samples in the course of the day besides diet logging. For Bowersox,<br />sample collection ended this morning, Pettit's yesterday.<br /><br />Don set up the hardware for EVARM-IV (EVA radiation monitoring no. 4), to<br />take on-board readings about 15 minutes after activating the badge reader,<br />then powered it down again. [EVARM badges will be used every other week for<br />the remainder of Increment 6 to characterize the IV-CPDS (intravehicular<br />charged particle directional spectrometer) environment, and today's<br />procedure relocated the badges to the IV-CPDS area.]<br /><br />Budarin conducted the periodic functional open/close test of the spare<br />emergency vacuum valve (AVK) of the COA (= ARS, atmosphere purification<br />system) Vozdukh carbon dioxide (CO2) removal system. He then restowed the<br />valve assembly behind a Service Module (SM) panel (321). [The AVKs are<br />critical because they close the Vozdukh's vacuum access lines in the event<br />of a malfunction of the regular vacuum valves (BVK) or a depressurization in<br />the Vozdukh valve panel (BOA). Access to vacuum is required to vent CO2<br />during the regeneration of the absorbent cartridges (PP). During nominal<br />operation, the AVK valves remain open.]<br /><br />Budarin also continued the checkout of the recently removed Vozdukh BVK-1<br />vacuum valve package. His preliminary test results showed it to be OK, and<br />more testing was scheduled today, including size verification of a required<br />special wrench.<br /><br />The recent testing of the two removed Vozdukh VN vacuum pumps confirmed that<br />both are failed. They will be discarded on Progress 9P.<br /><br />Later, Nikolai conducted a periodic comparison check of pressure gauge<br />readings, using four portable manometers (MV) from the SM to take readings<br />in the Soyuz spacecraft, to verify the Soyuz pressure gauges. [Acceptable<br />tolerance: plus/minus 2 mmHg discrepancy.]<br /><br />Budarin also performed his regular daily inspection of the Russian BIO-5<br />Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 ("Plants-2") plant growth experiment.<br /><br />Bowersox completed the daily routine payload status checkup in the Lab<br />(PCG-STES010) and prepared the IMS inventory delta file for downlink, while<br />Pettit performed the routine maintenance of the SOSh life support system in<br />the SM.<br /><br />At 8:40am, ISS attitude control was handed over the Russian MCS (motion<br />control system) thrusters for an attitude test of the onboard "Kurs" system<br />docking program by MCC-M. Later, the station was slewed to a biased docking<br />attitude, then briefly moded to Inertial (free drift) to support testing of<br />Progress vehicle docking with the hand-controlled TORU backup teleoperator<br />approach & docking system, with SM and FGB solar arrays temporarily in fixed<br />(non-tracking) position. Attitude control returns to USOS CMG momentum<br />management later this afternoon.<br /><br />At 12:36pm EST, a ship-to-ship call took place between the ISS crew and<br />STS-107/Columbia, where the Red team of Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Ilan<br />Ramon and Kalpana Chawla participated (Blue team being on "sleep shift").<br />Video of the Shuttle crew was received on the ground via Ku-band, and the<br />two crews conferred via S-band audio (space-to-ground 2, S/G-2). Good job by<br />all! [Steps were taken to avoid any audio bleed-over into the Russian<br />segment where Progress docking testing was underway.]<br /><br />MCC-H conducted more troubleshooting for checking out the failed heaters of<br />the ETCS (external thermal control system) loop B NTA (nitrogen tank<br />assembly).<br /><br />All crewmembers performed their regular daily physical exercise program.<br /><br />The Node starboard hatch window was properly installed by the crew over the<br />weekend and successfully leak-checked. [The two-pane porthole, which took<br />the place of the old ECOMM (early comm) antenna mounting plate, now permits<br />viewing into the Joint Airlock from the Node during EVAs.]<br /><br />A three-page manifest of hardware and trash items to be loaded on Progress<br />M1-258 (9P) for disposal has been uplinked, along with detailed loading<br />instructions. 9P will undock on 2/1 (Saturday). [For reasons of flight<br />stability and control of the automated (pre-programmed) drone, loading must<br />be done with great care in choreographed stages according to a topological<br />plan that subdivides the Progress interior in planes and tiers. Proper<br />distribution of mass is mandatory to ensure acceptable center-of-gravity<br />location and mass moments of inertia. Thus, for example, containers are<br />stowed aboard in sequence, not in parallel. The loading process is<br />documented with a video survey, and the recording is inspected by<br />specialists at TsUP/MCC-M before Progress close-out is approved.]<br /><br />Today's targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were Perth,<br />Australia (looking a touch left for this coastal conurbation), Mekong River<br />Delta (large deltas are changing ever faster as agriculture upstream expands<br />in area. Agricultural disturbance of soil releases topsoil into rivers, with<br />consequences that are only just beginning to be understood. We do know that<br />delta islands change shape and grow as these processes continue to operate.<br />Detailed views of delta islands are thus requested), Ho Chi Minh City,<br />Vietnam (looking right of track on the easternmost branch of the Mekong<br />River delta about ten miles in from the sea), Cape Town, South Africa<br />(looking left for contextual views of this port city at the north end of the<br />Cape Peninsula), Industrialized SE Africa haze (high atmospheric pressure is<br />setting in so that haze should be visible both sides of track. Southern<br />Africa is the greatest generator of haze in the southern hemisphere.<br />Obliques to the right may reveal vertical stratification, thicker haze over<br />the plateau and thinner haze over the Lesotho Highlands), Johannesburg,<br />South Africa (looking mainly left of track for views of the central zone of<br />this 150-mile-long megacity), Patagonian Glaciers (nadir views of glacier<br />tongues were requested), and High Central Andean Glaciers (looking left and<br />right for any ice-capped volcanoes. These tropical ice caps are melting at<br />unprecedented rates under present conditions.<br /><br />CEO images can be viewed at the website<br />http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov<br /><br />U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:45pm EST).<br /><br />Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):<br />Elektron O2 generator is powered On (16 Amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is<br />On. U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS (trace contaminant control<br />subsystem) is off. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is operating. BMP<br />Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify<br />mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is Off; SKV-2 is Off.<br /><br />SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 753; temperature (deg C) -- 24.3;<br />ppO2 (mmHg) -- 160.9; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 2.5 (suspect).<br />SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 751; temperature (deg C) --<br />19.3.<br />FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) -- 752; temperature (deg C) -- 21.7.<br />Node: Pressure (mmHg) -- 741.34; temperature (deg C) -- 22.9 (shell); ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- 163.8; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 5.8.<br />U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) -- 743.91; temperature (deg C) -- 22.6; ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a;<br />Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) -- 744.01; temperature (deg<br />C) -- 21.8; shell heater temp (deg C) -- 21.9, ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a.<br />PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 23.5<br />PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 17.9<br />(n/a = data not available)<br /><br />Propulsion System (PS): Total propellant load available (SM + FGB +<br />Progress) -- 3669 kg (8089 lb) [as of 1/23/03]. (Capability: SM -- 870 kg;<br />FGB -- 6160 kg).<br /><br />Electrical Power Systems (EPS):<br />Both P6 channels fully operational. Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B and BGA 4B<br />both in dual-angle mode (directed position).<br />SM batteries: Battery #7 is off line (failed); all other batteries (7) are<br />in "Full Charge" mode.<br />FGB batteries (3am): Battery #2 is offline; all other batteries (5) are in<br />"Partial Charge" mode.<br />Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 and PCU-2 both in Standby mode.<br /><br />Command & Data Handling Systems:<br />C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.<br />GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup (new patches loaded on both).<br />EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is off.<br />LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.<br />PL-2 MDM is On (primary); PL-1 MDM is off (diagnostic<br />APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.<br />SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Lane 1 is<br />down (as of 11/14/02).<br />SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.<br /><br />Attitude Source:<br />3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).<br />State vector -- U.S. SIGI-1<br />Attitude -- U.S. SIGI-1<br />Angular rates -- U.S. RGA-1<br /><br />Flight Attitude:<br />LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal = "earth-fixed": z-axis in local<br />vertical, x-axis in velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch: -9.1 deg, roll: 0<br />deg]), CMG/Thruster Assist Momentum Management).<br />Solar Beta Angle: 25.3 deg (magnitude decreasing).<br /><br />Communications & Tracking Systems:<br />FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operating.<br />All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.<br />S-band is operating nominally.<br />Ku-band is operating nominally.<br />Audio subsystem operating nominally.<br />Video subsystem operating nominally.<br />HCOR (high-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.<br /><br />Robotics:<br />SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at MBS PDGF2 with Keep Alive (KA) power on both<br />strings.<br />MBS: KA power on both strings.<br />MT: latched at WS4, with KA power.<br />POA: KA power on both strings.<br />RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.<br /><br />ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:18am EST [= epoch]):<br />Mean altitude -- 388.2 km<br />Apogee -- 392.0 km<br />Perigee -- 384.4 km<br />Period -- 92.32 min.<br />Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg<br />Eccentricity -- 0.0005623<br />Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.60<br />Altitude loss -- 120 m (mean) in last 24 hours<br />Solar Beta Angle -- 25.3 deg (magnitude decreasing)<br />Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 23906<br /><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<br /><br /><br />--