ISS Status Report No. 65 - 2003

International Space Station Status Report #03-65
2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003
Expedition 8 Crew

The Expedition 8 crew had a busy three days of science and International
Space Station maintenance activities before beginning to wind down Wednesday
afternoon for a Christmas day off. Mike Foale, commander and NASA ISS
science officer, and Alexander Kaleri, the flight engineer, also showed off
their Christmas preparations to viewers on Earth.

On Wednesday, the crew's 68th day in space, Kaleri spent some time working
with the Russian air conditioning system. He had replaced a filter for
condensate water on Tuesday. When the air conditioner was restarted sensors
indicated tanks to which the water is supposed to flow were full. Kaleri had
established water flow through the new filter by Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile Foale spent more than three hours gathering and organizing
clothing, some of it from previous crews, and stowing it in the Station's
Unity node.

Flight controllers in Moscow continue to monitor the oxygen-generating
Elektron unit in Zvezda. The Elektron converts water to oxygen, for the
Station's atmosphere, and hydrogen, which is vented overboard. The Elektron
had shut down several times, apparently because air had gotten into pumps
that help separate liquid and gas. The unit was operating normally Wednesday
afternoon.

Foale and Kaleri talked with reporters from KNX Radio in Los Angeles and
National Public Radio on Tuesday. Representatives of both asked about
Christmas on the International Space Station. Foale and Kaleri showed the
interviewers their two Christmas trees, one embroidered on a blanket and the
other a small artificial tree.

The crew also shared their plans for the holiday in a video sent down to
Houston's Mission Control Center and shown on NASA television. They filmed
and talked about decorations, including their Christmas trees, and stockings
with gifts sent up long in advance. Foale and Kaleri will have Christmas Day
off, with only minimal tasks and physical exercise scheduled. They are
scheduled to visit with their families in private two-way videoconferences.

On Monday, after a quiet weekend, Foale did troubleshooting involving the
Pore Formation & Mobility Investigation (PFMI) experiment. A circuit breaker
tripped earlier this month when the experiment was in the Microgravity
Science Glovebox (MSG). Foale removed the MSG's thermal chamber and sent
down video and descriptions of what he saw. Engineers in Houston are working
on a fix for a binding gear in the chamber. Both crewmembers spent more than
two hours doing an Inventory Management System audit and sorting items for
disposal on the unpiloted Progress cargo spacecraft docked to the back of
the Zvezda Service Module. Both crewmembers began Monday with medical
experiments involving body mass and calf volume measurements.

Tuesday morning Kaleri set up three acoustic dosimeters in Zvezda to take
sound level measurements for 16 hours. He also did troubleshooting on an
antenna for a Russian satellite navigation system. Foale spent several hours
working with the Fluid Dynamics Investigation on the Cellular Biotechnology
Support System. The investigation and the system are designed to grow cell
cultures in three dimensions.

People in many U.S. cities will have an opportunity to see the International
Space Station as it flies overhead during the next several days. For
detailed information on sighting opportunities for hundreds of cities, as
well as viewing tips, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Details on Station science operations can be found on an Internet site
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/

The next ISS status report will be issued Jan. 2, or sooner if events
warrant.



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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info