ISS On-Orbit Status, 22-02-2004

On-Orbit Status 22 Feb 2004

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously
or below. Sunday, and a rest day for the crew. Ahead: Week 18 of Increment
8.

Still on their new sleep cycle, CDR/SO Michael Foale and FE Alexander Kaleri
had their wake-up at 5:45am EST, for a 15.5 hr. day.

Right after morning inspection, hygiene and breakfast, Sasha performed the
daily hardware inspection of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 ("Plants-2") experiment
which studies growth and development of plants (peas) under spaceflight
conditions in the Lada-4 greenhouse. [Maintenance of the experiment
involves monitoring of seedling growth, humidity measurements, moistening of
the substrate if necessary, and photo/video recording.]

Alex Kaleri also conducted the daily routine maintenance on the SOZh life
support system, including the water supply equipment, food supply subsystem
(SOP), and sanitary hygiene equipment (SGO).

Working from the Russian task list, the FE reviewed the current status of
the IMS (inventory management system), addressing some IMS database
inconsistencies pointed out by the ground. [As of 2/20, there were still
close to 200 items remaining unloaded on Progress-260/13P, with 800 items
already transferred to the ISS. Sasha was asked to determine whether the
200 items actually are in 13P or have been transferred and just not entered
in the database yet. Questions also concern the time required for updating
the database and the actual location of cargo bags recorded as removed from
the DC-1 for the EVA.]

As another new item added to the Russian task list, Kaleri was requested to
relocate and reinstall two Bradoz assemblies (A46 & A41) in the Service
Module (SM). [Bradoz was developed by Moscow's IBMP (Institute of
Bio-Medical Problems) to detect integral absorbed doses of ionizing
radiation using thermoluminescent detectors. It also uses plastic track
detectors for recording fluxes and spectra of linear energy transfers of
heavy charged particles, and utilizes biological objects to detect radiation
damage to the genetic system. Purpose of this research is to develop
radiobiological dosimetry methods for more accurate assessment of
biologically significant radiation dose commitments for humans during
long-term space flight. Space radiation, even in small doses, can damage
not only the somatic but also generative tissues in the human body, making
it crucial to quantitatively assess the genetic damage caused by space
radiation. The experiment consists of six assemblies, five Bradoz-1 kits
and one Bradoz-2 unit. They include thermoluminescent dosimeters made of
lithium fluoride crystals, R-39-type plastic track detectors made of
tissue-equivalent plastic, and packets with biological samples of dry seeds
of higher plants. Today's relocation of the new A46 assembly closer to the
Matryoshka-P became advisable because radiation measurements with A46, which
has more track detectors, are more informative. They allow evaluation of
dose dimensional distribution and thereby enable more correct reading
comparison of the A46 unit and the human-torso equivalent Matryoshka-P
spheroidal phantom.]

Kaleri was also asked to update cue cards for DC-1 procedures and Soyuz
depress/repress ops for the EVA-9 next Thursday (2/26) with two
safety-related changes each.

Later this afternoon, the crew is scheduled to downlink a message of
greetings to the management of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC)
in Star City on the occasion of tomorrow's Russian holiday of Armed Forces
Day.

Both crewmembers worked out according to their regular daily physical
exercise program on TVIS treadmill and CEVIS cycle, VELO ergometer with
force loader and RED muscle exerciser.

At dinnertime (7:15pm EST), as every day, the crew will support the Renal
Stone prevention experiment by taking the test medication (either potassium
citrate or placebo tablets) until the next sample collection phase in early
April this year.

The crew's sleep time begins tonight again at 9:15pm.

Today's optional CEO targets (excluding Asia due to the current sleep cycle
and North American and European targets due to winter weather conditions),
constrained in XPOP attitude by flight rule to having the Lab science window
only available for ~1/4 of each orbit when not facing in flight ("ram")
direction, were Khartoum, Sudan (looking left at the confluence of the Blue
and White Niles), Pilcomayo River, Argentina (ideal glint pass over this
major river that flows out of the Andes Mountains. The glint disc passed
over the "end point" where the river is silting up its own channel, ceasing
to flow thousands of km from the coast [the only river on the planet known
to behave this way]. Both Argentina and Paraguay are attempting to maintain
the discharge of this border river into their territories by digging large
canals. Silting of the canals necessitates the digging of new canals every
year. An entire network of canals now radiates from the end point.
Handheld sunglint images have been displayed to the Paraguayan Congress to
illustrate natural and manmade waterways at the Pilcomayo's end-point), and
Necker Island, Hawaiian chain (nadir pass. The island is a 1300-m-long
remnant of a volcano).

CEO images can be viewed at the websites.

http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

See also the website "Space Station Challenge" at

http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:53am EST [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 366.4 km
Apogee -- 370.8km
Perigee -- 362.1 km
Period -- 91.87 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.628 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006431
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.67
Mean altitude loss last 24 hours -- 80 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 30016

For more on ISS orbit and worldwide ISS naked-eye visibility dates/times,
see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html/



--
---------------------------

Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info