International Space Station Status Report #30 - 2004

International Space Station Status Report #30

3:30 p.m. CDT, Thursday, June 10, 2004
Mission Control Center, Houston

The Expedition 9 crew, Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science
Officer Mike Fincke, spent their seventh week aboard the Station continuing
to prepare for their first spacewalk, now under consideration to be
conducted June 24.

Managers decided today to reschedule the planning date for the spacewalk
from June 15 and discussed a possible new planning date of June 24. Formal
management approval of a new planning date is expected next week. The
rescheduling will move the activity into a better period of the crew's
workday, optimize communications coverage and provide additional planning
time. The time of day to conduct the spacewalk changes each day as the times
the Station will pass over Russian ground communications sites change. The
new schedule also allows additional time for ground teams to continue the
development of the spacewalk procedures. Managers plan to review all
preparations for the spacewalk at a normal Stage Operations Readiness Review
planned for June 21.

Padalka and Fincke gathered tools and began work with their spacesuits this
week to prepare for the spacewalk, which is planned to restore power to one
of the complex's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs), devices that help
maintain the Station's orientation as it orbits Earth. During the venture
outside, the crew is planned to replace a Remote Power Control Module, or
circuit breaker, that failed April 21, removing power from the one CMG.
However, two CMGs have remained operating well, safely controlling the
orientation of the Station.

The crew began their work this week by charging batteries of the Pistol Grip
Tool, a type of spacewalking power wrench, and familiarizing themselves with
the tool's operation as it will be used during the spacewalk. Other
activities included replacing batteries, filters, helmet lights and other
routine parts in the Russian Orlan spacesuits that will be used for the
spacewalk. They also unstowed personal garments such as socks, gloves, and
cooling garments; sized the spacesuits; and peformed procedures to ensure no
excess gas is present in the spacesuits' water and gas separation systems.

Both crewmembers also participated in cardiovascular evaluation sessions on
the Russian stationary bicycle aboard the Station. The checks are part of
standard spacewalk preparations.

Information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future launch
dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,
is available on the Internet at:

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 on Friday, June 18, or earlier if
events warrant.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info