ISS On-Orbit Status, 29-07-2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 29 Jul 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously
or below. Today marks the 1,000th consecutive day of people living and
working aboard the ISS (see below for more stats).

CDR Yuri Malenchenko conducted another experiment session with the
Russian/German Plasma Crystal-3 (PK-3) payload, activating the evacuation
turbopump, tagging up with ground specialists and starting the evacuation of
the vacuum chamber (ZB) and PK-3 operations. [Yuri loaded experiment
software, calibrated and tested the experiment chamber and set up the
chamber for experiments. Afterwards, he was to deactivate the equipment but
not to power off the turbopump. The experiment is performed on plasma,
i.e., fine particles, charged and excited by RF/radio frequency power,
inside the evacuated work chamber.]

FE/SO Ed Lu activated the MSG (microgravity science glovebox) for a session
of the Coarsening in Solid/Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2) experiment. Later,
the MSG was powered down again. [Today, Ed was to power up the CSLM-2 ECU
(electronics control unit), call down the humidity and temperature readings,
and vent the sample chamber for an additional hour. Following that, he was
to disconnect the vacuum hose and prepare for sample processing. Soak
length of SPU-1 (sample processing unit #1) will be 48 hrs.]

Ed Lu also performed a functional checkout of the BSTC (Biotechnology
Specimen Temperature Controller) experiment, which he had transferred with
its GSM (gas supply module) from EXPRESS rack 3 (ER3) to ER4 on 5/14.
Parameter values were read before and after purge with the GSM, and the BSTC
was then deactivated. [BSTC is part of NASA/JSC's Cellular Biotechnology
Program that develops ground-based and space bioreactor technology to
support investigations in cell biology and tissue engineering by providing
the proper thermal and gas environment plus employing the weightless
environment to form three-dimensional, functional tissue equivalents. CBOSS
(cell biotechnology operations support systems) includes the BSTC, which
houses stationary bioreactors called QTCMAs (quad tissue culture module
assemblies), maintained at a specified temperature in a controlled
atmosphere. Growth, morphology and function of mammalian cells in the BSTC
are monitored by the crew by means of pH and chemistry analysis of media
samples and postflight analysis of "fixed" cell samples. The GSM provides
carbon dioxide (CO2) gas for purging the incubation chambers after sessions,
and the BCSS (biotechnology cell science stowage), which includes a
supercold cryo-dewar, will supply the consumables and tools.]

Yuri Malenchenko completed the regular periodic (weekly) inspection of the
BRPK-1 air/liquid condensate separator in the Service Module (SM).

Malenchenko continued the new round of periodic preventive maintenance of
Russian segment (RS) ventilation systems, today cleaning the Group B
ventilation fans in the SM, including a checkout of the ventilators and a
thorough cleaning of fan screens and flexible air ducts (last time done:
6/5).

Yuri also deactivated the SM's IK0501 gas analyzer (GA) and exchanged its BF
carbon dioxide (CO2) filter assembly with a new unit. GA was reactivated
and the spent BF stowed for disposal (replaced last: 5/7). [IK0501 is an
automated system for measuring CO2, O2, and H2O in the air as well as the
flow rate of the gas being analyzed.].

Ed Lu performed scheduled routine maintenance on the CSA-CP (compound
specific analyzer-combustion products). [The crew was to ensure that the
CSA-CP's backup hardware is stowed in a location with good ventilation and
easy access in contingency situations.]

For CDR Malenchenko, assisted by Ed Lu, it was time for the second part of
the current MBI-8 Profilaktika ("countermeasures") fitness test series,
today with the NS-01 load trainer on the VELO (stationary bike) ergometer.
[This fitness test consists of four types of exercise, viz., neck tilting
(back/forward), simultaneous forearm flexing, trunk extension, and trunk
flexes. Each type of exercise consists of a series of 15 motions repeated
two times. Load levels are selected by the ground and do not change from
test to test. Total duration of the test is 13 min. Gas analysis,
subjective evaluation of physical exertion levels, and blood test for
lactate and Creatine Kinase levels are also performed as a part of this
test, using the TEEM-100M gas analyzer, AccuSport analyzer, and Reflotron-IV
blood analyzer.]

The SO conducted the daily routine maintenance of SOZh life support systems,
while the CDR prepared the daily IMS (inventory management system) "delta"
file for updating the IMS database.

Ed Lu transferred data files from the physical exercise equipment (TVIS and
RED) to the MEC (medical equipment computer) via memory card and RED log
entries, for downlink on OCA comm.

At 9:50am EDT, the crew were scheduled to participate in a South-American
PAO event, TV Globo's "Fantastico" Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, erroneously
reported for yesterday. [The downlink was also seen on NASA TV.]

Today at 3:28pm, the station will maneuver from earth-oriented LVLH to
solar-pointing XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane) attitude
(yaw/pitch/roll = -179.5/-9.0/-0.04 degrees).

Late last Friday, the crew replaced three components of the SM toilet: The
urine collector, the wring collector (a gas separator) and the gas-liquid
Separator. [The toilet has since operated nominally over the weekend. The
wring collector is used only for contingency, and there is only one spare on
ISS after the replacement Friday. The 12P manifest may be impacted if the
Russians decide that another spare wring collector must be on orbit.]

Over the weekend, the Payload MDM locked up. The ground reset the HRDL
(high rate data link) card, resulting in a "stale" MDM event log. This is a
known condition which precludes data from being recorded and downlinked. The
MDM was re-initialized yesterday, which corrected this condition; the MDM is
now operating nominally.

Yesterday, the Airlock (A/L) MDM was uploaded with applications processing
identification software. [During this activity, the MDM exhibited an
apparent time authentification problem which appeared to be in the MDM
itself. Upon further review, the problem was found to be residual in the
ground equipment, as a relic of the LSOS (limited station operations
support) swing two weeks ago. The ground corrected the problem and the
patch upload was concluded successfully. The A/L MDM computer is up and
fully operational.]

Also yesterday, MCC-H and MCC-M performed another successful BCC (backup
control center) dry run. [These tests are performed monthly to verify that
should a major contingency arise at MCC-H, the BCC will be available.]

During the 1000 days of station occupancy, seven crews have lived on the
ISS, as it has increased greatly in size and capabilities. Since the first
crew arrived on 11/2/2000, the station has grown into an unparalleled space
laboratory whose size will eventually more than double. The living and
working area has increased 6,000 cu.ft. during the past 1,000 days. The
station's 15,000 cu,ft. volume is larger than a three-bedroom house. Seven
Expedition crews, 10 Americans and 10 Russians, have conducted 12 spacewalks
from the ISS (as opposed to from the Shuttle), welcomed 11 visiting
Shuttles, 10 Russian Progress cargo vehicles and four Soyuz taxi crews.
Additions to the Station include solar arrays of unprecedented size; the
first space railway, stretching more than 130 feet; and a science facility,
more sophisticated than any ever previously flown in space, the U.S. Lab
"Destiny". Canada provided a new generation of space robotics with the
unmatched capabilities of the Canadarm2. Dual Russian and U.S. airlocks are
functional and support spacewalks.

Today's CEO (crew earth observation) targets, no longer limited in the
current LVLH attitude and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark
200-year memorial locations, were Atlanta, Georgia (CITY AT NIGHT - Daytime
clouds should give way to a steamy summer's night in Georgia this pass.
Looking for the city just right of track), Bangkok, Thailand (monsoon
cloudiness has broken for the moment over this area of Southeast Asia. Crew
was to use the 180mm lens to capture the extent of the city in a single view
with this excellent nadir pass), Guilin, China (CREW SITE ISS had a nadir
pass with only fair weather cumulus), Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (using
this fine fair-weather pass to map burn scars and active fires in northern
South Africa, Zimbabwe, and northern Mozambique), Colossus of Rhodes (CREW
SITE - Rhodes is the largest of numerous islands off the southwest coast of
Turkey. Looking just left of track), Rome, Italy (light was still a little
low this pass, but the crew should have had a near-nadir view in clear
weather over the "Eternal City", using the 180mm lens), and Lishan, Taiwan
(CITY AT NIGHT - The north end of Taiwan lay just right of track). 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/



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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info

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