Jacques van Oene
October 2nd 04, 12:46 PM
International Space Station Status Report #54
2004
Report #54
4 p.m. CDT, Friday, October 1, 2004
Mission Control Center, Houston
The International Space Station crew made steady progress with maintenance
work this week, restoring an oxygen generator to partial operation and
replacing a cabin air monitoring system.
Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike
Fincke also began packing for the trip home. The Russian Federal Space
Agency announced that launch of the next Station crew, Expedition 10
Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, is scheduled
for 10:06 p.m. CDT Oct. 13. NASA and Russian Station managers met today to
review preparations for that mission in a Flight Readiness Review and found
everything in order.
Aboard the ISS Soyuz 9 spacecraft with Chiao and Sharipov will be Russian
Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin. The trio will dock with the
Station at 11:24 p.m. CDT Oct. 15. Padalka, Fincke and Shargin will return
to Earth in the ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft with a landing in Kazakhstan at 7:32
p.m. CDT Oct. 23. Chiao and Sharipov will remain aboard the Station for six
months.
Padalka and Fincke continued troubleshooting the Elektron oxygen generator
this week. It has operated intermittently during the past few weeks. The
system creates breathing oxygen from water, venting hydrogen overboard from
the Station in the process. With plans provided by Russian ground
controllers, the crew hooked the system's hydrogen venting line up to a
different overboard valve in the Station's Zvezda module. The valve is one
that is normally used as part of an atmospheric contaminant control system.
Hooked up to the new vent valve, the Elektron has operated well during
several day-long test runs. Meanwhile, the crew continued periodic cleaning
of filters in the vent valve normally used by the Elektron, attempting to
remove what are believed to be potassium hydroxide particles clogging the
system.
Fincke replaced a U.S. air monitoring system in the Destiny Laboratory this
week, restoring that system to full operation. Called the Major Constituents
Analyzer, the equipment had previously only been operating periodically.
Now, with the installation of a new Mass Spectrometer Unit that was
delivered to the Station aboard the last Progress cargo craft, the system is
operated continuously.
In other work this week, U.S. flight controllers completed a checkout of a
Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint, a joint on the Station's exterior that allows
radiators to be swiveled to dissipate heat as efficiently as possible. The
joints are not needed until more solar arrays are added to the Station after
the Space Shuttle has resumed flights.
On Monday, beginning at 9:40 a.m. CDT, Padalka and Fincke will field
questions from media representatives at NASA Headquarters, the Johnson Space
Center and the Kennedy Space Center during an inflight news conference.
Science activities this week included several sessions by Fincke working
with an investigation of soldering in space. Fincke soldered several samples
of materials onboard the Station while ground investigators watched and
provided real-time insights. The study is aimed at increasing the
understanding of soldering capabilities in weightlessness, potentially to
allow such equipment to be used for inflight electronics repairs on the
Station and future spacecraft.
The crew also continued photographing observations of interesting geologic,
environmental and other sites on Earth. The images are periodically
transmitted to the ground and may be viewed online at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-9/ndxpage1.html
For information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future
launch dates, as well as a list of opportunities to see the Station from
anywhere on the Earth, visit:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
Details on science operations provided by the Payload Operations Center at
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., visit:
http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, Oct. 8 or earlier, if
events warrant.
--
---------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
2004
Report #54
4 p.m. CDT, Friday, October 1, 2004
Mission Control Center, Houston
The International Space Station crew made steady progress with maintenance
work this week, restoring an oxygen generator to partial operation and
replacing a cabin air monitoring system.
Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike
Fincke also began packing for the trip home. The Russian Federal Space
Agency announced that launch of the next Station crew, Expedition 10
Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, is scheduled
for 10:06 p.m. CDT Oct. 13. NASA and Russian Station managers met today to
review preparations for that mission in a Flight Readiness Review and found
everything in order.
Aboard the ISS Soyuz 9 spacecraft with Chiao and Sharipov will be Russian
Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin. The trio will dock with the
Station at 11:24 p.m. CDT Oct. 15. Padalka, Fincke and Shargin will return
to Earth in the ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft with a landing in Kazakhstan at 7:32
p.m. CDT Oct. 23. Chiao and Sharipov will remain aboard the Station for six
months.
Padalka and Fincke continued troubleshooting the Elektron oxygen generator
this week. It has operated intermittently during the past few weeks. The
system creates breathing oxygen from water, venting hydrogen overboard from
the Station in the process. With plans provided by Russian ground
controllers, the crew hooked the system's hydrogen venting line up to a
different overboard valve in the Station's Zvezda module. The valve is one
that is normally used as part of an atmospheric contaminant control system.
Hooked up to the new vent valve, the Elektron has operated well during
several day-long test runs. Meanwhile, the crew continued periodic cleaning
of filters in the vent valve normally used by the Elektron, attempting to
remove what are believed to be potassium hydroxide particles clogging the
system.
Fincke replaced a U.S. air monitoring system in the Destiny Laboratory this
week, restoring that system to full operation. Called the Major Constituents
Analyzer, the equipment had previously only been operating periodically.
Now, with the installation of a new Mass Spectrometer Unit that was
delivered to the Station aboard the last Progress cargo craft, the system is
operated continuously.
In other work this week, U.S. flight controllers completed a checkout of a
Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint, a joint on the Station's exterior that allows
radiators to be swiveled to dissipate heat as efficiently as possible. The
joints are not needed until more solar arrays are added to the Station after
the Space Shuttle has resumed flights.
On Monday, beginning at 9:40 a.m. CDT, Padalka and Fincke will field
questions from media representatives at NASA Headquarters, the Johnson Space
Center and the Kennedy Space Center during an inflight news conference.
Science activities this week included several sessions by Fincke working
with an investigation of soldering in space. Fincke soldered several samples
of materials onboard the Station while ground investigators watched and
provided real-time insights. The study is aimed at increasing the
understanding of soldering capabilities in weightlessness, potentially to
allow such equipment to be used for inflight electronics repairs on the
Station and future spacecraft.
The crew also continued photographing observations of interesting geologic,
environmental and other sites on Earth. The images are periodically
transmitted to the ground and may be viewed online at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-9/ndxpage1.html
For information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future
launch dates, as well as a list of opportunities to see the Station from
anywhere on the Earth, visit:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
Details on science operations provided by the Payload Operations Center at
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., visit:
http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, Oct. 8 or earlier, if
events warrant.
--
---------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info