Jacques van Oene
September 18th 05, 06:21 PM
International Space Station Status Report #45
2005
Report #45
1 p.m. CDT Friday, September 16, 2005
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The installation of a replacement part for an oxygen-generating system,
unpacking a recently arrived cargo carrier and the disassembly of a
radiation-detection experiment highlighted this week's activities aboard the
International Space Station.
Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John
Phillips are scheduled to activate the Elektron oxygen-generation system
with its new liquids unit on Monday. The Elektron breaks down water into
oxygen for use in the station's atmosphere. The Elektron has not functioned
for several months. Adequate oxygen supplies are available on the station
from tanks and Solid Fuel Oxygen Generators.
The new liquids unit arrived aboard the ISS Progress 19 cargo craft, which
docked to the complex at 9:42 a.m. CDT Saturday. The Progress craft brought
2.6 tons of cargo to the station. Krikalev and Phillips began unloading the
cargo on Sunday.
The Progress brought more than 2,700 pounds of dry cargo to the station,
including food, equipment, supplies, clothing and components of scientific
experiments. The rest of the cargo included fuel for the station's
thrusters, water and oxygen. Unloading continued intermittently through the
week.
After a light-duty day Monday, the crew transferred Progress cargo and
entered the items into the station's computerized, bar-coded inventory
management system on Tuesday. Much of Wednesday was devoted to disassembly
of the Matroshka radiation experiment, retrieved from the exterior of the
station during an August spacewalk, for return to Earth.
A major part of the European Space Agency Matroshka experiment, developed
and built in Germany and operated through the German Space Agency's
Microgravity User Support Center in Cologne, is a human-torso-like device.
It was launched on a Progress in January 2004 and installed on the outside
of the Zvezda Service Module the following month.
Its interior is similar in density to a human's, and 20 radiation detectors
are mounted in positions of major human organs. Other detectors inside the
station also gathered data for transmission to Earth and station computers.
The experiment is designed to better understand the exposure of astronauts,
including those making spacewalks, to radiation.
In addition to the Elektron liquids unit replacement, Thursday work included
setup of hardware for the Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Spaceflight
(Foot) experiment. Phillips put on customized Lycra cycling tights for his
fifth and final session of the experiment. Foot investigates the differences
between use of the body's lower extremities on Earth and in space, as well
as changes in the musculoskeletal system during spaceflight.
During the session, Phillips wore the instrumented Lower Extremity
Monitoring Suit, or LEMS, which measures joint angles, muscle activity and
forces on the feet while exercising. During the final run, a special
exercise protocol was used to measure forces Phillips experiences on the
cycle ergometer and the Resistive Exercise Device.
Taking force measurements while running through the range of settings with
each piece of exercise equipment helps determine the settings necessary to
match the forces that bones experience during exercise on Earth. Matching
those forces during exercise is critical to reducing the amount of bone lost
while in weightlessness.
Also this week, flight controllers and engineers in Houston assisted with
the transition aboard the station to a faster advanced portable computer
software. The transition was completed Wednesday. Flight controllers also
maneuvered station cameras to capture images of Hurricane Ophelia several
times this week as it approached the Carolina coast.
For information on the crew's activities aboard the station, future launch
dates, and station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
The next station status report will be issued on Thursday, Sept. 22, or
earlier if events warrant.
--end--
--
--------------------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
2005
Report #45
1 p.m. CDT Friday, September 16, 2005
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The installation of a replacement part for an oxygen-generating system,
unpacking a recently arrived cargo carrier and the disassembly of a
radiation-detection experiment highlighted this week's activities aboard the
International Space Station.
Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John
Phillips are scheduled to activate the Elektron oxygen-generation system
with its new liquids unit on Monday. The Elektron breaks down water into
oxygen for use in the station's atmosphere. The Elektron has not functioned
for several months. Adequate oxygen supplies are available on the station
from tanks and Solid Fuel Oxygen Generators.
The new liquids unit arrived aboard the ISS Progress 19 cargo craft, which
docked to the complex at 9:42 a.m. CDT Saturday. The Progress craft brought
2.6 tons of cargo to the station. Krikalev and Phillips began unloading the
cargo on Sunday.
The Progress brought more than 2,700 pounds of dry cargo to the station,
including food, equipment, supplies, clothing and components of scientific
experiments. The rest of the cargo included fuel for the station's
thrusters, water and oxygen. Unloading continued intermittently through the
week.
After a light-duty day Monday, the crew transferred Progress cargo and
entered the items into the station's computerized, bar-coded inventory
management system on Tuesday. Much of Wednesday was devoted to disassembly
of the Matroshka radiation experiment, retrieved from the exterior of the
station during an August spacewalk, for return to Earth.
A major part of the European Space Agency Matroshka experiment, developed
and built in Germany and operated through the German Space Agency's
Microgravity User Support Center in Cologne, is a human-torso-like device.
It was launched on a Progress in January 2004 and installed on the outside
of the Zvezda Service Module the following month.
Its interior is similar in density to a human's, and 20 radiation detectors
are mounted in positions of major human organs. Other detectors inside the
station also gathered data for transmission to Earth and station computers.
The experiment is designed to better understand the exposure of astronauts,
including those making spacewalks, to radiation.
In addition to the Elektron liquids unit replacement, Thursday work included
setup of hardware for the Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Spaceflight
(Foot) experiment. Phillips put on customized Lycra cycling tights for his
fifth and final session of the experiment. Foot investigates the differences
between use of the body's lower extremities on Earth and in space, as well
as changes in the musculoskeletal system during spaceflight.
During the session, Phillips wore the instrumented Lower Extremity
Monitoring Suit, or LEMS, which measures joint angles, muscle activity and
forces on the feet while exercising. During the final run, a special
exercise protocol was used to measure forces Phillips experiences on the
cycle ergometer and the Resistive Exercise Device.
Taking force measurements while running through the range of settings with
each piece of exercise equipment helps determine the settings necessary to
match the forces that bones experience during exercise on Earth. Matching
those forces during exercise is critical to reducing the amount of bone lost
while in weightlessness.
Also this week, flight controllers and engineers in Houston assisted with
the transition aboard the station to a faster advanced portable computer
software. The transition was completed Wednesday. Flight controllers also
maneuvered station cameras to capture images of Hurricane Ophelia several
times this week as it approached the Carolina coast.
For information on the crew's activities aboard the station, future launch
dates, and station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
The next station status report will be issued on Thursday, Sept. 22, or
earlier if events warrant.
--end--
--
--------------------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info