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09/18/08: International Space Station On-Orbit Status Report.
ISS Expedition 17
Crew: Commander Sergei Volkov, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, Flight Engineer Gregory Chamitoff
Launch Vehicle: Soyuz TMA-12
Launch: April 8, 2008, 11:16 UT
Docking: April 10, 2008
Expected Landing: Oct. 23, 2008
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:48am EDT [=
epoch]):
Mean altitude -- 352.8 km
Apogee height -- 357.4
km
Perigee height -- 348.2 km
Period -- 91.60 min.
Inclination
(to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006802
Solar Beta Angle
-- 52.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day --
15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours -- 58 m
Revolutions
since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) -- 56321
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted
previously or below. Crew wake-up time remained shifted
forward by one hour (3:00am); sleeptime tonight is back on regular
(5:30pm) as will be tomorrow’s schedule.
Hurricane Ike Recovery Update: JSC/MCC-Houston
remains closed but will open on Monday (9/21). BAT/BCC (BCC Advisory
Team/Backup Control Center) are maintaining monitoring and commanding
through JSC assets. ISS FC (Flight Control) will resume from MCC-H
tomorrow during the morning hours (9/19, Friday).
After yesterday’s nominal Progress M-65/30P docking (2:43pm EDT), crew
activities today dealt mostly with cargo unloading, transferring,
unpacking, stowing and IMS (Inventory Management System) logging.
[Using an uplinked transfer list, CDR Volkov & FE-1
Kononenko had about 4.5 hrs reserved for stowing cargo items in the
limited free volume zones of the FGB, including 26 KRP containers with
Russian food rations (2 for ISS-17, 24 for ISS-18/Fincke, Lonchakov,
Wakata), 6 containers and 2 CTBs (Cargo Transfer Bags) with American
“bonus” food (Fincke, Lonchakov, Chamitoff). Food rations include
”skip cycle” backup stock for the event of missed Progress 31P
delivery. Eagerly awaited fresh food packages include tomatoes,
apples, grapefruits, onions and garlic.]
In addition, Volkov & Kononenko applied special priority to the
unloading & transfer of time-critical science experiment/payloads to
the ISS, specifically –
- TKhN-9 (KRISTALLIZATOR/Crystallizer): for biological
macromolecule crystallization and to obtain bio-crystal films under
micro-G conditions. [Transferred to the SM (Service
Module) plus activation of crystallization process and documentation
with NIKON D2X digital photography by Oleg],
- BTKh-1,2,3,4,20 (GLICOPROTEID/Glycoprotein, MIMETIK-K, KAF,
VAKTSINA-K/Vaccine, INTERLEUKIN-K): for biotechnological crystal
growth and study of various proteins. [With the “Luch-2
biocrystallizer and the “Kriogem-03M” freezer, stowed in the SM and
documented with NIKON photography],
- BTKh-29 ZHENSHEN-2 (Ginseng-2), in BIOEKOLOGIYA #10 container, for
the study of new plants for biological products and genotypes with
increased biological activity. [Transferred from 30P to
the DC1 Docking Compartment & photographed], and
- SOLO PCBAs (Sodium Loading in Microgravity/Portable Clinical Blood
Analyzers) for upcoming experimentation by Gregory Chamitoff.
[Transferred from 30P to the MELFI (Minus Eighty Degree
Laboratory Freezer for the ISS) and stowed in a box module in Dewar 4,
with photo documentation.]
After the unloading, with the Elektron O2 generator and BITS2-12
onboard measurement telemetry (TM) system turned off by ground commanding,
Sergey Volkov worked in the new Progress cargo ship, installing the
standard US-21 matching unit, a 1-hr. task, and then hooked up its TM
connector to the BITS2-12. [The US-21 Matching Unit
connects the SM with the Progress motion control and DPO thrusters
systems, so that they can be commanded by the SM computer system
(BVS). The BITS2-12 and its VD-SU control system mode
were subsequently turned back on. A dynamic Progress
thruster test of the complete integration of 30P into the ISS is scheduled
tomorrow (2:01pm-2:04pm & 3:32pm-3:25pm), after installation of the
LKT local temperature sensor commutator (TA251MB) of the
BITS2-12, along with its ROM unit (read-only memory,
TA765B).]
With BITS2-12 again up and running, TsUP-Moscow will restart the
Elektron electrolysis unit at ~2:45pm EDT in 32A mode, while Volkov
monitors the external temperature of its secondary purification unit (BD)
for the first 10 minutes of operations to ensure that there is no
overheating.
Also, as a new regular activity after deactivation/reactivation of the
VD-SU control mode, Sergey will be checking the BRI Smart Switch Router
computer and its new Ethernet connection to assess any potential impact of
these activities on Ethernet comm. [BRI is part of
the RS OpsLAN (Russian Segment/Operations Local Area Network), with
connections to the three SSC clients, the Ethernet tie-in with the US
network, and a network printer in the RS.]
FE-2 Chamitoff powered down the IWIS (Internal Wireless Instrumentation
System), then downloaded the accumulated structural dynamics data of
yesterday’s Progress docking from the IWIS RSUs (Remote Sensor Units) in
the Lab, Node-1, Node-2, FGB and SM.
Performing corrective outfitting in the JAXA JPM (JEM Pressurized
Module), Gregory installed hatch handle guide rings at the overhead &
starboard hatches (EVA side), along with stowage decals for the two.
Also in the Kibo laboratory, the FE-2 connected the rack-to-module
umbilicals of the ICS (Interorbit Communications System) Rack, one of the
eight racks delivered on STS-123/Endeavour (1J/A) last March.
[Note: The JEMRMS (JEM Robotic Manipulator
System) checkout planned for tomorrow was deferred to a later
date.]
In Node-2, Greg also installed a hatch handle guide ring, at its port
hatch (EVA side).
In the SM, the CDR completed the routine daily servicing of the SOZh
system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS), today as a
discretionary job from the “time permitting” task list.
[Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the
ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste
containers and replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine
containers.]
The crew completed their regular daily 2.5-hr. physical workout program
(about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal
hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (CDR, FE-2), TVIS treadmill (FE-1),
RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), and VELO bike with bungee
cord load trainer (CDR, FE-1).
Later, Chamitoff transferred the exercise data files to the MEC
(Medical Equipment Computer) laptop for downlink, including the daily
wristband HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed
by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).
WRM Update: An updated WRM (Water Recovery
Management) “cue card” was uplinked overnight for the crew’s reference,
updated with the latest water audit. [The new card
(17-0002Z) lists 30 CWCs (~1100.4 L total) for the four types of water
identified on board: technical water (342.3 L, for flushing only because
of Wautersia bacteria), potable water (706.7 L, incl. 174.6 L
currently on hold), condensate water (34.4 L), waste/EMU dump and other
(17 L). Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne
microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources.
These isolates pose no threat to human health.]
Dynamic 30P Thruster Tests: Standard Progress
thruster test firings are scheduled tomorrow, in order to check 30P’s full
integration into the ISS steering logic and ensure thruster functionality
in providing attitude control, reboosts and debris avoidance maneuvers
(DAMs). No powerdowns required. The DPO (Approach &
Attitude Control) thrusters will be fired on Manifold 1 & 2 at 2:01pm
EDT & 3:32pm, respectively. [These dynamic firings
test the installation of the electronic US-21 Matching Unit box in the
Progress vehicle, performed today, which connects its motion control and
DPO systems to the SM so that they can be commanded by the latter's BVS
computer system. They are also used to determine which thruster
manifold will be considered the primary one for reboosting and
DAMs.]
TRRJ Anomalies: Three “tooth crashes” (temporarily
misaligned gear teeth in weightlessness) occurred associated with TRRJ
(Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint) operations during Progress docking; two
were recovered by autorecovery and one was recovered manually. In
all three cases, autorecovery software did not work as expected.
No CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today.
CEO photography can be studied at this “Gateway” website:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (as of
3/1/08, this database contained 757,605 views of the Earth from space,
with 314,000 from the ISS alone).
Sep 17: Backdropped by the blackness of space, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. Progress 30 resupply craft launched on Sept. 10, 2008 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver more than 2 tons of food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the Expedition 17 crewmembers aboard the station. Progress automatically docked to the Zvezda Service Module aft port on Sept. 17. Credit: NASA
Sep 17: Backdropped by the blackness of space, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. Progress 30 resupply craft launched on Sept. 10, 2008 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver more than 2 tons of food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the Expedition 17 crewmembers aboard the station. Progress automatically docked to the Zvezda Service Module aft port on Sept. 17. Credit: NASA
Sep 10: The Progress M-65 launches from Baiknonur. Credit: S P Korolev RSC Energia.
Jun 11: View from STS-124, Discovery after undocking from the ISS. Credit: NASA
Feb 14: Russian Federal
Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov (center), Expedition 17 commander;
Oleg Kononenko, flight engineer; and astronaut Greg Chamitoff (left),
flight engineer, take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center
to pose for a crew portrait. Volkov and Kononenko launched to the
International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in April for a six-month mission.
Chamitoff arrived at the station on the STS-124 mission of Discovery in
June, joining Expedition 17 in progress. Credit: NASA
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
09/19/08 -- Progress 30P dynamic thruster
test
09/29/08 -- ATV de-orbit (nighttime re-entry for observation from
2 NASA planes; 9:12pm)
10/01/08 -- NASA 50 Years
(official)
10/02/08 – ISS Reboost (~1.8 m/s)
10/10/08 --
STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
12:33am
10/11/08 -- Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM
aft)
10/12/08 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch (~3:03am EDT; Lonchakov,
Fincke, Garriott)
10/14/08 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (FGB nadir port,
~4:51am)
10/24/08 -- Soyuz TMA-12/16S undocking (DC1 nadir) &
landing
11/12/08 -- STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 launch – MPLM Leonardo,
LMC
11/14/08 -- STS-126/Endeavour/ULF2 docking
11/20/08 --
ISS 10 Years
11/25/08 -- Progress M-65/30P undocking
& deorbit
11/26/08 -- Progress M-66/31P launch
11/30/08 --
Progress M-66/31P docking
02/09/09 -- Progress M-66/31P undocking &
deorbit
02/10/09 -- Progress M-67/32P launch
02/12/09 -- Progress
M-67/32P docking
02/12/09 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A launch – S6 truss
segment
02/14/09 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A docking
02/24/09 --
STS-119/Discovery/15A undocking
02/26/09 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A
landing (nominal)
03/25/09 -- Soyuz TMA-14/18S launch
03/27/09 –
Soyuz TMA-14/18S docking (DC1)
04/05/09 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S
undocking
04/07/09 -- Progress M-67/32P undocking &
deorbit
05/15/09 -- STS-127/Endeavour/2J/A launch - JEM EF, ELM-ES,
ICC-VLD
05/25/09 -- Soyuz TMA-15/19S launch
05/27/09 --
Six-person crew on ISS (following Soyuz 19S docking)
07/30/09 -- STS-128/Atlantis/17A – MPLM(P), last crew
rotation
10/15/09 -- STS-129/Discovery/ULF3 - ELC1, ELC2
12/10/09 --
STS-130/Endeavour/20A – Node-3 + Cupola
02/11/10 --
STS-131/Atlantis/19A – MPLM(P)
04/08/10 -- STS-132/Discovery/ULF4 –
ICC-VLD, MRM1
05/31/10 -- STS-133/Endeavour/ULF5 – ELC3, ELC4 (contingency).
- courtesy of NASA Office of Space Operations
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