International Space Station Status Report #05-6<br /><br />4 p.m. CST, Friday, Feb. 4, 2005<br /><br />Expedition 10 Crew<br /><br />The Expedition 10 crew turned its attention to the Space Shuttle's return to<br />flight this week, spending several days pre-packing International Space<br />Station items destined for return to Earth aboard Discovery.<br />Commander Leroy Chiao began the effort Feb. 1 and reported Friday that he<br />has completed pre-packing all U.S. hardware identified for return, and that<br />he and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov are working together to do the same<br />for the appropriate Russian hardware. Chiao also completed an inventory of<br />food supplies.<br /><br />Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and Science<br />Officer John Phillips will be on board the Station when Discovery arrives in<br />May, and will work with the STS-114 crew to stow the return items after<br />supplies and equipment being delivered have been transferred. The Expedition<br />10 crew's pre-packing efforts will help ensure that the limited amount of<br />transfer time available during Discovery's visit is used efficiently.<br /><br />Scientific research also highlighted the week, with Sharipov conducting<br />three runs with the Russian Plasma-Crystal experiment, while Chiao worked<br />with two student experiments. "Plazmennyi Kristall" is studying how<br />plasma-dust crystals and fluids behave in microgravity when excited by radio<br />waves. Sharipov set up the experiment, installing specimens and pumping the<br />atmosphere out of its vacuum chamber so that telescience specialists on the<br />ground could command its operations. Chiao installed the EarthKAM experiment<br />on a bracket in one of the Station's windows for its final Expedition 10<br />session. Students at 160 middle schools around the world have snapped more<br />than 900 Earth observation images by remote control so far. Chiao also<br />worked with the Space Experiment Module-Satchel experiment, which contains<br />11 sample vials, one each from schools around the United States, that are<br />exposed to microgravity for three to six months. This is the first flight of<br />the satchel carrier, which was delivered to the Station by the Progress 16<br />resupply ship.<br /><br />Chiao also spent several hours working to restore the Space Integrated<br />GPS/Inertial Navigation System (SIGI) to full functionality. The system,<br />which supplies Global Positioning Satellite navigation information to a<br />Station guidance and navigation computer, was working normally again after<br />Chiao rotated out one of the Destiny Laboratory's systems racks to gain<br />access and update the system's firmware programming.<br />The crew will have the usual light-duty weekend with cleaning and exercise<br />on tap. Chiao, who is the NASA ISS Science Officer, can also choose from<br />various research activities for his optional Saturday Morning Science<br />session.<br /><br />For more on NASA, the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future<br />launch dates and Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth,<br />visit:<br />www.nasa.gov<br /><br />The next International Space Station Status report will be issued on Friday,<br />Feb. 11, or earlier if events warrant.