ISS On-Orbit Status 3/21/03<br /><br />All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously<br />or below. Today is Vernal Equinox (more to the point: First Day of Spring).<br /><br />Before breakfast and first exercise, the crew again took turns performing<br />the IMG PHS (Integrated Medical Group/Periodic Health Status) tests with<br />blood labs, each one acting first as the examining CMO (crew medical<br />officer) and then becoming the examined subject. [The blood samples from the<br />three subjects were then analyzed in the PCBA (portable clinical blood<br />analyzer), a component of the AMP (ambulatory medical pack), and the results<br />entered in the MEC (medical equipment computer), using the same forms<br />started by them yesterday during the MO-9 assessment.]<br /><br />Later during the day, the crew finished the clinical PHS exam without blood<br />labs. [PHS, guided by software on the MEC (medical equipment computer), is<br />performed once every 30 days for each crewmember and two weeks before<br />landing and as clinically indicated. PHS evaluations alternate between the<br />one with blood labs and the one without. The tests are documented<br />afterwards.]<br /><br />FE-1 Nikolai Budarin completed removal and replacement of the column unit<br />(BK) in the BKV water conditioning unit, a periodic maintenance task.<br /><br />Budarin also terminated regeneration of absorbent bed #1 of the Service<br />Module (SM) BMP micropurification unit, switching it back to Purify mode.<br />Later, he started filter channel #2 on regeneration cycle. Each cycle takes<br />about 24 hours.<br /><br />FE-2/SO Don Pettit took another 30-min. HMS CBT (health maintenance<br />systems/computer-based training) refresher course, supported by video and<br />audio, to hone his CMO qualification. Later, Bowersox went through the same<br />training course. [Objectives of today's exercise, regularly scheduled once a<br />month, were to review nosebleed treatment, fractures and dislocations,<br />laceration closure, and abdominal examination procedures.]<br /><br />Pettit stowed the ITCS (internal thermal control system) gas trap, no longer<br />required. The correct function of the ITCS MTL (moderate temperature loop)<br />with its newly installed PPA (pump package assembly) was verified with a<br />3-hr. period of operation for dissipating an air bubble in the accumulator<br />which had caused some intermittent pump overspeeding. The MTL is now<br />healthy, providing full redundancy to the LTL (low temperature loop).<br /><br />Bowersox performed another check of the open circuit voltage of the recently<br />installed new battery of the CHeCS defibrillator.<br /><br />The crew conducted a scheduled timeline review for the upcoming Stage EVA2,<br />now scheduled for 4/8, going through an updated version and set of<br />procedures uplinked overnight. The plan was then discussed with the ground<br />in an S/G (space-to-ground audio) teleconference. Based on the discussions,<br />an official baseline package will be uplinked next week after a thorough<br />review by the Flight Control Team (FCT).<br /><br />Schedule planning for EVA has to coordinate with the Russian plans for the<br />two upcoming reboost maneuvers by Progress. Optimum dates for Moscow are 4/4<br />and 4/10, which would require a total delta-V of 4.0 m/sec (2 m/sec per<br />burn). Slipping the maneuvers will increase delta-V requirements, e.g.: to<br />5.5 m/sec for 4/10 & 4/15, or about 100 kg additional propellants; other<br />possible date combinations are 4/8 & 4/10, and 4/9 & 4/11. Analysis is<br />underway at both MCCs to jointly derive an optimum reboost and EVA plan by<br />3/24 (Monday).<br /><br />Budarin conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SM's SOZh life<br />support system (including ASU toilet facilities) and prepared the daily IMS<br />inventory delta file, while Bowersox did the regular status checkup of the<br />autonomous Lab payload (PCG-STES010).<br /><br />Pettit recorded his nutritional intake by filling out his weekly HMS FFQ<br />(health maintenance systems/food frequency questionnaire) on the MEC<br />(medical equipment computer).<br /><br />Today's planned downloading of yesterday's PuFF (pulmonary function in<br />flight) experiment session, which according to POC went "spectacularly<br />good", has not been successful. The problem appears to be with the data<br />transfer from the experiment's PCMCIA (personal computer memory card<br />international association) Flash card to the HRF HDD (human research<br />facility hard disk drive) for subsequent downlink. Under study.<br /><br />Nominal science operation of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) next<br />week has been approved by ESA's MSG team, starting with about 11 hours of<br />nominal operation including illumination, video equipment, etc., after<br />removal of the currently resident PFMI (Pore Formation and Mobility<br />Investigation) payload. [MSG science has been prioritized, with InSPACE<br />(Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal<br />Emulsions) leading the list, followed by PFMI.]<br /><br />Moscow reported successful completion of the upgrade of the Russian onboard<br />computers with the new vers. 7.011 software. Wednesday's loss of<br />communications between the U.S. GNC MDM (guidance, navigation & control<br />computer) and the Russian TVM (terminal computer system), which temporarily<br />triggered load shedding in Survival Mode, has not been explained yet and is<br />under investigation.<br /><br />Carbon dioxide partial pressure (ppCO2) level in the Lab was at 3.7 mmHg<br />this morning. Vozdukh is operating nominally in manual switchover mode.<br />During its recent downtime, the U.S. CDRA (CO2 removal assembly) operated<br />smoothly, completing four half cycles (two per adsorbent channel). CDRA is<br />now off again.<br /><br />Budarin conducted his regular daily checkup and watering of the BIO-5<br />Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 ("Plants-2") plant growth experiment.<br /><br />All crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise program on RED<br />(resistive exercise device), TVIS (treadmill with vibration isolation and<br />stabilization), and VELO with load trainer.<br /><br />For the CEVIS (cycle ergometer with vibration isolation), a plan has been<br />developed as a work around for the failed control panel. [The new procedure<br />will control the CEVIS workload with the use of an external power supply and<br />scope meters (voltage & current), which requires calibration of the setup so<br />that a scope meter can be used as load gauge. Ground testing is being<br />finalized, and the procedure will be uplinked for implementation early next<br />week, as soon as it has been reviewed by FCT.]<br /><br />Critical consumables reviews continue on the ground, with weekly reporting<br />to the IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team).<br /><br />Step-up of MCC-Houston computers to ULF-1 software products has been<br />deferred. Updating of the FCT server will be conducted during crew sleep<br />time, starting tonight and going through 3/24.<br /><br />Today's targets for the CEO (crew earth observations) program (with<br />illumination is now, on Vernal Equinox, rapidly shifting from the Southern<br />to the Northern Hemisphere, and light soon too low for southernmost targets<br />like lower Patagonia) Pantanal Wetlands in Sun Glint (the Pantanal of<br />Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay is the world's largest wetlands. With the<br />rainy season just ending, crew was to look obliquely left of track for views<br />with sun glint to enhance the outlines and extent of surface water in this<br />region), Patagonian Glaciers (this was the first and probably best of two<br />passes over the extreme southern end of this target region. Looking left of<br />track for context views of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field now at its<br />seasonal minimum for fresh snow cover. The second pass went over the extreme<br />southern end of this target region. Although lighting was lower, crew was to<br />look left of track for context views of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field<br />now at its seasonal minimum for fresh snow cover).<br /><br />CEO images can be viewed at the websites<br />http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov and<br />http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov<br /><br />U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 12:50pm EST).<br /><br />Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):<br />Elektron O2 generator is powered On (24 Amp). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is On<br />(manual mode 5). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off. TCCS (trace contaminant<br />control subsystem) is operating. MCA (major constituents analyzer) is<br />operating. BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed<br />#2 in Regeneration mode. RS air conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off.<br /><br />SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 745; temperature (deg C) -- 26.7;<br />ppO2 (mmHg) -- 183.1; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 2.3 (data suspect).<br />SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 751; temperature (deg C) --<br />20.9.<br />FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) -- 752; temperature (deg C) -- 24.0.<br />Node: Pressure (mmHg) -- 738.8; temperature (deg C) -- 23.3 (shell); ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.<br />U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) -- 741.18; temperature (deg C) -- 22.2; ppO2<br />(mmHg) -- 165.2; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 3.9;<br />Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) -- 741.28; temperature (deg<br />C) -- 21.0; shell heater temp (deg C) -- 21.8, ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2<br />(mmHg) -- n/a.<br />PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 24.4<br />PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 12.7<br />(n/a = data not available)<br /><br />Propulsion System (PS):<br />Total propellant load available [SM(774) + FGB(2746) + Progress(474] ---<br />3994 kg (8805 lb) as of 3/20/03. (Capability: SM -- 860 kg; FGB -- 6120 kg).<br /><br />Electrical Power Systems (EPS):<br />Both P6 channels fully operational. BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B and 4B<br />both in autonomous Autotrack (sun-following).<br />SM batteries: Battery #4 is in "Cycle" mode; all other batteries (7) are in<br />"Partial Charge" mode.<br />FGB batteries: Battery #2 is off line; battery #3 is in "Cycle" mode; all<br />other batteries (4) are in "Partial Charge" mode.<br />Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 and PCU-2 both in Standby mode.<br /><br />Command & Data Handling Systems:<br />C&C-1 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-3 is in standby.<br />GNC-2 MDM is prime; GNC-1 is Backup.<br />INT-1 is operating; INT-2 is Off.<br />EXT-1 is On (primary), EXT-2 is Off.<br />LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.<br />PL-2 MDM is On (primary); PL-1 MDM is Off<br />APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.<br />SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Being<br />upgraded.<br />SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational. Being<br />upgraded.<br /><br />Attitude Control Systems:<br />3 CMGs on-line (CMG-1 failed).<br />State vector source -- U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)<br />Attitude source -- U.S. SIGI-1 (GPS)<br />Angular rate source -- RGA-2<br /><br />Flight Attitude:<br />XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = "sun-fixed" [yaw: -179.0 deg,<br />pitch: -8.8 deg., roll: 0 deg]), with CMG TA (thruster assist) Momentum<br />Management.<br />Solar Beta Angle: 51.0 deg (magnitude increasing).<br /><br />Communications & Tracking Systems:<br />FGB MDM-1 is powered Off; FGB MDM-2 is operational.<br />All other Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.<br />S-band is operating nominally.<br />Ku-band is operating nominally.<br />Audio subsystem operating nominally.<br />Video subsystem operating nominally (VTR1 is operable again).<br />HCOR (high-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.<br /><br />Robotics:<br />SSRMS/Canadarm2 based at Lab PDGF with Keep Alive (KA) power on both<br />strings.<br />MBS: KA power on both strings.<br />MT: latched at WS4, with KA power.<br />POA: KA power on both strings.<br />RWS (robotics workstations): Lab RWS is Off; Cupola RWS is Off.<br /><br />ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 6:51am EST [= epoch]):<br />Mean altitude -- 390.4 km<br />Apogee -- 396.0 km<br />Perigee -- 384.8 km<br />Period -- 92.36 min.<br />Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg<br />Eccentricity -- 0.0008265<br />Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.59<br />Solar Beta Angle: 51.0 deg (magnitude increasing)<br />Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 120 m<br />Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 24732<br /><br />For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times, see<br />http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html