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19 Jun 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 17 Jun 2003

Part 1 of 2

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below.

CDR Yuri Malenchenko and FE/SO Ed Lu continued cargo transfer
operations from Progress 11P, tracking the movements with the IMS
(inventory management system). [Some stowage location entries had to
be corrected as per uplinked radiogram from Moscow.]

As part of regular weekly maintenance tasks, Malenchenko inspected
the BRPK-1 air/liquid condensate separator of the SM's SRVK water
processing system.

Yuri also completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM's SOZh
environment control & life support system, and prepared the daily IMS
"delta" file.

Ed Lu completed the periodic transfer of accumulated physical
exercise data files of the TVIS treadmill, RED resistive exerciser
and CEVIS cycle ergometer to the MEC (medical equipment computer),
for subsequent downlink to the ground. [The data file transfers
involve PCMCIA (portable computer memory card international adapter)
cards from TVIS and CEVIS, plus the entries from the RED exercise log
book, individually for each crewmember.] 

Both crewmembers performed their regular daily exercise regimen on
TVIS, CEVIS, RED and VELO bike with load trainer (for the CDR).

At 12:00 noon EDT, Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko, in colorful Hawaiian
shirts, particiated in two interactive televised PAO interviews
(Ku-band & S-band) on KCRA-TV, Sacramento, CA, and CNN (Miles
O'Brien), each one lasting about ten minutes.

Immediately thereafter, the two crewmembers downlinked a televised
message to a graduate class of the Korolev Military Institute of
Radio Electronics in Zhitomir, Ukraine, via US assets. The occasion
of the congratulatory address was the cadets' graduation from the
nearly 100 years old Institute and the conferral of their first
commissioned rank. ["I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
the head of the Institute, Major General Dmitri Vladimirovich
Pyaskovsky, and to the professors and lecturers responsible for the
tremendously difficult task of bringing up generations and
generations of commissioned officers." The Ukrainian city of Zhitomir
is also the birthplace of Sergei Korolev.]

After the installation of the electronic US-21 matching unit in the
Progress vehicle yesterday (6/16), which connects the Progress motion
control and DPO thrusters systems to the Service Module (SM) so that
they can be commanded by the SM computer system (BVS), Moscow today
ran the standard firing tests of the Progress approach and attitude
control, thrusters. [At 12:00 am EDT, station attitude was handed
over from XPOP to the Russian segment MCS (motion control system) for
the tests, conducted from the SM MCS via the US-21 matching unit.
Thruster manifold #1 (four jets) was tested first, at 1:36am,
followed by manifold #2 (four jets) at 3:12am. Afterwards, control
authority was returned to the U.S. CMGs for Momentum Management in
XPOP.] 

MCC-M/TsUP also performed the regular adjustment of onboard time via
Regul uplink, followed by onboard clock synchronization and daily
state vector uplink.

Starting this morning at 12:30am EDT and ending at about 7:30am,
MCC-Houston and its support group in Moscow (HSG) performed a BCC
(backup control center) activation test, which did not involve the
ISS crew. [BCC utilizes the HSG command server and telemetry server.
In test mode, command function was transferred to HSG (as BCC) for
sending a single PPCP (preplanned command packet) to MCC-M/TsUP. TsUP
activated ACT (American contingency telemetry) via cyclogram for
uplinking the PPCP to the ISS with HSG confirming successful receipt.
TsUP commanding to the Russian segment (RS) via U.S. S-band as well
as MCC-H-to-TsUP flow of status telemetry were not affected, but
MCC-H had no real-time telemetry and command capability via Russian
ground stations (RGS) during the periodic testing.] 

The Science Officer was praised by POC (Payload Operations Center) on
his hard work yesterday performing the 30-day functionality test of
the HRF GASMAP (Human Research Facility/Gas Analyzer System for
Metabolic Analysis Physiology). [Good run time was obtained, and the
check will be done again in 30 days.]

SM battery #4 has been disconnected again. This leaves seven good
800A storage units.

A conjunction (close encounter) with the SNOE satellite (Student
Nitrous Oxide Explorer, object #25233) occurred this morning at
8:33am EDT. The object had been tracked for the last few days. Since
its predicted radial miss distance remained very stable at ~400m
since Saturday morning (6/14), no action was required.

The recent tests, on 6/7, to view ISS structure and components (in an
assessment of the optical inspection capability of ISS cameras for
Shuttle imaging) showed up some problems with camera zooming and
focusing which are currently under review and scrutiny by ground
specialists. 

After the ISS attitude transition on 6/12, the crew noticed a small,
shiny, free-floating metallic object about 30 m (100 ft) from the Lab
nadir window, moving very slowly away from the ISS. The leading
theory was that the object is a cable label. [A photo of a cable
label, uplinked from the ground, was later examined by Ed Lu. He
confirmed the possibility that the object he saw indeed could have
been a cable label. Further identification of the object by ground
teams is still underway. Limited tracking data the object on 6/12
showed it below the ISS and 1.7 km in front. Preliminary predictions
indicated it was slowly separating, and the specialists did/do not
believe it poses a re-contact hazard to the station. Ed Lu's image of
the object can be seen at
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/images/ISS007E06886.jpg]

On 6/11, during Progress ingress activities, Malenchenko reported
that the air duct and fan assembly used to ventilate the cargo ship
could not be set up due to a missing connector. With MCC-M agreement,
he installed only the air duct, relying on an upstream fan to provide
sufficient ventilation. The connector was found later, but the fan
could still not be installed due to (temporarily) limited room. It
was to be installed after sufficient Progress unloading.

 - Continued -

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