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27 June 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 26 Jun 2003

Part 1 of 3

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

After wake-up (2:00am EDT), before breakfast and exercise, CDR Yuri
Malenchenko and Science Officer Ed Lu completed the periodic Russian
MedOps test "Hematokrit" (MO-10), which measures red blood cell count
of the blood. The crewmembers assisted each other in drawing the
blood sample from a finger with a perforator lancet.  [The samples
were then centrifuged in two microcapillary tubes in the M-1100 kit's
minicentrifuge, and its hematocrit value was read off the tubes with
a magnifying glass.  It is a well-known phenomenon of space flight
that red blood cell count (normal range: 30-45%) tends to go down
over time.] 

Both crewmembers then underwent the IMG PHS (Integrated Medical
Group/Periodic Health Status) assessment with blood labs, each one
acting first as CMO (crew medical officer) and then being the
examined subject. Afterwards, Ed Lu completed data entry for both
crewmembers and stowed the hardware.  [The PHS exam includes blood
analysis with the PCBA (portable clinical blood analyzer), MO-10 (see
above) and clinical evaluation, guided by special software (IFEP,
in-flight examination program) on the medical equipment computer
(MEC).  While PCBA analyzes total blood composition, MO-10
particularly measures the blood's hematocrit.] 

Part 2 of the PHS test, the Russian PZE MO-9 Urinalysis, is scheduled
for tomorrow.  For their second session with this biochemical urine
test after begin of Increment 7, Malenchenko today set up the
"Urolux" equipment and ran a functional test on it.

It was Ed's turn to continue the latest round of periodic preventive
maintenance of Russian segment (RS) ventilation systems, today in the
"Pirs" DC-1 docking compartment where he changed out its two dust
filters (PF1 & PF2) and cleaned the mesh screens of the V1 & V2
ventilator fans (last time done: 5/21).

Yuri Malenchenko later performed a periodic test of the PSS caution &
warning (C&W) panel in the DC-1, to make sure that all light
indicators illuminate and the high-frequency alarm tone is audible
and has sufficient volume.

Ed Lu took CO2 measurements in the Service Module (SM) near the
Vozdukh and in the Lab module, using the U.S. CDMK (carbon dioxide
monitoring kit). [Intravehicular ventilation (IMV) between the USOS
(U.S. segment) and RS is degraded due to debris collected on the fan
inlet flow dividers.   Direct air flow measurements are only possible
by comparing partial pressures of air constituents between the
segments, and ppCO2 is a good yardstick since an increasing ppCO2 in
the Lab not reflected in the SM indicates that Vozdukh is not
receiving the air from the Lab at an efficient rate.  The CDMK data
will help to establish an optimal fan-cleaning schedule.] 

The CDR worked on the Rodnik water storage system of the Progress
11P, using a compressor to pressurize the tank bladder, as is
required before liquid waste (urine) can be transferred from the SM's
ASU toilet system to the empty Rodnik tanks.

Malenchenko tended to his BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 ("Plants-2") experiment
which researches growth and development of plants under space flight
conditions in the Lada-2 greenhouse.  Later, he copied the
accumulated photo/data files to a floppy diskette for transfer to the
Russian laptop 3 and subsequent downlink via Regul-Packet.

Yuri also performed the regular inspection of the BRPK-1 air/liquid
condensate separator.  The planned upgrade of the BRPK condensate
separation and pumping units has been cancelled for the time being
since the two replacement parts could not be located yet on board
(this task was erroneously reported as completed in the 6/24 on-orbit
status report).  [The plan is to replace the old pipe conduits,
including safety valves, with new units.  The latter have no filters
and use higher safety valve trip pressures.  Purpose of the upgrade
is to prevent unwanted flow of the fluid through the bypass line
during condensate transfer cycles.] 

Ed Lu conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SM's SOZh
environment control & life support system and prepared the daily
"delta" file for updating the inventory management system (IMS).   [A
major issue with the IMS that has just now surfaced and is being
worked by the IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team), is the discovery by
Moscow that the crew has not been able to locate about 200 items
which are misplaced or "lost" by not being logged properly in the IMS
database.  MCC-M/TsUP has assessed the "missing" items and identified
about 10 with considerable criticality for on-board operations.
Primary concern on the ground is how the IMS inventory bookkeeping
could get so much "behind time" in terms of the actual, current
situation on board.  Russian IMS database specialists are now joined
by U.S. personnel to evaluate the issue, identify immediate needs
with a priority on crew safety, and come up with a realistic plan at
bringing the IMS up to date and prevent future deviations of this
kind.  The IMS database currently contains 22,363 items.]

Ed also conducted the standard 15-min. inspection and servicing of
the food warmers, which are part of the CSS (crew support systems).
[Food warmers, food trays, utensils, etc., are part of the food
preparation hardware in the galley located in the SM.  The food
warmers are in recessed wells in the galley table which also has crew
and equipment restraints.  Besides the galley, the wardroom area also
includes a potable water dispenser (for hot and ambient water for
drink and food hydration), a trash container, and two refrigerators.]

After power-up of the HRF (human research facility) this morning, the
PCMCIA memory card with rack data for transfer could not be installed
in the primary slot of the HRF laptop.  Insertion in the alternate
slot worked, and data transfer proceeded nominally.  Under
investigation. 

After power-up of EXPRESS Rack #2 (ER2) for a planned checkout of a
new ARIS (active rack isolation system) remote console at JSC, the
rack's AAA (avionics air assembly) fan exhibited current spikes and a
20-30 RPM increase in rotor speed.  The signature is being analyzed;
The current plan is to keep ER2 up in support of next week's ARIS
console checkout. 

The crew completed their regular daily 2.5-h program of physical
exercise, on TVIS treadmill, RED expander and, for Yuri, on the
Russian VELO cycle ergometer with load trainer.

At 11:30am EDT, the crew participated in a 20-min. live educational
audio/video PAO event with education specialists at the NASA Marshall
Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, AL, to provide educational
content for the MSFC-managed "NASAexplores" website.  [Each week
NASAexplores publishes two new articles about current NASA aerospace
and space flight projects, which are then adapted to three different
grade levels: Kindergarten to 4, 5 to 8, and 9 to 12.  See
http://nasaexplores.com .]  At 2:45pm EDT, Ed Lu set up and conducted
a ham radio session with students at the Space Science Education
Center of the Challenger Learning Center of Northwest Indiana at
Hammond, Indiana.  A list of the students' questions had been
uplinked beforehand. 

The crew was commended on and thanked for yesterday's excellent
ship-to-ship event with the "Aquarius" Underwater Laboratory off Key
West, FL, America's "Inner Space" station currently commanded by
ISS-Astronaut Peggy Whitson as part of NEEMO (NASA Extreme
Environment Missions Operations).. 

 - Continued -

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