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02 July 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 1 Jul 2003

Part 1 of 3

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

For Science Officer Ed Lu it's a big day: his 40th birthday.
Well-wishers throughout the day included NASA Administrator Sean
O'Keefe, Ed's entire family in California, his fiancée, the MCC-H
Flight Control Team (FTC), TsUP/Moscow, and friends of Ed's at JSC.
Happy Birthday, Ed!  [Of course, FTC/Houston personnel wore their
best Aloha shirts today, as did stalwart ISS top management at
HQ/Washington (for a while).]

After wake-up (2:00am EDT), CDR Yuri Malenchenko completed another
session with the periodic Russian MedOps test "Hematokrit" (MO-10),
which measures red blood cell count of the blood.  FE/SO Ed Lu
assisted.  [The sample was 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.] 

Malenchenko then set up the Russian payload laptop and performed the
MBI-1 SPRUT-K experiment, part of Russian medical research on the
distribution and behavior of human body fluids in zero gravity.  [The
experiment involves use of  the Sprut ("squid") securing harness,
skin electrodes (cuffs) and the new laptop 3 with a US power supply
unit from the old one, now called laptop-Packet, which was then
readied again for Regul-Packet comm.] 

Later in the day, Yuri spent 2.5 hrs. with a new round of the Russian
MBI-8 "Profilaktika" (countermeasures) fitness test series, today
starting with the VELO (stationary bike ergometer).  FE/SO Edward Lu
assisted.  (Last time done: 6/5)    [Tomorrow, Day 2, the test will
be performed on the Load Trainer, followed by the TVIS treadmill on
Day 3 (Friday).  The test is identical to the Russian MO-5
assessment, but in addition to the nominal test procedure, it calls
for the use of  the TEEM-100M gas analyzer, measurement of the
lactate level in the subject's blood with the AccuSport device, and
subjective evaluation of physical exertion levels during the test.
Results were entered on a log sheet.  TEEM and ECG
(electrocardiograph) data were transferred to Laptop 3 and prepared
for later downlink via Regul-Packet comm.]

Malenchenko again conducted several sessions of the Russian Uragan
("hurricane") earth imaging program (GFI-8), using the Kodak DCS760
digital still camera with 800-mm lens.  [Targets included the city of
Chernobyl and the junction of the Pripyat and Dnepr rivers, the Kursk
biosphere, forest and flood plains of the Don and Ural rivers, the
Volga-Don channel, dust storms at the Aral Sea/Kazakhstan, the
central Pamir mountain range, RGO, Medvezhy, and Kolka glaciers,
large glaciers of Karakoruma, the Himalayas, the cities of Den Hague,
Rotterdam and Amsterdam, open coal mines near Leipzig, etc.  The
images were to be downlinked later via U.S. OCA assets and
transferred to Moscow.] 

Early in the morning, right after breakfast, Ed Lu again deployed the
acoustic dosimeters, being worn by each crewmember for 24 hours (with
a microphone on the shirt collar).  A third dosimeter was deployed in
the Lab for a 24-hr. static data take (last time done: 5/27-29).
Later in the day, Ed took photos of the crew-worn instrumentation for
documentation. [Tonight, after about 12 hours of measurements, data
from each dosimeter will be recorded and the hardware power-cycled.
Acoustic data must be taken twice per Increment, each time for the
duration of the 16-hour crew work day.]

The crew began the lengthy task of stowing discarded equipment in
Progress-259/11P, using the IMS (inventory management system).  A
stowage list for 43 items was uplinked to assist with proper
placement of the discarded equipment in the cargo ship.  [For proper
stability and control of the fully automated spacecraft, operating on
pre-stored command algorithms, it is crucial that center of gravity
and mass moments of inertia of the ship remain within prescribed
limits.  Careful documentation, also involving images and video, is
used to assure proper ballasting.] 

Science Officer Dr Lu powered up the MSG (Microgravity Science
Glovebox), then supervised another experiment session with the
InSPACE (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from
Colloidal Emulsions) experiment.  Afterwards, the MSG was powered
down again.  [Today's run was test #29.  Initially, it was performed
at the highest field strength (1.2 amps) and highest frequency (20
Hz).  At the second monitor activity, the current amplitude was
reduced to 1.048 A; frequency remained unchanged. Yesterday's InSPACE
run was stopped when the interactions of the smallest particles were
so weak that no structures were observed, even at the highest field
strength during steady mode.  The structures seen in previous runs
with the larger particles were formed from the particle interactions,
which depend on field strength (current amplitude) and particle
size.] 

Yuri Malenchenko conducted his second periodic (every two months)
visual inspection of the pressure hull in the SM Working Compartment
(RO) behind panels 130, 134, 135, 138, and under the TVIS treadmill
in the "floor pit", looking for any moisture, residue, mold,
corrosion and pitting.  [Yuri focused on hull shell and cold plates
under the SNT voltage and current stabilizers and STR thermal control
system pipes, using surface wipes to clean the area in question,
describing any discovered mold as to color, consistency (solid,
crumbly, powdery) and location, and photographing the hull surface
with the digital camera before and after the treatment. Pictures were
prepared for downlink to MCC-H for forwarding to TsUP.  The last hull
inspection was performed by him on 5/6.] 

Ed Lu started the periodic process of transferring the water
collected in the Lab condensate tank to CWCs (contingency water
containers).  This depleted the tank to its neutral point.  The
necessary jumper/plumbing setup was then removed again.

The CDR conducted the daily routine maintenance of SOZh life support
systems, and the SO prepared the daily IMS (inventory management
system) "delta" file for updating the IMS database.

Both crewmembers completed their 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 (as required by the
Profilaktika protocol). 

Ed Lu completed his eighth weekly filling-out of the FFQ (food
frequency questionnaire), which keeps a log of his nutritional intake
over time on special medical equipment computer (MEC) software.

At 9:35am EDT, Ed set up and conducted a ham radio session with
amateur fans of FDARSM at Aramda School of the city of Rouen,
France.  [Every four years, Rouen organizes an international sailing
meeting in its port.  The local association, with the help of FDARSM
(Federation départementale des associations de radioamateurs de Seine
Maritime), has had a contact in 1999 from one of the sailing ships
with the Shuttle (Astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré), and now with ISS.]

Tomorrow's conjunction threat has disappeared, without requiring an
avoidance maneuver.  Based on late SpaceCommand tracking of Object
#7004, predictions show the Russian SL-8 rocket body passing by the
ISS outside the notification box at time of closest approach (TCA)
tomorrow morning (2:38am EDT).

 - Continued -

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