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08 July 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 4 Jul 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously. A rest day for the crew. Happy 4th of July! [Whether
fireworks can be seen from orbit cannot be answered as yet since ISS
passes over the US are currently at the wrong time(s) of day.]

CDR Yuri Malenchenko had a 30-min. task in the FGB where he checked
the possibility of unbolting a hydroplate cover to access Zarya's
motion control system (SUD) gyros.

FE-SO Ed Lu conducted the regular status checkup of the Increment 7
autonomous payloads in the Lab, and Malenchenko performed the daily
routine inspection/servicing of the SOZh life support system in the
Service Module. 

Yuri also completed his regular daily inspection of the BIO-5
Rasteniya-2 ("Plants-2") experiment which researches growth and
development of plants under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-2
greenhouse. 

Working off the Russian optional task list, the CDR conducted another
session of the Diatomeya research program, using the Nikon F5 with
f/80 mm lens to observe biologically productive ocean waters near
frontal areas of large currents, areas of upwelling (rising of deep
waters), and dynamic centers of macro-scale vortexes. [Where
possible, Yuri was to photograph water bloom and anomalies in the
clouded areas of Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Specific
targets were the delta of the North Atlantic Current, the delta of
the Limpolo river and Mozambique strait, and the biologically
productive region of the California coast.] 

Also off the task list, Malenchenko's Uragan earth imaging program,
using the Kodak 760 ESC with f/800-mm lens, today targeted the town
of Yeisk, the Sea of Azov with oil spills, highways and railway from
Kurinskaya station in the city of Tuapse, the main Caucasian ridge,
Kolka glacier, city of Baku, the southern shore of the Caspian Sea,
the city of Bombay, northern Kuril islands, Kamchatka volcanoes, the
shores of the Tatar Strait, and Sakhalin island .

Today's CEO targets, no longer limited in the current LVLH attitude
and including the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial
locations, were Damascus, Syria (nadir pass. Views to the right
showed several other Middle Eastern cities, especially Jerusalem, Tel
Aviv, and Amman), Salt Lake City, Utah (NIGHT TARGET. Nadir pass. Use
of the footprint of city lights as a proxy for population size and
density [in different cultures/economies] is proving out as a
workable method of observing population change through time), Mouth
of Bad River (LEWIS & CLARK SITE: The Bad River enters the Missouri
River from the west near Pierre, SD. Looking nadir and a touch right
for this 1805 campsite), Missouri River sites (LEWIS & CLARK SITES.
Track paralleled the southeast-trending course of the Missouri R. in
Nebraska: looking a touch right for a mapping swath that covers
several sites of interest), St. Louis, Missouri (nadir pass),
Albuquerque, New Mexico (nadir pass), and W Paraguay River patterns
(Dynamic event. Crew was to shoot a mapping series towards the
sunglint point [facing aft] for ~2 mins, to record river patterns
across one of the largest, smoothest plains on the planet, where
river behavior does not follow the textbook). CEO images can be
viewed at the websites 

http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
See also the website "Space Station Challenge" at
http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:15am EDT [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 387.2 km
Apogee -- 392.3 km
Perigee -- 381.7 km
Period -- 92.30 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0008152
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.60
Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 90 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 26370
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times,
see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

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