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8 July 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 6 Jul 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously. Last rest day of this long Fourth of July weekend for the
crew. Ahead: Week 10 of Increment 7.

Standard Sunday tasks performed by CDR Yuri Malenchenko today were
the weekly data readings of the Service Module (SM)'s toilet flush
counter readings, with inspection of the SP urine collection and
pretreat assembly, and SVO water supply status counter readings, both
for calldown to MCC-M/TsUP.

Malenchenko also conducted the periodic inspection of the Elektron
oxygen generator's VM gas/liquid system for obstructing air bubbles
that may linger after IFMs (in-flight maintenances).

Yuri then performed the daily routine maintenance on the SOZh life
support system which comprises the water supply equipment, food
supply subsystem (SOP), and sanitary hygiene equipment (SGO).
[Maintenance generally consists of inspection of fluid
lines/connections and filter replacement.]

FE/SO Ed Lu prepared the daily delta file for automatic export/import
to update the IMS (inventory management system) database.

The CDR performed his regular daily checkup of his BIO-5 Rasteniya-2
("Plants-2") experiment which investigates growth and development of
plants under spaceflight conditions in the SM's Lada-2 greenhouse.

Both crewmembers worked out in their daily 2.5-h program of physical
exercise, on TVIS treadmill and RED expander.

The crew had their the weekly PFCs (private family conferences), via
S-band/audio.

Ed Lu set up and performed the long-awaited re-activation of the
EarthKAM payload, which he installed at the Lab (nadir) science
window. Operations will begin tomorrow. National Geographic Society
is sponsoring a 7-day training seminar for 20 teachers during the
upcoming session (which is back on track after its scheduled start
was briefly threatened by an inadvertent funding delay.) [The
teachers are really excited about this training opportunity with
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) which
employs an ESC 460C electronic still camera mounted at the Lab's
down-facing window, equipped with a 50mm lens (f1.4). Powered by
16Vdc from a 120 Vdc adapter, EarthKAM takes pictures by remote
operation from the ground, without crew interaction. It is available
for Middle School-ers, who submit image requests and conduct
geographic research. The requests are uplinked in a camera control
file to an SSC (station support computer) laptop which then activates
the camera at specified times and receives the digital images from
the camera's storage card on its hard drive, for subsequent downlink
via OpsLAN.] 

The crew conducted their the weekly planning conference with the
ground via S-band/audio, to discuss next week's "Look-Ahead Plan"
(regularly prepared jointly by MCC-H and MCC-M planners and uplinked
ahead of time). 

Working off the Russian task list, Malenchenko 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 today were the Gulf Stream current "delta" and waters in the
vicinity of the Azores islands in the Atlantic, the NE anticyclonic
vortex sector of the Southern Atlantic, and the area of the Peruvian
upwelling in the Pacific.]

In the task-listed Uragan earth imaging program, using the Kodak 760
ESC with f/800-mm lens, Yuri today targeted the city of Lagos, one of
the fastest growing cities in the "Third world". So far, dense
overcast has been hindering multiple attempts to photograph this
area.

As a long-term item on the Russian task list, Malenchenko is also
charged with taking photographs of the PKZ-1V Kromka experiment
tablet deployed on the plume deflector of the SM's plus-pitch
thrusters. [The pictures are taken with the Kodak 760 digital still
camera (DSC) from the EVA hatch 1 window in the DC-1 docking
compartment.] 

Both crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise program on
TVIS treadmill and RED expander.

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 Athens, Greece (nadir pass), Madrid, Spain (nadir
pass), Brasilia, Brazil (nadir pass), Las Vegas, Nevada (nadir pass),
Phoenix, AZ (nadir pass), Tucson, AZ (nadir pass. Looking out for
remaining fires and smoke nearby), and Lake Poopo (nadir pass. Lake
level acts as a proxy for rainfall in the surrounding enclosed basin.
It has been shown that lake levels respond primarily to El Nino
periodicities, low water correlating with the high phase of El Nino).
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, 6:56am EDT [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 387.0 km
Apogee -- 392.6 km
Perigee -- 381.5 km
Period -- 92.29 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.63 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0008209
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.60
Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 75 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 26401
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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