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24 Jun 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 23 Jun 2003

Part 1 of 2

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below.  Week 8 of Increment 7 is underway.

During a Russian ground site pass on Daily Orbit 3 (DO3), CDR Yuri
Malenchenko performed his second session with the Russian MedOps
cardio experiment MO-1 (Study of the Bioelectric Activity of the
Heart at Rest), with FE/SO Ed Lu assisting as Crew Medical Officer
(CMO).  [First time done: 5/27. During the test, transmittal of the
Gamma-1M ECG (electrocardiogram) signal to the ground was required
for about 5-6 minutes.] 

In a late change to his timeline for today, Malenchenko spent several
hours troubleshooting the cable network for the +X Klest140st-M
television camera of the Progress 10P docked at the Service Module
(SM) aft end.  The activity was supported by TsUP/Moscow during DO4
with a test of the camera via the Progress Kvant radio command
system.  [Using the MMTs-01 multimeter, Yuri took Ohm (resistance)
readings to check electrical connectivities and looked for possible
mechanical damage to insulation of cable branch points to demated
connectors.  The Klest system is part of the Progress TORU approach
and docking system.]

The crew started this week's maintenance work on the RED (resistive
exercise device) in a three-hour IFM (in-flight maintenance)
operation, swapping the Flexpack in RED canister #1009 with a new
unit brought up on 11P.  The second canister, #1010, will receive its
new Flexpack on 6/25 (Wednesday). [After the new Flexpacks have been
installed, the old units will be inspected to ascertain how many good
packs are available for use as spares when the current Flexpacks
fail.  The inspection is scheduled as a task list item starting on
6/25 and hard scheduled during Week 9.  The replaced units from 1009
and 1010 will be used in canisters 1001 and 1003 in a separate IFM
once these cans are considered failed.]

Yuri Malenchenko continued the latest round of periodic preventive
maintenance of Russian segment ventilation systems, today cleaning
the Group A fans and grilles in the SM (last time done: 5/21),

Ed Lu performed an inspection of the VOA (volatile organics analyzer)
which has exhibited some offnominal reboots during sampling and data
dump, with flow rate being lower than normal ever since the last
remote sampling.  [The information from the inspection will help
engineers to troubleshoot the low flow rate and provide possible
causes of the reboots.] 

Later, the ground commanded a VOA (volatile organics analyzer)
calibration run, lasting about 3.5 hrs., then beginning another 3.5
hrs. of air sample collection.

The Science Officer also collected air samples with the GSC (grab
sample container), then deployed two passive FMK (formaldehyde
monitoring kit) sampling badges in the Lab and SM, to catch any
atmospheric formaldehyde on a sampling substrate for analysis in JSC
lab facilities (last time done: 5/26/03).

Malenchenko set up the equipment for tomorrow's repeat of the
downlink of the video footage of the geophysical GFI-1 Relaksatsiya
("relaxation") experiment with Soyuz 5S deorbit burn plumes, Earth
limb and Turkish landmass views tomorrow, except for the DVCAM
battery, for which overnight charging will be initiated later today.
[The previous downlink attempt of the footage on 5/20 was not
completed satisfactorily since it did not contain the desired
signal.]

Ed Lu performed the periodic functional closure test of the Vozdukh
CO2 removal system's emergency vacuum valves (AVK, last time done:
5/21).  [The AVKs are critical because they close the Vozdukh's
vacuum access lines in the event of a malfunction in the regular
vacuum valves (BVK) or a depressurization in the Vozdukh valve panel
(BOA).  Access to vacuum is required to vent carbon dioxide during
the regeneration of the absorbent cartridges (PP).  During nominal
operation, the AVK valves remain open.] 

Lu also reviewed the video test pattern downlink procedure of the HRF
(human research facility) Ultrasound apparatus in a computer-based
training session (CBT).  This was in preparation for tomorrow's
scheduled HRF/Space Medicine joint Ultrasound  activity.

The CDR performed the regular periodic inspection of the BRPK-1
air/liquid condensate separator in the SM.  Yuri also completed his
regular daily monitoring/servicing of the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2
("Plants-2") zero-G plant growth experiment, checking water level in
the Lada-2 greenhouse water container and seed status.

Ed conducted the regular status checkup of the autonomously running
Increment 7 Lab payloads (PCG-STES01, SAMS, MAMS).

The first data take and downlink of the NGL (Next Generation Laptop)
machine last Friday (6/20) was successful.  This means that the NGFL
is now "off and running" on its three-week zero-G shakedown test.
[The NGL, of Notebook class, has a 2GHz Pentium-4 processor, a 60 GB
hard disk drive (HDD), 1 GB RAM memory, a 2-hr. Li-Ion battery and a
mass of less than 8 lbs.] 

U.S. control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) #1 and #2 each suffered a brief
loss-of-comm event with the GNC MDM (guidance, navigation & control
computer).  Both were recovered quickly with auto-retry and manual
power cycle; they are now running nominally.

After last week's (6/17) thruster tests on Progress 11P from the SM
computers via the newly installed US-21 matching unit, a Russian
commission is now looking into possible contamination effects on the
SM solar cell arrays due to thruster plumes from the cargo ship,
which is docked radially at the DC-1 docking compartment in relative
proximity to the array wings. Today's CEO (crew earth observation)
targets, limited in the current XPOP attitude by flight rule
constraints on the use of the Lab nadir/science window, and including
the targets of the Lewis & Clark 200-year memorial locations, were
Three Gorges Dam, Yangtze River (daytime cumulus were likely at the
time of the ISS pass, but good views of the Yangtze in the vicinity
of the dam lay either side of track), Mekong River Delta (the lower
Mekong River is undergoing significant changes as dams and reservoirs
are completed upstream. Where clouds permit, the crew was to try for
views either side of track noting the land use and water color), Gulf
of Maine plankton (poor weather limited visibility to the south, but
crew was advised to look left of track for open water and possible
plankton blooms between the coast of Maine and southwestern Nova
Scotia), Mouth of Bad River, Fort Pierre (LEWIS & CLARK SITE:  Two
passes today, of which the second was perhaps the better. The Bad
River is a small, meandering stream that enters the Missouri River
from the southwest, just opposite from Pierre, SD.  Here the
expedition first encountered tension and potential hostility in
meetings with the Lakota Indians.  Looking right of track for the
city of Pierre, on the Missouri, just south of the dam for Lake
Oahe), and Missouri River Sites (LEWIS & CLARK SITE(S):  On May 14,
1804, the expedition started up the Missouri river in a 55-ft
keelboat and two smaller craft from near St Louis. Looking left of
track for the large modern city and especially on the north side
where the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers slowly meander away
from one another). 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/

 - Continued -

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