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11 Apr 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 10 Apr 2003

Part 2 of 3

The Molniya-SM experiment using French LSO equipment, observing from
Service Module (SM) window #3, had another proposed run today on the
Russian optional task list.  The experiment will be dismantled on
4/14 (Monday), hopefully after catching some sprites.  [Objective of
LSO is to study rare optical phenomena occurring in the upper layers
of Earth's atmosphere, so-called "sprites" (i.e., puzzling glow
phenomena observed above thunderstorm clouds).  LSO was originally
part of Claudie Haigneré's French "Andromeda" payload package of taxi
mission 3S that could not be performed as planned during Increment 4
due to an ISS flight attitude conflict.  LSO research objectives are
very similar to those of the Russian Molniya-SM, being about storm
phenomena and other related events in the Earth's equatorial
regions.  LSO is controlled from the French EGE-1 laptop, which needs
to be loaded with orbital sighting predictions using an up-to-date
NORAD tracking TLE (two-line element).] 

Budarin performed another observation and photography session with
the Russian GFI-8 Uragan ("hurricane") program, as cloud cover
permitted. [Areas of interest today were Serversky Donets near
Kharkov, "Dalnyaya Polubyanka" black-earth soils at an erosion test
site, flooding at the River Don inflow, Veshenskaya Stanitsa
(village), and panoramic small-scale shots of the Volga River. Photos
were taken with the Nikon D1 digital camera.] 

At 2:13pm EDT, the crew engaged in a live-TV downlink in an
interactive 17-min. session with students and teachers from Southwest
Region Schools in Anchorage, Alaska.  A list of student questions had
been uplinked beforehand.  ["Can satellite pictures help to predict
weather patterns that might affect Alaska months in advance?"; "How
do astronauts wash in space?"; "Do you enjoy your job of being an
astronaut?"] 

Earlier today (4:15am), the crew downlinked greetings from ISS during
the by-now traditional annual comm pass with the participants of the
XIIIth Aerospace Festival for Ulyanovsk schoolchildren.  [The
festival is sponsored by the Soyuz All-Russian Young Aerospace
Association (VAKO).  VAKO President is Alexander A. Serebrov, a
former Soyuz/Mir cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-17, 1993).] 

The U.S. solar array efficiency testing yesterday was successfully
concluded.  Good data were downlinked and are currently being
analyzed.

Weekly IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team) updates of on-board ISS
consumables continue to show good margins for water, food,
propellants, EVA/EMU capability (incl. cooling water and battery
life), and remaining TVIS treadmill and RED resistive exerciser
lifetime, based on two-man occupancy for Increment 7 and the SSCB
(Space Station Control Board)-recommended logistics plan.  [The
latter involves three Progress vehicles this year (11P on 6/10, 12P
on 9/1, 13P on 11/22) and two Soyuz spacecraft (6S on 4/26, 7S on
10/20).]

At Johnson Space Center, NASA today is holding the formal Flight
Readiness Review (FRR) for the upcoming mission 6S/Soyuz TMA-2 with
Edward Lu and Yuri Malenchenko (backups Mike Foale and Alexander
Kaleri), and the return of Expedition 6 on 5S/Soyuz TMA-1.  At the
end, a readiness poll will be taken by the Assoc. Admin. for Space
Flight, William F. Readdy.  [The FRR looks at the ISS Program
(including Increment 7, 6S pre-launch and 5S post-landing ops, ISS
de-manning philosophy, and detailed systems and subsystems status),
Russian Segment (RS) readiness, Mission Ops, EVA, Flight Crew, Space
and Life Sciences, Safety, Reliability & Quality Assurance, etc.
Early results indicate that the on-orbit station, including the RS,
currently has no issues that would prohibit 6S launch or Expedition 7
installation on board, and that the Soyuz TMA-2 vehicle is ready for
flight, provided that all launch preparations of the Soyuz rocket at
Baikonur are successfully completed.  Launch is scheduled for 4/26,
at 9:53am local Baikonur time (11:53pm on 4/25 EDT).  6S docking is
expected at 4/28, 9:54am Moscow time (1:54am EDT).]

Today's CEO (crew earth observations) targets, including
near-vertical targets from the city target list due to the current
LVLH attitude, were Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (nadir pass over this
East African port and capital city.  ESC [electronic still camera]),
Eastern Mediterranean Dust (dust was again predicted to be blowing
north off the Egyptian coast), Buenos Aires, Argentina (nadir pass;
ESC), Sao Paulo, Brazil (nadir pass; ESC), Recife, Brazil (nadir pass
over this ancient Portuguese city; ESC), Dakar, Senegal (nadir and a
touch right; ESC), Algiers, Algeria (nadir and a touch left; ESC),
Rome, Italy (nadir and a touch right; ESC), Lake Poopo, Bolivia
(nadir pass.  Crew was to shoot shorelines), Caracas, Venezuela
(nadir and a touch right; ESC), London, England, Great Britain (nadir
pass; ESC.  It is months since the ground has been able to call out
London for daylight photography. Crew was to try to get the city in
as few shots as possible, for ease of analysis), Havana, Cuba (nadir
pass; ESC) Los Angeles, California (nadir pass; ESC) and Las Vegas,
Nevada (nadir pass; ESC). CEO images can be viewed at the websites
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov and http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov 

U.S. and Russian Segment Status (as of 1:55pm EST).

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control
(TCS):

Elektron O2 generator is powered On (24 Amp Mode).  Vozdukh CO2
scrubber is On (manual mode 5).  U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off.
TCCS (trace contaminant control subsystem) is operating.  MCA (major
constituents analyzer) is operating.  BMP Harmful Impurities unit:
Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Regeneration mode.  RS air
conditioner SKV-1 is On; SKV-2 is Off. 

SM Working Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) -- 735; temperature (deg C)
-- 27.1; ppO2 (mmHg) -- data invalid; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- data invalid.
SM Transfer Compartment:  Pressure (mmHg) -- 751; temperature (deg C)
-- 19.3.
FGB Cabin:  Pressure (mmHg) -- 752; temperature (deg C) -- 22.0.
Node:  Pressure (mmHg) -- 743.25; temperature (deg C) -- 22.1
(shell); ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.
U.S. Lab:  Pressure (mmHg) -- 745.52; temperature (deg C) -- 22.7;
ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock):  Pressure (mmHg) -- 748.76; temperature
(deg C) -- 21.4; shell heater temp (deg C) -- 22.5, ppO2 (mmHg) --
170.4; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 1.3.
PMA-1:  Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 22.8
PMA-2:  Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 19.3

(n/a = data not available)

Propulsion System (PS):

Total propellant load available [SM(774) + FGB(2746) + Progress(474]
--- 3994 kg (8805 lb) as of 4/3/03.  (Capability: SM -- 860 kg;
FGB -- 6120 kg). before today's reboost

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):

Both P6 channels fully operational.  BGA (beta gimbal assembly) 2B
and 4B both in dual-angle "directed" mode (eclipse drag reduction
configuration, "night glider").
SM batteries:  Battery #4 is disconnected; all other batteries (7)
are in "Partial Charge" mode.
FGB batteries:  Battery #5 is disconnected; all other batteries (5)
are in "Partial Charge" mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 and PCU-2 both in Standby mode (after the
EVA) 

 - Continued -

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