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14 Apr 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 12 Apr 2003

Part 2 of 2

Human Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS):   Continuing.

Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Space Flight (FOOT):  The FOOT
team is working on the extra exercise protocols recommended by
Bowersox. 

Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI):  The ground
appreciated all the hard work that went into removing the hardware
from MSG and stowing it in the correct locations.

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS):  SAMS is nominal and
currently supporting a test to compare drag profiles for different
solar array orientations.  Monitored operations during EVA with
hammer hits to CETA light stanchion.  Monitored reboost on 4/10.
Currently analyzing data from these events.

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS):  MAMS is nominal
and currently supporting a test to compare drag profiles for
different solar array orientations.  Monitored operations during EVA
with hammer hits to CETA light stanchion.  Monitored reboost on 4/10.
Currently analyzing data from these events.

Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System
(PCG-STES): Temperatures are nominal.  Crystals are still growing.

Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from
Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE):   InSPACE is up and running.  The
ground team is undergoing a learning process with each test point and
planning the next run based on the findings.  As a result they are
deviating from the structured test plan, and they appreciate the
crew's patience with this approach.  A wide range of structure
development and MR fluid behavior has been exhibited as the test
variables have been changed.  The structure formation activity
appeared the most dynamic during Test 27 (Coil Assembly 003, with
particle size 0.6 microns, current amplitude 1.2 Amps, frequency 5
Hz).   The least dynamic test in terms of structure formation was
today' s second run, Test Run 21 (Coil Assembly 003, current
amplitude 1.2 Amps, frequency 2 Hz).  So far the focus of the cameras
has been very good.  InSPACE is looking forward to the performance of
several more tests. 

Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE):  In progress.  Deployed outside.
Nominal and collecting data.  The MISSE team sent their thanks to Sox
and Don for photographing the MISSE containers during their EVA.
In-site photographs will be invaluable to the ground in the
post-flight evaluations of the MISSE test specimens.

Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG):  ZCG has finished science operations
for Increment 6.

Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA):  The CGBA team is
"thrilled" that CGBA powered up nominally and all is looking great so
far. "We are very appreciative to the crew for their assistance in
getting things started for us."

EarthKAM (EK):  There are 70 schools involved in this session of
EarthKAM operations. Thus far the students have requested over 400
images.  All are very excited about what they have received.  Thanks
to the crew for all of their help to get the EarthKAM setup and
activated.  EK images can be viewed on the Internet at
http://datasystem.earthkam.ucsd.edu/cgi-bin/datasys/ek_images_station

Crew Earth Observations (CEO):  Congratulations to the crew on
completing the long task of documenting both context and highly
detailed images of the ice fields of the southern Andes Mountains
(Patagonian glaciers site).  The latest downlink includes compelling
contextual images of the ice fields and indeed, all of Patagonia.
The images include detail of the hardest-to-get west-side glacier
tongues that have not been seen before at this level of detail.
Investigators are thus set to write the broad descriptive work on
this site with their Russian colleagues who included the site.  The
crew's image of Los Angeles at night appears in NASA's weekly Earth
Observatory offering by the JSC/CEO office. Today's CEO (crew earth
observations) targets, with the current LVLH attitude now including
near-vertical views from the city target list, were Bombay, India
(nadir and a touch right; ESC [electronic still camera]), Eastern
Mediterranean Smog (looking left for probable smog emanating from the
Po River valley and flowing south down the Adriatic Sea.  One of the
recent ISS images of this phenomenon has been selected for this
week's Earth Observations image on NASA's "Earth Observatory"
website [see below]), Athens, Greece (nadir and a touch right; ESC),
Istanbul, Turkey (nadir and a touch right; ESC), Brasilia, Brazil
(nadir pass over Brazil's capital; ESC), Western Mediterranean Dust
(dust should have been visible offshore of western Algeria and
Morocco, in advance of the approaching storm), Chicago, Illinois
(nadir pass; ESC), and Karachi, Pakistan (nadir pass; ESC).

CEO images can be viewed at the websites http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov and
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

ISS Orbit  (as of this morning, 6:50am EDT [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 393.1 km
Apogee -- 397.6 km
Perigee -- 388.7 km
Period -- 92.42 min.
Inclination (to Equator) --  51.63 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006584
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.58
Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 100 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98)  -- 25074
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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