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1\23 ISS On Orbit Status 23-01-2003
Part 1 of 2

ISS On-Orbit Status 1/23/03

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted 
previously or below.

The crew awoke to congratulations on yesterday's PAO/educational event 
with NASA GRC (Glenn Research Center) and was informed that the 
students really enjoyed the crew's answers and the video, especially 
when props were used.

Today's Robotics ops were successfully completed. Starting at about 
3:15am, CDR Ken Bowersox and FE-2/SO Don Pettit maneuvered the 
Canadarm2/SSRMS (space station remote manipulator system) into the 
proper position to view the S1 truss radiator clearance which had 
caused some concern during the checkout of its TRRJ (thermal radiator 
rotary joint). [Last night before sleep time, the crew connected the 
Lab RWS DCP (robotics workstation display and control panel) bypass 
power cable, and MCC-H had the MSS (mobile service system) powered up 
this morning by 2:00am. Robotics activities began with the usual hand 
controller calibration and setup for the first maneuver, working "in 
the blind" with the DOUG (dynamic operations ubiquitous graphics). 
They then "walked" the robotarm from its the current base, the Lab 
PDGF (power and data grapple fixture), to MBS (mobile base system) 
PDGF2 (new base), by using MBS PDGF1 as a "way station" and the TE 
(tip elbow) camera to check on clearance to the S-band antenna. After 
subsequent release of MBS PDGF1, a quick grapple/release of MBS PDGF3 
as an SSRMS digitals accuracy characterization exercise was also part 
of the move to S1 clearance viewing position.]

FE-1 Nikolai Budarin meanwhile performed the second experiment run of 
the Russian Plasma Crystal-3 (PK-3) payload, setting up the hardware 
and video recording. The turbopump was to be deactivated again in the 
evening. [During the day, Budarin monitored the experiment, which 
today searched for mixture modes without voids in the center of the 
plasma (charged fine particles in the vacuum chamber) at various 
discharge power and various pressures, and studies residual charge of 
small particles after discharge is removed (relaxation) at various 
pressures, wave dispersion in mixtures, and solitary wave dispersion 
in mixtures at reduced pressure. The first part was then repeated.]

Budarin also conducted his regular daily inspection of the Russian 
BIO-5 Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 ("Plants-2") plant growth experiment. He 
later copied its photo/data files to a floppy disk for transfer to the 
Russian Laptop 3 and subsequent downlink via Regul-Packet.

Bowersox prepared the data from yesterday's FOOT foot/ground reaction 
forces during space flight) session and transferred the file for 
subsequent downlink to MCC-H, which he finished by about 12:55pm.

Budarin and Pettit completed another session with the Russian MedOps 
cardio experiment MO-1 (study of the bioelectric activity of the heart 
at rest), with Don assisting Nikolai as CMO (crew medical officer), 
and tagging up with a ground specialist at TsUP (MCC-M).

Budarin also continued his periodic maintenance work on the RS 
(Russian segment) air circulation system, today working in the "Pirs" 
DC-1 docking module to change out its two dust filters (PF1-2) and 
cleaning the mesh screens of the ventilator fans (V1-2).

Later, Nikolai removed three devices from the BD database monoblock 
(TA985M) which he had replaced in the BITS2-12 on-board telemetry 
measurement system with a spare unit. [The three modules (TA750, 
TA837B, TA746) are to remain on orbit as spares, whereas the TA985M is 
to be returned to the ground.]

Pettit performed the regular daily routine task of IMS inventory delta 
file preparation for automated downlink, while Budarin completed the 
daily routine maintenance/inspection of the SOSh life support system 
(incl. ASU toilet subsystem).

Don Pettit also collected the data of the FMK (formaldehyde monitoring 
kit) monitors deployed yesterday in the Lab and Service Module (SM).

On MCC-M go-ahead, the ISS cabin atmosphere was pressurized with fresh
oxygen (O2) from the Progress 9P O2 tank.

As a task list item, Sox and Don at an earlier time filled out their 
weekly FFQ (food frequency questionnaire), a special software log on 
the MEC (medical equipment computer) to track nutritional intake of 
the two crewmembers.

Via live TV downlink from the SM, the crew addressed participants of 
the 31st Russian National Space Competition in Korolev near Moscow 
during today's closing ceremony. The two-day finale of the student 
competition was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the first group 
space flight (Vostok-5/Vostok-6). [The competition has become a 
tradition, having been held annually since 1971 to "encourage 
children's creative abilities, to support talented youth, and help 
educate Russia's intellectual elite".  Sponsors are the Soyuz Russian 
National Youth Aerospace Association, the Ministry of Education of the 
Russian Federation, Rosaviakosmos, the Moscow City Government, the 
Moscow Region Government Administration, the Khrunichev Space Center, 
and RSC Energia in Korolev. The finale was attended by over 250 
participants from 42 Russian cities, (including Baikonur), as well as 
from Belarus and Ukraine. The jury consisted of cosmonauts, 
scientists, rocket-space technology engineers, and representatives 
from the major aerospace university departments in Moscow.]

At 9:38am, Science Officer Dr. Don Pettit participated in an amateur 
(ham) radio chat with Grade 3-5 students at Eugene Field School in 
Park Ridge, Illinois. [More than 600 students attend this school, 
which counts as its most famous alumni U.S. Senator Hilary Clinton and 
actor Harrison Ford.]

POC (Payload Operations Center, Huntsville) is still trying to 
determine why Express Rack 2 (ER2) is not communicating with its 
laptop. The troubleshooting activity has today been added to the 
crew's "job jar" task list.

When Pettit inspected the coils of the InSPACE (investigating the 
structure of paramagnetic aggregates from colloidal emulsions) 
experiment to determine their viability in preparation for Progress 
10P arrival and MSG (microgravity science glovebox) activation, he 
found that one of the capillary tubes appears to have been damaged and 
the contents leaked out.  [This is no impact to InSPACE science 
objectives as there are two sets of each of the three coils onboard 
and the spare coil is intact. Pettit found that the remaining coil 
assemblies showed some settling of the fluid and that by shaking the 
coils he was able to evenly disperse the media.]

On 1/17, after multiple attempts, Pettit was unable to successfully 
complete the TOCA (total organic carbon analyzer) water sampler 
reagent mixing.  Analysis now shows that TOCA can probably not be 
repaired on-orbit. [TOCA is a water quality monitoring instrument for 
determining concentrations of total organic carbon, total inorganic 
carbon, total carbon, pH value and conductivity in water. The failed 
TOCA has been manifested for return on ULF1. Real-time monitoring of 
potable water is no longer possible for the remainder of Increment 6, 
but post-flight sampling with the TOCA is still planned.]

Yesterday's water venting from the Lab condensate tank and two CWCs
(contingency water containers) required a total propellant expenditure 
of about 20 kg for attitude hold in -YVV/Barbecue (inverted with 
zenith toward Earth), well within the prop limit of 25 kg set 
beforehand by MCC-M.

(continued)

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