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ISS On-Orbit Status 1 May 2003

Part 2 of 2

Pettit completed the daily routine task of SOZh life support systems
maintenance and also prepared the daily IMS (inventory management
system) "delta" file for updating the IMS database.

In observance of Russia's (and many other countries') May Day
holiday, the two crews engaged in an excellent live televised
downlink for the VESTI TV program on the Russian RTR TV channel, from
the "Destiny" Lab. 

The external TV camera on the S1 truss segment failed during the
Soyuz docking.  It was later restored to full functionality by a
power-cycle (off/on) from the ground.

The crew yesterday repaired the damaged RED (resistive exercise
device) canister (#1009) by replacing its three Flexpack assemblies
and reassembling the canister for nominal ops.  The IFM (in-flight
maintenance) was a full success.

MCC-H is working an issue with the hatch handle on the Node starboard
hatch (to the Airlock).  [On 4/29, while performing handover and
demonstrating hatch closing and opening operations to Increment 7,
the crew was able to unlatch the Node starboard hatch, but could not
open it. The hatch handle on the other (Airlock) side was not in the
stowed position and was interfering with the hatch latching
mechanism.  After some reconfiguration of valves, the crew used a
long Russian wire tie through the MPEV opening to move the latch
handle to clear the obstruction and open the hatch.  No planned
activities were lost because of due to the extra airlock work.] 

Operation of the ARCTIC-1 refrigerator/freezer has at first been
nominal but over the past 24 hours has indicated several current
oscillations with commensurate temperature rises.  Experts feel that
the equipment is slowly going to fail again.  The present run is to
continue till Saturday, 5/3, then ARCTIC will be switched off.  It
will not be needed during Increment 7. [Good try, team and crew!]

U.S. and Russian flight surgeons have developed a modified ACLS
(advanced cardio life support) algorithm for only two crewmembers, to
be used in a medical emergency.  [The logic flowchart was uplinked in
both languages.  A new ISS Med checklist and ACLS algorithm will be
flown when we return to a three-member crew.]

All crewmembers worked out on the RED resistive trainer, CEVIS cycle
ergometer and TVIS treadmill, completing their daily physical
exercise program.

Current ISS flight attitude continues in LVLH (local vertical/local
horizontal = "earth-fixed": z-axis in local vertical, x-axis in
velocity vector [yaw: -10 deg, pitch: -9.4 deg, roll: 0 deg]), with
CMG/TA (thruster assist) Momentum Management.  Solar Beta angle:
-16.8 deg (magnitude decreasing).  Orbit decay: ~200 m per day.

Upcoming Crew Rotation Events (all on Saturday, 5/3):

Exp. 6/Exp. 7 Change of Command Ceremony -- 2:11pm EDT
Farewells & Hatch closing -- 3:32pm EDT
Soyuz TMA-1/5S undocking (Exp. 6):  6:40pm EDT (2:40am Moscow, 1:40am
DMT (TsUP), on 5/4);
Soyuz TMA-1/5S landing:  10:03pm EDT (6:03am Moscow; 5:03am DMT;
8:03am Kazakhstan, on 5/4).

Today's optional CEO (crew earth observations) targets, including
cities during daylight and at night (again available as targets in
the current LVLH attitude) were Danube River basin (Dynamic event.
High pressure system moving east:  Lower Danube is clearer than it
has been for weeks.  Land use patterns on the valley floor in
fast-changing Eastern Europe are of prime interest),
Tigris-Euphrates, Turkey (near-nadir views of the series of new
man-made lakes, with surrounding fields and road and airport
infrastructure), Kuwait City, Kuwait (nadir pass; ESC (electronic
still camera), Western Mediterranean Dust (as the high pressure
system over NW Europe begins to move, the storm over Spain is moving
into the Mediterranean, with associated dust plumes visible today.
Looking right for probable plumes exiting off Libya.  ISS pass
tracked directly over Sicily's Mt. Etna, which should be smoking),
Saharan dust, Senegal (dust plume with sharp margin visible on
satellite image), Bamako, Mali (nadir pass; ESC), Industrialized SE
Africa (looking left of track towards the Witwatersrand metroplex for
probable smog haze.  The crew may have seen the high Lesotho plateau
immediately left: atmospheric layering may be visible, with clearer
air over the plateau, hazier air at lower levels), Denver, Colorado
(nadir and a touch left; ESC), Dallas, Texas (nadir pass; ESC),
Central American smoke (the crew was to document a smoke mass blowing
NNE from major forest fires in Guatemala and southernmost Mexico),
Caracas, Venezuela (nadir pass; ESC) and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(nadir pass; ESC). CEO images can be viewed at the websites
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov and http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

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