This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 May 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 11 May 2003

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

A Sunday rest day for the crew, with a few standard maintenance and
optional "job jar" tasks.

CDR Yuri Malenchenko performed the daily routine maintenance on the
SOZh life support system  and collected the weekly SP toilet flush
and SVO water supply counter readings in the Service Module (SM) for
calldown to TsUP. 

He also conducted the periodic inspection of the Elektron oxygen
generator's VM gas/liquid system for obstructing air bubbles that may
linger after IFMs (in-flight maintenances).

FE/SO Ed Lu prepared the daily IMS (inventory management system)
delta file for automatic export/import to update the database.

Malenchenko completed his regular daily inspection of the growing pea
plants of the BIO-5 "Rasteniya-2/Lada-3" (Plants-2) experiment.

Later, Yuri again tagged up with a ground expert at TsUP via UHF for
today's session with the Russian Diatomeya world ocean aquatoria
investigation program.  [Main target area on the Russian task list
was the Atlantic Ocean. After the observations, at 10:04-10:15am EDT,
he copied his best daily shots from the CompactFlash memory card to
laptop TP1 for Regul-Paket downlink.] Also working from the Russian
discretionary task list, Malenchenko conducted today's session of the
Russian Uragan ("hurricane") earth imaging program (GFI-8), currently
concentrating on educational imagery of selected geographical targets
using the LIV video camera system.  [Suggested targets were volcanoes
in the equatorial zone and a track across West and South Africa.]

Another Russian task list item completed by Yuri today were
deactivation, closeout and teardown operations of the Molniya-SM/LSO
hardware, with the French-provided EGE1 laptop.  [Objective of LSO
was 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).]

Lu and Malenchenko completed their daily physical exercise program,
on TVIS treadmill, RED expander, CEVIS bike and, for Yuri, on the
Russian VELO cycle ergometer with load trainer.

The crew had their weekly PFCs (private family conferences) via
Ku-band/video and S-band/audio.

At 12:18pm EDT, the ISS maneuvered from earth-oriented LVLH (local
vertical/local horizontal) flight attitude to XPOP (x-axis
perpendicular to orbit plane), in which it will remain until its
transition to YVV/"Barbecue", scheduled for 5/18.  Return to XPOP
will then follow on 5/27.  [The maneuver commenced with handover to
Russian MCS (motion control system) thrusters at 12:05pm EDT.
Control returned to U.S./CMGs at 12:45pm. While in inertial XPOP
(solar arrays always pointed toward the Sun), the Lab window will be
within plus/minus five degrees of the velocity vector (i.e., facing
"forward") for almost half the orbit.  Flight rules dictate that it
remain shuttered during this time to reduce the risk of MMOD
(micrometeoroid/orbital debris) damage.  This also limits earth
observation opportunities.] 

Since this morning at 7:00am EDT, MCC-H has another 14 hr. period of
ground-based Static Transfer Switch modifications scheduled which
render some ground equipment and flight consoles unavailable.
Alternate workstations and workarounds have been defined where
required. 

The crew was uplinked recommendations for the use of food rations
delivered on the Soyuz 6S (16 containers) and previously on Progress
10P.  [The most recently delivered food should be stored for use at
the end of this Increment, with food containers delivered on previous
vehicles to be used first.  Some food items delivered previously on
the Progress vehicles have reached their expiration dates (incl.
cheese, canned apple and preach desserts, appetizer snacks, beet
salad, cottage cheese with nuts and honey). Those that have expired
are to be discarded.] 

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:13am EDT [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 390.0 km
Apogee -- 394.3 km
Perigee -- 385.6 km
Period -- 92.36 min.
Inclination (to Equator) --  51.63 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006462
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.59
Mean altitude loss in last 24 hours -- 90 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98)  -- 25527
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times,
see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

 - END OF FILE -
==========

@Message posted automagically by IMTHINGS POST 1.30
---