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12 May 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 10 May 2003

Part 1 of 2

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below.  It is a rest day for the crew, with a few
mandatory maintenance and optional "job jar" tasks thrown in.

As on every Saturday (generally), the ISS residents performed the
3-hr. "uborka" (house cleaning), which includes wiping surfaces with
disinfectants and cleaning of all fan screens.

CDR Yuri Malenchenko completed the regular daily inspection of the
BIO-5 "Rasteniya-2/Lada-3" (Plants-2) zero-G plant growth
experiment.  [Using the digital camera (Kodak 760 or Nikon D1). he
also took pictures of the entire plant crop in the "Lada" greenhouse
and of the pods growing on the acacia-leaf pea plants for transmittal
to the ground, and discussed the session with a ground specialist via
S-band.] 

Malenchenko performed the daily routine maintenance/inspection of
SOZh life support systems (incl. ASU toilet facility, KRP food
containers, EDV water containers and KTO solid waste containers),
while FE/SO Edward Lu prepared the daily IMS (inventory management
system) delta file for automatic export/import to update the
database. 

Yuri conferred with a ground expert at MCC-M/TsUP to discuss today's
session with the Russian Diatomeya world ocean aquatoria
investigation program. Main target area on the Russian task list for
today was the Atlantic Ocean. The accumulated pictures will be
prepared for downlink after tomorrow's session.

Also working from the Russian discretionary task list, Malenchenko
conducted today's session of the Russian Uragan ("hurricane") earth
imaging program (GFI-8) which currently concentrates on educational
imagery of selected geographical targets.  [Suggested targets were
the Canary Islands, tracks across West and South Africa, the Western
seaboard of the US with California and W. Mexico, a panorama of the
Andes, and Argentinean plains.] 

Ed Lu's swap-out of two Flexpack canisters and change-out of their
pulley cables on the RED (resistive exercise device) yesterday was
successful, earning words of commendation from the ground this
morning. 

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

The crew had their regular weekly conferences with the MCC-H Crew
Office and ISS Program Management, via S-band/audio.

Tomorrow (5/11) ISS attitude will transition to XPOP (x-axis
perpendicular to orbit plane), until 5/18 when the transition to
YVV/"Barbecue" attitude occurs.  [The maneuver will commence with
handover to Russian MCS (motion control system) thrusters at 12:05pm
EDT, followed by the turn at 12:18-12:33pm, and return to US/CMGs at
12:45pm.  While in inertial XPOP (solar arrays always facing the
Sun), the Lab window will be within plus/minus five degrees of the
velocity vector for almost half the orbit. Flight rules dictate that
the window remains shuttered during this time to reduce the risk of
MMOD (micrometeoroid/orbital debris) damage.] 

For about 14 hours starting this morning at 7:00am EDT, MCC-H is
undergoing Static Transfer Switch modifications which render some
ground equipment and flight consoles unavailable.  Alternate
workstations and workarounds have been defined where required.

Weekly Science Update (Expedition Seven -- 1st):

The new crew was thanked for their successful operation of the
EarthKAM payload during mated operations. 1832 images of student
selected Earth features were downlinked and distributed to students
at 26 schools.  MSG (Microgravity Science Glovebox) operations with
InSPACE will begin on 5/19 (ISS- 7 Week 3). A conference with the
crew is being planned to review the revised increment science plan,
date TBD. 

GASMAP:   First 30 Day Health Check scheduled in Week 3.   Human
Research Facility/Workstation (HRF WS):   Continuing.

Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI):  The ground team is
excited about upcoming operations in Increment 7.

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS):  SAMS is nominal and
currently analyzing data in support of general characterization
efforts toward tracking down numerous unknown disturbance sources.
The SAMS system collects data for both science and structural
analysis.  The fundamental frequency of the ISS changes (lowers)
during docking and when new modules are added.

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS):  MAMS is nominal
and currently analyzing data in support of general characterization
efforts toward tracking down numerous unknown disturbance sources.
MAMS collects data for both science and structural analysis.  The
fundamental frequency of the ISS changes (lowers) during docking and
when new modules are added. 

Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System
(PCG-STES): Temperatures are nominal.  Crystals are still growing.
Requires only regular status check by the crew, including cleaning
the filters. 

Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal
Emulsions (InSPACE):   The InSPACE test runs are scheduled to resume
on 5/19.  The test points are being planned and will initially
continue with the Coil Assembly that is currently installed (CA005 -
0.4 micron sized particles).  Tests are also being planned with two
additional Coil Assemblies (CA006  0.6 micron sized particles and
CA004 or CA001  0.31 micron sized particles).  Investigators are all
looking forward to working with the crew and completing the
experiment. 

Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE):  In progress.  Deployed outside.
Nominal and collecting data.

Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM):
EarthKAM has a two-pronged approach to upcoming operations in July:
Students participating in summer school will select images for
downlink, and teachers will also participate in educator seminars
this summer. EarthKAM welcomes Expedition 7 to ISS ops and looks
forward to work with the crew. 

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2):  The CSLM-2 team is
looking forward to working with Dr. Lu in the mid-July timeframe.
The anticipated return of engineering verification data will aid in
planning for science runs on later expeditions.

Educational Payload Operations (EPO):  First EPO activity will be
scheduled later this month.  The team is "really excited" about EPO
planned for Expedition 7 and looks forward to working with Ed Lu and
Yuri Malenchenko. 

 - Continued -

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