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26 Apr 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 25 Apr 2003

Part 2 of 2

Flight operations are highly automated, reliant on stored program
command timelines and standard command uplinks.

Same basic timeline for both Soyuz and Progress;

Soyuz crew activities are largely monitor-only functions, with a few
exceptions;

Consequently, many systems activities occur only when Russian Ground
Sites (RGS) are in line-of-sight (there are 5 RGS);

Rendezvous maneuvers are NOT constrained to occur over Russian
tracking network.  Post burn telemetry and tracked is used for
maneuver assessment. 

Soyuz/Progress vehicles are controlled by a separate, dedicated
flight control team in MCC-Moscow (TsUP), not the ISS team.

Soyuz crew operates off the RODF (Russian orbital data file), i.e.,
five books, covering Ascent/Descent, Orbital Flight, Off-Nominal
Situations, Reserve Modes, and Reference Materials, as well as
standard radiogram formats.  Medical Kit and Portable Survival Kit
instructions are translated into English.

L-5 days:
Crew returned to Baikonur from Moscow where they had final medical;
Exercise, spacecraft briefing, flight plan briefing, Soyuz Manual
Docking simulation;

Practice using handheld laser for R and R-dot, P/TV Refresher.

L-2 days:
Traditional events (Commission meetings on mission readiness at
Baikonur Hotel)
Flight crew, backup crew, & flight surgeon, exercise, rest and study.

Day of Launch:

L-3 hours:
Crew dons suits in test room
RSC-Energia presentation  everything GO with crew and vehicle (RSA);
Words from VIPs (i.e., Yuri Semyonov of RSC-Energia);

L-2.5 hours:
Crew takes bus to launch pad, "waters" tire about 200 meters from
launch pad (old Gagarin tradition);

L-2 hours:
Spacecraft ingress (through orbital module down into descent module);

Ascent to orbit: takes 9 minutes.  At L+9:00 the Soyuz spacecraft
separates from the burnt-out booster, at 194 km altitude, 1710 km
downrange from Baikonur.

Major crew action during ascent is to monitor pressures in the
orbital module and descent module, confirm all booster separation,
launch escape system jettison and spacecraft separation.   Crew then
monitors all deployments (solar arrays, antennae, etc.), reports on
no leaks, probe extension, prop pressurization, and ECLS system and
health. First orbit should be about 233 x 182 km (average = 207 km).
From there, the rendezvous profile.

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