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2\25 ISS On-Orbit Status 25-02-2003
Part 1 of 2

ISS On-Orbit Status 2/25/03

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted 
previously or below. Space Day 94 for Expedition 6. "It's amazing how 
good I feel inside this suit. I could live in here!" (CDR Ken Bowersox 
during EVA/EMU DTO, 2/24/03)

Very busy days are back again for the crew. All three started off, 
before breakfast, by completing the periodic Russian medical 
experiment protocols of calf volume measurement (PZhE MO-7) and body 
mass measurement (PZhE MO-8). FE-1 Nikolai Budarin set up the MO-8 
"scales" equipment and later broke it down and stowed it away.

Ken Bowersox performed periodic preventive maintenance in the DC-1 
docking compartment, cleaning the V1 and V2 fan mesh screens, then the 
VD1 and VD2 air ducts of its ventilation system.

Later, Bowersox moved to the FGB (funktsionalnyi-grusovoi blok) module 
for a thorough cleanup of the removable screens of its three GZhT 
gas-liquid heat exchangers.

Nikolai Budarin meanwhile performed another substantial IFM (in-flight
maintenance) when he changed out of one of the 800A batteries in the 
FGB. A new storage unit replaced the failed battery #1,- a 1.5-hr 
task. The old 800A will be discarded on Progress. This restores all 
six FGB batteries to service.

Later, Budarin cleared a stowage area in the FGB, in preparation for 
another IFM. After lunch (7:40am EST), he removed a M34-03-B 
electronics block of the SUD motion control system, no longer 
required, then took digital photographs of the exposed area for later 
downlink via OCA. [The images are required to help establish the 
configuration of containers under development for installation in 
these areas.]

Bowersox set up and activated the IV-CPDS (intravehicular charged 
particle directional spectrometer), subsequently taking cabin 
radiation readings with the instrument.

As part of the ongoing MSG (microgravity science glovebox) 
troubleshooting, the ground started a test of the glovebox facility, 
assisted by FE-2/SO Don Pettit, by activating it in Standby mode. 
[Purpose of the test, running for an extended period of time, was to 
determine if a 12V circuit breaker in the new PDC (power distribution 
controller) tripped in this mode (it did not).  Meanwhile, payload 
health was being ground-monitored during available Ku-band comm 
periods. The results of the test will help MSG personnel in choosing a 
path to continue with troubleshooting efforts, viz.: if no trip 
occurred, next steps would be to rotate the rack, unplug connectors 
from its back to run the MSG in lowest-level configuration, then 
reinstall connectors one at a time until the failure re-occurs, thus 
isolating the trouble spot.  It is still hoped that the MSG can be 
recovered in the current increment.]

CDR Bowersox held a telecon with ground specialists to discuss the 
on-board consumables situation. [A detailed consumables analysis has 
been completed, and cargo/upmass manifests have been developed for 
6S/Soyuz TMA-2 and 11P/Progress M1-10. Results indicate that current 
on-orbit supplies plus 6S and 11P upmass will get a two-men crew to 
7S/Soyuz TMA-3 (late this year).  More work needs to be done for the 
difficult stage to get from 7S to 8S.  Major mass drivers are water, 
food, and spare parts, leaving little room for anything else (e.g., 
US-allocation on 6S: 10 kg). Detailed stringent conservation proposals 
are being discussed with the crew in the specific areas of water, 
paper, batteries, film/videocassettes, clothing, housekeeping (gray 
tape, etc.), and food.]

Two ppCO2 (CO2 partial pressure) readings were again taken by FE-2/SO 
Don Pettit with the CDMK (CO2 monitoring kit), one in the morning, the 
other in the evening. ppCO2 in the Lab this morning was 3.5 mmHg, and 
the difference between levels in Lab and Service Module (SM) is now 
only 0.3 mmHg (measured with CDMK), after the recent IMV (intermodular 
ventilation) cleanup.

Vozdukh continues to operate nominally in Manual mode. [MCC-Moscow 
wants to continue running Vozdukh in this mode (which tends to keep 
Lab ppCO2 down) until the failed second timer unit required for 
automatic cycle mode is replaced with the spare delivered by 10P.]

CDRA (CO2 removal assembly) in the Lab is deactivated. [Its recent 
failure of a stuck-open check valve is suspected to have been caused 
by a small amount of the adsorbent bed material (Zeolite) migrating in 
the system due to a known design problem. Expectations are that the 
contamination has cleared up during the recent single-bed operation by 
blowing downstream, and that CDRA should be able to run in dual-bed 
mode again at the next startup.]

Don Pettit completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM's SOSh 
life support system and later prepared the IMS inventory delta file 
for downlink.  [Current IMS records indicate that out of 841 total 
items of cargo delivered by Progress 10P, ¾ has been accounted for as 
transferred. The remaining ¼ remains to be done. The crew was 
requested to go ahead and free up all containers and areas in the 
Progress interior.]

All crewmembers completed their daily physical exercise. After his 
run, Sox performed the weekly TVIS (treadmill) maintenance.

At 10:35am EST, the crew participated in an outstanding 20-min. live
educational audio/video PAO event with students at the Oregon Museum 
of Science. The crew, floating in the cabin, responded to questions on 
life and work in the station asked by the students.

Rev. 3 software upgrading in the U.S. segment is complete, and all 
MDMs for C&C (command & control), GNC (guidance, navigation & 
control), INT (interior systems) and PCS (portable computer system) 
have been loaded. Loading of the Canadian MSS (mobile service system) 
computer files will follow later this week. [When it was discovered 
that the new INT MDM software stopped the INT from sending commands 
downstream to the Lab MDM while the CDRA is off, an inhibit was 
inserted to re-enable INT downstream commanding. The new INT software 
also had to be inhibited from cycling the secondary string of Airlock 
heaters along with primary string cycling. Under study.]

During yesterday's no-IV suit demo, Bowersox and Pettit were able to 
perform all activities, and the test was judged highly successful. 
[One intermittent hardware anomaly occurred when the signal 
conditioner of one of the EMUs (EV1) caused a telemetry data drop-out 
for the first 20 minutes (under investigation). In doffing the HUT 
(hard upper torso) portion of the EMU entirely on their own, only one 
crewmember encountered difficulties, due to a tight fit. The other 
crewmember had a looser fit and experienced no problems. Budarin did a 
great job taking video of the activities.]

Planning for a possible EVA by Expedition 6 continues, now tentatively
scheduled for March 20. Its purpose would be to do all tasks that, as 
far as foreseeable, could necessitate a spacewalk during 
two-crewmember station occupancy.

MCC-M/TsUP has cancelled propellant transfer operations from 
10P/Progress M-47 originally scheduled for tomorrow, in view of the 
upcoming RCS (reaction control system) testing to isolate the thruster 
underspeed failure during the 2/11 reboost. [1.1 m/sec of the 1.8 
m/sec delta-V deficit has been explained as due to operator error. The 
remaining 0.7 m/sec variance is still unaccounted for. Two dynamic 
tests of the Progress thrusters, one for each four-jet manifold, are 
planned for 3/12 and 3/14, each one "like a small reboost" (delta-V ~1 
m/sec).]

(continued)

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