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2\04 ISS On-Orbit Status 04-02-2003
Part 1 of 2

ISS On-Orbit Status 2/4/03

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

At 1:00pm EST today, the station residents had an hour set aside on 
their schedule for the memorial service for the fallen Columbia 
heroes. Attended by President and Mrs. George W. Bush and NASA 
Administrator Sean O'Keefe, the ceremony for NASA astronauts Rick 
Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David 
Brown, Laurel Clark, and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon was held at 1 
p.m. EST in the Central Mall area behind JSC's Building One in 
Houston, TX.

"We are shocked by the Columbia catastrophe and would like to express 
our heartfelt condolences to NASA. The loss of the astronauts is a 
tragedy not only for their relatives and friends, but is also a 
greater loss for cosmonautics worldwide and, primarily, the manned 
spaceflight program. We hope that the political leaders of the United 
States will accept assistance from Russia in order to continue the ISS 
program. In such situations, courage and wisdom must be shown not by 
cosmonauts or astronauts, but by the leaders of nations. Best regards 
to the whole team, B. Chertok." (Message from Academician Boris 
Evseyevich Chertok in Moscow, formerly a Deputy and close associate of 
Chief Designer Sergei P. Korolev, the brain and driving force behind 
the Soviet Moon Program, space stations up to and including Mir, and 
today's Soyuz rocket and Soyuz/Progress spacecraft on which the ISS 
depends).

Earlier today, at 9:49am EST, the Russian cargo ship Progress 10P 
docked smoothly at the ISS/Service Module (SM) aft end. [The Kurs-P 
system aboard the SM was activated at 8:05am and SM arrival mode 
enabled at 9:38am, with SM solar arrays feathered and FGB arrays set 
at directed position. Since the U.S. arrays (2B and 4B) were also 
first at directed ("blind") positions to minimize Kurs blockage, then 
feathered during docking, reducing power output, shell heaters in the 
Node and Lab were powered down temporarily.  Also powered down was the 
SNT-22 US-to-Russian segment voltage and current stabilizer unit 
(transformer), carrying ~1.9 kW. USOS arrays went back to autotrack at 
10:10am, both the Russian and the U.S. segment were powered up again, 
and the 2B and 4B arrays then returned to dual-angle mode.]

Background: The unmanned Progress is similar to the manned Soyuz 
spacecraft, but has a cargo module (GrO) instead of the Soyuz Orbital 
Module and a refueling module containing propellant tanks instead of 
the Descent Module.  The Progress can transfer propellants into the 
ISS (SM & FGB) through fluid connectors in the docking ring, and the 
propellants in the refueling module can also be used by the Progress 
thrusters for controlling and reboosting the ISS. Propellants can also 
be transferred back into the Progress. The older Progress M's 
refueling module has four propellant tanks (two each for fuel & 
oxidizer, totaling 845 kg of props), and two water tanks (420 kg).  
The newer Progress M1 "tanker" has eight prop tanks (1695 kg) and no 
water tanks in the refueling module, but separate water containers in 
the cargo module. Total payload capacity for both Progress versions is 
2500-2600 kg.  The current 10P ship is an older M version (M-47, or 
M-247).]

At about 11:50am, FE-1 Nikolai Budarin and CDR Ken Bowersox performed 
the mandatory 1-hr leak check of the Progress-SM/PrK interface. [Since 
the Russian thrusters were disabled during this period, as during 
clamp installation later, instructions for a special Recovery from 
LOAC (loss of attitude control) procedure had been uplinked for the 
unlikely event of a failure during the time when the thrusters were 
disabled.]

The two hatches between the PrK/Vestibule (SU) and SU/GrO were to be 
opened at about 2:15pm and the quick-release threaded clamps installed 
by Nikolai and Sox, followed by air vent installation and Progress 
deactivation, after Budarin had performed the scheduled Progress air 
sampling with the Russian AK-1M sampler. IP-1 air flow transducers 
(sensors) will be installed near the hatches to monitor circulation.

Air samples were also taken with the CSA-CP (compound specific
analyzer-combustion products), with monthly maintenance performed on 
the instrument by FE-2/SO Don Pettit, which includes one hour of 
unattended data collection time.

Don Pettit collected the two regular daily carbon dioxide (CO2) 
readings in the SM and Lab with the U.S. CDMK (CO2 monitoring kit).

Pettit also performed monitor readings for the EVARM (EVA radiation
monitoring) experiment, moving the four pouches from the IV-CPDS
(intravehicular charged particle directional spectrometer) to the 
EVARM reader and then returning the badges to their former location. 
He also downloaded the data from the reader to the HRF (human research 
facility) PC for later downlink.

Nikolai Budarin completed his regular 24-hr. checkup and watering of 
the Russian BIO-5 Rasteniya-2/Lada-2 ("Plants-2") plant growth 
experiment.

Later, Budarin performed the daily routine maintenance of the SOSh 
life support system, incl. ASU toilet facility, and Pettit prepared 
the IMS inventory database update file for downlink.

For Science Officer Don Pettit, the schedule provided for 30 minutes 
of reviewing MSG (microgravity science glovebox) procedures. [With the 
arrival of 10P, delivering the MSG parts PDC (power distribution 
controller) and ESEM3 (exchangeable standard electronic module 3), it 
is expected that MSG operations can be resumed as early as this 
weekend. With the indefinite postponement of ULF-1/STS-114 launch, 
science activities on board, particularly involving the MSG, are 
undergoing massive replanning. MSG has been out of action since 
11/20/02 due to PDC failure.]

Instructions were uplinked for the procedures to put the files in 
place needed for the 12A transition to the new R3 software. There are 
over 1100 files involved, and the procedure includes steps to clean 
out old R1 files in the three C&C (command and control) MDMs.

Today's targets for the CEO (crew earth observations program) were 
Madras (Chennai), India (good nadir views of this coastal city. Madras 
is a leading software design center of the world), Calcutta, India 
(looking a touch right for this major city on the westernmost channel 
of the Ganges delta), Ganges River Delta (detailed mapping strip of 
channels on the near side of the delta [slightly right of track] are 
requested. Complete devegetation of mangrove forests inland of a 
protected coastal strip has resulted in a sudden increase in the 
mobility of shorelines and islands), Karachi, Pakistan (nadir pass; 
ESC [electronic still camera]), Congo Basin (Dynamic event. Congo 
basin reported "exceptionally clear". Request for a mapping swath for 
about 3 mins over this seldom photographed region. As a midday pass 
[local time], the sun glint point is near nadir and ideal for stream 
pattern analysis), Lagos, Nigeria (looking a touch left on the coast.  
Weather remains clear. ESC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (looking a touch 
left on the coast. Weather finally clearing. ESC), and Tunis, Tunisia 
(looking a touch right on the coast; ESC).

CEO images can be viewed at the website http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

(continued)

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