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More Details for 2008-03-06

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FE-1 Malenchenko started his day with an IFM (In-flight Maintenance) in the FGB (Funktsionalnyi-Grusovoi Blok), removing and replacing a sensor component of the SIT-9L Temperature Measuring System in the BR-9TsU-8 Radiotelemetry System (RTS) with a new unit, discarding the old box.

CDR Whitson performed the periodic calibration of the two CSA-O2 (Compound Specific Analyzer-Oxygen sensor) instruments #1041 & #1052, using a calibration tank with accurately known pressure. (Partial Pressure Oxygen (ppO2) readings were 21.4% before and 21.3% after calibration on #1041, 23,3%/21.3% on #1052.)

Afterwards, Whitson took the periodic CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) measurements in the cabin atmosphere with the CDMK (CO2 Monitoring Kit, #1013). (Measured levels were 0.45% in the Lab, 0.43% in the SM (Service Module), 0.44% in the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory). 0.45% = 4,500 ppm (parts per million).)

Later, Peggy conducted the periodic verification of IMV (Intermodular Ventilation) airflow between U.S. and Russian segment modules by taking air flow measurements using the Velocicalc meter. (There is no direct measurement of airflow except as reflected by, and calculated from, differences in atmosphere partial pressures measured at selected points between the RS and USOS. ppCO2 is a good yardstick since for example an increasing ppCO2 in the Lab not reflected in the SM would indicate that Vozdukh is not receiving the air from the Lab at an efficient rate. Periodic air flow degradation checks support establishing a most effective fan cleaning schedule.)

The CDR and FE-2 conducted an in-depth review of the upcoming 1J/A MSS (Mobile Service System) task assignments, including the new DOUG (Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics) setup and identification of SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) targets.

Afterwards, Peggy and Leo were joined by Yuri for a review of the summary 1J/A timeline and the commensurate plan for the ISS crew.

Having received the uplink of ATV Onboard Trainer (AOT) software via U.S. assets (OCA) overnight, Malenchenko installed the sophisticated application on the Russian RSK1 laptop and performed a health test on it. (The AOT software shows a simulated zoomable image of the orbital region of approach with a target zone and the ATV as it closes in on the ISS. For controlling manual approaches (should they be required), the AOT provides simulated control panel images for the ATV and for the SM Simvol-Ts television display, plus text displays for station clock time and approach parameters (distance, velocities, etc.), similar to the TORU OBT.)

FE-2 Eyharts filled out the regular FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire), his third, on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer). (By means of these FFQs, NASA/ESA astronauts keep a personalized log of their nutritional intake over time on special MEC software. Recorded are the amounts consumed during the past week of such food items as beverages, cereals, grains, eggs, breads, snacks, sweets, fruit, beans, soup, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, chicken, sauces & spreads, and vitamins.)

The CDR conducted the weekly 10-min. CWC (Contingency Water Container) audit as part of on-going WDS (Water Delivery System) assessment of onboard water supplies. (Updated 'cue cards' based on the crew's water calldowns are sent up every other week. The current cue card (16-0018V) lists 35 CWCs (~1427.9 L total) for the four types of water identified on board: technical water (812.9 L, for Elektron, flushing, hygiene), potable water (559.6 L), condensate water (54.7 L), waste/EMU dump and other (07 L). Of the 35 containers, nine CWCs with technical water (388.9 L) cannot be used until cleared for Wautersia bacteria, and 10 CWCs with potable water (427 L), transferred from Atlantis, are not cleared for use pending analysis of samples returning on 1E.)

The FE-1 completed the periodic monitoring, picture-taking and image/data downlinking on the BIO-5 Rasteniya-2 ("Plants-2") experiment. Today's task was extended to include recharging the water tank of the greenhouse. (Rasteniya-2, researches growth and development of plants (peas) under spaceflight conditions in the Lada-12 greenhouse from IBMP (Institute of Bio-Medical Problems, Russian: IMBP). During its operation, the experiment requires regular daily maintenance of the experiment involving monitoring of seedling growth, humidity measurements, moistening of the substrate if necessary, and photo/video recording. During the duration of the BIO-5 experiment, students of the Moscow City Palace for Youth Creativity of the Meshchansky inter-regional center #15 in Moscow) and the Prince of Oldenburg Lyceum in St. Petersburg will be cultivating plants in parallel on the ground and conducting comparative observation of plant growth and development under gravity and zero-gravity conditions. They are receiving the photo images taken by Yuri.),

In the U.S. Airlock, Whitson terminated the BSA (Battery Stowage Assembly) recharging of the second set of EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) batteries, to be used in the forthcoming 1J/A spacewalks.

Peggy also conducted the periodic checkup on active U.S. payloads, i.e., cleaning the ANITA (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air) inlet plus inspecting and filter cleaning of the CGBA-5 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 5) incubator payload. (The CGBA incubator is controlled from the ground, with automatic video downlinked to Earth. ANITA continues to collect data every six seconds and downlinks the data daily to the ground team. ANITA monitors low levels of potential gaseous contaminants in the ISS cabin atmosphere with a capability of simultaneously monitoring 32 gaseous contaminants. The experiment is testing the accuracy and reliability of this technology as a potential next-generation atmosphere trace-gas monitoring system for ISS and future spacecraft. This is a cooperative investigation with ESA.)

With both OGS (Oxygen Generation System) and the Elektron-VM O2 generator currently off, cabin air refreshes with O2 are being performed by Malenchenko from Progress 28P storage (SrPK) as required.

Eyharts performed the routine maintenance of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM, including ASU toilet facilities systems/replaceables. (Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists of replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of an EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine container, replacement of the KOV EDV for the Elektron-intended water, and processing U.S. condensate water as it becomes available in a filled CWC from the Lab humidifier.)

Malenchenko took care of the daily IMS (Inventory Management System) maintenance, updating/editing its standard 'delta file' including stowage locations, for the regular weekly automated export/import to its three databases on the ground (Houston, Moscow, Baikonur).

On the subject of the failed TVIS treadmill, CDR Whitson held a 30-min. teleconference to discuss her unsuccessful troubleshooting attempts with ground specialists. TVIS continues to be off limits for the crewmembers, and they are using other exercise equipment for their workouts. (After undergoing its regular 6-month maintenance on 3/3, a TVIS Stabilization Fault (S3) appeared at the start of its first use, rendering the exercise device unusable for the crew since then. The fault persisted after Peggy went over the treadmill yesterday to check for lose connections and other potential causes. The ground team is developing a forward plan.)

The crewmembers completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the CEVIS cycle ergometer (CDR, FE-2), RED resistive exercise device (CDR, FE-1, FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (FE-1, FE-2).

Afterwards, Peggy transferred the crew's exercise data file to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) laptop for downlinking, as well as the daily wristband HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) data of the workouts on RED, followed by their erasure on the HRM storage medium (done six times a week).

Leo Eyharts had another 30 min. reserved on his schedule for preparing end-of-increment/departure cleanup and prepacking.

At ~10:35am EST, Peggy and Yuri had a 15-min teleconference with ground specialists to discuss/critique the images downlinked from last month's (2/9) Shuttle RPM (R-bar Pitch Maneuver) during 1E/Atlantis final docking approach. (The critique has the purpose to prepare the crew for the bottom side mapping of the Orbiter at the arrival of STS-123/1J/A. During the RPM at ~600 ft from the station, the ISS crew will have only ~90 seconds for taking high-resolution digital photographs of all tile areas and door seals on the Orbiter, to be downlinked for launch debris assessment. Thus, time available for the shooting will be very limited, requiring great coordination between the two headset-equipped photographers and the Endeavour CDR, Dom Gorie.)

At ~11:25am, the CDR had a PAO TV interview with KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa (Al Joens) of ~10 min, also shown on NASA TV.

At ~4:20pm, shortly before sleep time, Yuri will set up the Russian MBI-12 SONOKARD (Sonocard) payload and start his eleventh experiment session, using a sports shirt from the SONOKARD kit with a special device in the pocket for testing a new method for acquiring physiological data without using direct contact on the skin. Measurements are recorded on a data card for return to Earth. (SONOKARD objectives are stated to (1) study the feasibility of obtaining the maximum of data through computer processing of records obtained overnight, (2) systematically record the crewmember's physiological functions during sleep, (3) study the feasibility of obtaining real-time crew health data. Investigators believe that contactless acquisition of cardiorespiratory data over the night period could serve as a basis for developing efficient criteria for evaluating and predicting adaptive capability of human body in long-duration space flight.)

Working off his voluntary 'time permitting' task list, the FE-1 also conducted the regular daily checkup on the Japanese experiment GCF-JAXA (Granada Crystallization Facility) in the Russian TBU incubator, maintained at +20 degC, including a temperature check on its ART (automatic temperature recorder), and

COL Status: (1) FSL (Fluid Science Laboratory) troubleshooting by Eyharts and Col-CC (Columbus Control Center/Oberpfaffenhofen) has identified the cause of the facility's startup failure to be a cable harness disconnected from a connector. While Eyharts may be asked to try recrimping the connector to allow its plugging in, ground specialists are already at work to construct a replacement harness in time to be launched on 1J/A next week. (2) GEOFLOW cannot be started without the FSL being powered up first. (3) On 3/10 (Monday), the high-priority BIOLAB/WAICO greenhouse plant growth experiment is coming to an end of its two-week period. (4) Both external payloads, EuTEF (European Technology Exposure Facility) & SOLAR (Solar Monitoring Observatory), are running but have developed problems that are being worked. (5) Last night, Col-CC lost all communications with COL, remaining totally without comm until ~8:00am CET (Central European Time) this morning when the not-yet-understood problem was corrected.

CDRA Update: After the 3/1 IFM (In-Flight Maintenance) by Peggy Whitson on the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly, bypassing the erratic temperature sensor A of Bed 2 (#202) to restore CDRA to nominal operation, Bed 1 (#201) is now showing the same problem with erratic temperature readings. Work is underway to restore channel 1's function in a similar manner by 3/11, again including placing a PPL (Pre-Positioned Load) software mask on the erroneous temperature reading.

Russian Prop Transfer Repeat: Tonight, TsUP-Moscow will repeat the transfer of oxidizer (N2O4, nitrogen tetroxide) to the SM's BO2 tank which was stopped yesterday morning when an SM manifold thruster caution was received, waking the crew. Tonight's transfer is scheduled for Daily Orbits DO15/16/1/2 (5:00pm-10:10pm EST). No crew involvement required.

Russian Condensate Transfer: The experimental use of the NOK-1 condensate evacuation pump of the SKV-1 air conditioner for transferring U.S. condensate from a Russian EDV container to an SM Rodnik tank proved successful and can be used in the future. However, RSC-E cannot confirm with telemetry that the tank is receiving water, and more time is needed to determine the exact quantity of water going into the empty Rodnik. Three EDVs which have not previously carried pre-treated urine will be made available to process U.S. condensate through 15S undock (mid April). Consequently, there's no need to dump excess water overboard.

OGS Deactivation: Final deactivation of the Oxygen Generation System by Whitson was successfully completed yesterday. The previous operation ended on 10/9/07. The requirement is to activate OGS every 90 days.

ATV Update: ESA has developed a detailed timeline for the Automated Transfer Vehicle, scheduled for launch on Saturday, 3/8, at 11:03:04pm EST, and has achieved agreement with RSC-Energia on manual docking procedures and a protocol, should they become necessary, with only one new procedure yet to be incorporated. More coordination work remains to be done for the unlikely case of ATV Undocking without functioning PCE (ProxOps Communications Equipment).

MSS Readiness: The required 1J/A Robotics checkouts are complete. The MT (Mobile Transporter) was moved successfully from WS4 (Worksite 4) to WS6 yesterday (12:40pm-2:40pm EST). The MSS (Mobile Service System) is ready for 1J/A docking.

CEO photo targets uplinked for today were B.P. Structure (this very small impact feature is only 2 km in diameter and estimated to be less than 120 million years old. Because of this, it is a very challenging feature to spot and has yet to be identified in any astronaut photography of the region to date. ISS approach to the target area in eastern Libya was from the NW at midday, near nadir. Trying to locate and acquire this impact with the long lens settings for detail), Khartoum, Sudan (the Sudanese capital city is located at the confluence of the White and Blue Nile Rivers just north of an extensive agricultural area. ISS had a fine nadir pass at midday. Using the long lens settings and acquire detailed views of the edges of the urban area, especially along the banks of the rivers to the N, SE and S), and Tropical Cyclone Jokwe (DYNAMIC EVENT: This late-season tropical storm is currently located just off the northern tip of Madagascar. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast call for further strengthening to a Category 1 or 2 storm as it continues west-southwestward into the Mozambique Channel. ISS pass was in early afternoon and by then the system should have been well left of track. Using the short lens settings for panning, oblique views of the extent and gross cloud structure of the storm).