All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Russian holiday: Spring & Labor Day. Also: Labor Day in Europe.
Upon wake-up, CDR Volkov terminated his first MBI-12 SONOKARD experiment session, started last night, by taking the recording device from his SONOKARD sports shirt pocket and later copying the measurements to the RSE-MED laptop for subsequent downlink to the ground. [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.]
FE-1 Kononenko began his workday with the routine checkup of DC1 (Docking Compartment) circuit breakers and fuses as part of his regular morning inspection tour. [The monthly checkup in the "Pirs" DC1 looks at AZS circuit breakers on the BVP Amp Switch Panel (they should all be On) and the LEDs (light-emitting diodes) of 14 fuses in fuse panels BPP-30 & BPP-36.]
Today was RS (Russian Segment) ventilation systems cleanup day. The regular periodic preventive maintenance on fan grilles and airducts was conducted by the FE-1 in the DC1 on the V1, V2 & V3 ventilators, VD1 & VD2 airducts and also included the filter replacement for the dust collectors PF1 & PF2, and by the CDR in the FGB on interior wall panel ventilation screens.
Volkov completed the periodic servicing of the active Russian BMP (Harmful Impurities Removal System) by starting the "bake-out" cycle to vacuum on absorbent bed #1 of the regenerable dual-channel filtration system. The regen process will be terminated before sleeptime, at ~4:55pm EDT. Regeneration of bed #2 follows tomorrow. [Regeneration of each of the two cartridges takes about 12 hours and is conducted only during crew awake periods. In order to assist in atmosphere scrubbing after last Thursday's Freon-218 spill from the SKV-2 air conditioner, the BMP's regeneration cycle was moded to 5 days instead of the regular 20 days+. With about 1 g/m3 concentration, the pollutant stayed an order of magnitude under the SMAC (Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentration) level. Since SKV-2 remains off until fresh Freon-218 can be delivered on Progress 29P (and SKV-1 nonfunctional), plans are to do condensate processing with the air conditioner's condensate evacuation pump (NOK-2) which, being an untested configuration, should go into operation next week.]
In the Service Module (SM), Kononenko took the periodic readings of potentially harmful atmospheric contaminants with the CMS (Countermeasure System) part of the GANK-4M Real-Time Harmful Contaminant Gas Analyzer suite, which uses preprogrammed microchips to measure H2CO (Formaldehyde, methanal), CO (Carbon Monoxide) and NH3 (Ammonia), taking one measurement per microchip. [CO not measured today. CMS is part of the Russian SKDS Pressure Control & Atmosphere Monitoring System.]
FE-2 Garrett Reisman conducted his third session with the ELITE-S2 (Elaboratore Immagini Televisive - Space 2) payload, after detaching the CEVIS (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation) from the ER3 (EXPRESS Rack 3) and moving it out of the field of view of the cameras crucial to of the experiment, which he set up for capturing his movement protocol. This was followed by powering up the IMU (Interface Management Unit) and calibrating the work area for the cameras (half of the work area facing one way, the other half facing the other way). The FE-2 then had ~80 min to perform the test operations, followed by stowing the test camera, turning off the IMU and re-installing the CEVIS in the Lab. [The Italian (ASI) experiment ELITE-S2 is a human motion analysis facility for technological characterization and potential application for multifactorial movement analysis, to study the connection between brain, visualization and motion in micro-G. By recording and analyzing the three-dimensional motion of astronauts, this study should help engineers apply ergonomics into future spacecraft designs and determine the effects of weightlessness on breathing mechanisms for long-duration missions. For each of three protocols (e.g., MOVE, IMAGINE), a set of body landmarks are identified and reflective markers are applied on the subject who then performs prescheduled movements with the index finger tips then returns to the initial position (for example, the subject has to reach and brush, without exerting forces). The video cameras trace the trajectories of the body parts of the astronaut catching the light reflected by the markers, thus recording the kinetic and trajectory data of the movement.]
After yesterday's prepacking conference with MCC-Houston, Reisman today had about an hour reserved to start gathering and prepacking equipment for return on STS-124/1J, going by an uplinked 1J Prepack List.
While Garrett prepacked return hardware, the two Russian crewmembers had ~1hr set aside for a commemorative ("symbolic") activity for Espace Lollini, a French stamp collecting company, stamping 600 postage envelopes with a Russian ISS onboard seal and inscribing them with their signatures.
Sergey Volkov conducted the routine maintenance of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM, including ASU toilet facilities systems/replaceables.
Oleg Kononenko performed 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).
The crew completed their regular 2.5-hr. physical workout program (about half of which is used for setup & post-exercise personal hygiene) on the TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1, FE-2), RED resistive exerciser (FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR, FE-1). [The RED, as an anaerobic muscle exerciser, allows a variety of routines: squat, heel raises, bent-over rowing, abdominal crunches, deadlift, bench presses, upright rowing, etc. For Sergey & Oleg, who are using RED three times a week, each session features four different routines which vary from day to day to target different muscle groups.]
Afterwards, Reisman 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).
Sergey & Oleg again had the regular full hour each for themselves for general orientation (station familiarization & acclimatization) as is standard daily rule for fresh crewmembers for the first two weeks after starting station residency.
CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today were Tropical Cyclone Nargis, Bay of Bengal (Dynamic event. Looking left for the center of this downgraded "Strong Category 2" storm which is heading slowly ENE), Lake Nasser, Toshka Lakes, Egypt (nadir pass, with Toshka lakes right and Lake Nasser nadir and left of track; crew was to shoot shorelines), Afar Rift Zone, Ethiopia (looking just left of track for the volcanoes and numerous parallel fault lines in black rocks. A mapping swath was requested), Washington D.C. and Philadelphia (crew requests. Both cities appeared at the same time, with Philadelphia further off track. Looking left), and Lake Pontchartrain, Mississippi River delta (Dynamic event. The look geometry was almost exactly the same as in the last request for this target: looking left for water color changes in Lake Pontchartrain from the influx of Mississippi R. water [especially near the spillway where the river comes closest to the lake]).
CEO photography can be studied at this "Gateway" website:
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (as of 3/1/08, this database contained 757,605 views of the Earth from space, with 314,000 from the ISS alone).
ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 8:21am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude -- 342.0 km
Apogee height -- 346.8 km
Perigee height -- 337.1 km
Period -- 91.37 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0007243
Solar Beta Angle -- -18.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.76
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours -- 97 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) -- 54116
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
05/14/08 -- Progress M-64/29P launch
05/16/08 -- Progress M-64/29P docking (FGB nadir)
05/31/08 -- STS-124/Discovery/1J launch - JEM PM "Kibo", racks, RMS (5:01pm EDT)
06/02/08 -- STS-124/Discovery/1J docking
07/10/08 -- Russian EVA-20 (7/10-11)
08/10/08 -- ATV1 undocking
08/12/08 -- Progress M-65/30P launch
08/14/08 -- Progress M-65/30P docking (SM aft port)
08/28/08 -- STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
09/09/08 -- Progress M-64/29P undocking (from DC1)
09/10/08 -- Progress M-66/31P launch
09/12/08 -- Progress M-66/31P docking (DC1)
10/01/08 -- NASA 50 Years
10/11/08 -- Progress M-65/30P undocking (from SM aft port)
10/12/08 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S launch
10/14/08 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S docking (SM aft port)
10/16/08 -- STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 launch - MPLM Leonardo, LMC
10/18/08 -- STS-126/Discovery/ULF2 docking
10/23/08 -- Soyuz TMA-12/16S undocking (FGB nadir)
11/03/08 -- Soyuz TMA-13/17S relocation (from SM aft to FGB nadir)
11/20/08 -- ISS 10 Years
11/26/08 -- Progress M-67/32P launch
11/28/08 -- Progress M-67/32P docking (SM aft port)
12/04/08 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A launch - S6 truss segment
12/06/08 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A docking
12/15/08 -- STS-119/Discovery/15A undocking
2QTR CY09 -- STS-127/2J/A launch - JEM EF, ELM-ES, ICC-VLD
3QTR CY09 -- STS-128/17A/Atlantis - MPLM(P), last crew rotation
05/??/09 -- Six-person crew on ISS (following Soyuz 18S-2 docking)
3QTR CY09 -- STS-129/ULF3/Discovery - ELC1, ELC2
4QTR CY09 -- STS-130/20A/Endeavour - Node-3 + Cupola
1QTR CY10 -- STS-131/19A/Atlantis - MPLM(P)
1QTR CY10 -- STS-132/ULF4/Discovery - ICC-VLD, MRM1 (contingency)
2QTR CY10 -- STS-133/ULF5/Endeavour - ELC3, ELC4 (contingency).
