All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Off-duty holiday for the crew: Russia's Victory Day, one of the most sacred national holidays for the Russian people, commemorating the dozens of millions of their countrymen fallen in the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
FE-2 Reisman began the day with the periodic (monthly) CSA-CP (Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products) maintenance/checkout, today changing out the battery on the prime unit. [The CSA-CP is a passive cabin atmosphere monitor that provides quick response capability during a combustion event (fire). Its collected data are stored on a logger. After replacing the battery with a new one (#1119), Garrett zero-calibrated the instrument (to eliminate drift in the combustion sensors), then redeployed the prime unit at the SM (Service Module) Central Post.]
Afterwards, Reisman also used the hand-held CDMK (Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Kit, #1002) to collect measurements for the regular atmospheric status check for ppCO2 (Partial Pressure Carbon Dioxide) in the Lab, SM (at panel 449) and COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), and recording CO2 readings and battery "ticks". [Batteries were to be replaced if necessary. After all readings were taken, the CDM was deactivated and returned to its stowage place at LAB1S2.]
CDR Volkov conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM, including ASU toilet facilities systems/replaceables.
Working off the discretionary "time permitting" task list, Volkov completed another ECON KPT-3 session, making observations and taking aerial photography of environmental conditions for Russia's Environmental Safety Agency (ECON) using the Nikon D2X digital camera with SIGMA 300-800mm telephoto lens.
Also from the suggestions list, FE-1 Kononenko performed a session of the Russian GFI-8 "Uragan" (hurricane) earth-imaging program, using the NIKON D2X to take telephotos of mainland, coastal areas and both shores of Sakhalin Island, as well as of the Kuril Islands in nadir.
A third job on the discretionary task list for the two cosmonauts, as per request from the European partner, was to take one or two photographs of a Russian crewmember inside the ATV "Jules Verne".
The FE-2 filled out the regular FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire), his seventh, on the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer). [On the 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 FFQ is performed once a week to estimate nutrient intake from the previous week and to give recommendations to ground specialists that help maintain optimal crew health. Weekly estimation has been verified to be reliable enough that nutrients do not need to be tracked daily.]
Garrett also performed the regular bi-weekly reboot of the SSC (Station Support Computer) File Server laptop.
The crew is conducting 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 (FE-2), TVIS treadmill (CDR, FE-1), RED resistive exerciser (FE-2) and VELO bike with bungee cord load trainer (CDR, FE-1).
Later tonight, Garrett will download the crew's exercise data file to the MEC (Medical Equipment Computer) for downlink, 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).
MSS Update: Mobile Service System (MSS) performance yesterday was completely nominal, with Reisman completing SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) operations well ahead of schedule. The next MSS operations are scheduled on 5/12 (Monday) when ground controllers translate the MT (Mobile Transporter) railcart from WS-4 (Worksite #4) out to WS-6 and then back to WS-4, in order to confirm power & data redundancy at WS-6 before the 1J/docked mission. SSRMS & MBS (Mobile Base System) pre-launch checkout operations are scheduled to be completed on 5/20 & 5/21.
Condensate Processing Update: After some more fruitless troubleshooting yesterday to check on the functionality of the NOK-1 condensate evacuation pump working with the BRPK1 & BRPK2 Condensate Separation & Pumping Units, Sergey and Oleg were told to deactivate NOK-1 and stand down while ground specialists continue to assess the results.
CEO (Crew Earth Observations) photo targets uplinked for today were Tin Bider Impact Crater, Algeria (ISS had a nadir pass over this 6-km diameter impact structure. Looking for a circular crater located at the SW margin of a mountain range between the Grand Erg Oriental and Tifernine dune fields. Overlapping frames, taken along track, should have captured the crater), Mount Nyiragongo, Dem. Rep. of Congo (looking to the left of track for this notorious volcano, responsible for many deaths when a lava lake drained catastrophically in 1977. Actually a volcanic complex, the low profile of a neighboring shield volcano, Nyamuragira, contrasts with the 3470-m-high Nyiragongo stratovolcano. Looking to the left of track for two lakes [Edwards and Kivu] - the volcano and associated lava flows are located between the lakes. Some scattered clouds were expected), and Chaiten Volcano, Chile (Dynamic Event. Looking to the right of track as ISS passed over the coastline of Chile for this newly-active volcano. Dormant for the past 9000 years, Chaiten began erupting spectacularly last week, and has caused the evacuation of over 4000 people from the nearby town of Chaiten. Imagery of the volcano - visible as a light gray circular domed area in the midst of rugged hills - and any plumes [if present] was requested).
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, 4:51am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude -- 341.2 km
Apogee height -- 345.6 km
Perigee height -- 336.8 km
Period -- 91.36 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.000656
Solar Beta Angle -- 17.7 deg (magnitude decreasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.76
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours -- 95 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) -- 54240
Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time, some changes possible.):
05/14/08 -- Progress M-64/29P launch (4:23pm EDT)
05/16/08 -- Progress M-64/29P docking/FGB nadir (5:38pm)
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 -- STS-125/Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope Service Mission 4 (SM4)
09/05/08 -- ATV1 undocking
09/09/08 -- Progress M-64/29P undocking (from DC1)
09/10/08 -- Progress M-65/30P launch
09/12/08 -- Progress M-65/30P docking
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-66/31P launch
11/28/08 -- Progress M-66/31P docking
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).
