ISS On-Orbit Status, 29-11-2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 29 Nov 2003 

 All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.  
The crew had a regular Saturday light-duty day. 

Taking to the air and flying to and fro in their voluminous residence after wake-up at 
the regular 1:00am EST, morning inspection, hygiene and breakfast, CDR/SO Michael 
Foale and FE Alexander Kaleri performed the regular weekly 3-hr. housecleaning.  [The 
"uborka stantsii" focuses on removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments 
with vacuum cleaner, wet cleaning of the Service Module (SM) dining table and other 
surfaces with disinfectants ("Fungistat") and cleaning of fan screens to avoid tempera
ture rises.] 

Kaleri then deactivated the IK0501 gas analyzer (GA) in the SM and exchanged its BF 
carbon dioxide (CO2) filter assembly with a new unit from the FGB.  GA was reactivated 
and the spent BF stowed for disposal (replaced last: 10/19). [IK0501 is an automated 
system for measuring CO2, O2, and H2O in the air as well as the flow rate of the gas 
being analyzed.] 

The crew removed the skirt around the base of the TVIS (treadmill with vibration 
isolation and stabilization) and set up the video equipment for imaging the treadmill 
system in motion (with its VIS deactivated) during their newly approved aerobic 
exercising.  After the workout, which was supplemented by sessions on the ergometer 
bikes (CEVIS and VELO) and the RED resistive (anaerobic) machine, the video equipment 
was dismantled and stowed away.  [As long as the TVIS is operated without the 
protective skirt
 and the potential exists for hazardous floating FOD (foreign objects/debris), the 
crew is advised to wear protective eyewear and face mask. Main objective of the video 
taping was to obtain close-ups of the corner bracket assemblies and any interference 
of the TVIS with the "pit" in the SM floor.] 

After the MAS (major constituents analyzer) was switched from life extending mode 
(LEM) to full operational mode by ground commands, Mike Foale opened its VGA 
(verification gas assembly) valve in support of a ground-controlled full calibration 
of the analyzer and later closed it again after MCC-H go-ahead. [The operation 
encountered a snag when the first calibration failed due to apparent data file 
corruption, shown by a garbled calibration data dump.  Ground controllers repeated the 
full calibration, whic
h this time resulted in satisfactory calibration coefficients, background readings, 
and calibration time.] 

While the MCA calibration was underway, Kaleri opened the air repressurization valves 
from Progress 12P at the SM aft dock, starting the first repress of the cabin 
atmosphere with fresh air from the Progress' SrPK air supply tank (second unit), 
scheduled to last about 1h 50min.   After repress completion, Foale collected the 
daily cabin air ppO2 (oxygen partial pressure) measurement of the CSA-CP (compound 
specific analyzer-combustion products) for calldown to the ground, where it is used 
for trending anal
yses. 

Sasha Kaleri had his PFC (private family conference) via live TV.  The video downlink 
was timed to start, by the SPP automated daily timeline system, over a Russian comm 
pass. 

The FE also completed the daily routine maintenance of the SM’s SOZh life 
support system, including ASU toilet facilities. 

Yesterday's report that the EPO (Educational Payloads Operations) activities on 11/28 
were cancelled was incorrect.  Mike and Sasha did indeed conduct the Earth Viewing 
demo of the EPO program as planned and to the great enjoyment of Flight Controllers in 
Houston and Payload Operators in Huntsville. [In the camcorder-transmitted demo, to be 
used in NASA educational products, on websites, TV, etc., the crew showed how and 
where they look at and photograph the Earth.  The activity was time-critical since it 
had to be scheduled over Ku- and S-band AOS (acquisition-of-signal) windows for 
real-time downlink of video and voice.] 

Mike and Sasha conducted their regular weekly planning conference with the ground via 
S-band/audio, discussing next week's "Look-Ahead Plan" (regularly prepared jointly by 
MCC-H and MCC-M planners).  They also had their weekly tagup with ISS Program 
management. 

In a special ARISS (Amateur Radio International Space Station) ham radio event, the 
crew was provided pass times to downlink words of condolence and sympathy for former 
NBC News correspondent Roy Neal, who died today at a North Carolina hospital at age 82 
following heart surgery performed last August. [Roy Neal was well known to TV viewers 
and highly respected in our space community for his coverage of the pioneering years 
of the U.S. space program, from Project Mercury, which sent the first American into 
space in 1961, to the Space Shuttle program, which launched the first shuttle in 1981. 
 Neal retired from NBC in 1986 after a 34-year career.  The Pennsylvania native began 
his news career with WBIG radio in Philadelphia. After serving as a combat infantry 
officer in World War II, he became program manager of Armed Forces Radio-Europe, then 
joined WPTZ-TV in Philadelphia.  He established NBC's West Coast bureau in 1952 and 
was based there for his entire career.  While serving as science correspondent, Roy 
Neal often reported on the U.S.-Soviet space race and frequently reported from NASA 
Centers KSC, MSFC, JSC and JPL.  An avid ham radio enthusiast, he was a co-founder of 
SAREX, a program that allowed school children to talk to orbiting astronauts via 
amateur radio.  After retiring from the network, he taught journalism at High Point 
University in High Point, North Carolina.] 

Working off the Russian task list, the FE conducted another brief session of the 
Russian Uragan earth imaging program, using the LIV Betacam video system and the Kodak 
760 DSC (digital still camera) from SM window #9, now available again in LVLH 
attitude. [Today's targets were the city of Abudja, Central America in the direction 
of the Panama Canal, the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica, Cuba and the Sargasso Sea.] 

Also on Sasha's discretionary task list for today was a new set of observations for 
the Diatomeya ocean research program. [He used the Nikon F5 with f/80 mm lens and the 
DVCAM-150 digital camcorder to shoot nadir images of structures of sea bloom fields in 
ocean water areas of varying productivity and cloud cover anomalies in the area at the 
southern end of the Indian subcontinent, i.e., the shallow-water Palk Strait (between 
India and Sri Lanka), the western shoreline of the Bay of Bengal with the dischar
ge region of the Ganges River, to obtain data on the development of production 
processes in the waters of these areas during the restructuring of summer monsoon 
circulation into winter.  Targets were also the Somali Current frontal zone in the 
Arabian Sea, with the discharge region of the Indus River, to obtain data on the 
position of the oceanic boundary of the Somali Current frontal zone; and  the 
bioproductive area of the Falklands and Patagonia, i.e., the frontal zone of the West 
Wind Current, to recor
d the position and shape of plankton blooms at the end of spring in the southern 
hemisphere, as well as “flashes” of phytoplankton bloom in the drift 
regions of large Antarctic icebergs.] 


Jacques :-)

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