ISS : événements à venir

International Space Station Status Report #06-41
4 p.m. CDT, Friday, Sept. 22, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

A handover continues aboard the International Space Station, with the 13th crew ending six months aboard and the 14th crew starting out on six months in orbit.

Joint crew operations will continue through next week, until Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams, and Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari undock and land their Soyuz spacecraft on Thursday, Sept. 28.

The new crew, Expedition 14 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, docked to the complex along with Ansari on Wednesday. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who arrived at the station aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in July and has served as flight engineer for Expedition 13, will remain on the station and join Expedition 14. Ansari is a U.S. businesswoman spending eight days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

During the weekend, Vinogradov and Tyurin may work with the Elektron oxygen-generating system to install a new liquids unit, a component that overheated early this week.

Several crew events will be broadcast live on NASA TV next week. On Monday, Sept. 25, at 4:40 a.m. CDT, all crew members will participate in a news conference with Russian media. At 11:17 a.m. CDT that day, Williams and Lopez-Alegria will be interviewed by CBS News and AP Television. On Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 11:04 a.m. CDT, Williams and Lopez-Alegria will be interviewed by CNN Espanol and the Houston Chronicle. On Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 11:28 a.m. CDT the crews will hold a station change of command ceremony.

On Thursday, Sept. 28, at 1:35 p.m. CDT, NASA TV will begin coverage of a farewell ceremony and closing of the hatches as the Expedition 13 crew and Ansari prepare to depart. The hatches between the station and the departing Soyuz will be closed about 1:45 p.m. CDT. NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz undocking will begin at 4:30 p.m. CDT. Coverage of the Soyuz deorbit and landing will begin at 7 p.m. CDT. The Soyuz will fire its engines at 7:20 pm. CDT to begin its descent. Landing is at 8:10 p.m. CDT in Kazakhstan.

International Space Station Status Report #06-42
9 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

After six months aboard the International Space Station that included arrival of two space shuttle missions, resumption of construction of the orbiting laboratory and the restoration of a three-member crew, Expedition 13 landed at 8:13 p.m. CDT in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA station science officer Jeff Williams landed in their Soyuz TMA 8 spacecraft about 50 miles northeast of Arkalyk. Russian recovery forces and NASA officials arrived at the site shortly after the spacecraft touched down. The Soyuz undocked from the space station at 4:53 p.m.

The crew will spend about three weeks in Star City, near Moscow, for debriefing and medical examinations.

With Williams and Vinogradov was Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari, who flew to the station with the Expedition 14 crew and spent eight days there. The American businesswoman went to the station under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

During their mission, which launched March 29, Vinogradov and Williams were joined by Thomas Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut from Germany. He became the first non-Russian, non-U.S. long-duration station crew member. He will remain aboard as part of the Expedition 14 crew until December when he returns to Earth on the next space shuttle flight.

Two successful spacewalks were conducted during Expedition 13. The first was by Vinogradov and Williams in Russian spacesuits and the second by Williams and Reiter in U.S. spacesuits.

Vinogradov and Williams welcomed Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts and Reiter during the STS-121 mission to the station in July. In September Space Shuttle Atlantis' crew on the STS-115 mission brought and installed the station's integrated P3/P4 truss segments.

Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, Mikhail Tyurin and Reiter, now are on their own aboard the station after a week of handover, maintenance and some science activities. Vinogradov and Tyurin replaced a major component of the Elektron oxygen-producing device, which malfunctioned shortly after Atlantis departed.

The device was activated Sept. 16 and functioned for about three hours before shutting itself off. Further troubleshooting is planned.

International Space Station Status Report #06-43
3 p.m. CDT – Friday, Oct. 6, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

Expedition 14 completed its first full week solo on the International Space Station performing standard early mission checks and drills plus some equipment troubleshooting.

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin have been aboard the station for 19 days, while Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency is in his third month in orbit. Along with other work, the crew members prepared this week for a short trip away from the station next week, when they will fly the Soyuz spacecraft from one docking port to another.

Early in the week, the crew conducted a check of procedures required to exit the station in an emergency, ensuring all necessary equipment is in place. Throughout the week, time was set aside for Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin to familiarize themselves with the station and its operations. They started several new scientific activities and medical checks.

Lopez-Alegria began his first session with the nutrition experiment. He collected blood and urine samples and began logging all of his food and drinks consumed. The experiment, which tracks many vitamins and minerals essential for good health, is the most comprehensive in-flight study to date of human physiological changes during long-duration spaceflight. The information will help define nutritional requirements and food systems for future missions to the moon and Mars.

Lopez-Alegria also supported the Passive Observatories for Experimental Microbial Systems in Micro-G, or POEMS experiment, by storing the next set of samples into the Minus-Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS, or MELFI. MELFI is a cold storage unit that maintains experiment samples at temperatures of minus 80 degrees Celsius, minus 26 degrees Celsius or 4 degrees Celsius throughout a mission. POEMS will evaluate the effect of stress in the space environment on the generation of genetic variation in model microbial cells. NASA’s payload operations team at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., coordinates U.S. science activities on the station.

On Friday, all crew members performed a normal periodic fitness evaluation, exercising on a stationary bicycle aboard the station and measuring heart rate and blood pressure. One new scientific investigation began with Reiter as part of his evaluation. An oxygen uptake monitor provided by the European Space Agency was used to measure Reiter's oxygen consumption, a key parameter that can be used to measure fitness. The fitness evaluations are conducted once a month. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin also checked emergency medical equipment and supplies, a check done early in each crew's flight. Tyurin spent time mid-week continuing to troubleshoot the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation system. The system converts water into oxygen to replenish the cabin air. It has not been functional since it overheated just before Expedition 14 arrived. The crew replaced components in an Elektron control panel this week, but problems with its operation persisted. Russian engineers are evaluating the system and further repairs may wait until the next supply ship arrives with additional parts. The next Progress cargo craft is set to launch later this month. Plentiful oxygen supplies are available on the station. Oxygen is now being replenished in the cabin from tanks located on the Quest airlock.

U.S. flight controllers are evaluating a vibration seen in one of the station's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) this week. The electrically powered CMGs maintain the station's orientation so that thrusters and limited fuel do not need to be used for that purpose. The vibrations were first observed Sept. 28 as a station maneuver was performed using thrusters. The gyroscope, CMG-3, was taken offline to allow additional testing. Since then, controllers have run various tests with CMG-3 to better characterize the intermittent vibrations, and engineers have determined it could be put back online and in normal operation, if needed. Only three CMGs are necessary to properly maintain the station's orientation.

The station crew members will board the Soyuz spacecraft docked at the rear of the Zvezda living quarters module on Tuesday to prepare for the short move. NASA Television will cover the activity live beginning at 1:45 p.m. CDT. With Soyuz Commander Tyurin at the controls, they will undock from the Zvezda port at 2:14 p.m. and redock to the Earth-facing Zarya module port at 2:39 p.m. CDT.

skyboy a écrit:Salut. Je poste mon premier message aujourd'hui mais ça fait plusieurs jours que j'ai découvert votre forum et j'y passe pas mal de temps, c'est vraiment très complet et super intéressant. En cherchant bien, on trouve quasiment déjà une réponse à toute nos questions.

Je pensais que l'envoi dans l'espace de Cupola avait été abandonné à cause de la mise au rencart des navettes en 2010, mais je vois dans le programme mis sur ce forum que c'est toujours planifié pour l'avant-dernier vol. C'est une bonne nouvelle, mais y a-t-il vraiment une chance que celui-ci soit tenu ?

Cupola, cette fenêtre panaromique sur la Terre me fait vraiment tripper. Quand j'irais dans l'ISS :roll: , je referais les scènes de la fin du retour du Jedi avant la terre en arrière plan... :hot:

Cupola est réalisé et en plus par l'Europe. Cela veut dire (en théorie) que la décision d'un abandon doit venir de l'ESA.
Heureusement, même si cela a été évoqué par le Américains, du fait dès engagements internationaux (je pense) cette fenêtre sur la terre est toujours au programme. :D :cadeauesa:

10 octobre : déplacement du soyuz de zvevda vers zarya.
source

International Space Station Status Report #06-44
3 p.m. CDT Friday, October 13, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

The International Space Station’s Expedition 14 crew went for a short ride this week, performed maintenance and experiments aboard the growing outpost and celebrated one crew member's 100th day in space.

Station Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Lopez-Alegria, along with flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter, boarded their Soyuz spacecraft and flew it from one docking port to another on Tuesday. The relocation was a routine procedure conducted ahead of the launch and arrival of the next Progress supply ship scheduled late this month.

With Tyurin at the controls, the Soyuz undocked from the aft position of the Zvezda module at 2:14 p.m. CDT and docked to the Zarya control module’s Earth-facing docking port at 2:34 p.m.

The 23rd Progress vehicle will launch Oct. 23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will dock to the vacated Zvezda port three days later, delivering supplies to the crew.

More than three weeks into a six-month stay, Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin are settling in to the routine of life in microgravity. They joined Reiter in celebrating his 100th day in space since his launch aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in early July. Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut, will return home aboard Discovery when it returns in December and brings NASA astronaut Suni Williams as his replacement.

Oxygen is being supplied in the station cabin by tanks on the outside of the U.S. Quest Airlock while an onboard Russian oxygen generation system, called the Elektron, is not working. Additional parts to repair the Elektron are expected to be among the supplies arriving late this month on Progress.

The station’s orientation is being managed by three of the four electrically-driven Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). One gyroscope, designated CMG 3, was shut down after exhibiting intermittently high vibrations early on Monday. Three gyros are sufficient, and there has been no impact to the safety or operation of the station due to the shut down of CMG 3. Flight controllers are evaluating future plans for CMG 3 and any changes that might be needed to assembly operations during the next shuttle mission, STS-116, as a result. During that mission, set for December, alternating systems on the station will be powered off as the complex is rewired to bring on line new supplies of electricity from the recently added solar arrays. Steering jets could be used to control the station's orientation if needed as gyroscopes are powered down during those procedures.

This week the crew performed routine medical checks and took water samples while loading the docked Progress vehicle with unneeded items. Lopez-Alegria swapped a water separator in the Quest Airlock’s Common Cabin Air Assembly to ensure a filter doesn’t become clogged. The maintenance procedure was previously performed by the Expedition 5 crew.

Also this week, equipment setup began for the Space Video Gateway checkout, which will demonstrate the station’s ability to transmit television in high definition.

Le progress M58 doit être lancé le 18 octobre.
Photos de l'intégration

Le progress est prévu pour décoller lundi 23.
Le retard est-il imputable à MetOp ?

International Space Station Status Report #06-45
3 p.m. CDT, Friday, Oct. 20. 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

The three residents of the International Space Station spent a busy week with varied science and technical tasks as they began their second month in orbit.

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin practiced using the manual docking system for the Russian Progress cargo ship. They rehearsed rendezvous, flyaround maneuvers and approach and docking with an on-board simulator.

During the training, technicians at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan completed preparations for the launch of a Progress cargo craft on Monday at 8:40 a.m. CDT. It is scheduled to dock to the complex Thursday at 9:28 a.m. Live coverage on NASA Television will begin at 9 a.m.

The Progress, which will make its way to the launch pad Saturday, is filled with more than two tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station and its crew. Also aboard are new spare parts for the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation system, which has been shut down since last month.

Earlier Friday, Lopez-Alegria replaced equipment in the Carbon Dioxide Removal System, used to remove impurities from the station's atmosphere. Only one of its two systems designed to purge carbon dioxide from the air has been operating due to particulate matter clogging an air valve. Lopez-Alegria installed a new air flow regulator valve and a filter to recover the use of the second of two adsorbent beds in the device.

He also joined Tyurin to inspect and photograph the Zvezda Service Module windows and conducted a video tour of the station for training of future Expedition crews.

Lopez-Alegria, who also serves as the NASA science officer, collected his second set of blood and urine samples for the Nutrition Experiment. This is NASA's most comprehensive in-flight study of human physiological changes during long-duration spaceflight. The experiment measures bone metabolism, oxidative damage, nutritional assessments and hormonal changes. It also will help to define nutritional requirements and develop food systems for future missions to the moon and Mars.

Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin also completed a medical officer proficiency training session.

European Space Agency Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter began the first of three runs of the Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism, or TROPI experiment, in the European Modular Cultivation System. Seeds will sprout next week in the EMCS facility where plants and other small organisms can grow in variable gravity conditions using a centrifuge. By sprouting seeds under different levels of partial gravity and different frequencies of light, this study will increase the understanding of the different systems plants use to determine what direction their roots and shoots should grow and which genes are responsible for successful plant growth.

NASA’s payload operations team at the Marshall Space Flight Center coordinates U.S. science activities on space station. Other science work this week included sessions of the Profilaktika and Urolux Russian experiments.

The station remains under the control of three gyroscopes after one was shut down more than a week ago. On Monday, flight controllers conducted a test of Control Moment Gyro 3, which was turned off due to excessive vibrations. Monday’s test, looking at the health of the accelerometer, spun the CMG up to 500 rpm and then let it coast down to zero while acceleration data were taken with the MAMS (Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System) to correlate and compare with data from the internal CMG accelerometer. An initial review indicated no unusual vibrations, but engineers continue to analyze the results.

On Monday, flight controllers will begin a five-day checkout of the Thermal Radiator Rotary Joints (TRRJ) on the S1 and P1 trusses that will rotate once the station’s upgraded external thermal loops are activated on the STS-116 mission. The TRRJ test will enable the radiators to “autotrack" or revolve when required to dissipate heat from the trusses’ avionics equipment.

Current plan of the Expedition 14/15 crew flight

2006
October 23 - Progress M-58 launch
October 26 - Progress M-58 docking (to Zvezda)
November 3 - ISS orbit's raising by Progress M-58 engines
November 20 - spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-17) from Pirs airlock [Tyurin, Lopez-Alegria]
December 1 - ISS orbit's raising by Progress M-58 engines
December 8 - Discovery (STS-116) launch [Polansky, Oefelein, Patrick, Curbeam, Fuglesang, Higginbotham, S.Williams]
December 9 - Discovery (STS-116) docking (to PMA-2)
December 10/11 - the first STS-116 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Curbeam, Fuglesang]
December 12/13 - the second STS-116 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Curbeam, Fuglesang]
December 14/15 - the third STS-116 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Curbeam, S.Williams]
December 16 - Discovery (STS-116) undocking (from PMA-2)
December 18 - Discovery (STS-116) landing [Polansky, Oefelein, Patrick, Curbeam, Fuglesang, Higginbotham, Reiter]

2007
January 10 (TBD) - Progress M-57 undocking (from Pirs)
January 18 (TBD) - Progress M-59 launch
January 20 (TBD) - Progress M-59 docking (to Pirs)
February 2 - spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-6) from Quest airlock [Lopez-Alegria, S.Williams]
February 6 - spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-7) from Quest airlock [Lopez-Alegria, S.Williams]
February 10 - spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-8) from Quest airlock [Lopez-Alegria, S.Williams]
March 16 - Atlantis (STS-117) launch [Sturckow, Archambault, Forrester, Swanson, Olivas, Reilly]
March 18 - Atlantis (STS-117) docking (to PMA-2)
March 19 - the first STS-117 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Reilly, Olivas]
March 20 - the second STS-117 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Forrester, Swanson]
March 22 - the third STS-117 spacewalk from Quest airlock [Reilly, Olivas]
March 25 - Atlantis (STS-117) undocking (from PMA-2)
March 27 - Atlantis (STS-117) landing [Sturckow, Archambault, Forrester, Swanson, Olivas, Reilly]
April 8 - Progress M-58 undocking (from Zvezda)
April 9 - Soyuz TMA-10 launch [Kotov, Yurchikhin, Simonyi]
April 11 - Soyuz TMA-10 docking (to Zvezda)
April 20 - Soyuz TMA-9 undocking (from Zarya) and landing [Tyurin, Lopez-Alegria, Simonyi]
April - Soyuz TMA-10 relocation (from Zvezda to Zarya)
May 11 - Progress M-59 undocking (from Pirs)
May 12 - Progress M-60 launch
May 14 - Progress M-60 docking (to Pirs)
May - two spacewalks (ISS Russian EVA-18, -19) from Pirs airlock (Kotov, Yurchikhin)
June 18 (TBD) - ATV-1 "Jules Verne" launch
June/July (TBD) - ATV-1 "Jules Verne" docking (to Zvezda)
June 28 - Endeavour (STS-118) launch [S.Kelly, Hobaugh, Caldwell, Mastracchio, D.Williams, Morgan, C.Anderson]
June 30 - Endeavour (STS-118) docking (to PMA-2)
July - four STS-118 spacewalks from Quest airlock [Mastracchio, D.Williams]
July 9 - Endeavour (STS-118) undocking (from PMA-2)
July 11 - Endeavour (STS-118) landing [S.Kelly, Hobaugh, Caldwell, Mastracchio, D.Williams, Morgan, S.Williams]
July - spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-9) from Quest airlock [C.Anderson, Yurchikhin]
September 2 - Progress M-60 undocking (from Pirs)
September 3 - Progress M-61 launch
September 5 - Progress M-61 docking (to Pirs)
September 7 - Atlantis (STS-120) launch [Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Foreman, Nespoli, Wheelock, Tani]
September 9 - Atlantis (STS-120) docking (to PMA-2)
September 10 - the first STS-120 spacewalk from Quest airlock
September 12 - the second STS-120 spacewalk from Quest airlock
September 13 - the third STS-120 spacewalk from Quest airlock
September 16 - Atlantis (STS-120) undocking (from PMA-2)
September 18 - Atlantis (STS-120) landing [Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Foreman, Nespoli, Wheelock, C.Anderson]
September/October - ATV-1 "Jules Verne" undocking (from Zvezda)
October 6 - Soyuz TMA-11 launch [Malenchenko, Whitson, Shukor]
October 8 - Soyuz TMA-11 docking (to Zvezda)
October 17 - Soyuz TMA-10 undocking (from Zarya) and landing [Kotov, Yurchikhin, Shukor]

International Space Station Status Report #06-46
9 a.m. CDT, Monday, Oct. 23, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

A shipment of supplies began its journey to the International Space Station today as the ISS Progress 23 cargo ship was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The new resupply ship, the 23rd Progress to visit the station, lifted off at 8:41 a.m. CDT (7:41 p.m. Baikonur time). Less than 10 minutes later, the cargo ship reached orbit, and its solar arrays and navigational antennas were deployed for the three-day trip to the orbital outpost.

Two pre-programmed firings of the Progress’ main engine are scheduled today to fine-tune the ship’s path to the space station. Additional rendezvous maneuvers are planned over the next three days.

When the Progress launched, Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter were flying 220 miles over southern Russia north of the Mongolian border.

Carrying almost 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen, air, spare parts and other supplies, the Progress is scheduled to automatically dock to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 9:28 a.m. CDT Thursday. NASA TV coverage of the docking will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. CDT.

The ISS Progress 22 craft, which arrived in June, remains docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment. That Progress will be used to stow trash and supply oxygen to replenish the station's atmosphere when required. The spacecraft won’t be discarded until mid-January.

MOSCOU, 23 octobre - RIA Novosti. Le lanceur russe Soyouz-U avec le vaisseau de ravitaillement Progress M-58 a été tiré lundi, à 13h40 GMT, depuis le cosmodrome de Baïkonour, a annoncé le porte-parole de l'Agence fédérale spatiale russe (Roskosmos).

Progress M-58 achemine à la Station spatiale internationale (ISS) du carburant, de l'eau et des vivres pour les membres de la 14e mission permanente, des équipements scientifiques ainsi que des consommables.

La 14e mission permanente est composée du cosmonaute russe Mikhaïl Tiourine et de l'astronaute américain Michael Lopez-Alegria ainsi que du premier astronaute européen (à effectuer une mission de longue durée) Thomas Reiter.

Par ailleurs, Progress transportera des équipements nécessaires pour réparer le système de régénération de l'oxygène Elektron qui est tombé en panne, avait annoncé Vladimir Soloviev, chargé du segment russe de l'ISS.

A table

International Space Station Status Report #06-47
4:30 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

New supplies arrived at the International Space Station Thursday as an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module.

With almost 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station's Expedition 14 crew, the ISS Progress 23 automatically docked to Zvezda at 9:29 a.m. CDT as the spacecraft and the station flew 220 miles above Italy. The 23rd Progress to visit the station was launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Following the initial docking, the final latching of the Progress craft to the station was delayed by about three and a half hours as Russian flight controllers evaluated potential interference by an antenna on the spacecraft. At the time of docking, flight controllers could not confirm that the antenna used by the Progress' Kurs automated docking system had retracted as commanded. If the antenna had remained extended, it could have interfered with the final latching of the supply ship to the station.

After reviewing data, Mission Control Moscow commanded the Progress' docking probe to slowly retract, pulling the ship firmly into the port and aligning the hooks and latches that hold it secure. Latches for the craft on the station were secured at about 1 p.m. CDT. Flight controllers will command additional latches on the Progress to close Friday. This allows the operation to be completed in a normal manner over Russian communications sites.

During the hours between initial docking and final latching, the station's orientation was allowed to drift to avoid any disturbance of the softly docked cargo ship. The station's drift resulted in lower power generation by the solar arrays. The crew then powered off several pieces of non-critical equipment as outlined in a standard procedure that reduces power consumption. Soon after the latches were closed, however, the station's attitude control was restored and power generation was returned to normal.

Due to the long operations Thursday, Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter will open the hatch to the supply ship on Friday. Supplies on the Progress include food, fuel, oxygen and air, clothing, experiment hardware and spare parts, as well as personal items from the crew's families. The new Progress joins an older Progress supply ship that arrived at the station’s Pirs Docking Compartment in June. Progress 22 will remain docked until mid-January. It will be used to stow trash, and its supply of oxygen will help replenish the station’s atmosphere when required.

ISS Progress 23 holds 1,918 pounds of propellant for the Russian thrusters, 110 pounds of oxygen and almost 2,800 pounds of spare parts, experiment hardware and life support components, including parts for the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation system. The system has been inoperable since last month, and Tyurin is expected to resume repairs on the unit next week.

Engineers continue to review data from the station’s S-band communications system, which experienced dropouts late last week in the transmission link of one of two redundant channels used for voice and commanding capability. After collecting data last weekend from “string 1” of the S-band system, its transmitter was reactivated Wednesday, but the communications problem occurred once again.

“String 2” of the system is being used for voice and commanding with no impact to station activities. Flight controllers are analyzing the problem to determine if any procedural adjustments must be made for the upcoming flight of Discovery to the station on the STS-116 mission.

In other activities, the crew conducted sound level measurements in the station’s modules and installed cables in the Russian segment of the station. They performed regular station maintenance and took time to chat with a reporter from the Orange County Register in California on Tuesday. Reiter continued his work with European plant growth experiments while throughout the week Lopez-Alegria did log entries for a sleep experiment.

In two weeks, the crew will begin preparations for a spacewalk Nov. 22 by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria in Russian Orlan suits from the Pirs Docking Compartment to replace and retrieve several science experiments from the hull of the Zvezda Service Module. Tyurin also plans to hit a golf ball from a bracket on Pirs as part of a Russian commercial activity.

International Space Station Status Report #06-48
4 p.m. CST, Friday, Nov. 3, 2006
Expedition 13 Crew

Repair of an oxygen generator, robotic arm operations and cargo unpacking were the top priorities aboard the International Space Station this week.

On Monday, Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin installed new valves and cables that arrived on the recent Russian Progress cargo ship to repair the Elektron oxygen-generation unit. The unit shut down in mid-September, but with the new parts installed, Tyurin re-activated it. The Elektron is supplying oxygen for the cabin atmosphere once again.

The crew unpacked most of the items from the Progress, including the Elektron parts, fresh food and other systems hardware. The rest will be unpacked as needed and as time permits.

Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria worked on robotics proficiency tasks throughout the week. At the start of the week, ground controllers relocated the Mobile Transporter to a different worksite on the station's truss. On Wednesday, Lopez-Alegria maneuvered the Canadarm 2 robotic arm over to the transporter and its operating base from the normal home base for the arm on the Destiny Lab. The free end of the arm was photographed to help robotics specialists as they evaluate an issue that can cause snares to misalign inside the arm's end effector.

On Thursday, Lopez-Alegria connected the free end of the arm to another grapple fixture on the Mobile Base System and released the opposite end. Friday, the Mobile Transporter was moved again by the ground to the outermost worksite on the port truss, where it will provide support for the Canadarm2 operations during the upcoming STS-116 shuttle assembly mission. Next week Lopez-Alegria will checkout the robotic system at that site for the shuttle flight, which will bring and install a new truss spacer segment to the station.

Lopez-Alegria set up and activated cameras for a session of the Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students, or EarthKAM experiment. The middle school students study the Earth, then control a special digital camera mounted on the space station to photograph the planet's coastlines, mountain ranges and other geographic items of interest from the unique vantage point of space. At the University of California at San Diego, an undergraduate student team manages the image requests and posts the photographs on the Internet for the public and participating classrooms around the world to view. More than 107 schools from 10 countries participated in this session.

The second sample of seeds for the Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism, or "Tropi" experiment, was harvested and frozen in the Minus-Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS, or MELFI – a cold storage unit that maintains experiment samples at temperatures of -80 C, -26 C, or 4 C throughout a mission. Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter worked with the "Tropi" experiment, which will increase the understanding of the different systems plants use to determine the direction their roots and shoots should grow, and which genes are responsible for successful plant growth.

Reiter also continued work on a suite of European Space Agency science experiments onboard. One such experiment, called CARD, is helping scientists examine the relationship between salt intake and the cardiovascular system when exposed to the microgravity environment. Crewmembers typically experience reduced blood pressure in microgravity. To help them readjust to gravity upon return to Earth they take salt tablets just before returning, which temporarily increases the blood volume. CARD is looking at the effects of ingesting occasional salt supplements throughout the long duration mission. This experiment's results could also help improve treatment of patients on Earth with heart failure.

The crew began gathering tools for a Nov. 22 spacewalk by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria in Russian Orlan suits from the Pirs Docking Compartment. They will replace and retrieve several science experiments from the hull of the Zvezda Service Module. Tyurin also plans to hit a golf ball from a bracket on Pirs as part of a Russian commercial activity.