[Updates] ISS UPDATES

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 03/06/2011

This was the first day for FE-3 Ron Garan to support SSCV4, i.e. the SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop reloading with software v.4 by the ground that will span the next three days. [Ron's involvement today had him printing out & reviewing the SSCV4 procedures, timeline and NINJA (Network Information for JSL Administration) password document, then teleconferencing (at ~11:30am EDT) with ground specialists to discuss the transition. There are a total of 21 SSC laptops distributed in the ISS, three of them (SSC1, SSC2, SSC3) in the SM (Service Module). Nineteen machines are Lenovo T61p laptops; the remaining two IBM A31p's will also be replaced with T61p's.]

SPDM Relocation:
Tonight at ~9:30 PM-12:00 AM GMT, the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) will complete the relocation of the SPDM (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) "Dextre" to MBS PDGF-2 (Mobile Base System / Power & Data Grapple Fixture-2) in preparation for STS-135/ULF-7 support.

ATV-2 Reboost Update:
The one-burn reboost of ISS was completed nominally last night at 10:30 PM GMT using the ATV-2 OCS (Orbit Correction System) thrusters. Burn duration was 16 min 51 sec, resulting in a delta-V of 2.52 m/s (8.27 ft/s) vs. planned 2.50/8.20. Mean altitude gain: 4.36 km (2.35 nmi) vs. planned 4.3/2.3. The reboost used up 331 kg of ATV propellant, and 35 kg were used for attitude control. Purpose of the reboost was to set up phasing for the Progress M-11M/43P launch & docking on 06/22 & 06/24. For the maneuver, Russian thrusters were disabled at 9:30 PM GMT (CMG control) and re-enabled at 12:00 AM GMT. No CMG desats were required.

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "ISS Orbit Boosted".

In accordance with the International Space Station mission ballistics support program, ISS reboost was carried out on June 3.
The maneuver was assisted by the Orbit Control System (OCS) thrusters of ATV-2 vehicle attached to the station.
The maneuver brought the ISS into orbit with the following parameters:
Min altitude – 347.0 km
Max altitude – 363.7 km
Revolution – 91.4 min
Inclination – 51.7 deg.
The operation was carried out in order to maintain ISS altitude.

[Orbinaut Pete]

Today's "A Lab Aloft" blog entry details a NOFBX monopropulsion experiment to be performed on the ISS next year.

Why the International Space Station? Technology Demonstration.


From this image, it looks to be a FRAM type payload.

An excellent use of ISS' capabilities to demonstrate BEO technologies.

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 04/06/2011

On Day 2 of the ongoing SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop reloading with software v.4 (SSCV4), the crew had ~30 min set aside for moving their personal data from SSC clients to T61p USB 120 GB hard drives in preparation for Monday's & Tuesday's SSCV4 transition activities. [Of the (currently) 24 SSC laptops in the ISS (SM: 3, Node 3: 1, Node 1: 1, A/L: 1, Cupola: 3, Lab: 7. JPM: 1, Node 2: 6, COL: 1), 13 will be reloaded with v.4 by the ground, 7 by the crew. After replacement of the remaining IBM A31p laptops with Lenovo T61p's, the machines will be configured by the crew (12) & ground (9), leaving at the end 23 T61b SSCs in service.]

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 06/06/2011

FE-3 Ron Garan had most of his workday (~5 hours) dedicated to Day 3 of the ongoing SSC (Station Support Computer) laptop transition to/reloading with software v.4 (SSCV4), today scheduled to replace existing servers with new servers, deploy new T61p SSC laptops, swap hard drives in order to maintain contingency rollback capability, join wireless laptops to the network so that ground can complete configuration, and perform stowage operations. However, SSC reloads ran into snags, including missing .dll files, and ground teams are assessing next steps. [Of the (originally) 24 SSC laptops in the ISS (SM: 3, Node 3: 1, Node 1: 1, A/L: 1, Cupola: 3, Lab: 7. JPM: 1, Node 2: 6, COL: 1), 13 will be reloaded with v.4 by the ground, 7 by the crew. After replacement of the remaining IBM A31p laptops with Lenovo T61p's, the machines will be configured by the crew (12) & ground (9), leaving at the end 23 T61b SSCs in service.]

Preparatory to this evening's (7:45 PM-10:15 PM GMT) activation of the Node 3 CDRA (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) by the ground, Ron connected the Nod 3 ITCS LTL (Internal Thermal Control System | Low Temperature Loop). He also terminated LTL flow to the Lab CDRA, which was shut down by the ground. [Node 3 CDRA will be turned on in preparation for running OGA (Oxygen Generator Assembly) and Sabatier on Wednesday (06/08).]

ATV-2 Prop Line Purge/Vent:
Preparatory to its undocking on 06/20, ATV02 (Automated Transfer Vehicle-2) "Johannes Kepler" propellant (fuel/oxidizer) lines will be purged & vented by automatic sequencer this afternoon at 5:28 PM-7:01 PM GMT.

ATV-2 Survey by SSRMS:
From ~10:15 PM-2:15 AM GMT, the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) will be used for an external survey of ATV-2, docked at the SM (Service Module) Aft end.

SPDM Reconfiguration:
From 2:35 AM-4:35 AM GMT, the SPDM (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) "Dextre" will be reconfigured to be ready for STS-135/ULF-7.

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 07/06/2011.

FE-3 Ron Garan had another 1h 35m set aside to continue his support of the ongoing SSC laptop transition to/reloading with software v.4 (SSCV4) activities, today focusing on recovering wireless SSCs that ran into loading difficulties yesterday. Ron's support consisted of connecting ISL (Integrated OpsLAN) Ethernet cables to the failed SSC Clients and initiating a reload via the LIS (Load Image Server, SSC-10). The configuration was then to be completed from the ground. [The loading anomalies resulted from a bad load "ghost" (image) on SSC-7 that propagated to SSC-6, -11, -13, -14, -16, and -20. The error (missing .dll file) was corrected and SSC-7 was reloaded overnight.]

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 08/06/2011.

FE-3 Ron Garan continued his support of the ongoing SSC laptop transition to/reloading with software v.4 (SSCV4) activities, [today connecting SSC-17 to the JSL (Joint Station LAN) via RF (wireless) Ethernet in Node 3 for the ground to verify settings, rebooting SSC-19 for the ground to finish its final configuration, and printing out the new crew NINJA (Network Information for JSL Administration) password document. As of last night, 15 of the 21 SSC clients have been successfully transitioned for nominal use, while additional troubleshooting was to be performed on the remaining 6 clients].

Soyuz TMA-02M/27S:
Onboard systems of the spacecraft, headed for the ISS, are reported to operate nominally. Docking at the ISS MRM-1 "Rassvet" module is scheduled for tomorrow (09/06) evening at ~9:22 PM GMT (10/06, ~1:22 AM, Moscow Time). As per report from RSC-Energia, Soyuz TMA-02M is the second spacecraft in a new series modified from the basic TMA spacecraft. The first spacecraft in this series was launched on 10/08/2010. Purpose, mission and key performance data of the new-series spacecraft are the same as for the generic spacecraft. The upgrades that have been introduced are part of the ongoing development of a new-generation manned transportation spacecraft. Flight certification of new devices and equipment installed onboard the new-series spacecraft will enable appropriate decision making with respect to the new-generation manned transportation spacecraft.

[Orbinaut Pete]

ESA: "Raising the ISS: ATV Johannes Kepler conducts the 'Big Boost'".

10 June 2011
It's the International Space Station's biggest increase in altitude to date, and, thanks to ESA's ATV Johannes Kepler, it will significantly improve the 417-tonne Station's orbital mileage through the next decade of scientific research.

During three intensive reboost manoeuvres, ATV Johannes Kepler is raising the ISS altitude from around 345 km to 380 km, where it will use far less fuel to maintain its orbit and cutting the amount of fuel that must be sent up in the coming years by almost half.

"These reboosts will improve ISS scientific exploitation enormously, since we'll need to send much less fuel into orbit, making more launch capacity available for spare parts, scientific instruments and supplies," says ESA's Nico Dettmann, ATV programme head.

Almost nothing remains of Earth's atmosphere at 350 or 400 km except faint whips of gas molecules. These are sufficient, however, to cause the Station's orbit to steadily decay due to drag unless it is periodically reboosted. Moving the Station to a higher orbit means that even fewer reboosts, using even less fuel, must be done in the future.

Fuel vs cargo: Optimising upload tonnage

While the higher orbit means the ISS itself will need less fuel, visiting vessels, such as Russia's Soyuz, Japan's HTV and ESA's ATV will use more fuel to get themselves up to the higher altitude.

"Yes, this means a saving for the ISS but an increased usage for the visiting vessels. Nonetheless, a significantly larger tonnage of food, water, spare parts and research instruments and samples can be sent up, keeping the Station operational until 2020 and beyond," says Dettmann.

The new orbit is being achieved in several steps.

Small steps to Big Boost

On top of a small reboost performed by the Space Shuttle Endeavour on 29 May, ATV is firing the eight thrusters of its Orbit Correction System (OCS) on three separate days under the watchful eyes of the joint ESA/CNES mission operations team at the ATV Control Centre (ATV-CC), Toulouse.

ATV conducted the first boost on 3 June, raising the ISS orbit by about 3.8 km. The next boosts are scheduled for 12 and 15 June and will provide a much bigger jump.

On each day, ATV will be commanded to conduct two individual burns lasting about 75 minutes each and consuming, in total, about 1400 kg of propellant.

"A pause between each burn is necessary due to how Kepler's fuel system pumps propellant and to let the thrusters cool down," says ESA's Mike Steinkopf, Mission Director for reboost activities at ATV-CC. Each day will see the Station's orbit increase by about 20 km."

Boosting the Station is an excellent example of how ESA's contribution to the ISS helps all of the international partners.

"With the end of the shuttle era, the Station's orbit can be optimised at a higher level, which helps all partners make most efficient use of the orbiting outpost's unique scientific capabilities," says Dettmann.

"We really are quite pleased that ATV can help out like this. It's truly a marvellous vessel."

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "ATV-2 to Raise ISS Orbit".

In accordance with the International Space Station mission ballistics support program, ISS reboost is scheduled for June 12.
Two maneuvers to be performed are to be assisted by attitude thrusters of ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. ISS spatial position will be supported by Zvezda and Progress M-10M thrusters during the maneuver.
The engines will be started at 18:10 and 22:15 Moscow time. After the burns, which are to last 2166 and 2412 sec, the altitude of the station shall become 19.2 km higher, or to achieve 364,6 km.

[Orbinaut Pete]

Have a read of this fantastic presentation:

International Space Station as a Platform for Exploration Beyond Low Earth Orbit (PDF, 3.07 MB).

A great example of how the ISS is useful to BEO exploration.

Also, there's a great image of Node 4/DHS on page 13, and a great image of an inflatable module on page 20. I hope they get added!

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 11/06/2011.

ISS Reboosts:
Tomorrow (06/12), the ATV-2 "Johannes Kepler" will conduct two separate one-burn reboosts of the ISS with its OCS (Orbit Correction System) thrusters. Purpose: to deplete ATV-2 of remaining propellant and set up phasing for Progress M-11M/43P and STS-135/ULF-7:

• Reboost 1: 2:15 PM GMT: Duration 36 min 06 sec, delta-V 5.2 m/s (17.1 ft/s). Expected mean altitude gain: ~9.2 km (5 nmi).
• Reboost 2: 6:20 PM GMT: Duration 40 min 12 sec, delta-V 5.8 m/s (19.0 ft/s). Expected mean altitude gain: ~10.1 km (5.5 nmi).

[orb]

Roscosmos: Alexander Samokutiaev Continues his Story About ISS Life

Alexander during maintenance operations:


Alexander makes video shooting of the station’s interior:

[Orbinaut Pete]

ATV-2 reboost 1 should now be underway.

Edit: Reboost 1 should now be complete.

[Orbinaut Pete]

ATV-2 reboost 2 should be underway now.

Edit: Reboost 2 should now be complete.

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "ISS Orbit Boosted".

In accordance with the International Space Station mission ballistics support program, ISS reboost was carried out on June 12.
Two maneuvers were assisted by attitude thrusters of ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. ISS spatial position was supported by Zvezda and Progress M-10M thrusters during the maneuver.
The engines were started at 18:10 and 22:15 Moscow time. After the burns, the altitude of the station became about 19.2 km higher, and achieved appr. 364,6 km.