Updates ISS UPDATES

[Orbinaut Pete]

Here's some good pictures of the Soyuz TMA-14 relocation:

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016653.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016714.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016718.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016911.jpg

And here's an awesome view of the Pirs docking assembly (taken from inside TMA-14 during relocation):

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016484.jpg

---------- Post added at 22:43 ---------- Previous post was at 22:05 ----------

It looks like Gennady Padalka is playing some primitive version of Orbiter! :lol:

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e016092.jpg

 

[Arthur Dent]

Cool!

They are using russian IBM Thinkpads with a Pentium IV CPU, WinXP and Internet Explorer 6 and Nero (6?). Never change a running system, I guess

 

[cinder1992]

you beat me to it.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The Progress 33 re-rendezvous with the ISS will air on NASA TV @ 4:30pm GMT/UTC today (Sat 11).

 

[flying coffin]

The Progress 33 re-rendezvous with the ISS will air on NASA TV @ 4:30pm GMT/UTC today (Sat 11).

I'm confused here. I re-entered Progress 33 when I heard it had undocked
about a week or so ago. Should I not have done that? Is it going to dock
to the aft port where the soyuz was?

 

[DaveS]

I'm confused here. I re-entered Progress 33 when I heard it had undocked
about a week or so ago. Should I not have done that? Is it going to dock
to the aft port where the soyuz was?

No. And the re-rendezvous is tomorrow, not today. It's simply a test of the new KURS antennas that was installed on the zenith docking port of the SM. This docking port will be used by the MRM-1.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The re-rendezvous is tomorrow, not today.

So it is, thank you for correcting me.

It's simply a test of the new KURS antennas that was installed on the zenith docking port of the SM. This docking port will be used by the MRM-1.

The zenith port of the SM is going to be used by MRM-2, not MRM-1. As to my knowledge, MRM-1 is going to be on the nadir of the FGB. MRM-1 can not dock to the SM zenith as it did not have the right docking mechanism (MRM-1 uses probe & drogue, all forward SM ports use hybrid)

---------- Post added 12-07-09 at 18:14 ---------- Previous post was 11-07-09 at 19:23 ----------

The Progress 33 re-rendezvous with the ISS is now successfully complete!
Progress 33 came to within 10m (33ft) of the ISS in order to test new rendezvous equipment that will be used in the arrival of MRM2 later this year.

The Progress 33 will make a de-orbit burn tomorrow at 3:42pm GMT/UTC.

Progress 34 (M-67) is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday 24 Jul.
It will dock to the aft port of the Zvezda SM on Sunday 26 Jul and remain there until 29 September, whereupon it will undock to make way for Soyuz TMA-16.

---------- Post added 13-07-09 at 02:13 ---------- Previous post was 12-07-09 at 18:14 ----------

Station news:

One of the station’s eight Beta Gimbal Assemblies (BGA's), which provide beta rotation to the station's individual solar arrays, stalled at about 6pm EDT Thursday.
Specifically, it was BGA 2B on the port side Truss.
Flight controllers weren’t able to clear the stall, and the Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) system automatically powered the motor off.

Flight controllers and engineers are analyzing the situation and developing a course of action. There is no immediate concern for the health and safety of the crew, and no immediate cause for concern regarding upcoming station events such as the STS-127 mission.

*BGA 2B Update: Yesterday, BGA 2B was taken to Autotrack to test the rotational capabilities of the joint. The joint operated with better performance than was seen in previous days before it stalled. BGA 2B has been parked at 225 degrees which is a good config for both 33P Re-approach and 2J/A Docking. The MCC-H team is currently assessing the forward plan for BGA 2B operations.


Also, just after 6:30pm EDT Friday, station Commander Gennady Padalka reported seeing visible smoke emanating from the SRV-K, a Russian water processing unit in the Zvezda Service Module. Padalka immediately shut off power to the equipment and the smoke began to quickly dissipate. The smoke was not at a level that required the crew to take any further protective measures onboard, and they did not need to don breathing masks. There is no further impact to the station's operations. Similar water processing equipment exists onboard in the U.S. segment of the complex. The smoke did ring alarms on the station and the incident occurred about an hour after the crew had been scheduled to begin their sleep period, although crew members apparently were still awake at the time. Russian flight contollers are analyzing data from the problem, but there is no impact to the crew's normal activities.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

An interesting BBC news article about the construction of Europe's ATV-2 "Johannes Kepler":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8141256.stm

 

[tblaxland]

The MCC-H team is currently assessing the forward plan for BGA 2B operations.

BGA 2B Update: Today ground controllers commanded the BGA 2B (Beta Gimbal Assembly 2B) on the port solar back to nominal autotracking of the sun. The recent anomaly (jamming) experienced by the 2B BGA was believed to be due to the high Beta angles which caused thermal expansion of the BGA components. Now that Beta angles have decreased, no additional issues are anticipated with the 2B BGA.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

An interesting article about preparations of the next Progress: (Progress 34, AKA Progress M-67):

www.onorbit.com/node/1246

Launch of Progress 34 is scheduled for 24th July.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Progress 34 (M-67) launched successfully from the Baikonur Cosmodrome this morning (24 Jul).

It is scheduled to dock to the ISS (at the aft port of Zvezda) on 26 Jul.

 

[DaveS]

Progress 34 (M-67) launched successfully from the Baikonur Cosmodrome this morning (24 Jul).

It is scheduled to dock to the ISS (at the aft port of Zvezda) on 26 Jul.

Progress M-67 docking with SM aft is expected on July 29 due to the late launch of STS-127/2J/A.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Progress M-67 docking with SM aft is expected on July 29 due to the late launch of STS-127/2J/A.

Ah, you're right!

Docking is expected 29 July @ 11:16am GMT/UTC (7:16am EDT).

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The ISS's Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) stopped working Wednesday night. The problem occurred when it was shut down to reconfigure it from a special configuration setup for STS-127. Efforts to turn the system back on failed. The station crew replaced a heater controller assembly for one of the two “beds” that removes carbon dioxide, or CO2, from the station atmosphere. Additional work was scheduled Friday to investigate whether some of the 12 heaters in the “bed” in question may have a short that would require additional maintenance work. The Russian CO2 removal system (Vozdukh) is working fine. The station crew also can use lithium hydroxide (LiOH) to supplement CO2 removal until the CDRA maintenance can be completed.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The Progress 34 (M-67) cargo craft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module on Wed (Jul 29).

The rendezvous appeared normal up until the point the Progress should have started its final approach.

At the completion of it's fly-around, the Progress was 90° out of the expected orientation (i.e., the vehicle was aligned on Zvezda’s port side, instead of Zvezda’s aft).

The automated KURS rendezvous system approach was aborted, and MCC Moscow directed ISS Commander Gennady Padalka to assume manual control with the TORU control system. After re-orienting the Progress to Zvezda’s aft axis, Padalka docked the vehicle within the normal docking parameters.

It was familiar territory for Padalka. During his approach to the station in the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft in March, the automated KURS rendezvous system malfunctioned and Padalka had to take over manual control to complete the final stages of his own docking. He also flew a manual relocation of the Soyuz TMA-14 from Zvezda's aft port to the Pirs Docking Compartment's nadir port earlier this month.

"Gennady, it looks like the fly around is over but we're in the completely wrong configuration" Russian flight control radioed. "You need to dock manually. Transition into the TORU mode".

"Yes, in work, I'm going to go ahead and assume control" Padalka replied from inside Zvezda.

"Everything is centered and I'm closing" Padalka reported as he orchestrated a slow approach to Zvezda's aft port. "Point zero seven... contact... very soft contact, very nice... capture".

"All right, Gennady, congratulations" a Russian flight controller radioed.

Docking video: www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/on_d..._title=Progress 34 Docks to the ISS&_tnimage=

---------- Post added 01-08-09 at 00:22 ---------- Previous post was 31-07-09 at 23:58 ----------

Also, the PMA-3 relocation from the nadir of Unity to the port side of Unity, originally planned for today (Fri 31 Jul), has now been set back by 1 week (to Fri 7 Aug).

---------- Post added at 00:53 ---------- Previous post was at 00:22 ----------

And as the EF (Exposed Facility) was successfully installed onto the JPM (Japanese Pressurised Module) during STS-127, the Japanese Kibo section of the ISS is now officially complete, after nearly a quarter of a century (24 years) of planning/manufacturing/waiting to get it into space! :speakcool:

Official JAXA press release:
www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/07/20090719_kibo_e.html

Some nice pictures of the now completed Kibo section:

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-127/hires/iss020e025622.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-127/hires/iss020e025712.jpg

---------- Post added at 21:00 ---------- Previous post was at 00:53 ----------

The ISS's Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) stopped working Wednesday night. The problem occurred when it was shut down to reconfigure it from a special configuration setup for STS-127. Efforts to turn the system back on failed. The station crew replaced a heater controller assembly for one of the two “beds” that removes carbon dioxide, or CO2, from the station atmosphere. Additional work was scheduled Friday to investigate whether some of the 12 heaters in the “bed” in question may have a short that would require additional maintenance work. The Russian CO2 removal system (Vozdukh) is working fine. The station crew also can use lithium hydroxide (LiOH) to supplement CO2 removal until the CDRA maintenance can be completed.

The CDRA was re-started successfully last night and appears to be functioning nominally.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The ISS's Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) stopped working Wednesday night. The problem occurred when it was shut down to reconfigure it from a special configuration setup for STS-127. Efforts to turn the system back on failed. The station crew replaced a heater controller assembly for one of the two “beds” that removes carbon dioxide, or CO2, from the station atmosphere. Additional work was scheduled Friday to investigate whether some of the 12 heaters in the “bed” in question may have a short that would require additional maintenance work. The Russian CO2 removal system (Vozdukh) is working fine. The station crew also can use lithium hydroxide (LiOH) to supplement CO2 removal until the CDRA maintenance can be completed.

The CDRA was re-started successfully last night and appears to be functioning nominally.

NASA has confirmed that the CDRA is now fixed.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The PMA-3 relocation is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Fri 7 Aug) @ 11:35am GMT/UTC.

The Station’s robot arm (SSRMS) will move PMA-3 from the nadir side of Unity to the port side of Unity.

The move is taking place so that the ISS crewmembers will be able to get access to the exterior side of Unity's port CBM (Common Berthing Mechanism).
They need access in order to do some electrical/plumbing work to prepare for the arrival of Node 3 next Feb (which will be installed on the port side of Unity).

The external side of Unity's port CBM is usually exposed to the vacuum of space, making it impossible for the work to be carried out. PMA-3 is being moved there so that there will be a pressurised space on the external side of the CBM, that the ISS crew members will be able to get access to, once they open the hatches between the ISS and PMA-3.

Once the electrical/plumbing work is complete, PMA-3 will be moved back to the nadir side of Unity, to free the port side of Unity for the arrival of Node 3 in Feb 2010.

---------- Post added at 23:38 ---------- Previous post was at 14:15 ----------

In preparation for tomorrow's relocation of PMA-3, the ISS's robotic arm has been moved from PDGF-1 on the MBS to the PDGF on the port-nadir side of Destiny.
PMA-3 has also been depressurised.

Relocation activities are scheduled to start at about 8:45am GMT/UTC tomorrow (Fri 7).

---------- Post added 07-08-09 at 13:48 ---------- Previous post was 06-08-09 at 23:38 ----------

PMA-3 has been successfully relocated! :speakcool:

---------- Post added 08-08-09 at 00:13 ---------- Previous post was 07-08-09 at 13:48 ----------

A picture of the PMA-3 relocation - PMA-3 is shown grappled by the SSRMS, about to be berthed to the port side of Unity.

 

[tblaxland]

Some troubles in Quest

Some troubles in Quest:

Airlock RPC Trip: Late last Friday (8/14), RPC-7 (Remote Power Controller 7) in the RPCM (RPC Module) AL1A4A_B, a kind of fuse, tripped open. This RPC powers the A/L (Airlock) Zone 1 primary shell heater that covers the circumference of the CL (Crewlock). The trip was due to over-current, and the RPC was declared No-Go for re-closure. A/L secondary heaters are capable of maintaining temperatures in this zone as required for the near term but at the current solar Beta angle heaters are not required to be powered on for temperature control, and the Zone 1 secondary heaters were temporarily disabled following the RPC trip. Specialists are working on a forward plan.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Just to bring this thread up-to-date:

Progress 34 (M-67) has undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module & has successfully de-orbited.

The HTV has been successfully berthed to the ISS & hatches have been opened.
The Exposed Pallet (EP) was removed from the HTV by the SSRMS & was handed off the the JEM RMS, which berthed the EP to the Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF). The JEM RMS then transferred two external payloads from the EP (HREP + SMILES) & berthed them to their respective locations on the JEF. The empty EP was then un-berthed from the JEF & was handed back over to the SSRMS, which installed the EP back into the HTV.
Below is the current configuration of the JEF:

The Soyuz TMA-16 carrying the Expedition 21 crew, which consists of NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian cosmonaut Maksim Suraev, plus spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte, successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wed 30 Sep.
TMA-16 is scheduled to dock to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module on Fri 2 Oct. @ 8:36am GMT/UTC.

The Soyuz TMA-14 carrying the original Expedition 19 (now Expedition 20) crewmembers Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt, along with spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte (who launched to the ISS ten days earlier on Soyuz TMA-16) is scheduled to undock from the nadir port of the Pirs Docking Compartment & land in Kazakhstan on Oct. 10

Before TMA-14 leaves the station, Expedition 20 will merge with Expedition 21, & current ISS commander Gennady Padalka will transfer his command of the ISS to ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, who will become the first ever ESA astronaut to command the ISS.

---------- Post added 02-10-09 at 11:55 ---------- Previous post was 01-10-09 at 23:24 ----------

The Soyuz TMA-16 is now docked to the aft port of Zvezda!

This is the first time in history that 3 Soyuz spacecraft have been docked to the ISS at the same time!

---------- Post added 03-10-09 at 01:18 ---------- Previous post was 02-10-09 at 11:55 ----------

The hatches between the ISS & Soyuz TMA-16 have now been opened!

----------

Here's the Soyuz TMA-16 docking video:

----------

And here's some nice shots of the Soyuz TMA-16 rendezvous & docking:

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e043916.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e043921.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e043924.jpg

This one is real nice - try it as a desktop wallpaper - you won't be disappointed!

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e043929.jpg

Hi-res: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e043936.jpg

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Gennady Padalka handed over command of the ISS to ESA astronaut Frank De Winne on Friday October 9th in the symbolic change of command ceremony.
Frank De Winne is now the commander of Expedition 20. He is the ever first European astronaut to command the ISS.

Gennady Padalka & Mike Barratt, along with spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté, who launched to the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 on September 30th, are scheduled to close the hatches between the ISS & their Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft on Saturday October 10th at 10:00pm GMT/UTC.
Soyuz TMA-14 is scheduled to undock from the nadir port of the Pirs Docking Compartment on Sunday October 11th at 1:07am GMT/UTC.
Soyuz TMA-14 will land in Kazakhstan on Sunday October 11th at 4:31am GMT/UTC.

Upon departure of Soyuz TMA-14, the 6-person Expedition 21 will formally begin. The Expedition 21 crewmembers will be:
CDR -

Frank De Winne (ESA).
FE1 -

Roman Romanenko (RSA).
FE2-

Bob Thirsk (CSA).
FE3 -

Jeff Williams (NASA).
FE4 -

Maxim Suraev (RSA).
FE5 -

Nicole Stott (NASA).