[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #16

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC - Amsat #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #04-16*
*2 p.m. CST, Friday, March 26, 2004*
*Expedition 8 Crew*

The oxygen-producing Elektron unit aboard the International Space 
Station continues to function well, as it has since it was restarted 
early last Saturday following the replacement of major components.

Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander 
Kaleri spent two days last week replacing a liquids unit and a water 
flow system of the Russian Elektron, in the Zvezda Service Module. The 
Elektron separates water into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen is used in 
the Station's atmosphere while the hydrogen is vented overboard.

The Elektron had shut down repeatedly after only brief periods of 
operation during the past several weeks. In the meantime, the crew used 
oxygen and air from the Progress cargo vehicle docked at the Station to 
replenish the atmosphere, as well as Solid Fuel Oxygen Generation (SFOG) 
canisters. Each canister can supply the oxygen needs of one crewmember 
for one day.

A total of 13 SFOGs were used during the week before the Elektron was 
repaired and activated. More than 100 SFOGs remain on board, and two 
high-pressure tanks on the Station's Quest airlock contain a supply of 
oxygen that could last several months if needed.

With the Elektron running smoothly, Foale and Kaleri devoted much of the 
week to science activities.

Kaleri tended the Rasteniya experiment, a greenhouse containing peas, 
designed to see how plants grow in a microgravity environment. Kaleri 
also did a test of the Russian TORU manual docking system, using the ISS 
Progress 13 vehicle docked to Zvezda. That Progress is to be undocked 
and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in mid-May, the day before a new 
Progress arrives with about 2½ tons of equipment, supplies, water and fuel.

Foale also worked with the Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG) 
experiment. It involves injecting honey into a water container to see 
how the two combine in weightlessness. He also worked with the Pore 
Formation and Mobility Investigation, melting a transparent material in 
the Microgravity Science Glovebox to observe the formation and 
interaction of bubbles in the material. The experiment could help in 
prevention of bubble formation during such processes, perhaps resulting 
in stronger materials.

On Monday and Tuesday, both crewmembers wore acoustic dosimeters for 
about eight hours as part of regularly scheduled tests of the Station's 
noise levels. For the last half of both days, they removed the 
dosimeters and set them up in stationary locations. On Tuesday, both 
crewmembers talked with students at Mill Middle School in Williamsville, 
N.Y.

Today Foale and Kaleri did a periodic, detailed inspection of one of two 
U.S. spacesuits on the Station. The other is not scheduled for 
inspection for several months.

Information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future 
launch dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on 
the Earth, is available on the Internet at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Details on Station science operations can be found on an Internet site 
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space 
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at:

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/

The next ISS status report will be issued Friday, April 2, or earlier if 
events warrant..



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