[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #24

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC - Amsat #31468


*International Space Station Status Report #04-24*
*2 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 7, 2004*
*Expedition 9 Crew*

The new crew of the International Space Station spent its first full 
week alone concentrating on life science research, spacewalk 
preparations, and becoming comfortable with their new home in orbit.

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike 
Fincke took part in a variety of experiments that focus on learning how 
the human body responds to extended periods without gravity. The 
crewmembers completed the first sessions of a series of Russian 
biomedical experiments measuring body mass and calf volume and drawing 
blood to measure red blood cell mass. They also performed operations 
with two European Space Agency experiments looking into adaptation of 
the vestibular system, which provides the body's sense of balance.

Padalka and Fincke launched with plans to conduct two spacewalks, but 
they learned last weekend that a third had officially been added. The 
planned June 10 spacewalk calls for the crewmembers to replace a Remote 
Power Controller Module (RPCM), a type of remote controlled circuit 
breaker, on the Station’s truss. The RPCM failed April 21, cutting power 
to one of the Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) which provide attitude 
control for the Station. There are still two CMGs operating well and 
controlling the Station's orientation. As managers continue to evaluate 
the spacewalk plans, Padalka and Fincke will conduct a fit check of the 
U.S. spacesuits next week. This week, Fincke completed maintenance work 
with the spacesuit battery chargers and batteries and began a procedure 
to regenerate canisters which remove the carbon dioxide spacewalkers 
exhale from the suits. The previous Station crew, Expedition 8 Commander 
Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, are at the Gagarin 
Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, this week for 
post-flight debriefings and checks. Foale is expected to return to 
Houston later this month.

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 May 14 or sooner if events 
warrant.

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