[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #04-25

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR - N1ORC - AMSAT #31468


*International Space Station Status Report #04-25*
*3 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 14, 2004*
*Expedition 9 Crew*

International Space Station Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA Science 
Officer and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke eased into a regular schedule of 
operations in orbit this week, preparing spacesuits for checkouts next 
week and loading trash aboard a Progress vehicle that will soon depart.

Early in the week, Fincke conducted the second in a series of battery 
recharging activities for the U.S. spacesuits. The nickel metal hydride 
batteries will be used during a spacesuit dry run that is scheduled to 
be conducted next week. Fincke also worked on the water servicing system 
of one of the spacesuits’ liquid cooling and ventilation garments. The 
garments, worn under the spacesuit, are imbedded with a network of tiny 
tubes that provide cooling. Fincke’s maintenance work ensured no air 
bubbles will develop in that tubing. The spacesuit work is part of 
preparations and evaluations for a spacewalk planned for June 10 to 
replace a Remote Power Control Module and restore power to a Station 
Control Moment Gyroscope.

Both crewmembers also spent several hours loading trash into the 
Progress 13 spacecraft, which is scheduled to be undocked from the 
Station at 4:18 a.m. CDT May 24. The next Russian cargo vehicle, 
Progress 14, is scheduled to launch May 25 from Kazakhstan at 7:34 a.m. 
CDT and dock with the Station at 8:57 a.m. CDT May 27. Among fresh food, 
clothes and other supplies to be brought to the Station aboard Progress 
14 are new spacesuit gloves and other equipment that will be used during 
the June 10 spacewalk.

Also this week, U.S. flight controllers transmitted a software upgrade 
to several onboard computers. The upgrades are part of an extensive 
program initiated this year to improve Station software. They were 
loaded in four separate Station computers this week: two external 
multiplexer/demultiplexers and two S0 Truss MDMs that operate the 
systems on the truss.

The crew's scientific work included setting up a camera that will be 
used by thousands of middle-school students. The Earth Knowledge 
Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM) camera was set up to 
operate from a window in the Zvezda Service Module. For these EarthKAM 
observations, more than sixty schools and 3,600 students are expected to 
participate. The EarthKAM program allows students to research and select 
photos of sites on Earth to be taken using the equipment aboard the 
Station.

Each day, crewmembers also had some time reserved for continued Station 
familiarization and adaptation, as is routine for new Station 
crewmembers during their first two weeks onboard.

Flight controllers are also preparing for a regularly scheduled reboost 
of the ISS on Tuesday using the Progress engine for an 11-minute firing 
that will increase the altitude of the Station by two statute miles at 
its apogee.

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 21 or sooner if events 
warrant.

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