[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #04-31

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC - Amsat #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #04-31*
*3 p.m. CDT, Friday, June 18, 2004*
*Expedition 9 Crew*

Father's Day came early for Astronaut Mike Fincke, 225 miles in space 
aboard the International Space Station, as he received the best present 
on Earth -- baby daughter Tarali Paulina Fincke, born Friday.

Although Fincke is among thousands of American fathers whose service to 
the country has prevented them from attending the birth of a child, he 
is the first U.S. astronaut to have celebrated the event from space.

Fincke's wife, Renita, gave birth to their second child in Clear Lake, 
Texas, on this morning. Fincke later spoke to teams of flight 
controllers in Russia and the U.S. during a television downlink, 
thanking them for their support of his family and offering a celebratory 
cigar and candy to Station Commander Gennady Padalka. Fincke also urged 
everyone to remember all those in service to their country and support 
them as they make similar sacrifices away from their families.

Fincke, the NASA Station Science Officer, and Padalka spent this week 
getting ready for a spacewalk planned for June 24 to replace a faulty 
Remote Power Controller, essentially a circuit breaker. The spacewalk is 
designed to replace a Remote Power Controller Module (RPCM) which houses 
the faulty circuit breaker, through which power is routed to one of the 
Control Moment Gyros (CMGs).

There are four CMGs in the Station's Z1 truss. They control the 
orientation of the ISS in space. CMG 1 failed about two years ago, and 
will be replaced during the next Shuttle mission. CMG 2 was taken off 
line by the April 21 failure of the circuit breaker and should be 
restored by the RPCM's replacement. Meanwhile, two functioning CMGs 
adequately control the station's attitude.

NASA Television coverage of the spacewalk begins at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, 
June 24. Padalka and Fincke are scheduled to leave the Russian Pirs 
docking compartment at 4:50 p.m. CDT in Russian spacesuits. A Mission 
Status Briefing focusing on the spacewalk will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, 
June 21, at the Johnson Space Center and will be carried on NASA-TV.

The two spacewalkers will move to the worksite, on the S0 truss, 
covering part of the distance using the Russian Strela crane attached to 
Pirs. The replacement work should take about 4½ hours. Other tasks may 
be performed if time allows.

The crew's Russian spacesuits require a line of sight to antennas on the 
Russian segment of the station, some distance from the worksite, to 
communicate with the ground and with one another. Communications access 
points have been identified and four basic hand signals have been 
developed should Padalka and Fincke need them.

In addition to the spacewalk preparations, the crew's attention this 
week was devoted to experiment activities. The crew used one another as 
subjects in mass measurement checks and Fincke worked with three of the 
Express Racks aboard the U.S. laboratory Destiny to load new software.

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 on Thursday, June 24, after 
the spacewalk, or earlier if events warrant.

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