[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #05-15

["ARTHUR Z. ROWE" <N1ORC@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - Amsat A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-15*
*5 p.m. CST, Friday, March 25, 2005*
*Expedition 10 Crew*

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan 
Sharipov completed preparations for a Monday spacewalk this week and 
rested to prepare for the excursion.

Sharipov and Chiao are set to step outside early Monday for nearly six 
hours to continue the external outfitting of the Station with antennas 
for the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). They also will deploy 
a small Russian technology satellite, Nanosatellite, to test control 
techniques.

NASA Television will broadcast the spacewalk live beginning at 11 p.m. 
CST Sunday. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at about 12:25 a.m. CST 
Monday.

It is planned to be the second and final planned spacewalk of the 
expedition. They began preparations last Friday with a spacewalk 
timeline review. They also gathered tools they will use to install the 
antennas on the exterior of the Station's Zvezda living quarters module. 
On Monday, the crew worked out on a stationary bicycle while doctors on 
the ground monitored their health and they were pronounced physically 
fit for the spacewalk. The crew also checked the health of the 
breadbox-sized satellite, finding it in good order.

The spacewalkers will install the fourth, fifth and sixth in a series of 
communications antennas for the European ATV. They also will install a 
Global Positioning System antenna on Zvezda and inspect and photograph 
the large “Lira” antenna on Zvezda to insure it is in the correct position.

Early today, a thermal control loop panel in Zvezda that provides 
cooling to the Pirs airlock failed, and its backup system was activated 
to provide the necessary cooling. There are two circulating pumps 
associated with each panel. Both pump panels are needed to provide 
adequate backup capability for the spacewalk. The crew will troubleshoot 
the pump panel early Saturday, and replace one or both of the pumps in 
the degraded panel.

The crew will close hatches between the U.S. and Russian segments of the 
Station at 4:55 p.m. Sunday, deactivate nonessential systems on the 
Station at 5:30 p.m. and perform preliminary spacesuit tests at 7 p.m. 
Airlock systems checks are set for 9:20 p.m., and final suit checks at 
9:50 p.m.

Chiao and Sharipov will climb into their Orlan suits at 10:10 p.m. 
Sunday and will begin depressurizing the airlock at 10:40 p.m. The 
spacewalk will officially begin when they open the Pirs hatch about 
12:25 a.m. CST Monday.

Also this week, the crew repressurized the Station using oxygen from 
tanks on the attached Progress supply ship. Mission managers elected to 
postpone any further troubleshooting of the balky Elektron 
oxygen-generating system until after the spacewalk. The Elektron, which 
converts water into oxygen, is one of several methods that can be used 
to provide oxygen.

Ground controllers powered up the Mobile Servicing System on Wednesday 
and confirmed software was working properly after an update last week. 
The Canadarm2 robotic arm is in position for its cameras to provide 
television views of the spacewalk.

Russian flight controllers commanded Station thrusters to fire and 
increase the altitude of the complex by about 1.8 statute miles. The 
reboost places the Station at the correct altitude and trajectory for 
the launch of the next crew, Expedition 11, and a European Space Agency 
astronaut on April 15.

On Thursday, managers approved a plan to make connections that will 
bypass a failed circuit breaker, called a Remote Power Controller, on 
the first spacewalk to be conducted during Shuttle mission STS-114. The 
job is planned to be a five-minute task on that spacewalk, the first of 
three to be conducted by the Shuttle Return-to- Flight crew while 
Discovery is docked to the Station. STS-114 spacewalker Steve Robinson 
will reconfigure power cables to bypass that circuit breaker, providing 
power to restart a Station Control Moment Gyroscope. Power was removed 
from that gyroscope last week when the circuit breaker failed.

Later on the Shuttle mission, Robinson and fellow spacewalker Soichi 
Noguchi will replace another gyroscope that failed in June 2002. Once 
complete, the work will restore the Station to four operating 
gyroscopes. The Station's orientation is being maintained well now by 
only two gyroscopes, but more will be needed as assembly of the complex 
resumes and its size increases.

Information about crew activities on the Station, future launch dates 
and Station sighting opportunities from Earth, is available on the 
Internet at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

The next International Space Station Status report will be issued on 
Monday, March 28, following the spacewalk or earlier if events warrant.

###
----
Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe sarex" to Majordomo@amsat.org