[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #05-17

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

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - Amsat A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-17*
*4 p.m. CST, Friday, April 1, 2005*
*Expedition 10 Crew*

Following their second spacewalk and nearing the end of a six-month 
flight, Expedition 10 crew members conducted science experiments, 
prepared for the arrival of their replacements and readied the Station 
for the first post-Columbia Shuttle mission.

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan 
Sharipov also spent much of the latter part of the week stowing tools 
used during the spacewalk, cleaning and stowing their Russian Orlan 
spacesuits and reconfiguring the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock. The 
crew installed antennas that will be used by a new automated European 
supply craft and released a small Russian technology satellite during 
the 4-hour, 30-minute spacewalk.

Chiao and Sharipov began preparing the Station for the first visit by a 
Space Shuttle mission since the Columbia accident. The Shuttle Discovery 
is targeted for launch on mission STS-114 in a planning window that 
begins May 15 and ends June 3. The crew began packing gear that will be 
returned on the Shuttle and they checked out cameras that the upcoming 
Station crew will use to photograph the Shuttle's heat shield. Chiao 
conducted some troubleshooting on one of those digital cameras that is 
experiencing intermittent card reading errors during downloads. Other 
cameras are available if needed.

The crew also continued work with the Station's Elektron oxygen 
generation system. The system has operated intermittently over the past 
few weeks. Additional troubleshooting was conducted this week by 
Sharipov while Russian technicians continued to study repair options. 
Multiple alternate sources of oxygen are available and the Elektron 
problems have not significantly impacted activities.

Chiao and Sharipov participated in a question and answer session with 
students at the Sheridan Middle School in New Haven, CT Thursday and an 
amateur radio session with the Science Discovery Center in Denton, Texas.

Two of the Station's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) continue to 
perform well, controlling the Station's orientation. A brief, unusual 
vibration was detected on one of them, CMG 3, just after the end of the 
spacewalk on Monday. Engineers are continuing to evaluate the 
indication. Two additional gyroscopes are not operating. One of them is 
planned to be repowered during a spacewalk on the upcoming Shuttle 
mission and another will be replaced at that time. Two gyroscopes are 
sufficient for control of the current Station, but additional gyroscopes 
will be needed as assembly resumes and the size of the complex increases.

The next Station crew continued training this week at Russia's Gagarin 
Cosmonaut Training Center. Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and 
Flight Engineer John Phillips, along with European Space Agency 
Astronaut Roberto Vittori, completed final exams and certification for 
launch. They will travel to the launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, 
Kazakhstan, this weekend and conduct a check of their Soyuz spacecraft 
on Monday. Vittori will spend eight days on the Station under a 
commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency. 
Krikalev and Phillips will spend six months aloft.

For more on NASA, the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future 
launch dates and Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the 
Earth, visit:

www.nasa.gov

The next International Space Station Status report will be issued on 
Friday, April 8, or earlier if events warrant.

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