[sarex] ISS STATUS REPORT #05-29

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

Submitted by Arthur N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*International Space Station Status Report #05-29*
*3 p.m. CDT, Friday, June 10, 2005*
*Expedition 11 Crew*

Aboard the International Space Station this week, the eleventh 
Expedition crew spent the latter part of its second month in space 
preparing for the arrival of new cargo as its commander quietly slipped 
into second place on the all-time human space endurance list.

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and Astronaut John Phillips conducted 
scientific research while troubleshooting the Station’s oxygen generator 
and stowed trash and other unneeded items into the Progress supply 
vehicle for disposal next week.

Late Friday the Station was to pass over the Gulf of Mexico, offering 
flight controllers an opportunity to capture video of the season’s first 
tropical storm Arlene as it tracks northward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Krikalev – on his sixth voyage into space and third long-duration stay 
on space stations (one on Mir and two on the ISS) – surpassed fellow 
Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov on the space duration record list. He will 
move into the number one spot in August, which currently is held by 
Sergei Avdeyev (747 days).

During the week, Krikalev swapped the large liquid unit component in the 
Station’s Elektron oxygen generation unit in preparation for an attempt 
in two weeks to restore its use. New filters for its gas lines are to 
arrive aboard the next Progress cargo vessel late next week and will be 
installed before the attempted activation.

In the meantime, the crew continues to replenish the cabin atmosphere 
each day using two solid fuel oxygen generation canisters – devices that 
introduce oxygen into the pressurized compartment by a chemical process. 
Plentiful supplies of these canisters are on board, and more are set to 
arrive on the next supply ship June 18.

The onboard supply combined with future shipments provides oxygen for 
the crew until at least January 2006 – even without use of the Elektron. 
In addition, new Elektron components and spares also are planned for 
delivery aboard supply ships later this year.

Phillips worked this week with an experiment designed to measure muscle 
tone primarily in his legs and feet. Strategically spaced data takes by 
Phillips were conducted before his mission and two of four now have been 
performed on orbit to allow principle investigators to correlate bone 
and muscle loss in order to develop countermeasures for future 
long-duration space flights by humans.

Early next week, the crew will wrap up stowage of trash and unneeded 
equipment in the Progress supply ship prior to its departure Wednesday. 
The undocking clears the docking port on the aft end of the Zvezda 
module for the arrival of ISS Progress 18 scheduled to launch June 16 
and dock the evening of June 18 (U.S. time). NASA TV will cover the 
arrival live.

The crew is scheduled for a light duty weekend, including routine 
housekeeping tasks and family conferences. 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://www.nasa.gov/station

The next ISS status report will be issued Friday, June 17, or earlier if 
events warrant.
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