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NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 16 March 2012

18.05.12

CDR Dan Burbank had most of his workday (~7 hrs) dedicated to one part of major ISS outfitting: upgrading the ISS Ku-band system by routing & installing cabling for the HRCS (High Rate Communication System). Today's work focused on the routing of four cables in the US Lab Forward Endcone. [For the necessary rotations of the Lab D1 rack, FE-6 Pettit lent assistance; also required was temporarily clearing out stowage at loc. P1 (Robonaut & CWCs), removing a smoke detector and disconnecting some JSL (Joint Station LAN) cables. Four cables had to be installed today: one Ethernet cable from the Ku-CU (Ku-band Comm Unit) to the JSL, one AV-3 power jumper for the Ku-CU2, and two MDM (Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) 1553 data cable bundles. Cable routing in the Lab Aft Endcone has already been completed (2/1/12). Three more installation & cabling tasks will be scheduled at future dates. When fully installed and operational, HRCS will provide substantially faster uplink & downlink speeds, improved bandwidth, two extra S/G (Space/Ground) voice loops, two extra video downlink channels, and contingency Ku Commanding capability. It will also allow additional data to be downlinked from the P/L (Payload) and C&C (Command & Control) MDMs through Ku-band using the MDM Ethernet cables routed by the crew during the EPIC (Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications) work completed earlier in the Increment. This new functionality will be achieved through three major upgrades: Improved APS (Automated Payload Switch) installations (already completed during Increment 28), improved PEHG (Payload Ethernet Hub Gateway) installations, and the Ku-CU installations. The PEHG and Ku-CU installations are not scheduled until at least October 2012. To prepare for their arrival, a number of cable routing and other tasks are required and are being done early, today's one being one of them.] FE-4 Kononenko meanwhile spent ~2 hrs with the KPT-2 payload and its BAR science instruments suite, using the AU-1 (Ultrasound Analyzer 1) to measure background noise in the window areas of SM, PkhO (Transfer Compartment), PrK and MRM2 Poisk. AU-1 can detect and locate tiny leaks by listening for "hissing" noise. [KPT-2 monitors problem areas, necessary to predict shell micro-destruction rate and to develop measures to extend station life. Data are copied to the RSE1 laptop for downlink to Earth via OCA, with photographs, and the activities are supported by ground specialist tagup as required. Objective of the Russian KPT-2/BAR science payload is to measure environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, air flow rate) and module shell surface temperatures behind RS (Russian Segment) panels and other areas susceptible to possible micro-destruction (corrosion), before and after insolation (day vs. night). Piren-V is a video-endoscope with pyrosensor, part of the methods & means being used on ISS for detecting tiny leaks in ISS modules which could lead to cabin depressurization. Besides KPT-2 Piren-V, the payload uses a remote infrared thermometer (Kelvin-Video), a thermohygrometer (Iva-6A), a heat-loss thermoanemometer/thermometer (TTM-2) and an ultrasound analyzer (AU-1) to determine environmental data in specific locations and at specific times. Activities include documentary photography with the NIKON D2X camera and flash.] FE-5 Kuipers conducted the weekly 10-min. CWC (Contingency Water Container) inventory as part of the on-going WRM (Water Recovery & Management) assessment of onboard water supplies. Updated "cue cards" based on the crew's water calldowns are sent up every other week for recording changes. [The current card (29-0008N) lists 28 CWCs (368.35 L total) for the five types of water identified on board: 1. Silver technical water (2 CWCs with 64.7 L, for Elektron electrolysis, all containing Wautersia bacteria; 2. Condensate water (5 CWCs with 74.8 L, plus 2 empty bags); 3. Iodinated water (9 CWCs with 80.45 L plus 1 empty bag; also 7 expired bags with 121.8 L); 4. Waste water (1 bag with 6.4 L EMU waste water); and 5. Special fluid (1 CWC with 20.2 L, hose/pump flush). Also one leaky CWC (#1024) with 8.5L). Other CWCs are stowed behind racks and are currently not being tracked due to unchanging contents. Wautersia bacteria are typical water-borne microorganisms that have been seen previously in ISS water sources. These isolates pose no threat to human health.] Moving then to the ESA COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory), Pettit performed GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) tests on twelve 120V DC outlets to verify their integrity. [The tests involved outlets J01, J02, J03 on each of the four SUPs (Standard Utility Panels). GFIs are performed by ground fault interrupters which protect from electrical shock by interrupting a household circuit when there is a difference in the currents in the "hot" and neutral wires. Such a difference indicates that an abnormal diversion of current from the "hot" wire is occurring, as may be the case when a person has come into contact with the "hot" wire and is being shocked. When a circuit is functioning normally, all the return current from an appliance flows through the neutral wire, so the presence of a difference between "hot" and neutral currents represents a malfunction which in some circumstances could produce a dangerous or even lethal shock hazard. In US households, GFIs are required by the electrical code for receptacles in bathrooms, some kitchen receptacles, some outside receptacles, and receptacles near swimming pools. The horror story scenarios which led to these code requirements are things like dropping a hair dryer or a portable radio into a bathtub with a person, causing electrocution.] Don Pettit also concluded his 3rd (FD75) ICV Ambulatory Monitoring session, doffing the two Actiwatches and HM2 (Holter Monitor 2) about 24 hrs after the end of yesterday's "midpoint" activity (~9:50am EDT), then powered on the laptop and downloaded the data from the two Actiwatch Spectrums, copied the data from the 2 HM2 HiFi CF Cards to the HRF PC and downloaded Cardiopres data. [For the ICV Ambulatory Monitoring session, during the first 24 hrs (while all devices are worn), ten minutes of quiet, resting breathing are timelined to collect data for a specific analysis. The nominal exercise includes at least 10 minutes at a heart rate >

Source: Space Ref (press release)