Oct. 20, 2006

Katherine Trinidad 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-3749

James Hartsfield 
Johnson Space Center, Houston 
281-483-5111 

STATUS REPORT: SS06-045

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-045

The three residents of the International Space Station spent a busy 
week with varied science and technical tasks as they began their 
second month in orbit. 

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer 
Mikhail Tyurin practiced using the manual docking system for the 
Russian Progress cargo ship. They rehearsed rendezvous; fly around 
maneuvers and approach and docking with an on-board simulator. 

During the training, technicians at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 
Kazakhstan completed preparations for the launch of a Progress cargo 
craft on Monday, Oct. 23 at 9:40 a.m. EDT. It is scheduled to dock to 
the complex Thursday, Oct. 26 at 10:28 a.m. EDT. NASA TV live 
coverage starts at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday. 

The Progress is filled with more than two tons of food, fuel and 
supplies for the station and its crew. Also aboard are new spare 
parts for the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation system, which has 
been shut down since last month. 

Earlier Friday, Lopez-Alegria replaced equipment in the Carbon Dioxide 
Removal System, used to remove impurities from the station's 
atmosphere. Only one of its two systems designed to purge carbon 
dioxide from the air has been operating due to particulate matter 
clogging an air valve. Lopez-Alegria installed a new air flow 
regulator valve and a filter to recover the use of the second of two 
adsorbent beds in the device. 

He also joined Tyurin to inspect and photograph the Zvezda Service 
Module windows and conducted a video tour of the station for training 
of future expedition crews. 

Lopez-Alegria, who also serves as the NASA science officer, collected 
his second set of blood and urine samples for the Nutrition 
Experiment. This is NASA's most comprehensive in-flight study of 
human physiological changes during long-duration spaceflight. The 
experiment measures bone metabolism, oxidative damage, nutritional 
assessments and hormonal changes. It also will help to define 
nutritional requirements and develop food systems for missions to the 
moon and Mars. 

Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin also completed a medical officer proficiency 
training session. European Space Agency Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter 
began the first of three runs of the Analysis of a Novel Sensory 
Mechanism in Root Phototropism experiment in the European Modular 
Cultivation System. Seeds will sprout next week in the modular 
cultivation facility, where plants and other small organisms can grow 
in variable gravity conditions using a centrifuge. 

By sprouting seeds under different levels of partial gravity and 
different frequencies of light, this study will increase the 
understanding of the different systems plants use to determine what 
direction their roots and shoots should grow and which genes are 
responsible for successful plant growth. 

NASA's payload operations team at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 
Huntsville, Ala., coordinates U.S. science activities on the station. 
Other science work this week included sessions of the Profilaktika 
and Urolux Russian experiments. 

The station remains under the control of three gyroscopes after one 
was shut down more than a week ago. On Monday, flight controllers 
conducted a test of Control Moment Gyro (CMG) 3, which was turned off 
due to excessive vibrations. Monday's test, looking at the health of 
the accelerometer, spun the CMG up to 500 rpm and then let it coast 
down to zero while acceleration data were taken with the Microgravity 
Acceleration Measurement System to correlate and compare with data 
from the internal CMG accelerometer. An initial review indicated no 
unusual vibrations, but engineers continue to analyze the results. 

On Monday, flight controllers will begin a five-day checkout of the 
Thermal Radiator Rotary Joints (TRRJ) on the S1 and P1 trusses that 
will rotate once the station's upgraded external thermal loops are 
activated during the STS-116 mission. The TRRJ test will enable the 
radiators to auto track or revolve when required to dissipate heat 
from the trusses' avionics equipment. 

The next status report will be issued on Monday, Oct. 23, following 
the launch of ISS Progress 23. For more about the crew's activities 
and station sighting opportunities, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/station

	
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