International Space Station 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.

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