Updates ISS UPDATES

[MattBaker]

That's actually quite interesting, who would do an Avoidance Maneuver, the satellite or the station?

 

[Ripley]

I guess the Station, since it is "refuelable".
And I also guess it depends on the satellite's nature and mission and another million variables...

 

[orb]

ESA: Turn off the lights, André will be watching:

30 March 2012

Are you turning off the lights in your home this weekend for Earth Hour? ESA astronaut André Kuipers will be watching that you do from the International Space Station.

Earth Hour is a world effort to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. At 20:30 local time on Saturday, people all over the world will be turning off non-essential lights. World Wide Fund for Nature ambassador André Kuipers and ESA are doing their part.

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SPACE.com: Earth Hour From Space: Astronaut to Participate In Orbit

Spaceflight Now: The human factor: Space station as a social laboratory

 

[orb]

CBS News Space: Engineers troubleshoot station-to-cargo module power glitch:

Space station engineers are troubleshooting an apparent problem with a Russian system used to route electrical power from the lab complex to a European Space Agency cargo ship that docked at the Zvezda command module's aft port Wednesday. One of two power channels failed when a Russian air scrubber was activated to filter the cargo ship's air supply, but it's not yet known whether the problem was the result of scrubber operation or a coincidental malfunction in another system.

But the two-channel Russian equipment control system, or RECS, is crucial for normal operation, providing station power to ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle. While the ATV is equipped with four solar panels, the angle between the space station's orbit and the sun will reach a point early next week where the arrays alone will be unable to generate the necessary power. At least one RECS channel must be available, or the crew will have no choice but to undock the ATV.

Flight controllers are hopeful that won't be necessary and that the ATV can remain in place until early September as planned. The second RECS power channel was briefly tested Friday and appeared to operate normally on battery power. Engineers plan to connect the ATV's electrical system to the station's Saturday using the RECS backup channel and if all goes well, the cargo ship's rocket thrusters will be used later in the day to raise the station's orbit.

But engineers still do not understand what caused the primary channel to fail and if the second channel suffers a similar glitch when it is tied into the station's electrical system, the lab's six-man crew would be forced to carry out an expedited unpacking of the ATV. In that case, the crew would work as fast as possible to remove the highest-priority supplies from the cargo ship before the "beta angle" -- the angle between the sun and the plane of the station's orbit -- reaches a point where the ATV's solar arrays cannot generate the necessary power. That is expected to occur Monday.

The ATV would be jettisoned before that could happen. But a premature departure could prevent the crew from completely unloading the craft and repacking it with trash and discarded equipment. That, in turn, would cause a major stowage problem aboard the station. While flight controllers are hopeful it won't come to that, plans are in place for an expedited undocking if that becomes necessary.

"Plans call for the backup channel to be connected to the ATV around 11 a.m. Central time (GMT-5) Saturday," NASA said in a web posting late Saturday. "In advance of that, again, as a precautionary measure, the crew will be directed to forego its off-duty day Saturday and will begin unloading cargo from the ATV-3 starting at 5 a.m. Central time.

"This will protect a timeline that would enable the crew to unload cargo all day Saturday, and stay up three hours past its regular bedtime on Saturday to sleep shift for a potential expedited undocking of the ATV-3 on Monday sometime between 1:45 p.m. and 6:18 p.m. Central time, if the power connection on the RECS backup channel does not work."

If the backup channel works normally when it is tied in Saturday, "then the crew will be told to stand down from any further cargo transfer and the flight control team in Houston will be directed to stop working toward an undocking on Monday," NASA said in its web posting.

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[orb]

Aviation Week: Eventful Day of ATV-3 Power Toubleshooting Ends With Successful Space Station Re-boost:

With electricity flowing through a backup Russia power source, the European Space Agency's recently arrived Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 roared to life for a near five-minute International Space Station orbit raising maneuver late Saturday.


The boost capped a long day for the station's six-man crew and flight control teams in Houston, Moscow and Toulouse.


And in the long term, the 5:54 p.m., EST, maneuver positioned the station for the arrival of Russia's Progress 47 supply craft, which is scheduled to lift off for the orbiting science laboratory on April 20; the April 27 Soyuz descent to Earth by three of the crew; and the May 15 Soyuz launch with a trio of replacements.

"Everything is nominal," Russia's Mission Control informed station commander Dan Burbank and his five U. S., European and Russian colleagues at the maneuver's conclusion.

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RIA Novosti: Europe’s ATV-3 Space Freighter Adjusts Space Station Orbit

NASASpaceflight: ATV-3 electrical power issue successfully resolved as first reboost is performed, article by Orbinaut Pete

 

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NASA: Space Savings for Station Science Samples

SPACE.com: Astronauts Snap 1 Million Photos from Space Station

 

[orb]

ISS Reboost update, scheduled for April 5 (via Roscosmos):

The maneuver will be conducted using two main engines of the cargo spacecraft ATV-3 "Edoardo Amaldi". The engines will ignite at 19:05 UTC, Apr. 5, and will be firing for 904.2 seconds. As a result, the ISS will receive additional dV of 2.2 m/s. The average height of the orbit will be increased by 3.9 km to 393.1 km altitude.

The purpose of this operation is to form a working orbit to provide necessary conditions for landing of Soyuz TMA-22 on April 27 and for the expected docking of Soyuz TMA-04M, scheduled for launch May 15.​

 

[N_Molson]

The engines will ignite at 19:05 UTC, Apr. 5, and will be firing for 904.2 seconds. As a result, the ISS will receive additional dV of 2.2 m/s.

Hehe, for sure, the crew is not going to be pinned to a wall.

Do they even notice the acceleration ?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Do they even notice the acceleration ?

They sure do!

 

[MattBaker]

According to this thread the reboost of the video was this one:

This morning's ISS reboost by the two KD engines of the SM's (Service Module's) ODU (Integrated Propulsion System) was performed on time (12:52 PM GMT) with a burn duration of 1 min 54 sec, yielding a delta-V of 1.90 m/s/6.2 ft/s (planned: 1.82/5.9).

So a little bit less delta-V than this time but nearly eight times shorter, let's say 1/7 of the acceleration of the video.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 05/04/2012.

ISS/ATV Reboost:
Today at 7:06 PM GMT, a one-burn ISS reboost with ATV-3 “Edoardo Amaldi” OCS (Orbit Correction System) thrusters will be conducted for a duration of 15 min 4 sec and a delta-V of 2.2 m/s (7.22 ft/s), to result in a predicted mean altitude increase of 3.86 km (2.08 nmi). ISS attitude control authority will be handed over to Russian MCS (Motion Control System) at ~5:20 PM GMT for ATV control in TEA (Torque Equilibrium Attitude) and will return to US CMG momentum management at ~8:20 PM GMT. Purpose of the reboost is to set up phasing for Progress M-15M/47P launch, Soyuz TMA-22/28S undock/landing and Soyuz TMA-04M/30S launch.

 

[orb]

Florida Today: ISS crew salutes spaceflight that started it all:

CAPE CANAVERAL — A multinational crew aboard the International Space Station will take time today to share special meals to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the world’s first human spaceflight.

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Burbank, the current station commander, said he and his crewmates have planned a lighter-than-normal schedule today, giving them time to “enjoy a couple of meals together.”

That is a rarity because of the pace of scientific research and outpost operations.

“In fact, a lot of us end up eating individually, on the fly, as we go,” Burbank said. “And so this will be a good opportunity for us to take a few minutes and think about the history of our space program up until this point, and kind of talk about where we think we’ll be going in the future.”

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SPACE.com: Astronauts in Orbit Mark Big Space Anniversaries

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: Space Station Crew Set to Welcome 1st Private Cargo Ship

NASASpaceflight: ISS translates robotic assets in preparation to greet SpaceX’s Dragon

Aviation Week: NASA, ESA Astronauts Train For Dragon Arrival

 

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NASA:
MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-069
NASA Television to Air Movements of Space Station Cargo Ships

April 16, 2012

HOUSTON -- NASA Television will broadcast the departure of one Russian Progress cargo ship from the International Space Station (ISS) and the arrival of another beginning on Thursday, April 19.

ISS Progress 46, which arrived at the station in January and has been filled with trash for disposal, will undock from the Pirs docking compartment at 6:03 a.m. CDT April 19. Russian flight controllers will command the resupply ship to leave the station for several days of tests, then send it to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. NASA TV coverage of undocking will begin at 5:45 a.m.

At 7:50 a.m. on April 20, the ISS Progress 47 cargo craft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, loaded with 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the six crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA TV coverage of launch will begin at 7:30 a.m.

Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank of NASA and his five crewmates will monitor events as the Progress 47 automatically docks to the Pirs docking compartment at 9:40 a.m. Sunday, April 22. NASA TV coverage of the Progress's arrival at the station will begin at 9 a.m.

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[orb]

NASA: Canadarm2 to Catch SpaceX’s Dragon on Its Maiden Voyage to the ISS:

Apr.16, 2012

"Here, there be dragons”…the phrase used to designate the boundaries of the known world on historical maps seems fitting as the U.S. space program embarks upon a new frontier in space exploration with the launch of the first commercial demonstration flight to the International Space Station. However, rarely were the monsters of yore as eagerly anticipated as SpaceX’s Dragon, the first privately built cargo ship destined for the orbiting outpost.

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[orb]

Universe Today: How to Capture a Dragon in Space

 

[orb]

NASA:
MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-073
Coverage Set For Next Soyuz Space Station Crew Rotation

April 19, 2012

HOUSTON -- Over the next several weeks, NASA Television will provide coverage of activities surrounding the upcoming International Space Station crew rotation. Coverage will include departure of three crew members now living aboard the space station. It also will include pre-launch activities, launch and arrival of three new residents.

Beginning April 23, NASA TV video files will document Expedition 31 crew training activities with Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba of NASA and Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. NASA TV also will broadcast the crew's news conference and ceremonial visit to Red Square in Moscow on April 25.

NASA TV will broadcast the change of command ceremony aboard the station at 2 p.m. CDT on April 25. Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank of NASA will hand over command to Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos.

On April 27, Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin will depart the station and Expedition 31 will begin aboard the complex. The departing trio will return to Earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, completing a five-and-a-half-month mission.

Don Pettit of NASA, Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency and Kononenko, who have been on the station since late December 2011, will remain aboard until July 1.

On May 14, Acaba, Padalka and Revin will launch in the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will arrive at the station on May 16 to join Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers and return the crew size to six.

NASA TV's scheduled coverage includes (all times Central):

Monday, April 23

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew qualification training simulation runs in Star City, Russia.

Tuesday, April 24

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew qualification training simulation runs in Star City.

Wednesday, April 25

• 1 p.m - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew news conference in Star City and visit to Red Square in Moscow.
• 2 p.m. - Live Expedition 30/31 change of command ceremony.

Thursday, April 26

• 11:45 p.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-22 crew farewell and hatch-closure coverage (hatch closure scheduled at 12 a.m. on April 27).

Friday, April 27

• 3 a.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-22 undocking coverage (undocking scheduled at 3:18 a.m.)
• 5:30 a.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-22 deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn scheduled at 5:49 a.m., landing scheduled at 6:45 a.m.).
• 8 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-22 landing and post-landing activities.
• 6 p.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-22 landing and post-landing activities, including an interview with Burbank and the return of Shkaplerov and Ivanishin to Chkalovsky Airfield near Star City.

Wednesday, May 2

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew departure activities for Baikonur, Kazakhstan from Star City.

Thursday, May 10

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew activities in Baikonur.

Friday, May 11

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M crew activities in Baikonur.

Sunday, May 13

• 12 p.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M rocket mating and rollout to the launch pad in Baikonur.

Monday, May 14

• 11 a.m. - Video file of the Soyuz TMA-04M final pre-launch crew news conference and Russian State Commission meeting in Baikonur.
• 9 p.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-04M launch coverage (launch scheduled at 10:01 p.m.), including pre-launch activities and launch replays.

Tuesday, May 15

• 12 a.m. - Video file of Soyuz TMA-04M pre-launch and launch video b-roll and post-launch interviews.

Wednesday, May 16

• 11:00 p.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-04M docking coverage (docking scheduled at 11:38 p.m.), followed by the post-docking news conference from Mission Control in Korolev, Russia.

Thursday, May 17

• 2:00 a.m. - Live Soyuz TMA-04M hatch opening and welcoming ceremony (ceremony scheduled at 2:35 a.m.)
• 4 a.m. - Video file of Soyuz TMA-04M docking, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony

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[orb]

Universe Today: Captain Kirk Hails the Space Station

 

[orb]

ISS Reboost Update, scheduled for April 25, 2012 (via Roscosmos):

Orbit adjustments will be conducted using two main thrusters of the Orbit Correction System (OCS) of the European cargo spacecraft ATV-3 "Edoardo Amaldi".

The engines will ignite at 12:13 UTC (16:13 Moscow time / 8:13 a.m. EDT) and will be firing for 972.5 seconds. As a result, ISS will receive an additional boost of 2.35 m/s. The average altitude of the orbit will be increased by 4.1 km, to 395.3 km.

The orientation of the ISS during reboost will be maintained by attitude thrusters of the Russian Service Module "Zvezda" and the cargo vessel Progress M-15M.​

 

[orb]

ISS Reboost Update (via Roscosmos):

Mission Control Center (MCC) has completed the operation to increase the average altitude of the International Space Station (ISS), in order to form a working orbit to provide the necessary conditions for landing of Soyuz TMA-22, which is scheduled for April 27.

The average altitude of the ISS' orbit was increased by 4.1 km and is now 395.3 km.​

RIA Novosti: Space Station Crew Chooses New Mascot:

NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba who is set to travel to the International Space Station on Wednesday said he has chosen Smokey the Bear as the mascot for the new crew .

Acaba said he will hang the toy bear on board the spacecraft and use it as weightlessness indicator, the astronaut said at a press conference in Moscow Region’s Zvezdny Gorodok.

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