ISS Status Report #47, 4:30 p.m. CDT, Thursday, Oct. 26,
2006
New supplies arrived at the
International Space Station Thursday as an unpiloted Russian cargo
spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module.
With almost 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the
station's Expedition 14 crew, the ISS Progress 23 automatically
docked to Zvezda at 9:29 a.m. CDT as the spacecraft and the station
flew 220 miles above Italy. The 23rd Progress to visit the station
was launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Following the initial docking, the final latching of the
Progress craft to the station was delayed by about three and a half
hours as Russian flight controllers evaluated potential
interference by an antenna on the spacecraft. At the time of
docking, flight controllers could not confirm that the antenna used
by the Progress' Kurs automated docking system had retracted as
commanded. If the antenna had remained extended, it could have
interfered with the final latching of the supply ship to the
station.
After reviewing data, Mission Control Moscow commanded the
Progress' docking probe to slowly retract, pulling the ship firmly
into the port and aligning the hooks and latches that hold it
secure. Latches for the craft on the station were secured at about
1 p.m. CDT. Flight controllers will command additional latches on
the Progress to close Friday. This allows the operation to be
completed in a normal manner over Russian communications sites.
During the hours between initial docking and final latching, the
station's orientation was allowed to drift to avoid any disturbance
of the softly docked cargo ship. The station's drift resulted in
lower power generation by the solar arrays. The crew then powered
off several pieces of non-critical equipment as outlined in a
standard procedure that reduces power consumption. Soon after the
latches were closed, however, the station's attitude control was
restored and power generation was returned to normal.
Due to the long operations Thursday, Expedition 14 Commander
Mike Lopez-Alegria and flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas
Reiter will open the hatch to the supply ship on Friday. Supplies
on the Progress include food, fuel, oxygen and air, clothing,
experiment hardware and spare parts, as well as personal items from
the crew's families. The new Progress joins an older Progress
supply ship that arrived at the station’s Pirs Docking
Compartment in June. Progress 22 will remain docked until
mid-January. It will be used to stow trash, and its supply of
oxygen will help replenish the station’s atmosphere when
required.
ISS Progress 23 holds 1,918 pounds of propellant for the Russian
thrusters, 110 pounds of oxygen and almost 2,800 pounds of spare
parts, experiment hardware and life support components, including
parts for the Russian Elektron oxygen-generation system. The system
has been inoperable since last month, and Tyurin is expected to
resume repairs on the unit next week.
Engineers continue to review data from the station’s
S-band communications system, which experienced dropouts late last
week in the transmission link of one of two redundant channels used
for voice and commanding capability. After collecting data last
weekend from “string 1” of the S-band system, its
transmitter was reactivated Wednesday, but the communications
problem occurred once again.
“String 2” of the system is being used for voice and
commanding with no impact to station activities. Flight controllers
are analyzing the problem to determine if any procedural
adjustments must be made for the upcoming flight of Discovery to
the station on the STS-116 mission.
In other activities, the crew conducted sound level measurements
in the station’s modules and installed cables in the Russian
segment of the station. They performed regular station maintenance
and took time to chat with a reporter from the Orange County
Register in California on Tuesday. Reiter continued his work with
European plant growth experiments while throughout the week
Lopez-Alegria did log entries for a sleep experiment.
In two weeks, the crew will begin preparations for a spacewalk
Nov. 22 by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria in Russian Orlan suits from the
Pirs Docking Compartment to replace and retrieve several science
experiments from the hull of the Zvezda Service Module. Tyurin also
plans to hit a golf ball from a bracket on Pirs as part of a
Russian commercial activity.