STS-127 Mission Control Center Status Report #22

STS-127 MCC Status Report #22

After a day of rest, the 13 astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station will shift back into high gear for robotic operations and spacewalk preparations.

The crew’s Sunday wake-up music was composer George Frederic Handel’s “Dixit Dominus.” The excerpt was uplinked for Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette at 3:03 a.m. CDT.

Overnight, flight controllers continued to manually operate the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA), which shares responsibility for revitalizing the station’s atmosphere with a similar Russian system. They’re keeping the atmosphere at normal levels, but are refining the remote-control procedures.

The U.S. CDRA has two “beds” that alternately collect or expel the gas byproduct of human breathing from the station. The primary heater tripped a circuit breaker Saturday afternoon, and since then the ground team has been manually operating the backup heater. Engineers are continuing to analyze data on the primary heater. A second CDRA will be delivered to the station on STS-128 as part of the Air Revitalization System rack.

Endeavour Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Mark Hurley and Payette, along with Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Tim Kopra, will return a Japanese payload carrier to the shuttle’s cargo bay today using the shuttle and station robotic arms.

Spacewalkers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, meanwhile, will ready their spacesuits and tools, and check procedures for Monday’s fifth and final STS-127 spacewalk. The six new batteries installed on the Port 6 truss during the past two spacewalks accepted their initial charge and have been integrated into the station’s power grid.

The station crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 6:03 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by the shuttle crew.

STS-127 Mission Control Center Status Report #21

STS-127 MCC Status Report #21

The crews of space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station had a day off to rest in preparation of robotics operations to berth the Japanese experiment carrier in the shuttle’s payload bay Sunday and the fifth and final planned spacewalk of the mission on Monday.

Endeavour Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Chris Cassidy, Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf took some time out of their time off, however, to answer reporters’ questions from WISH-TV in Indianapolis, CBS News and WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn.

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt, Tim Kopra, Roman Romanenko, Bob Thirsk and Frank De Winne have a standard weekend schedule that includes exercise, routine station housekeeping and time off.

The 13-member combined crew of space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station will downlink a “crew choice” presentation at 4:03 p.m. CDT titled “The Partnership of the International Space Station.” NASA Television will air it live.

Spacewalkers Cassidy and Marshburn completed the final four battery swaps for the station’s Port 6 truss segment Friday, and those batteries are holding power. Later in the day, the new batteries will be integrated into the station’s power grid.

The station crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 6:33 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by the shuttle crew. The shuttle and station crews are scheduled to be awakened at 3:03 a.m. Sunday.

STS-127 Mission Control Center Status Report #20

STS-127 MCC Status Report #20

The combined crew of space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station will enjoy a day off to rest up after a challenging first half of the STS-127 assembly mission.

The song “In Your Eyes,” by Peter Gabriel, was played as a wake-up call for the crew at 4:46 a.m. CDT. It was selected for Tom Marshburn, who completed his second spacewalk on Friday with Chris Cassidy.

The spacewalkers completed the final four battery swaps for the Port 6 Truss structure, and those batteries are now being charged. Later in the day, the new batteries are expected to be integrated into the station’s power grid.

Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Chris Cassidy, Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf will answer reporters’ questions in an interview set for 7:03 a.m.

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt, Tim Kopra, Roman Romanenko, Bob Thirsk and Frank De Winne will have a standard weekend schedule that includes time off and routine station housekeeping.

The crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period about 7 p.m.

STS-127 Mission Control Center Status Report #08

STS-127 Mission Control Center Status Report #08

The astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station complex will take a break from spacewalking today, but continue their robotics work to prepare for the following day’s excursion.

The joint crew was awakened at 5:33 a.m. CDT with the song “Learning to Fly,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, for former Navy SEAL Chris Cassidy, who is making his first space flight aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.

With focused inspection of Endeavour’s heat shield no longer necessary, the crew will have additional time to complete transfers of supplies and equipment from the shuttle to the station and review plans for Monday’s second spacewalk of the mission.

Commander Mark Polansky and Pilot Doug Hurley will begin the day by grappling the Integrated Cargo Carrier in the rear of Endeavour’s cargo bay, lifting it and handing it off to the station’s robotic arm. Mission specialists Julie Payette and Tim Kopra will guide the station’s arm as it accepts the carrier and installs it on the mobile base system. This placement will allow spacewalkers to transfer the spare parts to an external stowage platform on the station.

Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn will configure their space suits and tools, and review the procedures for Monday’s spacewalk.

Departing Expedition 20 astronaut Koichi Wakata, now a member of Endeavour’s crew, will work on the station’s Advanced Resistive Exercise Device. He’ll replace a shock absorber, known as a “dashpot,” that helps prevent vibrations from simulated weightlifting from interfering with sensitive science experiments on the station.

Mission specialist Julie Payette and Flight Engineer Bob Thirsk will talk with Canadian dignitaries and news media in a 20-minute event starting at 5:08 p.m.

Expedition 20 Commander Genady Padalka will take temperature, humidity, air flow and surface temperature readings in the station’s Russian segment.

The crew is scheduled to go to bed at 9:33 p.m. and wake up at 5:33 a.m. on the 40th anniversary of the first human moon landing.