ISS Status Report #22, 2 p.m. CDT, Friday, April 28, 2006
The 13th crew of the International
Space Station this week began unloading -- and sank its teeth into
-- some of the more than 5,000 pounds of new supplies that arrived
at the complex Wednesday.
The ISS Progress 21 cargo spacecraft, which launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, docked at the station
Wednesday. The ship was the first supply shipment for Expedition 13
Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, who
have been in space for almost a month.
The spacecraft brought fresh fruit and other foods, gifts from
home, fuel, water, oxygen, spare parts and science gear. Two
Progress cargo craft are now docked at the complex. Oxygen supplies
from ISS Progress 20, which arrived in December, continue to be
used to replenish the cabin air when required. The crew is loading
that Progress with trash and unneeded equipment. The spacecraft
will be jettisoned from the complex in mid-June.
Early in the week, Williams replaced a Remote Power Control
Module, a type of circuit breaker, in the station's Destiny
laboratory. The power control module had not been functioning for
some time, and electricity for many lab systems had been delivered
via an alternate path. To gain access to the worksite for
replacement of the component, Williams had to disassemble and
remove his sleeping compartment. Mission Control sequentially
powered off many lab systems and lights to facilitate the
replacement. Williams accomplished all the work ahead of schedule,
and the new power control module has been functioning well.
Science activities aboard the station during the past week
included work by Williams with the Capillary Flow Experiment, which
is an investigation of fluid behavior in weightlessness that may
assist in the design of future spacecraft. The crew members also
completed urine collection and notes about their food consumption
for an experiment studying the formation of kidney stones in
weightlessness.
Vinogradov completed routine maintenance of the station's
Elektron system. It was powered off much of the week and
reactivated today. The Elektron provides oxygen for the cabin air
from water.
Plans for next week include an engine firing to boost the
station's altitude on Thursday, May 4; continued unloading of the
newly arrived Progress vehicle; and periodic crew health
checks.