Sun, Aug 17, 2003
Troubleshooting Space Suits
The Expedition 7 crew,
Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA International Space Station
Science Officer Ed Lu, this week conducted science experiments,
maintenance activities and prepared for the upcoming departure and
arrival of Progress cargo and Soyuz vehicles.
Lu talked with former Station Science Officer Don Pettit to help
locate hardware for the Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation
(PFMI) that Lu installed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox
Monday. Lu was scheduled to begin science operations with PFMI this
week, but was unable to locate an essential cable to complete the
installation. Pettit’s ideas as to where he left the cable
were fruitful. With the cable now installed, Lu can begin a run of
the experiment next week.
Troubleshooting continued this week with the two US
spacesuits experiencing cooling system issues onboard. Lu and
Malenchenko executed a procedure to closely inspect valves and
filters for water circulation in the system of the first suit Lu
tried on during the mission. Investigations of the cooling system
of the spare suit he re-sized last week are still underway. Even
though they are not scheduled to conduct a spacewalk during this
mission, Lu and Malenchenko could use the Russian Orlan spacesuits
to conduct a spacewalk, if needed, since Lu does not currently have
a working US spacesuit to wear.
This week, Malenchenko continued to use oxygen from the Progress
cargo vehicles docked to the aft of the Zvezda Service Module and
to the Pirs Docking Compartment to repressurize the Station. The
extra oxygen is being used before the two spacecraft are undocked,
taking with them trash and used supplies to burn up in the
Earth’s atmosphere. The Progress docked to Zvezda will undock
Aug. 27 to make room for a new Progress resupply craft scheduled
for launch to the Station Aug. 28 (US time). The Progress docked to
Pirs will undock Sept. 4 to make room for the Soyuz TMA-3
spacecraft scheduled to arrive Oct. 20 with the Expedition 8 crew
and European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque.
Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut
Alexander Kaleri, will replace the Expedition 7 crew. Foale and
Kaleri are scheduled to launch to the Station Oct. 18 aboard a
Russian Soyuz spacecraft, along with Duque who will return to Earth
with the Expedition 7 crew after completing more than a week of
science activities aboard the Station on Oct. 28.
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