ISS Status Report #23, 2 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 5, 2006
Completing their first month in
space, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer
Jeff Williams eased into normal station activities this week.
Most of the week was focused around routine maintenance and
inspections. Williams completed checks of the refrigerated
centrifuge, updated the inventory system and took samples of
potable water for routine testing. He also changed the cooling
water used in the U.S. spacesuits to ensure that the pumps work and
to prevent microbial growth in the water tanks.
Vinogradov did similar jobs in the station's Russian segment
– completing an inspection of the pressure hull in the Zvezda
living quarters, performing maintenance of the ventilation system
in Zvezda and testing emergency vacuum valves in the Atmosphere
Purification System.
On Wednesday, the crew updated onboard laptop computers.
Williams began to install new software on the Medical Equipment
Computer, but stopped to allow ground specialists to troubleshoot
some difficulties he encountered. The problem was resolved and the
task will be rescheduled for Williams. Vinogradov installed and
tested new software on a Russian laptop.
Both crew members spent time packing unneeded gear inside the
ISS Progress 20. The 20th Progress to visit the station is docked
to the Pirs compartment and will be jettisoned from the complex in
mid-June to burn up in the atmosphere. Russian flight controllers
also fired the newer ISS Progress 21 cargo craft's engines for
about six and a half minutes on Thursday to boost the
station’s altitude by about 1.7 miles. The Progress 21 is
docked at the aft docking port of the Zvezda module.
Williams kicked off the first Expedition 13 session of the Pore
Formation and Mobility Investigation this week. It is an experiment
that studies bubbling that occurs in weightlessness as liquids cool
and turn into solids. It provides insight into how materials
solidify in space and may benefit similar processes used in
industry on Earth. The experiment is performed in the Microgravity
Science Glovebox in the Destiny Lab.
The crew took time this week to reach out to more than 1,500
students, teachers and NASA personnel participating in a Space Day
educational event at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Md. The event was part of a larger program highlighting NASA
Explorer Schools as well as a collaboration between NASA and
America Online (AOL).
Williams also spoke to students in the Inuit community of
Kuujjuaq, Canada, via HAM radio. More than 340 students attend the
school, which is located 900 miles north of Montreal at the base of
Ungava Bay.