NASA: ISS Team Doing Some Research, But Basically Keeping House

The International Space Station’s Expedition 7 crewmembers concentrated on Station upgrades and routine maintenance during their 11th week on orbit. Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu also advanced the research in several laboratory experiments during the week and shared their experiences in both formal and informal settings.

In the Russian segment of the Station, Malenchenko installed a refurbished component of the Satellite Navigation System and new pipe conduits in the condensate separation and pumping unit; all of that hardware was delivered to the ISS last month on a Russian resupply craft. The crewmembers upgraded a relay unit in the Russian audio system which enables module-to-module “telephone” calls; completed inspections of life support systems, smoke detectors and microbe filters throughout the Station; rebuilt and restored laptop computer hard disk drives; and audited supplies to help mission managers decide what to launch on upcoming Progress resupply ships.

So, How Ya Feelin'?

The presence of a crew on orbit supplies test subjects for human life sciences research into how people respond to long periods in the absence of gravity, and this week Malenchenko and Lu gathered data for US and Russian experiments gauging their health in microgravity. They also completed two hours or more of exercise each day to maintain their muscle tone and cardiovascular fitness.

Last weekend Lu set up an electronic still camera in the Earth-facing window of the Destiny Laboratory for another session of the EarthKAM experiment (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools). In this experiment, students in grades six through eight study Earth geography and orbital mechanics to understand when Station will be over a particular spot on Earth, and then submit requests that are uplinked to the on-board computer that controls the camera. The students later study the photos “they took” of the Earth from an altitude of more than 240 miles; more than 300 such photos were taken during this week’s operations.

Hamming It Up

Malenchenko and Lu took time throughout the week to share the experience of ISS. On Monday they used the Station’s amateur radio system to answer questions from participants in the Euro Space Center Space Camp in Belgium, and sent a message of greeting and encouragement for a Space Day event at ceremonies commemorating the 65th anniversary of the city of Korolev, home of the Russian Mission Control Center. Tuesday they chatted with Japanese middle school students at the "Tokyo FM" Radio Network station, and on Thursday they discussed the mission with a reporter from the Voice of America. Today they talked with the winners of a Russian school science contest.

FMI: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov