NASA MIR PROGRAM
Mir 23 / NASA 5 Status
Date: Tuesday, July 1, 1997
Mission Day: Mir 23 / NASA 5 MD 142/47
Mir 23 CDR Vasili Tsibliev
Mir 23 FE Alexander Lazutkin
NASA 5 FE Mike Foale
Mir Station System/Subsystem Activities
Installation of Antares Transmitter
Mir Science Payload Activities
Earth Obs
Greenhouse lights on
Other Activities
Housecleaning
Data Management
On-Board - No MIPS files received
Network Status - Nominal
Ground Facilities Status - Nominal
Operations
Mike confirms, "there are no fixatives in SPEKTR".
Procedures/Timelines/English Form 24 - Timeline for today was received.
Experiment Operations
Window Survey - Mike reported that it took three hours to complete photographic survey of window #9 in Kvant II. This window had poor illumination. Due to Mir orientation, few of the windows on Mir are in full illumination. Mike suggests that over the next couple of days that he be scheduled for night phase photographic surveys with one window at a time.
Greenhouse - Mike reports that one or two seed pods are turning brown, withered and drying out about 1 to 2 cm from the tips.
Experiment Hardware
Greenhouse - Mike asked for and received permission to leave the greenhouse in the normal operational mode of 23 hours light and 1 hour of dark until the depressurized ingress to Spektr.
SMP/Medical
The Russian crewmembers completed several medical tests today in preparation for the upcoming EVA. The crew has returned to a nominal exercise pattern. Mike Foale was scheduled to complete the second day of the physical training cycle.
Communications Summary
A/G with Consultants Group
09:57 - 10:00 Greenhouse light info
Beetle ventilation
10:10 - 10:11 Small talk
13:00 - 13:06 Chat with Wendy Lawrence and 89 crew
20:44 - 20:49 Window survey
Greenhouse seed pods
Video System - Nothing to report
Altair Satellite System - The crew successfully installed the Antares transmitter today.
Packet - One personal file submitted for uplink.
News
Russian - None today
English - None today.
Ham Radio - Nothing to report.
Issues - None
Mir Systems
Spektr
The crew reported during the 14:33 DMT comm pass that they could see "flakes" outside, and that this coincided with a "clapping" noise. Mr. Blagov informs us that they believe one of the Spektr external cooling loop accumulators was punctured when Progress hit the radiator, and that the leaking fluid is the coolant from the loop. Documentation for the other modules indicates that they used polymethyl silicone as a cooling agent, which has a freezing point of -110 deg. C. Potential implications for future Shuttle visits are being investigated. Ammonia from the radiator heat pipes may also have leaked.
Pressure Indication in Transfer Chamber
The crew reported that the manometer in the transfer chamber of the core module is reading about 100 mm lower than other pressure indicators in the vicinity. This is the same manometer that was previously used in the Kvant-2 airlock and caused the crew to open the EVA hatch before the differential pressure across the hatch had reached zero, resulting in damage to the hatch. The transfer chamber will be used as the airlock during the internal EVA into Spektr, so there is a question about what the EVA crew will use as a pressure cue prior to opening the hatch to Spektr.
Life Support/Thermal
Elektron was shut down at about 21:00 DMT last night (June 30) when the temperature of the Kvant-1 VGK coolant at the inlet to Elektron reached 25 deg. C, vs. the nominal 10-12 deg. C. Subsequent discussions revealed that the crew had inadvertently closed a valve connecting the VGK to the core module internal KOX-1V loop (the position of this valve is not visible via telemetry). As a result, coolant in the VGK was not being circulated into the core module loop and could not reject its heat into the core module external loop. When the crew reopened the valve, air that had been trapped in the VGK was suddenly introduced into the KOX-1V loop, creating a drop in differential pressure across the KOX-1V pumps. The crew will perform an air/water separation on the joint loop tomorrow morning, and Elektron will be restarted once functionality of the loop has been restored. The crew reported at 19:00 DMT that they had burned three solid fuel oxygen canisters today, as instructed.
Electrical
The core module batteries are fully charged, and the Kvant-2 batteries are almost fully charged.
Environmental Parameters (Previous 24 hour period)
Parameter Min. Max. Nominal Range
Pressure (mmHg) Base Block 665 674 660 - 850
ppO2 (mmHg) 146 150 140 - 200
ppCO2 (mmHg) 4.4 5.1 up to 8.0
ppH20 (mmHg) 11.7 12.8 8 - 14
Humidity (percentage) 52 56 30 - 75
Temperature (°C) base block (BB) 23.6 25.1 18 - 28
Temp (°C) docking/transfer module 13.7 16.3 18 - 28
Temp (°C) Priroda No data available 18 - 28
Progress/EVA Planning
July 4 Priroda power down and hatch closure. Krystall power down
July 5 Progress 235 launch 7:11 DMT
July 7 Progress 235 docking 8:58 DMT
July 9 EVA Dry-Run
July 10 Krystall hatch closure
July 11 Crew prep for EVA
July 12 Crew wake-up and prep for EVA. EVA start and stop times TBD.
July 13 Crew rest
MIR 23 / NASA 5 MD 143/48
Mir Science Payload Activities
Interactions
Beetle - Light pulse
Other Activities
PMC
Housecleaning
MIR 23 / NASA 5 MD 144/48
Mir Science Payload Activities
CPA
Other Activities
Move hardware from Priroda
Housecleaning
The Z-Team bids a "Fond Farewell" to the hardworking Bob " I'm going to Disney World " Hoyt who is off to a much deserved vacation stateside, thanks from the team Bob.
Mir Operations Support Team - (MOST)
JSC Payload Operations Support Area - (POSA)