[sarex] ISS Progress Report

[K6due@xxxxxxx]

(Note:  The ARISS amateur radio station is scheduled to be installed some 
time in the next few days. Events will be covered here)

Wednesday, November 8, 2000

The Expedition One crew today installed the final cables and sensors into the 
prime oxygen-generation system aboard the International Space Station and 
continued to set up laptop computers and communications gear as they neared 
the end of a full week aboard the outpost. 

ISS Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight 
Engineer Sergei Krikalev reported that all of the gear associated with the 
Russian Elektron system has now been hooked up with the activation of the 
unit planned for Thursday. The Elektron uses the process of electrolysis to 
produce oxygen for the crew, while venting hydrogen overboard. Up to now, per 
the preflight plan, Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev have been burning one 
oxygen-producing canister each day per crew member to maintain the proper 
level of oxygen in the ISS modules. 

Krikalev successfully reactivated the ISS air conditioner after it shut 
itself down due to an excess amount of water in the condensate collection 
system. The condensate unit absorbs moisture from the air and needs to be 
emptied periodically. The unit was turned back on after a short outage and is 
operating normally. 

Russian flight controllers continue to prepare for the next Progress resupply 
vehicle’s launch next week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 
Progress is loaded with supplies and spare parts for the crew. Launch is set 
for the night of November 15, U.S. time, at 8:32 p.m. EST (1:32 GMT November 
16). Docking to the Zarya module’s nadir port is scheduled for the night of 
November 17, U.S. time, at 10:07 p.m. EST (3:07 GMT November 18). The 
Progress will be unloaded by the crew prior to the launch of Endeavour 
November 30 on the STS-97 mission to deliver the first huge U.S. solar arrays 
to the ISS. 

The crew for that flight - Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and 
Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, Marc Garneau and Carlos Noriega - spent 
several hours aboard Endeavour today conducting a simulated countdown for 
their planned liftoff in three weeks. 

Before beginning his sleep period, Shepherd told flight controllers that the 
ISS was 'beginning to feel like home'. Tomorrow, the crew will mark the 
completion of its first week on board the expanding facility. 

The ISS continues to operate in excellent shape at an altitude of 237 statute 
miles. 

----
Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe sarex" to Majordomo@amsat.org