Author Topic: General ISS Q&A thread  (Read 879767 times)

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #780 on: 10/25/2008 08:33 pm »
I know its launch is still over one year away, but does anyone know if NASA plans to name Node-3 themselves or open the naming processing up to school children again as they did with Node-2?

Offline Jorge

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #781 on: 10/25/2008 08:52 pm »
I know its launch is still over one year away, but does anyone know if NASA plans to name Node-3 themselves or open the naming processing up to school children again as they did with Node-2?

Most likely there will be a contest.
JRF

Offline Ronsmytheiii

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #782 on: 10/28/2008 06:39 pm »
Before Columbia, 3 member Expedition crews were rotated by Shuttle while Soyuz were replaced by "taxi" flights.  how were 6-crew expeditions expected to rotate?  Would it have been multiple shuttle flights, or would half of the crew come up on shuttle and the other on Soyuz?

Offline Life_Support_32

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #783 on: 10/28/2008 10:00 pm »
Before Columbia, 3 member Expedition crews were rotated by Shuttle while Soyuz were replaced by "taxi" flights.  how were 6-crew expeditions expected to rotate?  Would it have been multiple shuttle flights, or would half of the crew come up on shuttle and the other on Soyuz?

I don't know for sure, but this is an educated guess.  With 6 crew, you always need 2 Soyuz on board for rescue possibility.  Since this was so long ago in Station program years, the Crew Rescue Vehicle could have been still considered, which may have allowed fewer Soyuz, but it's not likely, since every spacecraft has a limit to how long they can stay certified in orbit, including the Soyuz (leading to a 6-month expedition).

Offline scienceguy

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #784 on: 10/29/2008 11:07 pm »
How do they clean the air on the ISS? When someone goes the bathroom, that bad air has to go somewhere, right?
e^(pi*i) = -1

Offline Life_Support_32

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #785 on: 10/30/2008 02:03 am »
How do they clean the air on the ISS? When someone goes the bathroom, that bad air has to go somewhere, right?

Depends on the contaminant.  Dust and large particles are sucked up in HEPA filters at the inlets to the many fans that circulate the air.  There are two Trace Contaminant Removal systems that remove trace gasses that are produced by people and the equipment.  There are also charcoal filters that clean the atmosphere.

Offline robertross

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #786 on: 11/01/2008 01:52 am »
With the new Regen-ECLSS components (Water Processor Assembly (WPA) & Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) specifically) being flown on STS-126, how does it handle the possible pharmaceuticals & human hormone content in the reclaimed water?

This is becoming a major problem here on Earth for processed water from a sewage treatment facility going back into the loop. This is because they are only now able to detect the presence of the extremely minute quantities in question. Of course the scientists aren't 100% sure about the safe levels people can tolerate. I wonder if this might become a factor in the long-term as to what medications the astronauts might be allowed to take prior- and on-orbit.

Offline wjbarnett

Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #787 on: 11/06/2008 12:19 am »
With the new Regen-ECLSS components (Water Processor Assembly (WPA) & Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) specifically) being flown on STS-126, how does it handle the possible pharmaceuticals & human hormone content in the reclaimed water?

I don't know if this helps clarify or just adds more confusion, but near the end of 126 crew news conference, Don Petit gave a reasonably clear description of the processes used by the WPA & UPA.

Specifically it is a distillation process, which I believe they can control by temperature/pressure to only/mostly recover just H2O. He said that it also uses a carbon filter and some additional absorption beds to clean out any remaining "backwash", then it gets tested for organics. If the quality test fails, the process is repeated. Additionally for water to be consumed via the galley water, it adds some salts and minerals to make the water more palatable for human taste (& biology).

You may wish to listen to his answer for yourself, rather than depending on my memory. Link for recording of STS-126 Crew News Conference is
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4408
« Last Edit: 11/06/2008 12:29 am by wjbarnett »
Jack

Offline wjbarnett

Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #788 on: 11/06/2008 01:12 am »
My own interest/questions are about ISS ground operations at MCC-H (and no, I'm not on L2):

I understand each flight director has his/her own flight control team (each called a "flight") that basically staffs a single MCC-H shift, either
 - Orbit 1 (on a 'normal' day: from just prior to crew wake to lunch time),
 - Orbit 2 (crew afternoon & early evening)
 - Planning/Orbit 3 (crew pre-sleep and most of sleep)
Per PAO descriptions, I believe each shift is 9 hours long (8 + an hour handover with prior orbit).

It seems that each Expedition has specific flights assigned. Plus it appears that during (and maybe just prior to) joint operations with a visiting shuttle mission, that there are separate mission specific flight directors & teams that staff MCC during these times. Per Bill Hardwood's pages there are at least 4 ISS flight control teams assigned for ULF2: 3 Orbits and a "Team 4" (on-call, if needed).

Questions:
0. Is the above description accurate?
1. How many flights are in the normal rotation? (normally for other 24x7x365 operations I know of, I could assume an answer of at least 5, but more likely 6) But maybe there's a "team 4" also during stage ops...
2. What is the "normal" duty cycle for each active flight? For example: for 6 teams, each flight works their assigned orbit for 9 hours for 3 day in row, then 3 days off duty, and repeat...
3. Are flight teams disbanded at the end of an expedition and new teams reformed by each flight director when assigned to a new mission? Or is there some continuity (e.g. alternating expeditions)?
4. How many people are normally assigned to each flight? And of these, how many are actual flight controllers (sit on console)?
5. Are all positions in MCC-H staffed for all orbits? For example, it would seem to me that Robo, Visiting Spacecraft officer, flight surgeon, EVA, etc would only be needed during specific time periods, rather than always.

Thanks in advance indulging my curiosity!
« Last Edit: 11/06/2008 01:20 am by wjbarnett »
Jack

Offline erioladastra

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #789 on: 11/07/2008 06:25 am »
My own interest/questions are about ISS ground operations at MCC-H (and no, I'm not on L2):

I understand each flight director has his/her own flight control team (each called a "flight") that basically staffs a single MCC-H shift, either
 - Orbit 1 (on a 'normal' day: from just prior to crew wake to lunch time),
 - Orbit 2 (crew afternoon & early evening)
 - Planning/Orbit 3 (crew pre-sleep and most of sleep)
Per PAO descriptions, I believe each shift is 9 hours long (8 + an hour handover with prior orbit).

It seems that each Expedition has specific flights assigned. Plus it appears that during (and maybe just prior to) joint operations with a visiting shuttle mission, that there are separate mission specific flight directors & teams that staff MCC during these times. Per Bill Hardwood's pages there are at least 4 ISS flight control teams assigned for ULF2: 3 Orbits and a "Team 4" (on-call, if needed).

Questions:
0. Is the above description accurate?
1. How many flights are in the normal rotation? (normally for other 24x7x365 operations I know of, I could assume an answer of at least 5, but more likely 6) But maybe there's a "team 4" also during stage ops...
2. What is the "normal" duty cycle for each active flight? For example: for 6 teams, each flight works their assigned orbit for 9 hours for 3 day in row, then 3 days off duty, and repeat...
3. Are flight teams disbanded at the end of an expedition and new teams reformed by each flight director when assigned to a new mission? Or is there some continuity (e.g. alternating expeditions)?
4. How many people are normally assigned to each flight? And of these, how many are actual flight controllers (sit on console)?
5. Are all positions in MCC-H staffed for all orbits? For example, it would seem to me that Robo, Visiting Spacecraft officer, flight surgeon, EVA, etc would only be needed during specific time periods, rather than always.

Thanks in advance indulging my curiosity!

Mostly accurate.  Here is the scoop:

- The shifts are nominally 9 hours as you state.  MCC-H does 13 hours shifts on the weekends - not all the control centers do that however.
- Yes, Orbit 1 starts at 0600 GMT.  This is more to align with Moscow's time (originally, the crew day was supposed to start at regular hours Houston time, but Moscow refused).
- Typically, people work 7 Orbit 1 or orbit 2s in a row, or 5 orbit 3s.
- On weekends when there is just orbit 1 & 2, the share the planning.
- During an increment there is no assigned flight directors for console in the sense they take turns just working whatever shifts are needed.
- There is a lead flight director for an increment who oversees all the operations on a day to day basis.  Typically 12-16 hour days.  The lead coordinates all the long term and big issues for the on console folks to work in real-time.
- Each discipline also has a lead for an increment.  The increment leads usualy don't sit console much but do the hard leg work in all the planning and prep.  Generally, the increment team doesn't work on console or sim together as a team.
- For special events like an EVA or a Soyuz docking leads will be assigned and will work all aspects of that - planning, training, prep and execution.
- For a shuttle mission, there is a lead flight director and 2 others for ISS and ditto for shuttle.  Generally the leads work the Orbit 1 or orbit 2 shift but it depends on the activities.  And here the Orbits are driven by shuttle time and are generally shifted from the incrment Orbits.  So each flight director gets a team and they will do all the training together as a team and execute as a team (e.g., the "white" team).
- After a mission, increment or event, the teams disband and get shuffled to be reassigned for the next task in the queue.
- Team 4s are assigned just during shuttle missions.
- There are about a dozen or so flight directors cycling through but when assigned a mission or increment they tend not work console.
- Some consoles - ADCO, PHJALCON, THOR, ODIN, CATO, and ECLSS are always staffed, though there are GEMINIs that combine (i.e., TITAN = CATO+ODIN+ADCO, ATLAS = ECLSS+PHALCON+THOR) on weekends and slower shifts.  Others have reduced hours, or as you noted only support specific tasks.
- So to answer you question how many assigned to a flight - well for ISS you have all the console positions(~18), plus their support teams (i.e., back rooms that can be 1-5 people), times 3 shifts.  Of course there is then the shuttle teams and the Boeing engineering support.  Then team 4 which is aproximately every console position (some will have backups, some not).

I think that answers all the questions.

Offline wjbarnett

Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #790 on: 11/08/2008 03:55 pm »
I think that answers all the questions.

Very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Jack
Jack

Offline robertross

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #791 on: 11/09/2008 02:50 am »
With the new Regen-ECLSS components (Water Processor Assembly (WPA) & Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) specifically) being flown on STS-126, how does it handle the possible pharmaceuticals & human hormone content in the reclaimed water?

I don't know if this helps clarify or just adds more confusion, but near the end of 126 crew news conference, Don Petit gave a reasonably clear description of the processes used by the WPA & UPA.

Specifically it is a distillation process, which I believe they can control by temperature/pressure to only/mostly recover just H2O. He said that it also uses a carbon filter and some additional absorption beds to clean out any remaining "backwash", then it gets tested for organics. If the quality test fails, the process is repeated. Additionally for water to be consumed via the galley water, it adds some salts and minerals to make the water more palatable for human taste (& biology).

You may wish to listen to his answer for yourself, rather than depending on my memory. Link for recording of STS-126 Crew News Conference is
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4408

Many thanks, Jack!
Distillation might be the way around this concern I had. Everything else that is downstream in the process probably won't cut it, imo.

Offline mjcrsmith

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #792 on: 11/19/2008 02:29 pm »
Is there a link to documentation that shows the current location of the installed racks and the final configuration?  I am searching the site, but so far no luck.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

Offline kschachn

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #793 on: 11/19/2008 02:48 pm »
In this article:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/11/sts-126-eva-1-major-effort-repair-sarj/

it says that:

"This mission also includes the transfer, installation, and activation of several systems to support six person crew, such as ... a food refrigerator..."

But that refrigerator is elsewhere described as a "lab refrigerator". Is the ISS really getting a food refrigerator?

Offline Eerie

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #794 on: 11/19/2008 03:03 pm »
I understand that most glove damage in EVA happen during moving around? Is that true? If so, why astronauts don`t use some overall gloves, chain-mail maybe?

Offline Jim

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #795 on: 11/19/2008 03:33 pm »
Is there a link to documentation that shows the current location of the installed racks and the final configuration?  I am searching the site, but so far no luck.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

L2

Offline Jim

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #796 on: 11/19/2008 03:34 pm »
In this article:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/11/sts-126-eva-1-major-effort-repair-sarj/

it says that:

"This mission also includes the transfer, installation, and activation of several systems to support six person crew, such as ... a food refrigerator..."

But that refrigerator is elsewhere described as a "lab refrigerator". Is the ISS really getting a food refrigerator?

It is a refrigerator  designed for ISS lab use being used as a food refrigerator

Offline mjcrsmith

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #797 on: 11/19/2008 03:45 pm »
Is there a link to documentation that shows the current location of the installed racks and the final configuration?  I am searching the site, but so far no luck.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

L2


Thanks Jim, I will check there.

Offline aldelphi

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #798 on: 11/19/2008 08:27 pm »

  Does anyone know when and who is going to install the sixth sleeping quarters on the ISS.
 
  There are two sleeping spaces in Zvezda.

  There is one Temporary Sleep Station (TeSS) in Destiny.

  There are now two sleep stations in Harmony.

  For a six person crew there will need to be one more sleep station.  I saw somewhere that Japan is going to install a sleep station in the Kibo module but have not been able to confirm this.  Does anyone have any more info about sleep quarters for the sixth ISS astronaut?  Will sleeping quarters be moved to Node3 when that arrives?

Offline Jim

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Re: General ISS Q&A thread
« Reply #799 on: 11/19/2008 10:34 pm »

  Does anyone know when and who is going to install the sixth sleeping quarters on the ISS.
 
  There are two sleeping spaces in Zvezda.

  There is one Temporary Sleep Station (TeSS) in Destiny.

  There are now two sleep stations in Harmony.

  For a six person crew there will need to be one more sleep station.  I saw somewhere that Japan is going to install a sleep station in the Kibo module but have not been able to confirm this.  Does anyone have any more info about sleep quarters for the sixth ISS astronaut?  Will sleeping quarters be moved to Node3 when that arrives?


This was answered in the ISS Q&A thread

 

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