New Status: Marangoni Inside (MI) Fluid Physics Experiment Facility (FPEF): In preparation for the start of the experiment tonight, Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Tom Marshburn installed the sample cassette in the FPEF. The experiment will run through early July during crew sleep. Marangoni convection is the flow driven by the presence of a surface tension gradient which …
Images were taken by Rob Suggs and Aaron Kingery in twilight through cirrus clouds around 00:36 UT on 17 Mar 2013 with a 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at Marshall Space Flight Center’s Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatoryin Huntsville, Ala. The detector was a low-light level B&W video camera with a focal reducer giving a 20 …
New Status: Amine Swingbed Payload Review: Commander (CDR) Hadfield unstowed Amine from its temporary stowage configuration inside Express Rack 8 and placed it in the payload’s double locker chassis. Then he re-assembled the payload in its normal operating configuration. This task follows Kevin Ford’s troubleshooting activities earlier this month when he replaced the Amine gear box. …
New Status: SpaceX (SpX)-2 Cargo Operations: Commander (CDR) Hadfield and Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn loaded cargo in preparation for unberth scheduled on March 25, 2013. Marangoni Inside (MI) Core Cleaning: Following yesterday’s completion of this experiment, Marshburn cleaned the inside of the Marangoni core. When he was finished cleaning he powered off the camcorder to terminate real …
New Status: Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixture 3 (CSLM-3) Experiment: Over the weekend Hadfield transferred data from the 3rd sample and started the 4th of 6 runs of this experiment. CSLM-3 is a materials science investigation that studies the growth and solidification processes (i.e., coarsening) in lead-tin solid-liquid mixtures that contain a small amount of tin branch-like …
New Status: 32 Soyuz (S) Undock & Landing: Following a delay in undocking yesterday due to adverse weather conditions, 32 Soyuz undocked from ISS tonight at 6:43pm CDT bringing Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin back to earth. The Soyuz performed a nominal automated de-orbit burn and following a nominal separation of modules, descended successfully under parachutes. The …
New Status: 32 Soyuz (S) Undock Preparation: The Soyuz Landing Commission postponed the 32S landing by one day due to weather conditions at the landing site near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Specialists are continuing to monitor the weather conditions at the landing site, and ground teams are re-working the landing plan for tomorrow. Spinal Ultrasound: Marshburn completed his second …
The crew is starting to sleep shift this evening in preparation for 32S undock tomorrow evening. New Status: Change of Command: Off-going Commander (CDR) Ford will hand over ISS command responsibilities to CDR Hadfield at approximately 4:10 pm CDT. The change of command is more than ceremonial, as it defines the point when the 33Soyuz …
New Status: Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Maintenance: After 24 hrs of successful run time, the Lab CDRA fixed yesterday has been put in stand-by mode. Biological Research In Canisters-17: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Marshburn unpacked and performed actuation of 2 BRIC canisters. BRIC supports a variety of plant growth investigations which focus on the growth and …
New Status: Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Maintenance: Over the weekend, Commander (CDR) Ford and Flight Engineer (FE) – 6 Marshburn completed maintenance on the Node 3 (N3) CDRA and reinstalled it in the Atmosphere Revitalization 2 (AR2) rack in N3. N3 CDRA was activated on Saturday and has accumulated over 36 hrs of operation using …
