This Week's Dual ISS Reports Are Out
Editor’s note: For the past few weeks NASA Watch has been featuring the strange, duplicative way that NASA PAO does things. Specifically – how the same – rather almost the same – ISS status report is issued by JSC and NASA HQ – often minutes apart wherein someone has made some subtle typographical changes. I got a call from Allard Beutel at NASA PAO telling me that these changes were due to listserv formatting and that the content is otherwise the same. Curiously these automatic changes always seem to happen at the end of a sentence.
Allard told me that whatever is released by HQ and JSC is always identical in terms of actual content. Nonetheless I found several previous examples where the content had notable differences between JSC and HQ – yet both versions had been publicly released. I forwarded these examples to Allard and have heard nothing back.
By coincidence, If you look at the two versions issued this week – the HQ version is noticibly different and longer than the JSC version – yet both were formally released by NASA. Which one is the official weekly NASA Space Station Status Report? Are both correct? Why can’t NASA issue just one – and save the effort involved in all of this duplicative editing?
| From: [email protected] Subject: [HSFMEDIA] International Space Station Status Report #10 Date: March 10, 2006 2:17:15 PM EST To: [email protected] Reply-To: [email protected] 2006 The International Space Station crew’s week included a robotic arm first and a docking communications test to prepare for a new European cargo ship set to launch next year. Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev also repaired a cabin air analyzer and completed a scientific study of the effects of weightlessness on the muscles, joints and bones of the lower body. For the first time, Mission Control, Houston, moved the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm by remote control from the ground for normal station operations. Previous remote operations of the arm had been done only as tests of that capability, but this week controllers used the arm to survey several exterior station components. On Thursday and Friday, controllers used the arm’s television cameras to view one of two integrated umbilical assembly mechanisms on the station’s Mobile Transporter rail car. One umbilical was cut when an assembly malfunctioned in December 2005. They also checked a Destiny laboratory vent, used to dump carbon dioxide overboard, for contamination. Initial reports indicate the vent is clean. McArthur operated the arm for in-flight proficiency training on Wednesday. McArthur repaired electrical connectors in the Major Constituent Analyzer, restoring the device to operation. The system is one of several used to monitor the composition of the station air, and it is needed to be used during an upcoming test of new spacewalk preparation procedures. With its successful repair, managers now plan to conduct the “camp out” test of spacewalk preparations in early April. The test may be conducted while handover from the current crew to the Expedition 13 crew is under way aboard the complex. McArthur wore specially instrumented cycling tights for a final session with the Foot-Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight experiment (Foot) this week. The experiment investigates the differences in use of the lower extremities on Earth and in space. This week’s session completed the experiment, which began on Expedition 6. The data gathered will aid in understanding bone loss during long duration space missions and may help in developing methods to counteract that effect. Tokarev performed a test associated with the automatic docking system for the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The European Space Agency unpiloted cargo carrier will have twice the capacity of the Russian Progress cargo craft. This week’s test involved transmitting docking radio signals from the station to ground stations located in the Canary Islands and near Madrid, Spain. Also this week, McArthur videotaped an educational demonstration of sleeping on the station and a typical morning routine. The crew will soon begin preparing for a short trip away from their orbiting home. They plan to relocate their Soyuz capsule from the Earth-facing docking port of the station’s Zarya module to an aft port on the Zvezda module. The flight will take about a half-hour on March 20 and will clear the Zarya port for the April 1 arrival of a new capsule carrying the next station crew. For information about the station, including sighting opportunities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home The next station status report will be issued Friday, March 17, or earlier if events warrant. | From: [email protected] Subject: International Space Station Status Report: SS06-009 Date: March 10, 2006 3:41:41 PM EST To: [email protected] March 10, 2006 STATUS REPORT: SS06-009 The International Space Station crew’s week included a robotic arm first and a docking communications test to prepare for a new European cargo ship. Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev repaired a cabin air analyzer. They also completed a scientific study of the effects of weightlessness on the muscles, joints and bones of the lower body. For the first time, Mission Control, Houston, moved the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm by remote control from the ground for normal station operations. Previous remote operations of the arm were done only as capability tests, but this week controllers used it to survey several exterior station components. On Thursday and Friday, controllers used the arm’s TV cameras to view one of two integrated umbilical assembly mechanisms on the station’s mobile transporter rail car. One umbilical was cut when an assembly malfunctioned in December. They also checked a Destiny laboratory vent for contamination. Initial reports indicate the vent, used to dump carbon dioxide overboard, is clean. McArthur operated the arm for in-flight proficiency training on Wednesday. McArthur repaired electrical connectors in the major constituent analyzer, restoring the device to operation. It is one of several systems used to monitor the composition of station air, and it is needed for an upcoming test of new spacewalk preparation procedures. With the successful repair, managers plan to conduct the “camp out” test of spacewalk preparations in early April. The test may occur during handover from the crew to the Expedition 13 crew scheduled to arrive April 1. This week, McArthur wore specially instrumented cycling tights for a final session with the Foot/Ground Reaction Forces during Space Flight experiment, which began on Expedition 6. The experiment investigates the differences between use of the lower extremities on Earth and in space. For this session, McArthur wore the instrumented Lower Extremity Monitoring Suit, which measured his joint angles, muscle activity and forces on the feet during his exercise routines on the cycle ergometer and the resistive exercise devices. The data provided valuable information on the exact loads crew members experience on their lower extremities in spaceflight. This will aid in understanding bone loss during long duration space missions. The experiment may help in developing methods to counteract that effect. NASA’s payload operations team at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., coordinates U.S. science activities on the station. Tokarev performed a test associated with the automatic docking system for the European Automated Transfer Vehicle. The European Space Agency unpiloted cargo carrier, set to launch next year, will have twice the capacity of the Russian Progress cargo craft. This week’s test involved transmitting docking radio signals from the station to ground stations located in the Canary Islands and near Madrid, Spain. Also this week, McArthur videotaped a demonstration of sleeping on the station and a typical morning routine for use in NASA educational products. The crew will soon begin preparing for a short trip away from their orbiting home. They plan to relocate their Soyuz capsule from the Earth-facing docking port of the station’s Zarya module to an aft port on the Zvezda module. The flight will take approximately 30 minutes on March 20. It will clear the Zarya port for the Expedition 13 arrival. For information about crew activities, future launch dates and station sighting opportunities, on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home |
