PMA-3 Is Rotated 90 Degrees From Where Astronauts Expected It To Be

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 5 September 2009
“PMA-3 Heater Cable Installation: After the EVA-2 crew discovered that the PMA-3 (Pressurized Mating Adapter 3) is rotated (“clocked”) 90 degrees off (“tail nadir”) from the expected orientation (“tail aft”), further evaluation by ground teams confirmed that the on-board jumper harness is not long enough in this orientation. Therefore, this task will not be performed during EVA-3. It was also confirmed that the actual PMA-3 orientation is the same as in 2007 (Expedition 15) before it was relocated to Node-1 nadir, and that this is the correct orientation expected for HTV rendezvous/berthing. There are currently no plans to rectify the situation which requires that entrances to PMA-3 need to be restricted to certain (solar-heated) Beta angle periods to prevent condensation within the module. The root cause for this discrepancy is under investigation.”