All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted previously or below.

Before breakfast, all ISS crewmembers completed another session of the monthly Russian medical experiment protocols PZEh MO-7 (calf volume measurement) and PZEh MO-8 (body mass measurement). FE-2 Sergei Treschev set up the MO-8 equipment and later broke it down and stowed it away. The preceding session, the first for this crew, was on 6/18.

Repair work on the CDRA (carbon dioxide removal assembly) at and behind the AR (atmosphere revitalization) rack proceeded today, after yesterday's hard work by CDR Valery Korzun and FE-1 Peggy Whitson had not gone without a number of unexpected problems. [Video and narration sent down during the R&R (removal and replacement) helped the ground greatly to follow the activities and provide assistance. Further instructions were uplinked overnight based on yesterday's events. CDRA procedures were found to require updating based on yesterday's "surprises".]

Peggy Whitson inspected and activated the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) prior to supporting the ongoing troubleshooting of the MSG/SUBSA (solidification using a baffle in sealed ampoules) complex. Objective: to determine why the SAMS II (space acceleration measurement system II) unit is not communicating via the MSG LAN2 (local area network 2) connection. Peggy's intervention on MSG and its MLC laptop was required to enable the ground to continue failure investigation from earth. Because of the troubleshooting, today's originally planned SUBSA activities were deferred to 7/18.

FE-2 Sergei Treschev worked his way through an extensive "hands-on" test procedure with the new Nikon D1 electronic still camera, going by uplinked instructions and consulting with a ground specialist on S-band. [After setting up the equipment yesterday, today he gave the camera systems, its CompactFlash storage card and associated laptop a thorough shakedown, first taking pictures inside the Service Module (SM), then photographing land surfaces on Earth. Selected shot sequences were then stored on the laptop.]

Later, Treschev cleaned the removable grilles on the gas-liquid heat exchangers (GZhT) in the FGB, followed by cleaning of FGB ventilation grilles.

CDR Valery Korzun performed a switchover of the Service Module (SM) audio subsystem (STTS) to its primary set. [The "Voskhod-M" STTS and its telephone/telegraph audio paths and comm stations were checked out by Korzun and Treschev on 6/26, and operated on the backup set for the last two weeks (since 7/2)..]

Over the past weekend, Whitson worked on the VAJ (vacuum access jumper) setup and leak test, a task list item. Ground specialists are currently evaluating the pressure readings, in order to better understand the associated leak characteristics of the VAJ/ISA (international sampling adapter) setup.

Yesterday's EXT MDMs (external computers) software upload was successful, and the second half of the s/w upgrade to R2 is done today. [In its initial configuration, EXT-1 MDM was powered up and in Primary, running R1. First, the R2 files were successfully loaded to the backup MDM (EXT-2) EEPROM (electrically erasable reprogrammable read-only memory). EXT-2 was then rebooted from EEPROM, thus running on R2, and subsequently switched to Primary. The procedure is being repeated today for the new backup MDM. Final configuration will be EXT-2 MDM powered up and in Primary running R2, while EXT-1 is powered off, with R2 loaded in EEPROM. This is the required initial configuration to support the S1 truss activation procedure on 9A.]

A huge explosion on the Sun yesterday (7/15) sparked an X-class solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection into space. Its source was a remarkable sunspot that is currently crossing the face of the Sun. The large active region stretches 15 Earth-diameters from end-to-end and poses a threat for powerful flares, i.e., eruptions of twisted magnetic fields above the spot, one of which happened yesterday. In terms of crew dosage, the ISS residents were not in any danger.

FE-2 Treschev was scheduled for his session of the weekly NTXN Interactions data collection, filling out a mood, group and journal questionnaire on the HRF (human research facility) PC.

CDR Korzun performed the weekly inspection of the RED (resistive exercise device), while Sergei Treschev did the weekly TVIS (treadmill with vibration isolation and stabilization) maintenance.

All crewmembers performed their regular daily physical exercise.

CSA (Canadian Space Agency) reported that the failed Canadarm2 wrist roll (WR) joint has safely arrived at the contractor's facility (MDR), and the investigation of its failure mode is underway.

Replacement of the failed FGB battery #6 is scheduled for 7/22.

MCC-Moscow is currently planning to conduct the first of two upcoming Orlan-EVAs (EVA-7 & EVA-8) from the DC-1 docking compartment in the night hours of 8/15-16. Use of SSRMS video cameras to cover the spacewalk will probably not be requested.

The next Soyuz taxi flight, 5S (on 10/22) with a Belgian guest cosmonaut, will carry some experiments that are to be conducted in the U.S. Lab. Thus, preparations are to include the POC (Payload Operations Center) in Huntsville, and the requisite U.S. training of the crewmember needs to be scheduled not later than August.

In ten days, the ISS orbit will reach the highest solar beta angle of the year (72 deg). For power reasons, this will require a pitch angle bias in XPOP flight attitude. MCC-Moscow was requested to evaluate possible impacts on Russian systems and discuss a joint plan.

The current decline of ISS flight altitude was planned to get the station down to the optimal altitude for the next Shuttle rendezvous in August. However, if the launch of Mission 9A is delayed, this projection no longer applies, and an early and major reboost would become necessary, depending on 9A launch date.

Today's targets of the CEO (crew earth observation) program were E. Mediterranean Dust and Smog (a slow-moving storm over the western Med was drawing dust northward off the Libyan coast. On this pass as ISS reached southern Greece, the crew was to try for oblique and limb views to the right of track to document this dust event), Nile River Delta (although nadir views were preferred for this target, XPOP may have limited the crew to more oblique views. They were to concentrate on the color of the Mediterranean along the shoreline of the delta, either side of track), Angolan Biomass Burning (the crew had an excellent pass for documenting fire activity over most of Angola. Of interest: looking either side of track to document the frequency and concentration of fire plumes and point sources over this region), Florida Thunderstorm Anvils (Dynamic Event Site: Seasonal afternoon thunderstorm activity was expected over the Florida peninsula this pass. Of interest: using the long lenses of the ESC [electronic still camera] for oblique and limb views of the thunderstorms to the left of track, and, where possible, documenting the vertical structure and anvil tops of the cloud formations), Lakes of the Eastern Sierra (low light and XPOP attitude were likely to preclude any detailed photos of this target. Crew to look to the right of track for context views of the sunlit eastern flanks of the southern Sierras and the Mohave Desert. An intense heat wave is exacerbating seasonally dry conditions in this region and forest fires should have been visible in the higher elevations), High Central Andean Glaciers (cloud conditions were the best they've been in several weeks here. Of interest: looking to the left of track for context views to help locate small ice fields and glaciers in the tropical Andes), Lake Poopo (since this pass clipped the southwestern corner of this target area, the crew was to look to the left of track for context views of the Altiplano Basin with its bright salars and a turbid Lake Poopo).

CEO images can be viewed at the website http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) and Thermal Control (TCS):
Elektron O2 generator is powered On (32-amp mode). Vozdukh CO2 scrubber is ON in MANUAL cycle mode #5 (vacuum pump failed). U.S. CDRA CO2 scrubber is Off (valve failed open in one bed). BMP Harmful Impurities unit: Absorbent bed #1 in Purify mode, bed #2 in Purify mode.

SM Working Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 763, temperature (deg C) -- 26.7, ppO2 (mmHg) -- 157.7, ppCO2 (mmHg) -- 3.9.
SM Transfer Compartment: Pressure (mmHg) -- 762, temperature (deg C) -- 20.9.
FGB Cabin: Pressure (mmHg) -- 752, temperature (deg C) -- 24.0.
Node: Pressure (mmHg) -- 755.34, temperature (deg C) -- 24.8 (shell); ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.
U.S. Lab: Pressure (mmHg) -- 756.94, temperature (deg C) -- 24.8, ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a;
Joint Airlock (Equip. Lock): Pressure (mmHg) -- 756.94, temperature (deg C) -- 23.8; shell heater temp (deg C) -- 23.4, ppO2 (mmHg) -- n/a; ppCO2 (mmHg) -- n/a.
PMA-1: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 27.6
PMA-2: Shell heater temp (deg C) -- 12.8

(Note: Partial pressures ppO2 and ppCO2 in U.S. segment [USOS] not available because MCA [major constituent analyzer] is failed and in Extended Life mode [= a state that preserves mass spectrometer vacuum but produces no pp data]). MSA (mass spectrometer assembly) and VGA (verification gas assembly) were replaced, but some more work needs to be done.

Electrical Power Systems (EPS):
Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA) 2B in Autotrack mode; BGA 4B in Autotrack mode.
SM batteries: Battery #1 reported failed (6/21); all other batteries (7) are in "Partial charge" mode.
FGB: Battery #6 is offline (failed); all other batteries (5) are in "Partial charge" mode.
Plasma Contactor Unit PCU-1 in Standby mode; PCU-2 in Standby mode.

Thermal Control Systems:
Air conditioner SKV-1 is On. SKV-2 is Off.

Command & Data Handling Systems:
C&C-3 MDM is prime, C&C-2 is back-up, and C&C-1 is in standby.
GNC-1 MDM is prime; GNC-2 is Backup.
LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 MDMs are all operating.
PL-1 MDM is operational; PL-2 MDM is Off.
APS-1 (automated payload switch #1) and APS-2 are both On.
SM Terminal Computer (TVM): 2 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.
SM Central Computer (TsVM): 3 redundant lanes (of 3) operational.

Attitude Source:
3 CMGs online.
State vector -- US GPS (SIGI string 1)
Attitude -- Russian segment
Angular rates -- US RGA1 (rate gyro assembly 1)

Communications Systems:
All Russian communications & tracking systems are nominal.
S-band is operating nominally.
Ku-band is operating nominally.
Audio subsystem operating nominally.
Video subsystem operating nominally.
MCOR (medium-rate communications outage recorder) is operating nominally.

Robotics:
SSRMS/Canadarm2 at MBS PDGF 1 (mobile base system/power & data grapple fixture 1) and MBS PDGF 4, with Keep Alive power on both strings (based on MBS).
MBS: Operational on both strings.
RWS (robotics workstations): Cupola is Active, Lab RWS is Off.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:09 am EDT [= epoch]):
Mean altitude -- 390.4 km
Apogee -- 396.1 km
Perigee -- 384.7 km
Period -- 92.4 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.64 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0008454
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.59
Altitude decrease -- 85 m (mean) in last 24 hours
Solar Beta Angle -- 36.2 deg (magnitude increasing)
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98) -- 20859
Current Flight Attitude -- XPOP (x-axis perpendicular to orbit plane = "sun-fixed" [yaw: ~180 deg, pitch: -5.7 deg., roll: 0 deg]).

For more on ISS orbit and naked-eye visibility dates/times, see
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

Source: NASA