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Status Report: 01-201

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 
Expedition Two Science Operations

Weekly Science Status Report
Wednesday, June 6, 2001

An experiment to measure vibrations as small as a rotating fan or as big as a docking spacecraft began its watchdog role on the orbiting laboratory this week.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System II (SAMS-II) is designed to measure vibrations that could degrade delicate microgravity experiments on board the Station. Scientists need to understand the vibration environment so they can better understand their experiment results and perhaps compensate for the vibrations.

"For instance, if there is an experiment in EXPRESS Rack 1 in the U.S. lab and a crew member is exercising on the treadmill in the Service Module, we want to be able to tell scientists what disturbance levels they can expect from that activity," said Kevin McPherson, project manager for Principal Investigator Microgravity Services at NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.

The SAMS-II sensor activated Monday, June 4, is located in EXPRESS Rack 2 in the Destiny lab module. Four additional sensors are located in drawers in EXPRESS Rack 1 and are scheduled for activation next week. Since 1991, SAMS has flown on 20 Space Shuttle missions and operated on Russia's Mir space station for about four years - the longest operational US hardware on the former Russian outpost. It is one of two acceleration measurement systems developed by the Glenn field center. The other -- the Microgravity Acceleration Measurement Systems (MAMS) -- was activated earlier and has recorded disturbances including the docking of a Russian Progress resupply ship.

On Tuesday, June 5, Flight Engineer Susan Helms activated the third of six growth cylinders in the Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure System Unit 10. Every chemical reaction essential to life depends on the function of the proteins and other biological molecules, some of which will be studied as a result of this experiment. Analyses of biological material samples grown on the Station may lead to improved understanding of their structure and the biological processes that they control. In microgravity, scientists hope that these materials can be grown larger and more perfectly ordered than is possible on Earth.

The Expedition Two crew continued during the past week to maintain and operate the orbiting laboratory's science payloads as they prepared for a spacewalk. On Sunday, June 3, Helms performed tests with the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE II) space structures experiment.

Flight Engineer Jim Voss conducted the nutrient exchange required by the Advanced Astroculture (ADVASC) plant growth experiment and did computer-based familiarization to perform gas and condensate sampling on ADVASC. These activities are required to feed the plants and understand growing conditions inside the plant experiment. Video downlinked indicated the plants are growing well. Also last weekend, Voss downloaded data from a portable sensor for the Dosimetric Mapping (DOSMAP) experiment to characterize the radiation environment on the Station.

On Friday, June 1, the crew transferred radiation data from the Phantom Torso and Bonner Ball and DOSMAP experiments to storage computers on board.

The crew's week included additional Crew Earth Observations (CEO) photography activities. CEO targets for June 6 through June 9 include the Red Basin, Sechuan Province, China; Yellow River Delta near Beijing; Ganges River Basin; Rift Triple Junction in Ethiopia; and expansion of the Suez Canal system and agriculture east of the Canal; Central Philippine Islands; Rukwa Transform, Tanzania; Yangtze River Delta; major urban industrial centers in southeastern Africa; Kilimanjaro Tropical Glacier; and the Rift Triple Junction in Ethiopia. These sites are of interest to scientists studying global warming and agricultural and urban development.

The crew continued to fill out the computer questionnaire as part of the Interactions study of crew relationships during long space missions.

Science payload activities later this week are expected to be limited as the crew prepares for a 35-minute space walk. Several activities are on a task list of optional items for the crew if they have time, including: operations with the three expedition's radiation experiments, Interactions sessions, continued ADVASC maintenance activities and photography and film loading for the Crew Earth Observations experiment.

Normal operations continue with the Destiny laboratory module's three major science facilities - the Human Research Facility and EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2. In addition to the radiation experiments, other research currently operating on the Station includes the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth, and Experiment on the Physics of Colloids in Space. Science teams on the ground are evaluating the impact of changes to the Space Shuttle launch schedule.

Of the 18 experiments planned for Expedition Two, one is completed, one failed and was deactivated, 13 others have been activated and are in progress, one is partially activated, one remains to be fully set up and activated, and one remains to be launched this summer on the 7A Station assembly mission.

Editor’s Note: The Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages all science research experiment operations aboard

the International Space Station.  The center is also home for coordination of the mission-planning work of a variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and payload safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel.