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Status Report: 01-366

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 
Expedition Three Science Operations

Weekly Science Status Report
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001

The Expedition Three science team spent the past week finishing its few remaining activities and preparing for the next science mission.

The Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility (APCF) and Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth (DCPCG) experiments were deactivated on Friday, November 30, to be stowed for the return to Earth on the upcoming STS-108 Space Shuttle mission.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System and Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System, experiments for studying the Station's vibration environment, are set to start high data rate recording during the Shuttle docking before being powered off during joint operations. They will be reactivated to record the undocking.

The Active Rack Isolation System ISS Characterization Experiment has been running continuously and using all communications windows during the past week to test a vibration dampening device expected to begin supporting Expedition Four experiments in 2002. It is scheduled for deactivation about three hours before the Shuttle docking and will be reactivated after the Shuttle undocks. The Station crew will install alignment guides before powerdown to ensure that the eight delicate pushrods used to damp vibrations entering EXPRESS Rack 2 are not damaged during joint operations.

The Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space completed a 24-hour run on Monday, December 3, performing several diagnostics on the colloid polymer gel sample. It completed a 48-hour run today and started another 24-hour run, taking advantage of the STS-108 weather delay. Tests during the past week have been used mainly to study the early stages of aging of the colloid-polymer gel sample. Once the gel network spans the sample container and the fluid no longer flows, gelation is complete and aging of the gel occurs. Aging refers to the evolution of the gel's structure and to its internal motions during that time. The gelation and aging scenario is much like the hardening of gelatin on Earth. It takes time for the gel structure to set up and then more time for the gel network to become stiffer. The study of aging of gels and viscoelastic fluids attempts to understand how small stresses built in during formation relax over time. Colloids, which are systems of tiny particles, are used in many products and manufacturing processes on Earth.

Commander Frank Culbertson plans to use the DREAMTiME high definition TV camera to record the Shuttle docking and crew ingress before packing it for return to Earth.

The remainder of the Expedition Three science program has been completed. Operations are complete on EarthKAM, Crew Interactions, Pulmonary Function in Flight, Renal Stone, Hoffman Reflex, and the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System. Several experiments will be continued into Expedition Four.

As an energy conservation measure during docked operations, ground controllers are ready to power down EXPRESS Rack 2 shortly before Shuttle docking and EXPRESS Rack 1 after APCF and DCPG are transferred to the Shuttle.

The Expedition Three science team is preparing questions for Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin during their post-landing debrief to gain more insight into science operations onboard and how they can be improved in the future.

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.