940a 11/21 Update: Urine processing resumes; crew news conference on tap

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CBS NEWS STS-126 STATUS REPORT: 46
Posted: 9:35 AM, 11/21/08

By William Harwood
CBS News Space Analyst

Changes and additions:

   SR-44 (11/20/08): Spacewalk ends
   SR-45 (11/20/08): Spacewalk successful; engineers run into glitch starting urine processor
   SR-46 (11/21/08): Urine processing underway; crew news conference on tap

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9:35 AM, 11/21/08, Update: Urine processor checkout continues; crew news conference on tap

Flight controllers restarted the space station's new urine processor assembly overnight after troubleshooting an alarm that interrupted initial startup operations Thursday. Additional work with the water recycling system is on tap today, along with additional equipment transfers to the station and preparations for a third spacewalk Saturday.

"Our shift was very busy tonight, we were working replans for multiple items, first taking a look at tomorrow's spacewalk and figuring out, based on what we saw during EVA number two, what type of changes we'll need to consider for EVA three," station flight director Brian Smith said early today. "So we looked at that and we think we have a plan in place.

"We're also dealing with some issues we had with the regenerative ECLSS (environmental control and life support system) equipment that was recently installed on the space station. We're going through the activation and checkout period of that right now and ran into a couple of issues at the end of the shift that preceded mine. So my shift, we spent some time troubleshooting it, researching the problem and developing a plan to get us back on track and back on the timeline. And I think we've been able to accomplish that."

NASA officials said urine processing had resumed, but details about what caused the problem and what was done to resolve it were not immediately available.

Along with continued tests of the water recycling system, the astronauts also plan to check out berthing system hardware that will be installed on the Japanese Kibo module's far end during Saturday's spacewalk to prepare it for attachment of an exposed experiment platform next year. The crew also will assemble an external TV camera system for installation Saturday and continue moving equipment to and from the Leonardo cargo module that will return to Earth aboard Endeavour.

A joint crew news conference is on tap at 3:05 p.m., followed by a mission status briefing at 4 p.m. The astronauts will share a joint meal following their news conference and enjoy an hour of off-duty time before pressing ahead with spacewalk preparations.

Saturday's spacewalk will be carried out by Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Stephen Bowen. Both astronauts will spend the night in the station's Quest airlock module at a reduced pressure of 10.2 pounds per square inch to help purge nitrogen from their blood streams before working in NASA's 5-psi spacesuits. Crew sleep begins at 12:25 a.m. Saturday.

Here is an updated timeline of today's activity (in EST and mission elapsed time; includes revision G of the NASA television schedule):

EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

08:55 AM...06...13...00...Crew wakeup
10:25 AM...06...14...30...ISS daily planning conference
11:10 AM...06...15...15...Kibo exposed facility berthing mechanism checkout
12:00 PM...06...16...05...Cargo module transfers
12:10 PM...06...16...15...ISS reboost
01:00 PM...06...17...05...Water analyzer (TOCA) installation
01:20 PM...06...17...25...External camera group assembly
02:15 PM...06...18...20...Spacesuit component swap
03:05 PM...06...19...10...Crew conference
03:45 PM...06...19...50...Crew photo
04:00 PM...06...20...05...Mission status briefing on NASA TV
04:05 PM...06...20...10...Joint crew meal
05:05 PM...06...21...10...Crew off duty period begins
06:05 PM...06...22...10...Equipment lock preps
06:50 PM...06...22...55...Tool configuration
08:50 PM...07...00...55...EVA-3: Procedures review
09:50 PM...07...01...55...Evening planning conference
11:20 PM...07...03...25...EVA-3: Mask pre-breathe
                               
11/22/08
12:05 AM...07...04...10...EVA-3: Airlock depress to 10.2 psi
12:25 AM...07...04...30...ISS crew sleep begins
12:55 AM...07...05...00...STS crew sleep begins
01:00 AM...07...05...05...Flight day 8 highlights on NASA TV
07:30 AM...07...11...35...Flight director update on NASA TV
08:30 AM...07...12...35...HD highlights on NASA TV
08:55 AM...07...13...00...Crew wakeup

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Quick-Launch Web Links:

CBS News STS-126 Status Reports:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html

CBS News STS-126 Quick-Look Page:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/currentglance.html

NASA ISS Expeditions Page:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html

NASA Shuttle Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html
NASA Station Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html
Spaceflight Now: http://spaceflightnow.com/index.html
GoogleSatTrack: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/

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