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Good morning this is mission control Houston. Welcome and thank you for joining us for today's
edition of ISS update this Tuesday, March 20. You�re now looking at live view inside
the International Space Station flight control room where the team here has been monitoring
the systems aboard the station and supporting today's activities of the expedition 30 crew
members.
Leading the Orbit Two team here in the station flight control room today is flight director
Ron Spencer, shown here on the right-hand side in the dark blue shirt. And Mark Reagan
who is serving as Capcom; he�s relaying all ground messages up to the crew, shown
here on the left-hand side of your screen in the white shirt.
On orbit the six crew members well into their busy work day aboard the station include NASA
astronaut and Commander of the complex Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers and cosmonauts
Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, as well as NASA astronaut Don Pettit, cosmonaut
Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers.
Commander Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin will complete 128 days of their planned 5
1/2 months in space today. While their expedition 30 crewmates, Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers
close out today with 91 days in space.
The space station with its crew aboard is now flying at an altitude of about 250 statute
miles. The orbiting facility is making an east northeastern track across the Indian
Ocean, heading for a pass just across Australia.
With a wake-up at 1 AM central time the Expedition 30 crew members kicked off their day with
the first of two daily planning conference held with ground controllers at mission control
centers around the world.
That conference is scheduled to review the day's activities, discussing issues and also
plan for the next set of tasks.
Today station Commander Dan Burbank is conducting an air leak inspection of the onboard Waste
and Hygiene Compartment.
Meanwhile, Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers are working together on some
cleanup work inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module.
It�s also known as Leonardo or the �space closet� that is used for extra storage aboard
the International Space Station.
Pettit also will spend some time later during today's ISS update loading some software and
reconfiguring a laptop computer of the EXPRESS rack four.
Andre Kuipers will continue some maintenance work to the onboard Water Recovery System
after he's replaced a recycle filter tank assembly just yesterday.
And cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov will perform his regular daily maintenance to the Russian
life support system.
He�ll also then participate in a standard private medical conference.
Earlier this morning aboard the International Space Station, Commander Burbank installed
the High Rate Communication System panel in the Destiny lab. The high rate communication
system panel will allow for two additional space to ground audio channels and also two
additional downlink video channels.
Burbank then completed his two hour daily exercise using the Advanced Resistive Exercise
Device and the onboard stationary bicycle.
Flight Engineer Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers had conducted a periodic health exam, much
like a standard medical checkup here on Earth, but no blood was drawn for today's evaluation.
Pettit then collected and tested a water sample at the Water Processor Assembly of the Water
Recovery System.
Kuipers spent a few hours today with cleanup activities of the Permanent Multipurpose Module,
what he and Pettit are working on now, transferring some items from storage to its permanent space
aboard the station.
Cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin took some photos as part of a Russian study known as Seiner
that observes the world's oceans for bioproductive areas of the, for the fishing industry.
And also just before today's ISS update hour Commander Burbank and Pettit took some time
out to talk with a reporter with WVIT-TV of Hartford, Connecticut.
And at the end of the day, each crew member will have participated in his daily two-hour
exercise to maintain their physical fitness and mitigate the negative effects of microgravity
on their bodies.
Commander Burbank will continue that maintenance work at the Water Recovery System.
The Expedition 30 crew will then participate in its final daily planning conference with
ground controllers around the world before some evening prep work and entering its presleep
period.
Everything remains on track for the launch of the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket.
That rocket will be sending the third European space agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle
cargo ship up to the International Space Station.
Launch is set for 11:34 PM central time Thursday night. The crew scheduled go to bed today
at 3:30 PM central time. This is Mission Control Houston