H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-7 Launch Status: On Sunday, Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported that tonight’s launch of HTV-7 has been delayed due to weather concerns. Experts are meeting later tonight (Tuesday, 11-September in Japan) to discuss the upcoming weather forecast and begin work to select a new launch date; the next earliest launch opportunity is on GMT 256 (12-13 September CDT). Teams are working to assess the impacts of this launch delay to the planned dates for the upcoming HTV-7 Battery R&R EVAs.

Rodent Research-7 (RR-7): Today the crew restocked and cleaned the rodent habitats and performed mass measurements on 10 rodents. They also collected and stowed fecal pellets and food bar/Habitat swabs into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The RR-7 investigation examines how the space environment affects the community of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract of mice (also known as the microbiota). It also looks at microgravity’s effects on multiple physiological systems known to be affected by the microbiota, including the gastrointestinal, immune, metabolic, circadian, and sleep systems. These studies should help explain mechanisms underlying interactions between these systems and the role of the microbiota in these interactions.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – Cohesive Sediment (BCAT-CS): The crew checked camera alignment and focus by viewing the latest BCAT images on a laptop. The BCAT-CS investigation studies the forces between particles that cluster together by using sediments of quartz and clay particles. Conducting the research in the microgravity environment of the ISS makes it possible to separate the forces acting on the particles over a short range (adhesive forces) versus those acting over a long range (cohesive forces). The quartz/clay system is commonly found in a wide variety of environmental settings (such as rivers, lakes, and oceans) and plays an important role in technological efforts related to deep-sea hydrocarbon drilling and carbon dioxide sequestration.

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Li-Ion Battery Data Logging: Today the crew terminated one EMU Long Life Batteries-2 (LLB-2s) Autocycle and initiated a second chargingAutocycle with data logging. Both of these Autocycles will capture battery health data and help ground experts understand the charge and discharge capacities of these new and improved LLB-2 batteries. The data will also be used to compare charging system performance between the on-orbit and ground based systems.

Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) and Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Analysis: Today the crew analyzed the MAS and SSK samples taken on 5 September, performing colony counts and photographing the microbial and fungal slides. This investigation refines locations and surfaces prone to microbial contamination throughout the ISS while simultaneously monitoring the ISS environment for gaseous contaminants from off-gassing, combustion products, and propellants as well as microbial contaminants from crewmembers and ISS activities.

Completed Task List Activities:

ESA EPO – Cold Atoms, Flumias, Myotones, and Seeds Photos [Completed GMT 252]

ESA PAO Messages: IAO, UNICEF, and WHO [Completed GMT 252]

WHC KTO Replace [Completed GMT 251]

Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.



HTV-7 Robotic Work Station (RWS) Camera Calibration

Two-Day Look Ahead:

Tuesday, 09/11:

Payloads

Microbial Tracking-2 saliva and body collect

Atomization Syringe Install

METEOR laptop R&R

Food Acceptability

Systems

EVA Procedures Review and Conference

EMU Loop Scrubs and H 2 0 Recharge

Wednesday, 09/12:

Payloads

Rodent Research-7 dissections

Radi-N detectors retrieve and handover to Russian crew

Food Acceptability

Systems

WHC Urine Receptacle R&R

N2 Centerline Berthing Camera System (CBCS) Installation and Checkout

Today’s Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

