International Space Station Status Report #03-8 
4 p.m. CST, Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 
Expedition Six Crew

The Expedition 6 crew marked its 90th day in orbit today. Commander Ken
Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer
Don Pettit have been in orbit since their launch from the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida on Nov. 23. 

The crew began the week by taking samples of the station’s water supply
to ensure its continued purity. Budarin also started a three-day process
to disinfect equipment in the Russian water supply system using materials
brought to the station aboard the latest Progress resupply craft. Both
activities are part of routine maintenance procedures aboard the station.


During the week, the crew completed a variety of medical tests to ensure
their continued good health and to collect data on how the human body
adapts to microgravity. These included a Russian cardiovascular
experiment and the testing of urine and blood samples. Bowersox and
Pettit also completed a computer-based refresher training related to
their duties as crew medical officers. Station maintenance during the
week included the removal and replacement by Pettit of a remote power
control module in the Destiny laboratory, which contained a bad power
switch that was responsible for powering the video recorder in one of the
robotics workstations. The changeout was successful and the video
recorder is now working. Bowersox performed monthly maintenance on the
cycle ergometer, which the crew uses to maintain their aerobic fitness –
the station’s treadmill received its periodic maintenance last weekend.
On Thursday, Bowersox and Pettit conducted an inventory of all the
equipment in the Quest airlock to ensure it matched the data in the
station’s Inventory Management System. 

The loading of new software on the station’s command and control
computers was completed today, as was the loading of the new software
onto the guidance, navigation and control computers. 

On Monday, Bowersox and Pettit plan to don U.S. spacesuits without the
help of Budarin to practice techniques that could be used if only two
crewmembers are present aboard the ISS. 

Information on the crew's activities aboard the space station, future
launch dates, as well as station sighting opportunities from anywhere on
the Earth, is available on the Internet at: 

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ 

Details on station science operations can be found on an Internet site
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at: 

http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/ 

The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, Feb. 28, or sooner,
if events warrant