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ISS: Reiter´s routine in space
By Matthias Gründer
 Almost half a century after Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space, manned spaceflight continues to attract the attention of the public, even if it is no longer viewed with quite the suspense and fascination of the early years. The era of special reports is over, today spaceflight is taken for granted by people all over the world.
Meanwhile the daily routine of the astronauts is just as tense and exciting as it ever was, even if it is filled with work and to some extent even routine. Let us take a closer look at a day in the life of the 14th resident crew of the International Space Station. Today happens to be Friday 27 October 2006.
8am to 9.35am: Time to wake up for Thomas Reiter, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. Morning ablutions and breakfast. In the course of this, Reiter takes five minutes to apply a cream on one underarm as part of the SKIN experiment (physiological analysis of skin in space), in the course of which various parameters of human skin are being investigated which, amongst other things, should shed some light on the ageing processes.
9.35am to 10.05am: Half an hour's preparation time in anticipation of the daily planning conference and the work which lies ahead today.
10.05am to 10.30am: Reiter changes a memory card for the ALTCRISS experiment, under which cosmic radiation is being measured at different positions in the station, and downloads the data on the card which has been replaced.
10.30am to 10.55am: Ten-minute break followed by daily planning conference with the flight/mission control centres in Houston, Huntsville and Moscow.
10.55am to 11.10am: All three crew members take part in the weekly conference with the mission control centre in Moscow.
11.10am to 1.10pm: Thomas Reiter draws up an inventory of equipment items in the Russian section of the ISS.
1.10pm to 1.40pm: Reiter and Tyurin complete another stage of the DVD 4 experiment, in which the use of various robot installations onboard is filmed. This includes a model of the European Robotic Arm (ERA), the Robotic Work Station for the Canadarm in the US segment and various functions of the SPHERES NASA experiment. The video recordings will later be compiled on the Earth into a DVD for teachers and schoolchildren in the ESA Member states.
1.40pm to 2.40pm: Reiter trains for an hour on the bicycle ergometer.
2.40pm to 3.05pm: Routine maintenance work on the life-support system of the Russian Zvezda module.
3.05pm to 4.05pm: Work is resumed on preparing the inventory for the Russian segment.
4.05pm to 5.05pm: Communal meal for the three crew members.
5.05pm to 7.05pm: Freight is unloaded from the Russian Transporter Progress M-58 (23P), which is docked on to the ISS at the moment.
7.05pm to 8.35pm: Reiter trains for 90 minutes on the treadmill.
8.35pm to 9.10pm: 20 minutes' free time, followed by daily planning conference with the mission control centres.
9.10pm to 10pm: Communal supper and individual free time.
10pm to 10.20pm: The crew meet for the weekly conference with the Flight Director in Houston.
10.20pm to 11.30pm: End of daily routine and free time.
11.30pm to 8am: Lights out.
The next day, a Saturday, is normally a day of rest apart from fitness training on the ergometer or treadmill, which has to be performed every day. Normally there is also about three hours' worth of cleaning to be done on the station, while a weekly planning conference is also on the agenda.
On the Sunday, also a day of rest, Thomas Reiter then has the opportunity to talk to his family for 20 minutes. This is followed by physical training, planning conference and preparatory work for the experiments to be conducted the next day.
As you can see, every day spent on board the ISS is rigidly planned down to the last minute, calling for a high degree of discipline on the part of the crew in carrying out all the work. Contact with home is little and far between, and during the experiments the team members sometimes do not see each other for hours as each one has work to do in a different module. „It is a real pleasure to sit down together for the brief time allotted to meals, which are eaten together wherever possible”, says Reiter.
On the other hand, it is also nice to have some personal space in the ISS, which over the years has grown to quite a size. Being imprisoned in the “tin can”, the daily routine, the noise made by the fans and many other minor details can build up to an outburst of “space rage”, when an individual is suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of unbearable dislike towards friend and colleague alike – as has occurred on earlier extended missions.
As the ISS expands and acquires ever better communications links with the Earth, it is easier to counter such symptoms. At any rate, Thomas Reiter gives the impression of being totally relaxed as he goes about his everyday activities.
From page 43 of FLUG REVUE 12/2006
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