News From Space!

Flight Day 8 wraps up with the third of four spacewalks done, and the Space Station’s ailing computers slowly coming back to life. NASA reports:

Spacewalkers Repair Thermal Blanket, Assist Array Folding

Image above: John (Danny) Olivas staples a loose thermal blanket to an adjacent one on the left OMS pod of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Image credit: NASA TV

Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Jim Reilly performed repair work and helped fold solar arrays Friday during STS-117’s third spacewalk. The 7-hour, 58-minute excursion wrapped up at 9:22 p.m. EDT.

Shortly after the spacewalk’s start, Olivas and Reilly went to work on separate tasks. Olivas completed repair work on a thermal blanket that was out of position on space shuttle Atlantis. While attached to the shuttle robot arm, Olivas tucked the blanket back into place and then used a medical stapler to secure it to adjacent blankets on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.

Reilly went to work outside the International Space Station where he installed a hydrogen vent on the Destiny Laboratory. The vent is for a new oxygen generation system.

Later the spacewalkers moved up to the top of the P6 to assist with the retraction of the starboard solar array. A future shuttle crew will relocate the P6 to the end of the Port 5 truss.

Mission Specialist Pat Forrester coordinated Friday’s spacewalk activities. Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialist Steve Swanson are the robot arm operators. STS-117’s final spacewalk will take place Sunday.

Early Saturday, Mission Specialist Suni Williams will break the record for longest-duration space flight by a woman. At 1:47 a.m., Williams will pass the 188-day, 4-hour mark held by Shannon Lucid since 1996.

Flight Day 7 videos are up at the JSC Gallery. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.

Friday begins with a banged-up ISS computer system, and will (we hope) end with a successful spacewalk. STS-117’s third EVA should result in a repaired thermal shield for Atlantis. NASA reports:

Thermal Blanket Repair, Vent Installation on Tap Today

Image above: This computer-generated artist’s rendering depicts a spacewalker repairing the thermal blanket. Image credit: NASA TV

STS-117 Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas will tackle separate tasks today when they begin the mission’s third spacewalk.

Olivas’ first task of the spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 1:38 p.m. EDT, is the repair of a thermal blanket that is out of position on space shuttle Atlantis. Working from the end of the Atlantis’ robot arm, he will tuck the blanket back into position and then staple it back into position on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.

Meanwhile, Reilly will install a hydrogen vent on the International Space Station’s Destiny Laboratory. The vent is for a new oxygen generation system.

The duo will then go to the top of the station’s Port (P6) truss to assist in the retraction of a solar array. Over a two-day period the crew has folded most of the array bays. A future shuttle crew will relocate the P6 to the end of the Port 5 truss.

If time allows, Reilly and Olivas will tackle other tasks outside the station. The spacewalk is scheduled to last 6½ hours.

Mission Specialist Pat Forrester will coordinate today’s spacewalk activities. Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialist Steve Swanson are the robot arm operators.

Flight controllers continue efforts to bring the Russian navigation computers to full operation. Russian flight controllers brought the computers back online this morning, but took them back offline for the day while controllers troubleshoot the problem.

The navigation computers provide backup attitude control and orbital altitude adjustments. For now, the station’s control moment gyroscopes are handling attitude control, with the shuttle’s propulsion system providing backup.

Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.