STS-117: Flight Day 8
By TonyF on 15 June 2007 at 11:10AM
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:
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.
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