LIVE, from orbit, it's SATURDAY NIGHT SPACEWALK! The second EVAs of Endeavour's of three scheduled spacewalks is slated for tonight. On tap: installing coolant lines for the Tranquility and Cupola modules that were berthed to the Space Station Thursday morning. NASA reports:
Image above: Intersecting the thin line of Earth's atmosphere, space shuttle Endeavour's starboard wing is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 22 crew member while Endeavour remains docked with the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA
All plans are go for the second spacewalk of shuttle mission STS-130 at 9:09 p.m. EST, resuming the integration of the International Space Station’s new Tranquility module. The crew members from the station and shuttle Endeavour also have learned they’ll have an extra day on orbit together.
Spacewalkers Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick will spend the first part of the spacewalk connecting two ammonia loops, with two lines in each loop, from the Destiny module to Tranquility, hooking the new module to the station’s cooling system, and open one of those loops to initiate cooling of the module. Then they’ll install thermal covers on Tranquility’s keel pin and trunnions, to prevent condensation inside the module, outfit the nadir docking port of Tranquility for the relocation of the cupola module, and install handrails. The spacewalk is scheduled to conclude at 3:39 a.m. Sunday.
Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialist Kathryn Hire will continue outfitting Tranquility’s interior, including setting up the ventilation system and configuring racks
Early Saturday morning the crew members outfitting Tranquility were unable to install a center disk cover on the module’s outboard docking port due to interference with the cover’s attach mechanism from hardware inside the cupola; that cover protects the docking interface from debris and temperature extremes when there’s no module attached to it. The planned depressurization and grappling of the cupola at the end of the crew work day has been deferred to permit troubleshooting of that situation.
Mission managers today approved adding an extra day to the flight. That day, which will be a new Flight Day 11 beginning Wednesday afternoon, will be used to relocate two Water Recovery System racks, the Waste Hygiene Compartment and the Oxygen Generation System into Tranquility. Those relocations were on hold pending the repairs conducted earlier in the flight, and enough run time on the system to generate needed samples for return to Earth for analysis.
Endeavour’s landing now will occur Sunday night, Feb. 21.
So, these flight days are a little funny this time out (at least for those of us in US time zones) because they span calendar days. FD 5 is scheduled to end at 8:14AM EST today (Friday) - it started yesterday afternoon. Overnight, Endeavour astronauts Nicholas Patrick and Bob Behnkencompleted the first spacewalk of the STS-130 mission. NASA reports:
Image above: Mission Specialist Bob Behnken works outside the International Space Station during the first spacewalk of the STS-130 mission. Image credit: NASA TV
STS-130 crew members installed a 2,600-cubic-foot addition to the International Space Station early Friday, combining the talents of robotic arm operators and spacewalkers to connect the Italian-built Tranquility module.
Tranquility was installed at 1:20 a.m. EST Friday over the Indian Ocean west of Singapore. Mission Specialist Kay Hire and Pilot Terry Virts used the station’s Canadarm2 to pull Tranquility out of the space shuttle Endeavour’s payload bay and position it on the port side of the station’s 10-year-old Unity module. Tranquility was locked in place with 16 remotely controlled bolts.
Spacewalkers Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick stepped outside the Quest airlock module at 9:17 p.m. Thursday and immediately began preparing the new module for its trip from the cargo bay to the station. Mission Specialist Steve Robinson helped coordinate the 6-hour, 32-minute spacewalk, which ended at 3:49 a.m. Friday. As Behnken and Patrick waited for the robotic arm operators to carefully maneuver Tranquility into position, they relocated a temporary platform from the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Dextre, to the station’s truss structure and installed two handles on the robot.
Once Tranquility was structurally mated to Unity, the spacewalkers connected heater and data cables that will integrate the new module with the rest of the station’s systems. They also pre-positioned insulation blankets and ammonia hoses that will be used to connect Tranquility to the station’s cooling radiators during the mission’s second spacewalk that begins Saturday night. The station’s new room with a view, the cupola, will be moved from Tranquility’s end to its Earth-facing port on Sunday.
As the spacewalk ended, Mission Control reported that all data and heater connections were working well, and that the vestibule separating Tranquility and Unity had passed its initial leak check.
Image above: Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick and Bob Behnken work outside the International Space Station during the first spacewalk of the STS-130 mission. Image credit: NASA TV
It’s not just NASA that’s hip to the social media game anymore. Now, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has one of its own blogging from the International Space Station.
Image above: This scene, photographed from the International Space Station while docked with space shuttle Discovery, shows the orbiter, the shuttle's robotic arm and a Soyuz vehicle docked with the orbital outpost. Credit: NASA
After closing the hatches between the two spacecraft last night, the two crews aboard space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station prepare to undock today.
Shuttle commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Kevin Ford and mission specialists Tim Kopra, Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas, and Christer Fuglesang, will focus on preparations for the undocking from the station.
They are scheduled to undock from the station at 3:26 p.m. EDT. Once safely separated from the orbiting complex by about 450 feet, Ford will conduct a flyaround of the space station. The maneuver provides an opportunity to get video of the station that can be used to inspect for damage or general condition of the vehicle’s exterior. A final separation burn is expected at 5:09 p.m.
Later, the shuttle crew will again engage the shuttle robotic arm, its extension boom and cameras for a last look at the thermal protection system to check for any damage.
Image above: The Expedition 20 and STS-128 crews say goodbye before closing the hatches between the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery. Credit: NASA TV
With over a week of docked operations behind them, the astronauts and cosmonauts said their goodbyes and closed the hatches between the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery at 11:41 p.m. EDT Monday.
The 13 crew members aboard space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station completed final transfer work between the two spacecraft and returned the high-tech moving van “Leonardo” back to the orbiter’s payload bay Monday.
Arriving aboard Discovery was the newest Expedition 20 crew member, Nicole Stott, who switched places with Mission Specialist Tim Kopra. Stott will handle flight engineer duties aboard the station until her return home aboard Atlantis following the STS-129 mission in November.
The third and final spacewalk of Discovery's mission will take place Saturday evening, starting at 4:49PM EDT. On the agenda for astronauts Olivas and Fugelsang (per Wikipedia):
Prepare for the arrival of the Tranquility node by attaching cables between the starboard truss and the Unity node, the area where Tranquility will be installed. Tranquility is targeted to arrive to the station on STS-130 in February 2010. The spacewalkers also will replace a communications sensor device, install two new GPS antennas, and install a new circuit breaker.
Flight Day 5 began Tuesday shortly before 1PM EDT Tuesday. ISS and Shuttle crewmembers unloaded equipment from Discovery, including the COLBERT treadmill.
Image above: Spacewalker Nicole Stott works outside the International Space Station during the first spacewalk of the STS-128 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV
Mission Specialist Danny Olivas and Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott completed the first spacewalk of the STS-128 mission at 12:24 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The astronauts began the spacewalk at 5:49 p.m. Tuesday.
During the spacewalk, shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialist Pat Forrester guided the spacewalkers through the procedures. Pilot Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Bob Thirsk operated the station’s robotic arm.
Crew members inside the International Space Station entered the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and unloaded the air revitalization system, a new crew quarters compartment and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT).
Image above: Astronauts Patrick Forrester and Nicole Stott, both STS-128 mission specialists, are pictured on the middeck of space shuttle Discovery. Photo credit: NASA
For the second time in history, thirteen people will be assembled on one spacecraft today to kick-off eight days of joint space operations. Space shuttle Discovery is on track for a docking with the International Space Station just after 9 p.m. EDT.
Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Kevin Ford will perform a few final corrective jet firings to refine the orbiter’s path to the station and poise them for a rendezvous pitch maneuver (RPM) under the station at 8 p.m. While Sturckow performs the “backflip” Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt will take photos from the station. Their photos will be reviewed by experts on the ground for evidence of damage to the shuttle tiles.
Once the RPM is complete, Sturckow will fly Discovery ahead of the space station and slowly back it in to dock to the station. Mating is expected to occur at 9:04 p.m. After hatch opening and a routine safety briefing, the two crews will start their joint operations.
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