|
|
|
|
|
Cooling system work completed by the spacewalkers BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: February 4, 2007 Space station commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams successfully tied the lab complex into a second ammonia coolant loop today, completing the activation of the station's permanent cooling system. While a bit of minor ammonia leakage occurred as fluid lines were unplugged and reconnected, engineers said the system was tight and there were no safey concerns. Playing it safe, however, the spacewalkers were asked to visually inspect each other's spacesuits to make sure no ammonia ice crystals were present. Additional decontamination procedures were available, if needed, to ensure any ammonia on the suits is removed before the crew re-enters the station's airlock later today. But no problems were expected. "I would say we've looked pretty hard. But those were tiny little dots that were coming out of there," Lopez-Alegria reported. "It would be almost unimaginable for them to leave a mark that we could actually see on the (spacesuit). For what it's worth, she looks clean." "LA looks clean, too," Williams reported. "I don't see anything, any type of buildup." With the coolant system reconfiguration complete, the astronauts are pressing ahead with a busy timeline. Next on the agenda is to monitor the retraction of a no-longer-needed radiator, part of the station's interim cooling system. They will lock the radiator in place, and remove a fluid line from an interim ammonia reservoir that will be dumped overboard this summer. After that, the astronauts will work to complete a wiring change that will allow space station power to be routed to docked shuttles starting this summer. As of 11 a.m., the spacewalkers were about a half hour ahead of their timeline.
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The documentary "Research Project: X-15" looks at the rocketplane program that flew to the edge of space in the effort to learn about the human ability to fly at great speeds and aircraft design to sustain such flights.
On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, a remembrance service was held January 27 at the Kennedy Space Center's memorial Space Mirror.
This documentary takes a look at the technical aspects of Project Mercury, including development of the capsule and the pioneering first manned flights of America's space program.
The voyage of Apollo 15 took man to the Hadley Rille area of the moon. Astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin explored the region using a lunar rover, while Al Worden remained in orbit conducting observations. "Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon" is a NASA film looking back at the 1971 flight.
Skylab, America's first space station, began with crippling problems created by an incident during its May 1973 launch. High temperatures and low power conditions aboard the orbital workshop forced engineers to devise corrective measures quickly. Astronauts Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz and Joe Kerwin flew to the station and implemented the repairs, rescuing the spacecraft's mission. This film tells the story of Skylab's first 40 days in space.