From the Johnson Space Center in Houston, officials from NASA brief reporters on two upcoming spacewalks outside the International Space Station to replace aging batteries in the outpost’s power grid.
Mission Reports
Balky connectors prevent full activation of European experiment platform
Two astronauts working outside the International Space Station Wednesday installed a European Space Agency data relay antenna and connected four of six cables to partially power a new ESA experiment platform. They also removed two solar array handling fixtures to clear the way for a future power system upgrade.
Mission Reports
Russian spacewalkers cut into Soyuz spaceship to inspect leak repair
Clad in pressurized spacesuits, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev used knives and scissors to slice through insulation and a debris shield on a Soyuz spaceship set to return to Earth next week, finally reaching the capsule’s metallic hull to examine the site of an air leak plugged in August.
Mission Reports
Station astronauts install new cameras on successful spacewalk
Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Thursday and installed two new cameras on the front of the lab complex that will provide views of commercial crew ships during final approach and docking. The spacewalkers also replaced a faulty high-definition camera and closed a door that was jammed open on an external instrument.