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Space station crew ready to step outside for busy EVA BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: March 27, 2005 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As their half-year mission aboard the International Space Station winds down, the two-man Expedition 10 crew will take a spacewalk early Monday to complete external outfitting of gear that will guide European cargo ships to the outpost and toss a tiny nanosatellite overboard for remote engineering experiments.
It will be the crew's second spacewalk, following a successful outing in late January. They are slated to complete a six-month tour-of-duty on the station and return to Earth on April 24. The main focus of this excursion is installing antennas and cabling on the Russian Zvezda service module's outer hull to support future visits by European-made Automated Transfer Vehicle resupply ships. After opening the hatchway to space, the crewmen will bring a bundled package of equipment with them from the airlock. The nanosat is scheduled to be powered up and then temporarily secured to the Pirs module as the spacewalk gets underway. The spacewalkers then climb to the forward portion of Zvezda where three space-to-space communications antennas will be installed around the module's outer surface. Each have a mounting bracket for attaching to the station. They join three similar antennas installed during a previous spacewalk. The antennas are part of the ATV navigation system's communications network. As the antennas are installed, the spacewalkers must route cable lines between the devices and umbilical ports to plug into Zvezda's internal systems. The most visually-dramatic job occurs next. The crew will make its way back to the airlock and retrieve the nanosat. Sharipov is given the duty of deploying the foot-long, 11-pound object into space by hand-launching it like tossing a basketball. Nanosat will test satellite control techniques and new attitude system sensors. The craft will be pushed away in a retrograde fashion, separating from the station in the opposite direction of travel. Next, the crew gathers another bundle from the airlock and heads for the rear-end of the Zvezda module where a Global Positioning System antenna will be installed as the EVA moves into its second half. The antenna is another piece of the guidance and communications network for use during automated dockings of the ATV ships starting next year. The crew's movements on Zvezda are coordinated with the Russian mission control center to ensure the spacewalkers aren't contaminated by firings of thrusters on the module. Once the GPS antenna is attached and its cabling routed, the crew plans to inspect a Russian communications antenna, then move to the extreme backside of Zvezda to check and photograph a laser reflector needed by ATV craft during final approaches. The first ATV is scheduled for launch next summer atop an Ariane 5 rocket from South America. The European Space Agency cargo ships will ferry supplies, experiments and hardware to the space station. The spacewalk should conclude by 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT). It will be the sixth EVA in Chiao's spaceflight career, following four on previous space shuttle flights, and the second for Sharipov. Going into Monday's excursion, 39 NASA astronauts, 10 Russian cosmonauts, one Canadian and one Frenchman have staged 57 space station assembly and maintenance spacewalks totaling 343 hours and 45 minutes since December 1998. |
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Mission managers preview the next spacewalk by the Expedition 10 crew aboard the International Space Station, which will install external equipment on the Russian segment and hand-launch a tiny nanosatellite. (37min 00sec file)
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This video retrospective remembers the first flight of space shuttle Endeavour. The maiden voyage set sail in May 1992 to rescue the Intelsat 603 communications spacecraft, which had been stranded in a useless orbit. Spacewalkers attached a rocket booster to the satellite for the critical boost to the correct altitude.
This video retrospective remembers the 2002 mission of Columbia that made a long distance service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, giving the observatory a new power system and extending its scientific reach into the Universe. Astronauts performed five highly successful spacewalks during the mission.
This retrospective remembers the third voyage of space shuttle Columbia. The March 1982 mission served as another developmental test flight for the reusable spacecraft, examining performance of its systems while also conducting a limited science agenda. STS-3 is distinguished by making the first landing at Northrup Strip in White Sands, New Mexico.
Astronomers announce major findings about planets outside our solar system at this Spitzer Space Telescope science news conference on March 22 from NASA Headquarters. (21min 22sec file)
This narrated biography offers an interest glimpse at the backgrounds of Expedition 10 commander Leroy Chiao and flight engineer Salizhan Sharipov. (4min 43sec file)
The fifth Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket blasts off to deploy the Inmarsat 4-F1 mobile communications spacecraft into orbit. (2min 35sec file)
An extended length clip follows the Atlas 5 launch from T-minus 1 minute through ignition of the Centaur upper stage and jettison of the nose cone. (6min 43sec file)
An onboard video camera mounted to the Atlas 5 rocket's first stage captures this view of the spent solid-fuel boosters separating.