Spacewalk – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Software patch fixes station robot arm; Monday spacewalk repair called off

January 28, 2018 William Harwood

A corrective software patch has fixed a problem with a newly installed grapple fixture on one end of the International Space Station robot arm, NASA officials said Sunday. With the mechanism now fully operational, a re-planned spacewalk Monday to re-install a degraded unit has been called off.

Newly installed space station robot arm grapple fixture not operating properly

January 26, 2018 William Harwood

The grapple mechanism installed on one end of the space station’s robot arm during a spacewalk Tuesday is experiencing problems. It will be removed during a re-planned spacewalk Monday and the original fitting will be re-installed, NASA said Friday.

Spacewalkers complete repairs to station robotic arm

January 23, 2018 William Harwood

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station early Tuesday and replaced one of the grapple fixtures on the end of the lab’s robot arm, the first of two excursions over the next week to complete a complex overhaul that began with a pair of spacewalks last October.

Former astronaut Bruce McCandless dies

December 22, 2017 William Harwood

Former astronaut Bruce McCandless II, a retired Navy captain and son of a Medal of Honor winner who joined NASA during the buildup to the Apollo program, served as capsule communicator when Neil Armstrong took his historic first step on the moon and later flew in space twice during the shuttle program, died Thursday. He was 80.

Astronauts wrap up spacewalk, accomplishing all primary tasks

October 20, 2017 William Harwood

Staging NASA’s third spacewalk in 15 days, two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Friday and installed a new high definition camera, replaced a degraded camera on a recently attached robot arm grapple fixture, finished lubricating the mechanism and carried out a variety of other “get-ahead” tasks.

Astronauts stage second spacewalk in five days

October 10, 2017 William Harwood

Five days after work to replace the grapple fitting on one end of the space station’s robot arm, commander Randy Bresnik and flight engineer Mark Vande Hei ventured back outside the lab complex Tuesday to lubricate the new arm mechanism, to replace a degraded camera and to carry out a variety of lower-priority chores.

Spacewalk concludes with successful robot arm repair

October 5, 2017 William Harwood

Two astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station early Thursday and performed what amounted to hand transplant surgery on the lab’s Canadian-built robot arm, removing a crippled grapple fixture on one end of the space crane and replacing it with an on-board spare.

Station astronauts prep for spacewalk to repair robotic arm

October 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei headed outside the International Space Station Thursday on a spacewalk to replace one end of the lab’s Canadian-built robotic arm, a changeout that engineers say will restore the device to full capability.

Russian cosmonauts complete long spacewalk

August 17, 2017 William Harwood

Two Russian cosmonauts floated outside the International Space Station Thursday for a planned six-hour spacewalk to manually launch five small satellites, to test a variety of spacesuit upgrades, to retrieve an external experiment and to carry out routine inspections and maintenance.

Astronauts replace failed computer in short spacewalk

May 23, 2017 William Harwood

After a bit of a struggle with a balky bolt, space station commander Peggy Whitson replaced a failed external computer during a short, hurriedly planned spacewalk Tuesday while crewmate Jack Fischer installed a pair of antennas to improve wireless communications during future excursions.