Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

NASA Astronauts Prepare for Spacewalk Live on NASA TV

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen is now underway and is also available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.

The crew members of Expedition 69 are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin about 8:55 a.m. EDT and last about six hours.

Hoburg and Bowen will install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1B power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure.

The new array is 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (18.2 meters by 6 meters) and will shade a little more than half of the original array, which is 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. Each new IROSA will produce more than 20 kilowatts of electricity, and once this array is installed, will enable a 30% increase in power production over the station’s current arrays.

Hoburg will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear the unmarked suit. The spacewalk will be the tenth for Bowen and the second for Hoburg.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts Ready for Thursday’s Spacewalk

Wednesday was a busy day for the Expedition 69 crew’s astronauts and cosmonauts as they continued preparing for two different spacewalks at the International Space Station. The first spacewalk will see two astronauts install another roll-out solar array on Thursday. The second spacewalk will take place a week later when two cosmonauts replace hardware and conduct photographic inspections.

Mission managers gave the “go” for Thursday’s spacewalk with NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen. The duo will set their spacesuits to battery power at 8:55 a.m. signifying the official start of their second spacewalk together. The duo will spend about six hours installing a roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss segment where they installed the previous roll-out solar array on Friday, June 9. NASA TV begins its live broadcast of the spacewalk at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday on the agency’s app and website.

Hoburg and Bowen started Wednesday readying their spacesuits inside the Quest airlock where they will exit the station into the vacuum of space on Thursday. After lunchtime, the duo organized their spacewalking tools and tethers inside Quest with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio. Finally, the three NASA astronauts joined Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for a final review of the spacewalk procedures and robotics activities necessary to support the solar array installation job.

Two cosmonauts are also getting ready for their own spacewalk scheduled for June 22 for maintenance on the outside of the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin spent Wednesday gathering spacewalking hardware, testing support equipment, and configuring their spacesuit components. The duo will exit the Poisk airlock next Thursday and spend about seven hours replacing communications and science hardware and photographing the condition of the Zvezda service module.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev started his morning working on life support maintenance tasks. Next, he activated and handed over radiation sensors to Hoburg and Bowen who will wear them on their spacesuits during Thursday’s spacewalk. Fedyaev later exercised on a treadmill as ground specialists monitored real-time video of his workout and hardware operations.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Expedition 69 Crew Members Gearing Up for More Spacewalks

Four Expedition 69 astronauts practiced simulated robotic maneuvers on a computer today to support a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday. Three cosmonauts are gearing up for another spacewalk planned to take place next week from the Roscosmos segment of the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg are preparing for their second spacewalk together set to start at 8:55 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The spacewalkers will install the orbital outpost’s sixth roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss segment opposite where they installed the fifth roll-out solar array on Friday, June 9. NASA TV will begin its live broadcast of the spacewalk at 7:30 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

Bowen and Hoburg joined Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for robotics training on a computer during Tuesday afternoon. The quartet practiced simulated Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers necessary to support Bowen and Hoburg when they remove the roll-out solar array from its flight support equipment and install it on the starboard truss. The two spacewalkers also prepared their tools inside the Quest airlock, printed checklists they will attach to their spacesuit cuffs, and reviewed more spacewalk procedures on a computer.

The four astronauts joined each other at the end of the day for eye checks as Bowen and Hoburg scanned the eyes of Rubio and Alneyadi using standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist’s office. Rubio and Alneyadi spent the first part of their day servicing a variety of exercise equipment and orbital plumbing hardware.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin spent all day Tuesday preparing for a spacewalk planned for Thursday, June 22. The duo studied procedures and located tools they will use when they exit the orbital outpost’s Poisk airlock next week. The two cosmonauts will remove and replace communications and science hardware and photograph the condition of the Zvezda service module during next week’s spacewalk.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked throughout Tuesday maintaining Zvezda’s Elektron oxygen generator and replacing smoke detectors in the Nauka science module. At the end of the day, Fedyaev worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device while ground specialists monitored his workout form and hardware operations.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts Prep for Roll-Out Solar Array Installation Job

The International Space Station’s sixth roll-out solar array will be installed this week after last week’s installation of its fifth roll-out solar array. The Expedition 69 crew spent Monday preparing for the installation spacewalk while also continuing research, cargo, and maintenance activities.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will once again exit the space station’s Quest airlock at 9:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday for their second roll-out solar array installation spacewalk together. The spacewalkers will install another roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss structure where they installed the orbital outpost’s fifth roll-out solar array. Thursday’s spacewalk will represent the completion of the power upgrade work ultimately increasing the station’s power-generating capacity by 30%.

Bowen and Hoburg spent several hours on Monday reviewing their solar array installation procedures, configuring spacewalking tools, and conferring with ground engineers. The pair were also joined around midday by Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for the procedure reviews. Rubio and Alneyadi then completed their work shift after training on a computer for the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers they will use to support Thursday’s spacewalkers.

The four astronauts still had time on Monday for a variety of other activities promoting health, studying physics, and resupplying the orbital outpost. Rubio had a vision test that had him reading characters on a standard eye chart. Bowen swapped samples inside the Fluids Science Laboratory for a foam physics study potentially benefitting Earth and space industries. Hoburg and Alneyadi took turns unpacking the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle and stowing the new science experiments, hardware, and crew supplies aboard the station.

The space station’s three cosmonauts with Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev cleared their schedule on Monday and relaxed. The trio will soon begin preparing for the next spacewalk out of the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

NASA Spacewalkers Complete Solar Array Installation

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg of NASA concluded their spacewalk at 3:28 p.m. EDT after 6 hours and 3 minutes.

Bowen and Hoburg completed all of their objectives to install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1A power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure. The crew members also completed several get ahead tasks setting the stage for the duo to go back outside Thursday, June 15, to install the sixth in the series of IROSAs on the starboard 6 truss of the station for the 1B power channel.

The new arrays are 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (18.2 meters by 6 meters) and will shade a little more than half of the original arrays, which are 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. Each new IROSA will produce more than 20 kilowatts of electricity, and once all are installed, will enable a 30% increase in power production over the station’s current arrays.

It was the 264th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, and was the third spacewalk for both astronauts.

Bowen and Hoburg are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia