The crew members of Expedition 68 are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin about 8 a.m. EST and last approximately seven hours.
Cassada and Rubio will assemble a mounting bracket on the starboard side of the station’s truss assembly in preparation for the installation of a pair of International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays (iROSAs) during upcoming spacewalks.
Cassada will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Rubio will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear the unmarked suit. The spacewalk will be the first for both Cassada and Rubio.
Station Crew Gets Ready for Pair of Spacewalks This Week
NASA astronauts (from left) Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will exit the space station on Tuesday for a spacewalk to continue upgrading the station’s power generation system.
Two astronauts and two cosmonauts are gearing up for a pair of spacewalks this week at the International Space Station. Their Expedition 68 crewmates assisted the spacewalkers with preparations on Monday while also continuing science and maintenance on the orbiting lab.
NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are set to exit the space station after setting their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EST on Tuesday signifying the start of their spacewalk. The duo will work on the starboard side of the station’s truss structure and spend about seven hours assembling a mounting bracket to enable the future installation of rollout solar arrays. The new rollout solar arrays will augment the space station’s power generation system.
The spacewalking pair was joined by astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency reviewing Tuesday’s assembly tasks and organizing tools in the Quest airlock. Mann and Wakata will help the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits and monitor the duo while they work outside the station. Mann also had a few moments set aside on Monday to service NanoRacks science hardware while Wakata configured a research incubator with an artificial gravity generator.
A second spacewalk is planned for Thursday when cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin exit the space station to work on the outside the of Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The pair from Roscosmos tried on their Orlan spacesuits, simulated spacewalk procedures, and installed suit components throughout Monday. Prokopyev and Petelin will spend about seven hours on Thursday preparing a radiator for transfer from the Rassvet module to Nauka.
Cosmonaut Anna Kikina assisted the Roscosmos spacewalkers in and out of their Orlan spacesuits on Monday. The first time space-flyer also checked radiation detectors and inspected laptop computers in the Zvezda service module.
Both spacewalks will be broadcast live on NASA TV on the agency’s app and website. Tuesday’s spacewalk coverage will begin at 6:30 a.m. while Thursday’s spacewalk coverage will begin at 9 a.m.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft launches atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on July 14, 2022. Credit: SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Monday, Nov. 21, pending range approval, for launch of the company’s 26th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for the agency. The date adjustment is due to the arrival of Hurricane Nicole near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission teams will continue to monitor any additional potential impacts as the storm progresses.
Crew Unpacking Science Gear, Spacewalk Hardware Shipped in Cygnus
The Cygnus space freighter is pictured in the grip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as ground controllers remotely install the cargo craft to the space station’s Unity module.
A U.S. cargo craft has been installed on the International Space Station and the Expedition 68 crew members are beginning to unpack several tons of food, fuel, and supplies. Meanwhile, two astronauts and two cosmonauts continue preparing for upcoming spacewalks.
The Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman is open for business after its successful robotic capture and installation to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port on Wednesday morning. NASA Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada were the first to open Cygnus’ hatch and enter the cargo craft several hours after leak and pressure checks with the vehicle. On Thursday, the duo retrieved science freezers containing research samples from inside Cygnus and installed them on EXPRESS racks inside the space station.
Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) helped offload new cargo from pallets delivered aboard Cygnus throughout the day on Thursday. Both astronauts are also unpacking research samples for stowage on the station in anticipation of new science experiments planned to take place inside the station’s Destiny, Kibo, and Columbus laboratory modules. Cygnus delivered a wide variety of science gear and research samples to explore biology, botany, and physics to improve knowledge and benefit health on and off the Earth.
Cygnus also delivered hardware soon to be installed on the outside of the space station by two spacewalkers. Cassada and Rubio will take the new gear, or power augmentation modification kits, outside in the vacuum of space on Nov. 15 and attach it to the starboard truss segment where half of the station’s main solar arrays are located. The new mod kits work will enable the installation of new rollout solar arrays during a pair of spacewalks planned for Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, augmenting the orbiting lab’s power generation system.
Two cosmonauts are also preparing for another series of spacewalks this year to assemble and install a radiator and airlock on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The cosmonauts from Roscosmos, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, checked their Orlan spacesuit life support and communication systems today ahead of the assembly spacewalks planned before the end of the year.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Anna Kikina spent Thursday inspecting and testing laptop computers, She also downloaded research data from a micrometeoroid study to a science computer then cleaned smoke detectors inside the Poisk module.
Nov. 9, 2022: International Space Station Configuration. Five spaceships are parked at the space station including the Cygnus space freighter, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance and Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 crew ship and the Progress 81 and 82 resupply ships.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation on the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments, launched atop an Antares rocket at 5:32 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 7 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. At 5:20 a.m., NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, along with NASA astronaut Josh Cassada as backup, captured Cygnus using the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Cygnus also is delivering a new mounting bracket that astronauts will attach to the starboard side of the station’s truss assembly during a spacewalk planned for Nov. 15. The mounting bracket will enable the installation of one of the next pair of new solar arrays.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until late January before it departs for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
