Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

NASA Astronauts Complete Year’s Fifth Spacewalk at Station

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins concluded their spacewalk at 3:01 p.m. EST, after 6 hours and 47 minutes. In the fifth spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two astronauts successfully completed tasks to service the station’s cooling system and communications gear.

The duo began their work on the station’s port truss, or “backbone,” completing tasks that were deferred from previous spacewalks. The spacewalkers successfully vented the early ammonia system, relocated one of its jumper lines, and serviced the Columbus Bartolomeo payload platform, including routing three of four cables on the Payload Position (PAPOS) interface and configuring a cable for an amateur radio system. The astronauts deferred the task of installing clamps on Bartolomeo in order to route cables for high-definition cameras. The pair also replaced a wireless antenna assembly on the Unity module and installed hardware to provide additional structural integrity on the airlock.

This was the fourth career spacewalk for Glover and the fifth in Hopkins’s career. Glover has now spent a total of 26 hours and 7 minutes spacewalking. Hopkins now has spent a total of 32 hours and 1 minute spacewalking.

Space station crew members have conducted 237 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 62 days, 3 hours and 54 minutes working outside the station.

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

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Astronauts Power Up Suits, Spacewalk Begins

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins have begun their spacewalk outside the International Space Station to service the station’s cooling system and communications gear.

The pair switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:14 a.m. EST to begin the spacewalk, which is expected to last about six and a half hours.

Watch the spacewalk on NASA TV, the NASA app, and on the agency’s website.

Glover is extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1), wearing a spacesuit bearing red stripes and using helmet camera #20. Hopkins is extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), wearing the unmarked spacesuit and helmet camera #22.

Glover and Hopkins will traverse out the station’s backbone truss structure to vent the early ammonia system before relocating one of its jumper lines. Hopkins will then connect cables for the Columbus Bartolomeo payload platform, continuing work from a Jan. 27 spacewalk, and Glover will replace a wireless antenna assembly on the Unity module. The pair will then work together to install hardware on the airlock’s thermal cover and route cables to two high-definition cameras on the port truss.

This is the 237th spacewalk in support of space station assembly.

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

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NASA TV is Live as Astronauts Get Ready for Spacewalk

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins is now underway and is also available on the NASA app and the agency’s website.

The crew members of Expedition 64 are preparing to venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk expected to begin around 7:30 a.m. EST and last about six and a half hours.

The crew is in the airlock and have donned their suits in preparation to exit the airlock and begin today’s activities to service the station’s cooling system and communications gear.

Glover and Hopkins will begin work on the station’s port truss, where they will vent the early ammonia system jumper lines and relocate one of them to the outside of the airlock, followed by translating to the Columbus module to connect cables for the Bartolomeo payload platform and replace a cable for an amateur radio system. Then, the astronauts will replace a wireless antenna assembly on the Unity module, install a “stiffener” on the airlock’s thermal cover, and route cables to provide ethernet capabilities for two high-definition cameras on the station’s port truss.

Leading the Mission Control team today is Flight Director Chris Edelen with support from Art Thomason as the lead spacewalk officer.

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

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NASA TV Broadcasts Saturday Morning Spacewalk

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins are scheduled to exit the International Space Station’s Quest airlock Saturday to complete tasks that were deferred from earlier spacewalks to allow for the successful installation of modification kits in preparation for future solar array upgrades.

The pair will set their spacesuits to battery power about 7:30 a.m. EST tomorrow, signifying the start of their spacewalk, which is expected to last about six and a half hours. NASA will begin its live coverage on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website at 6 a.m.

During the spacewalk, Glover and Hopkins will vent early ammonia system jumper cables and relocate one outside the Quest airlock. The duo also will connect cables for the Columbus Bartolomeo payload platform, continuing work from a Jan. 27 spacewalk, and replace a cable for an amateur radio system. Additionally, the astronauts will replace a wireless antenna assembly on the Unity module, install a “stiffener” on the airlock’s thermal cover to provide additional structural integrity, and route cables to enable ethernet capabilities for two high-definition cameras on the station’s port truss, or “backbone.”

This will be the 237th spacewalk in support of space station assembly. Glover will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and wear a spacesuit bearing red stripes. Hopkins will be extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), wearing an unmarked suit.

Glover and Hopkins both arrived at the space station in November as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission. This will be the fourth career spacewalk for Glover, and the fifth for Hopkins.

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

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Sound Checks, Eye Scans as Crew Preps for Saturday Spacewalk

The Expedition 64 crew is wrapping up final preparations before two astronauts exit the International Space Station for a maintenance spacewalk on Saturday morning. The orbital residents also measured lab sound levels and checked their crewmates’ eyes to end the workweek.

NASA spacewalkers Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins will take part in their third spacewalk together on Saturday when they set their U.S. spacesuits to battery power at 7:30 a.m. EST. The duo is scheduled to spend about six-and-a-half hours servicing the station’s cooling system and communications gear. NASA TV begins its live coverage of the spacewalk activities at 6 a.m.

Astronauts Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi will assist the spacewalkers in and out of their suits on Saturday while monitoring the spacewalk. Glover and Hopkins readied their spacesuits and tools in the U.S. Quest airlock on Friday. The quartet also met for a final procedures review and a conference with spacewalk specialists in Mission Control.

Toward the end of the day, Rubins set up acoustic monitors and recorded sound levels emanating from the Life Science Glovebox operating inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. NASA astronaut Shannon Walker was the crew medical officer on Friday and scanned the eyes of cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov using an ultrasound device and optical coherence tomography.

The orbital lab will boost its orbit today at 2:09 p.m. placing it at the correct altitude for a crew swap taking place next month. The next crew to visit the station will launch aboard the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship on April 9 carrying NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. The trio will join the Expedition 64/65 crew for a six-month research mission in Earth orbit.

Finally, the Expedition 64 trio with Rubins, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov, will finish their mission on April 17 when their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft undocks. They will parachute in their crew ship to a landing in Kazakhstan completing a six-month stay on the station.

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Mark Garcia

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