Archivo de la etiqueta: iss

Cosmonauts Finish Spacewalk Following Hardware Installs and Inspections

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub concluded their spacewalk Oct. 25 at 9:30 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 41 minutes.

During the spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub inspected and photographed an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, as well as isolated the radiator from Nauka’s cooling system. During the radiator inspection, a bubble of coolant liberated at the leak site and the crew wiped down their suits prior to continuing the spacewalk.

The two cosmonauts also released a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology; however, the nanosatellite’s solar sail failed to deploy as far as cameras could track its departure from the station. The cosmonauts also installed a synthetic radar communications system. One of four panels on the radar system was not able to be fully deployed during the spacewalk and the work will be deferred to a future date.

At the end of the spacewalk, before reentering the Poisk airlock, the two spacewalking cosmonauts as usual inspected the Roscosmos Orlan spacesuits and the tools used during the spacewalk to look for signs of coolant and wipe off any coolant as necessary. The cosmonauts also wiped down their suits and tools as usual after repressurization to further reduce introduction of trace contaminates into the space station environment. Additional filtration will then be used inside the space station in order to quickly scrub the atmosphere of any remaining traces of contaminant. This was the sixth spacewalk in Kononenko’s career, and the first for Chub. It is the 268th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Up next, NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli will conduct a spacewalk on Monday, Oct. 30. Live coverage of the spacewalk begins at 6:30 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin about 8:05 a.m., and last about six-and-a-half hours.

During U.S. spacewalk 89, O’Hara and Moghbeli will exit the station’s Quest airlock to complete the removal of a faulty electronics box from a communications antenna bracket and replace one of twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. It will be the first spacewalk for both astronauts.

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

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Abby Graf

Cosmonauts Begin Spacewalk to Install Scientific Payloads and Inspect Radiator

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub began a spacewalk at 1:49 p.m. EDT to install a synthetic radar communications system, release a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology, and inspect and photograph an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Kononenko is wearing an Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Chub is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the sixth spacewalk in Kononenko’s career, and the first for Chub. It is the 268th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, 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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Abby Graf

Cosmonauts Exiting Station Soon for Spacewalk Live on NASA TV

NASA Television coverage is underway for today’s spacewalk with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The duo will venture outside of the International Space Station’s Poisk module to install a synthetic radar communications system and release a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. While outside the station, they also will inspect and photograph an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module that experienced a coolant leak on Oct. 9. Coverage of the spacewalk is on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Kononenko and Chub will exit out of the Poisk module at about 1:55 p.m. EDT. Kononenko is wearing the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Chub is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the sixth spacewalk in Kononenko’s career, and the first for Chub. It is the 268th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, 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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Abby Graf

Spacewalk Procedure Reviews Top Today’s Schedule

The seven orbital residents kept busy on Tuesday preparing for a round of upcoming spacewalks. While reviewing procedures and prepping tools were at the forefront of today’s tasks, the Expedition 70 crew members also had some time for station maintenance activities and health exams.

Two cosmonauts are gearing up to exit the station’s Poisk module tomorrow at 2:20 p.m. for a planned seven-hour spacewalk. Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos had a light duty morning before preparing the Orlan suits they will wear outside of the station to install communications hardware, deploy a nanosatellite, and inspect the external backup radiator that experienced a coolant leak.

As a result of detailed analysis of contamination risk after a coolant loop leak occurred on the backup radiator of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, the NASA and Roscosmos teams have agreed to implement post spacewalk procedures to reduce traces of coolant from entering the International Space Station. The analysis, imagery review, and other testing performed has concluded that the quantities of contaminate entering space station and risk to systems is expected to be very low. However, the mitigations were agreed to in an abundance of caution to keep the risk as low as possible for hardware inside the space station. At the end of the Roscosmos spacewalk Wednesday, Oct. 25, before reentering the Poisk airlock, the two spacewalking cosmonauts as usual will inspect the Roscosmos Orlan spacesuits and the tools used during the spacewalk to look for signs of coolant and wipe off any coolant as necessary. The cosmonauts also will wipe down their suits and tools as usual after repressurization to further reduce introduction of trace contaminates into the space station environment. Additional filtration will then be used inside the space station in order to quickly scrub the atmosphere of any remaining traces of contaminant.

Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara of NASA teamed up with Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) in the morning to wrap up the installation of the new Teal CEVIS system, an upgrade to the International Space Station’s bicycle. The two then split up duties, O’Hara moving onto prep for next week’s spacewalk with Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA.

Both first-time spacewalkers will exit the station on Monday, Oct. 30 at 8:05 a.m. EDT to remove the Radio Frequency Group and replace hardware on a solar array. The duo spent some time reviewing procedures and collecting and configuring tools they’ll use during their six-and-a-half-hour excursion. In the evening, Moghbeli operated tomography hardware and scanned O’Hara’s eyes for the ongoing CIPHER investigation. CIPHER, or Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research, is an all-encompassing, total-body approach that examines how humans adapt to spaceflight.

After breakfast, Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) prepped cargo for return on SpaceX’s 29^th cargo mission scheduled for launch no earlier than Nov. 5. Afterwards, Furukawa was joined by Mogensen to review robotics procedures they will use next week when O’Hara and Moghbeli are outside of the orbital lab.

Following this, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos was joined by Chub and Kononenko late afternoon for inspections and assessments of the Nauka module.

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

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Abby Graf

Spacewalk Prep Continues for Crew on Monday

Spacewalk preparations topped the Expedition 70 crew members’ schedule today as two Roscosmos cosmonauts gear up to exit the station on Wednesday, Oct. 25, and two NASA astronauts look ahead to their first spacewalk next week.

Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will venture outside of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 2:10 p.m. EDT on Wednesday to install communications hardware, deploy a nanosatellite, and inspect the external backup radiator that experienced a coolant leak. The duo worked together today prepping tools they’ll use during their seven-hour excursion and installing lights and video cameras to the helmets of the Orlan suits they will don.

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara worked in tandem today as they prepare for their first spacewalk next week. The duo will exit the station on Monday at 8:05 a.m. to remove the Radio Frequency Group—an electronics box—and replace bearing assemblies on a solar array rotary joint. Today, their prep was geared towards procedure reviews and will continue to ramp up throughout the rest of the week. Later in the evening, they were joined by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa and ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen for a conference with grounds teams.

Last month, the final round of Arabidopsis plants was harvested from Plant Habitat-03, an investigation that aims to help researchers understand how adaptations in one generation of plants could transfer to the next, given the environmental stress of microgravity. Today, Mogensen cleaned the facility and prepped Seed Bags for future return to Earth. Meanwhile, Furukawa removed and replaced the filter assembly on an orbital system that processes wastewater.

While most of the station residents focused on prep and procedure reviews for the upcoming spacewalks, Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov completed maintenance tasks and conducted an experiment that assesses the glow of Earth’s atmosphere at night in near ultraviolet.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, 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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Abby Graf