Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: EVA-27 completed as US, German astronauts finish spacewalk to maintain ISS

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 8, 2014 9:40:41 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: EVA-27 completed as US, German astronauts finish spacewalk to maintain ISS

Rookie astronauts chalk up smooth spacewalk
10/07/2014 03:02 PM
By WILLIAM HARWOOD
CBS News

Working outside the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency crewmate Alexander Gerst successfully moved a failed ammonia pump module to an external stowage platform Tuesday, completing a task originally planned for a repair spacewalk last December.

They also replaced a burned-out television camera light, used during spacecraft arrivals and departures, and installed a backup payload power system on the mobile transporter used to move the station's robot arm and attached equipment from one worksite to another.
Using a power tool, Alexander Gerst (back to camera) drives four bolts to lock a failed ammonia pump module in its housing on External Stowage Platform No. 2. (Credit: NASA)

The spacewalk, the 182nd since station construction began in 1998, got underway at 8:30 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) and ended six hours and 13 minutes later when Gerst and Wiseman returned to the Quest airlock and began repressurization procedures at 2:43 p.m. It was the fifth of seven spacewalks planned this year by station astronauts and the first for Wiseman and Gerst.

"Alex, it looks like we've almost got a full moon out here," Wiseman marvled as he floated out of the airlock. "It's beautiful."

A few minutes later, Gerst said simply "this is awesome."

"Yep, this is amazing," Wiseman agreed.

The major goal of U.S. EVA-27 was to move a failed ammonia coolant pump from the mobile transporter to an insulated bay on External Stowage Platform No. 2 near the airlock. The pump failed last December and was replaced during two spacewalks later that month. But the repair crew did not have time to move the failed unit back to ESP-2.

Gerst, anchored to the end of the station's Canadian-built robot arm, manually carried the boxy pump module from the forward face of the lab's solar power truss to the storage platform. Barry "Butch" Wilmore, operating the arm from inside the station, maneuvered Gerst into position so he and Wiseman could slide the pump into its housing.

Using a power tool, Gerst then drove four bolts home to lock the pump in place. Wiseman secured insulation and stored a grapple fixture that had been attached to the pump module to complete the job.

With that bit of unfinished business complete, Wilmore moved Gerst to the right side of the Destiny laboratory module to replace a light in a video camera assembly. The light is used to provide illumination when cargo ships approach the station in orbital darkness.

The final major task for U.S. EVA-27 was to install equipment known as the mobile transporter relay assembly, or MTRA.

The mobile transporter moves along rails on the front face of the solar power truss to position the robot arm at various worksites. It is equipped with a payload grapple fixture where components can be temporarily held in place and powered by the station's electrical system. The pump module was mounted on that fixture until its removal earlier Tuesday.

The MTRA will allow flight controllers to route power to attached payloads even if a problem of some sort prevents the mobile transporter's payload attachment fitting from drawing power from a given worksite.

Installing the MTRA and its cabling took most of the time left in the crew's spacewalk timeline. But there were no problems of any significance and after briefly considering two additional "get-ahead" tasks, flight controllers told Wiseman and Gerst to pack up their tools and call it a day.

"Really, really nice work today, just a great job," astronaut Douglas Wheelock radioed from mission control in Houston.

"Thanks, Wheels," Wiseman replied. "Alex and I would just like to express our huge gratitude for getting us back into planned EVAs, safely outside, safely back in on a great EVA. It's a good day for NASA, it's definitely a good day for the European Space Agency."

Added Gerst: "We want to say thanks to all the training teams, both at NASA and at ESA for all the hard work ... that got us to this point."

If all goes well, Wiseman and Wilmore will venture outside the station next Wednesday, Oct. 15, to replace an electrical component in the lab's solar power system that failed earlier this year, knocking out one of the space station's power channels.

The lab complex is equipped with eight large NASA-supplied solar panels that provide power to eight distribution channels. Each array is equipped with a device called a sequential shunt unit, or SSU, that regulates voltage. The SSU in power channel 3A failed last May, forcing flight controllers to divert power from another channel to a variety of components.

Wiseman and Wilmore plan to remove and replace the faulty SSU during a night pass when the arrays are not generating power. Once that work is complete, the astronauts will relocate a spacewalk foot restraint, repair a camera on the left-side of the solar power truss and move another television camera assembly from the top of the port-1 truss segment to the upper side of the forward Harmony module.

Two Russian cosmonauts -- station commander Maxim Suraev and Alexander Samokutyaev -- plan a spacewalk of their own on Oct. 22 to swap out external experiments and carry out routine maintenance.

With the completion of Tuesday's spacewalk by Wiseman and Gerst, station EVA time logged by 118 astronauts and cosmonauts representing nine nations now stands at 1,142 hours and 15 minutes, or 47.6 days.

© 2014 William Harwood/CBS News

ISS spacewalks resume, astronauts get some fresh air (sort of)
ISS crews will be required to make at least eight more spacewalks in the coming weeks.
By Brooks Hays   |   Oct. 7, 2014 at 11:52 AM   |

1 of 4
.@Astro_Alex wearing newest US spacesuit delivered on @SpaceX #Dragon in April... http://t.co/C7LVQGyw5P pic.twitter.com/8GTWZYvMIx
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) October 7, 2014
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Two residents of the International Space Station were able stretch their legs on Tuesday as they took a walk outside their cozy confines to fix the station's orbiting laboratory -- the first spacewalk in months.
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and German astronaut Alexander Gerst stepped out into the airless vacuum of space at 8:30 this morning. It is expected to take at least 6.5 hours to finish their maintenance tasks.
This is the first spacewalk for Wiseman and Gerst, but it's unlikely to be the last. With plans to rearrange several of the docking ports on the orbiting space station, the ISS crews will be required to make at least eight more spacewalks in the coming weeks. The station's robotic arm will handle most of the major reorganization work, but the astronauts will need to manually re-route power to the new docking ports.
NASA is live-streaming the spacewalk and the work of engineers at mission control on their website.
The astronauts were relegated to their station confines for the last several months -- unable to venture outside to make repairs or perform any routine maintenance -- because of a suspected problem with the battery that powers the astronauts' spacesuits. New batteries were recently delivered to the station by the unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

© 2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Astronauts resume routine spacewalks for NASA
By MARCIA DUNN 8 hours ago
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two spacewalking astronauts moved an old, broken pump into permanent storage Tuesday, NASA's first routine maintenance outside the International Space Station in more than a year.
American Reid Wiseman and German Alexander Gerst, both first-time spacewalkers, cheerfully completed the long overdue job 260 miles up.
"I can't wait to see these pictures," Gerst said.
U.S.-based spacewalks were curtailed in July 2013 after an Italian astronaut nearly drowned because of a flooded helmet. NASA solved the problem with the suit's water-cooling system. Then concern arose over the spacesuit batteries.
New batteries arrived late last month, clearing the way for Tuesday's spacewalk and another one scheduled for next week.
Gerst clutched the 780-pound pump — about the size of a double-door refrigerator — as he rode on the end of the station's big robot arm. The crane swung him from the pump's temporary location to the new permanent spot in about 12 minutes.
"You should see my view right now," Gerst said, referring to the sprawling space station, lit up like gold in the darkness.
The pump ended up in short-term storage during urgent spacewalking repairs to the station's ammonia-cooling system last December. NASA did not want to waste time back then parking the pump in its long-term garage, given all the spacesuit worries. So the job was deferred — until now.
With Wiseman looking on, Gerst slid the pump into its permanent slot, a large rectangular sheath formed by white protective blankets, and then bolted it down. "Nice work," Mission Control radioed.
The spacewalkers hustled through their other chores — replacing a camera light and installing a power-relay device for the station's robot-arm railcar — before calling it quits.
As the six-hour excursion drew to a close, Wiseman thanked the hundreds if not thousands of people who worked on NASA's spacewalk recovery team over the past year.
"Alex and I, we'd like to express just our huge gratitude for getting us back into planned EVAs (spacewalks), safely outside, safely back in," Wiseman said. EVA is NASA talk for extra-vehicular activity.
"It's a good day for NASA" and the European Space Agency, he added.
A follow-up spacewalk is scheduled for Oct. 15 to further whittle down NASA's lengthy to-do list, on hold since the 2013 close call. That spacewalk will be conducted by Wiseman and fellow American Butch Wilmore, a newcomer.
A week after that, two of the three Russians on board will perform a spacewalk on their country's side of the orbiting outpost. The Moscow-led spacewalks were unaffected by NASA's spacesuit troubles.
NASA considered December's U.S. spacewalks — to replace the failed ammonia pump and thereby restore full cooling to the space station — too important to wait. The same went for a critical spacewalk by Americans in April to replace a dead computer.
The helmets used by Wiseman and Gerst contained absorbent pads and makeshift snorkels in case of water leakage. The items became mandatory following last year's close call experienced by Italian spacewalker Luca Parmitano, safely back on Earth for nearly a year now.
As for the spacesuit batteries, NASA sent up replacements on the latest SpaceX cargo ship and Russian Soyuz capsule. Ground testing uncovered a potential fuse problem earlier this year, and NASA opted to switch out the batteries on board.

Copyright © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Astronauts venture outside station for spacewalk
By Irene Klotz

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NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman checks his spacesuit in preparation for the first Expedition 41 spacewalk …
By Irene Klotz
(Reuters) - A pair of astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Tuesday for a six-hour spacewalk to perform maintenance work including putting an old cooling pump into storage.
Flight engineers Reid Wiseman with NASA and Alexander Gerst with the European Space Agency left the station's Quest airlock about 8:50 a.m. EDT, a first spacewalk for both, a NASA Television broadcast showed.
Their primary goal was to finish work from December to replace a failed ammonia cooling pump.
"Nice work today, guys. Great job on the tasks," NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock from Mission Control in Houston radioed to the astronauts as they returned to the airlock six hours later.
The old cooling unit was removed and a spare installed during two December spacewalks, but the repair crew ran out of time to put the failed module into storage for possible repair and reuse.
After gathering tools, Wiseman prepared the intended storage site on one of the station's external stowage platforms while Gerst attached himself to the end of the station's 58-foot- (18-metre) long robotic arm to move the old pump.
With NASA crewmate Butch Wilmore operating the crane from inside the station's cupola module, Gerst carried the module, which on Earth weighs about 850 pounds (385 kg), over to its storage site.
"Nice flying, Butch," Wheelock radioed to the crew.
After bolting the module into place, Wiseman and Gerst tackled some electrical work to provide an alternative power source for equipment on the robot arm's mobile base.
They also replaced a light in a television camera outside the Destiny laboratory module.
A second outing by Wiseman and Wilmore is scheduled for Oct. 15 to replace a failed component in a voltage regulator that is part of the station's solar power system.
The device failed in May, taking down one of the station's eight power channels.
Wiseman and Wilmore also plan to relocate some camera equipment before a major reconfiguration of station modules next year, intended to prepare berthing spots for new commercial passenger spaceships.
The station is a $100 billion science laboratory owned by 15 countries that flies about 260 miles (420 km) above Earth.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz in Portland, Maine; Editing by Letitia Stein, Doina Chiacu and Peter Cooney)

Copyright © 2014 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

US, German astronauts finish spacewalk to maintain ISS
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This NASA image released October 1, 2014 shows astronaut Reid Wiseman's view from the International Space Station of the Milky Way (AFP Photo/Reid Wiseman)

Washington (AFP) - An American and a German astronaut spent just over six hours on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) Tuesday for equipment repairs and maintenance, NASA said.
NASA's Reid Wiseman and the European Space Agency's Alexander Gerst left the space station at 1230 GMT and were back inside at 1843 GMT.
The astronauts completed all the scheduled repairs, NASA said on its website.
The two astronauts moved a failed cooling pump to an external storage platform just outside the Quest airlock module. Gerst then replaced a light on a television camera located on the Destiny module.
The astronauts also installed a Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly, which can shift gear and supplies on rails along the space station's backbone.
NASA's Barry Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS on September 25, was operating a Canadian robotic arm to maneuver Gerst during the spacewalk.
A second spacewalk is planned for October 15, when Wiseman and Wilmore will replace a failed voltage regulator. They will also move external camera equipment ahead of a major reconfiguration of station modules next year, NASA said in a statement.
The reconfiguration will allow for the arrival of new docking adapters for commercial crew vehicles.
Boeing and SpaceX last month won NASA contracts to build these spacecraft.
The two spacewalks are the 182nd and 183rd carried out to maintain the ISS.

Copyright © 2014 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

AmericaSpace
For a nation that explores
October 7th, 2014
Rookie Spacewalkers Complete Multiple Tasks With Finesse on EVA-27
By Ben Evans

U.S. astronaut Reid Wiseman and his German crewmate Alexander Gerst added their names to the ongoing tally of veteran spacewalkers with today's EVA-27. Photo Credit: NASA
For the first time in more than two decades, two first-time spacefarers embarked together on their first career spacewalks, wearing U.S.-built Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), when NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and Germany's Alexander Gerst spent six hours and 13 minutes outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, 7 October. The two men departed the Quest airlock a little later than intended, at 8:30 a.m. EDT, but worked swiftly and remained ahead of the timeline, moving a failed pump module from a temporary to long-term storage location, replacing a failed camera light, and installing a new Relay Assembly to provide power redundancy for the railroad-like Mobile Transporter (MT), along which the 57.7-foot (17.4-meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm traverses between its various work sites. At the controls of the "Big Arm" for EVA-27 was fellow Expedition 41 astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who served as the "Intravehicular" (IV) crewman, working from the multi-windowed cupola.
The primary task of today's spacewalk became necessary following last December's automatic shutdown of an ammonia pump module on one of the station's two coolant loops. Suspicion centered upon the improper functionality of a regulating flow control valve inside the pump module and NASA engineers transferred certain systems over to the second loop and powered down a number of non-critical elements of the Harmony node and Europe's Columbus and Japan's Kibo laboratory modules. Since the valve itself was inaccessible to spacewalkers, the sole option was to remove the entire pump module from its location on the starboard S-1 truss and replace it, which Expedition 38 astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins did during the 5.5-hour EVA-24 on 21 December and the 7.5-hour EVA-25 last Christmas Eve.
As intended, the failed pump module was moved from the S-1 truss and attached to a robotically-controlled stowage location, known as the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Accommodation (POA) on the station's Mobile Base System (MBS). This was always intended as a temporary stowage point, with forward plans to stage another EVA—originally scheduled for August 2014, during Expedition 40, but delayed due to problems with EMU Long Life Batteries (LLBs)—to move the failed pump module for more permanent storage at External Stowage Platform (ESP)-2, which lies on the starboard side of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module, close to the Quest airlock.
Wiseman (left) and Gerst completed all of their planned tasks, ahead of schedule, in an EVA which ran to six hours and 13 minutes. Photo Credit: NASA
Final preparations for EVA-27 began in the small hours of Tuesday morning, when Wiseman and Gerst jumped onto a well-trodden path of 60 minutes of pre-breathing on masks, during which time the Quest airlock's inner "equipment lock" will be depressed from its "ambient" 14.7 psi down to 10.2 psi. This pre-breathing protocol was concluded at about 4:30 a.m. EDT. Their next step was donning and purging their bulky EMUs—assisted by a purple-shirted Wilmore—which got underway at 5:50 a.m., after which the atmosphere was repressurized to 14.7 psi.
Wiseman and Gerst then entered a nominal pre-breathing regime, lasting about 50 minutes, followed by another 50 minutes of In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE). The latter was first trialed on the STS-134 shuttle mission in May 2011 and involved the spacewalkers flexing their knees for about four minutes, resting for one minute, then repeating over and over until the 50 minutes were up. The technique serves to remove nitrogen from the astronauts' blood streams in a much shorter timeframe.
At 7:45 a.m., Wiseman and Gerst and their equipment—including the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) units, affixed to the lower section of their life-sustaining backpacks—had been transferred by Wilmore from the equipment lock into Quest's outer "crew lock." Hatches between the two locks were closed and depressurization got underway at 7:59 a.m., reaching the 5 psi "hold point" for leak checks at about 8:10 a.m. With no leaks reported, the depressurization process continued until the crew lock had reached a condition of near-vacuum and EVA-27 officially got underway at 8:30 a.m. EDT, when Wiseman and Gerst transitioned their space suits' critical life-support utilities onto internal battery power.
Pushing open the outer hatch, Wiseman (designated "EV1," with red stripes adorning the legs of his suit for identification) was first to depart the Quest airlock. He was followed by Gerst ("EV2," clad in a pure-white suit), who became only the third German citizen, after Thomas Reiter and Hans Schlegel, to perform a spacewalk. Indeed, the black, red, and gold tricolor of the Bundesflagge would be clearly visible throughout the EVA, proudly displayed on the left arm of Gerst's suit.
By 8:50 a.m.—backdropped by a gorgeous orbital sunrise, which appeared to take both spacewalkers' breath away—the thermal cover of the airlock had been closed and Wiseman and Gerst set about their first important task: performing "buddy checks" of each other's suits and safety tethers. They then separated and headed to their respective work sites. Gerst moved to the Starboard Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) to temporarily stow a pair of equipment bags, in support of the Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA) installation, later in the EVA. Meanwhile, Wiseman translated to ESP-2 to prepare for the imminent arrival of the failed pump module. During his transit, he was advised to beware of a Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) impact, which he described as tiny, with no evidence of any sharp edges. Wiseman stowed equipment bags, and, despite minor difficulties attaching tethers, he opened the Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) thermal cover to accept the 780-pound (350-kg) pump module.
Alexander Gerst rides Canadarm2 during the EVA. Photo Credit: NASA
At this stage, Gerst had moved to the Port CETA, and at 9:05 a.m. retrieved the Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR), which he transferred to the Canadarm2 installation point at the interface between the station's central S-0 truss and the port-side P-1 truss. Shortly before 9:30 a.m., he securely attached the APFR onto the end of the arm and, after exchanging his safety tethers, ingressed the foot restraint a few minutes later. Exulting "Okay, Butch, I'm ready to fly," he was flown by Wilmore to the POA. He delicately removed the failed pump module, which was free at about 10 a.m., and rotated it through 180 degrees to get it to the correct installation orientation.
Wiseman, meanwhile, had moved the two MTRA equipment bags—one containing the Relay Assembly itself, the other holding its four installation cables—out to the space-facing (or "zenith") face of the MT. He then relocated himself to Gerst's safety tether, gathered it, and moved to ESP-2 to await the arrival of the pump module. Working about 15 minutes ahead of the timeline, the Canadarm2-riding Gerst swiftly joined him and proceeded to insert the pump module into its ESP-2 permanent stowage location. With Wiseman providing an extra pair of eyes, Gerst stopped at the halfway point, as intended, to allow his crewmate to remove the Adjustable Grapple Bar (AGB) from the pump module at 10:55 a.m. This had been used as a grapple fixture to secure it to the POA since last December. With its removal, Gerst was able to drive the pump module fully into place.
Guided by Lead Capcom Doug "Wheels" Wheelock from Mission Control, the two spacewalkers made short work of securing the pump module in place by means of four bolts, which was complete by 11:10 a.m. They stowed the AGB onto a spare ORU at the ESP-2 work site and set about their next tasks. Wiseman remained at ESP-2 to clean up the location, closing the thermal cover over the pump module by 12:00 p.m., and moving equipment bags back to the airlock. He then translated to the zenith face of the MT to begin the Relay Assembly installation. This location afforded Wiseman a spectacular "forward" perspective, over much of the U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS), although there was precious little time to admire the view. Using a Pistol Grip Tool (PGT), he installed the MTRA, which provides backup power options for the MT, then routed and mated electrical cables to its Earth-facing (or "nadir") surface.
Independently of his crewmate, Gerst had dispensed his own tasks with seemingly effortless ease, replacing a failed light at External Camera Port 13, on the starboard side of the Destiny module. "That light has one of two bulbs currently failed in it," explained Scott Stover, who served as Lead Flight Director for EVA-27, "and it's one of our primary lights that we use for the visiting vehicles…and also for external robotics. We want to go out and replace that light before the second bulb fails." Carrying the spare light in an equipment bag, Gerst was flown by Wilmore on Canadarm2 to the work site, where he removed the old light, fitted the new one, and secured it with a single bolt and electrical connector. Germany's third spacewalker then stowed the APFR and by 12:35 p.m. had removed himself from Canadarm2 and translated back to the airlock to stow the failed camera light.
Reid Wiseman temporarily stows equipment bags in the Quest airlock. Photo Credit: NASA
In the meantime, at the MT work site, Wiseman soft-docked the Relay Assembly and was joined later by Gerst. Still operating ahead of the timeline, Wiseman worked on the port side of the MTRA and Gerst the starboard side, routing cables to the nadir location, then returning to the zenith location, securing all wire ties as they went to keep them from obstructing the MT's translation path. The task was completed by 2:05 p.m.—five hours and 35 minutes into the scheduled 6.5-hour EVA—and as Wiseman and Gerst cleaned up their work site, Mission Control entered discussions about having them press ahead into several "get-ahead" tasks. However, by 2:20 p.m., as EVA-27 edged toward the six-hour mark, it was decided that no get-aheads would be performed and the spacewalk drawn to a close.
Entering the Quest airlock, Wiseman closed the outer hatch behind himself and Gerst at 2:31 p.m., and the process of repressurization got underway at 2:43 p.m., officially ending EVA-27 after six hours and 13 minutes.
Next up is EVA-28, currently planned for Wednesday, 15 October, and featuring Wiseman (EV1) and Wilmore (EV2). During their 6.5-hour spacewalk, the astronauts will replace a Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) on the station's starboard truss, which failed back in May 2014. Wiseman and Wilmore will also relocate external cameras in support of next year's arrival of the first International Docking Adapters (IDAs) for the long-awaited Commercial Crew vehicles. According to Space Station Integration Operations Manager Kenny Todd, these EVAs mark the beginning of a salvo of spacewalks which will run into the spring and summer of 2015. Mr. Todd stressed that the two contingency EVAs last December and also a third unplanned spacewalk in April 2014 by Expedition 39's Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson "had left some things out there that we knew we wanted put back in proper order." He added that there was an urgent need to tend to power-related issues and improve the station's fault-tolerant capability, ahead of several more complex EVAs next year.
Current plans call for two U.S. spacewalks in January 2015, two others in April and June, and a further pair in August to route cables and utilities in support of the relocation of the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-3. This will lay the groundwork for the delivery of two International Docking Adapters (IDAs) in support of Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon V2 Commercial Crew vehicles. The Leonardo PMM will be robotically transferred in July 2015 from the nadir port of the Unity node to the forward port of the Tranquility node, whilst PMA-3 will be moved in the late August timeframe from its current berth on Tranquility to the zenith port of the Harmony node for Commercial Crew operations.

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