Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Astronauts Complete Their First Spacewalk

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 29, 2015 at 10:19:53 AM EDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Astronauts Complete Their First Spacewalk

NASA Astronauts Complete Their First Spacewalk
October 28, 2015 at 3:29 pm by Mark Garcia.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren will conduct a second spacewalk on Nov. 6. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren ended their spacewalk at 3:19 p.m. EDT with the repressurization of the U.S. Quest airlock, having completed most of the major tasks planned for their excursion outside the International Space Station.
Kelly and Lindgren applied a thermal cover on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer; applied grease to a number of components in one of the latching ends of the Canadarm2 robotic arm; and began work to rig power and data system cables for the future installation of a docking port to the station that will be used for the arrival of the Boeing Starliner CST-100 and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Greasing numerous parts of the robotic arm took somewhat longer than anticipated, and flight controllers chose to forego the lubrication of one component. However, engineers are satisfied the work that was completed sufficiently enhances the performance of the latching end effector. A lower priority task to reinstall a valve on the station will be assigned to crew members during a future spacewalk.
The 7-hour and 16-minute spacewalk was a first for both astronauts. Crew members have now spent a total of 1,184 hours and 16 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 189 spacewalks.
Kelly and Lindgren will venture outside the International Space Station again on Friday, Nov. 6. The two spacewalks were scheduled around milestones in space. Tomorrow, Kelly becomes the U.S. astronaut who has lived in space the longest during a single U.S. spaceflight, and Monday the crew celebrates the 15th year of a continuous human presence in space aboard the station.
During the second spacewalk, the astronauts will restore a truss cooling system to its original configuration following a 2012 spacewalk in which another team of astronauts attempted to isolate a leak of ammonia coolant. They also will top off ammonia on the station's truss reservoirs. NASA Television coverage will begin at 5:45 a.m. EST ahead of the spacewalk's planned start time of 7:10 a.m.

By William Harwood CBS News October 28, 2015, 4:34 PM
Space station astronauts carry out extended spacewalk
Space station commander Scott Kelly floats out of the Quest airlock module to begin his first spacewalk, a seven-hour 16-minute excursion to perform maintenance and to install cables needed for a new docking mechanism. Sergey Volkov via Twitter

Space station commander Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren carried out a tedious seven-hour 16-minute spacewalk Wednesday, installing cables needed for a new docking mechanism, mounting insulation panels on a physics experiment to improve cooling and lubricating the latching mechanism of the station's robot arm.
But Kelly needed more time than budgeted applying grease to hard-to-see internal components and as such was not able to meet up with Lindgren late in the spacewalk to complete one of the cable installations.
After already agreeing to extend the spacewalk by a half hour or so, mission controllers told Kelly to skip a few final lubrication steps and Lindgren was told to forego re-installation of a vent valve on the Tranquility module, a low-priority task that was deferred to a future spacewalk.
But the major objectives of U.S. EVA-32 were mostly accomplished and after collecting tools and equipment, the astronauts made their way back to the Quest airlock and called it a day. Repressurization began at 3:19 p.m. EDT (GMT-4).
"On behalf of the entire team here, we want to thank you guys for all the hard work that you put into this heck of task," called astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson in mission control. "You guys did a great job."
"Hey, thanks, Trace, and thanks to the whole team," Kelly replied. "We do understand how much work it takes to put this together and how much you guys are looking out for our safety and well being, and we really appreciate it."
Astronaut Scott Kelly's helmet camera looks into the latching end effector of the space station's robot arm as North Africa and the Gulf of Sidra pass by more than 250 miles below. Work to lubricate internal drive screws and bearings in the arm's latching mechanism took longer than expected.
NASA
Kelly, nearly 215 days into a nearly yearlong mission, and Lindgren plan to venture back outside a week from Friday to reconfigure the ammonia cooling system on one of the station's sets of solar arrays.
Wednesday's spacewalk, the first for both Kelly and Lindgren, began at 8:03 a.m. when the astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power. After exiting the airlock and assembling tools and equipment, the two men went their separate ways.
Kelly first removed insulation from an electrical distribution box known as a main bus switching unit that is mounted on an external storage platform. The MBSU suffered a fault of some sort earlier and with the insulation out of the way, it can be robotically removed by a future crew and eventually brought inside for troubleshooting and repairs.
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Scott Kelly does a space flip for CBS News

Lindgren, meanwhile, moved to the upper right side of the station's main power truss and installed insulation on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a high-profile particle physics experiment that has experienced cooling problems in recent months. The insulation should help improve temperature control.
After stowing the insulation bags and associated tools, Lindgren began work to lay cables that will deliver power and data to a new docking mechanism that will be installed on the forward Harmony module's upper port in 2017.
The new International Docking Adapters, one atop Harmony and one on its front end of the module, will be used by new U.S. crew ferry craft being built by Boeing and SpaceX starting in late 2017 or 2018.
At one point, Caldwell Dyson, a veteran spacewalker, asked Lindgren to read the label on a cable connector. He did so, although he said the label was hard to read.
"It's pretty faded, so that's my best guess," he radioed.
"To be expected," Caldwell Dyson replied. "You know when that was placed there?"
"No, when?"
"You were probably still in diapers," she joked.
"I'm STILL in diapers!" Lindgren replied, drawing laughter in mission control.
While Lindgren focused on routing the long cables, Kelly worked on lubricating internal drive screws and bearings in a so-called "latching end effector," or LEE, on one end of the station's robot arm.
The arm has a latching mechanism on each end so it can move inch-worm fashion from work site to work site and over the years, telemetry has indicated a slow increase in friction and motor currents. One LEE was lubricated during a spacewalk earlier this year and Kelly took on its counterpart Wednesday.
Using a grease gun and a long custom applicator, the station commander had to do most of the lubrication work "in the blind" without being able to see the drive screws in question. He frequently had to stop and clean up the grease gun and sought guidance from mission control to make sure the applicator was properly aligned.
He completed most of the planned work, but with the spacewalk running longer than expected, flight controllers opted to skip a few final steps, telling the astronauts to pack up their tools and equipment and head back to the airlock.
This was the 189th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the fifth so far this year and the first for Kelly and Lindgren.
With today's EVA, 122 astronauts and cosmonauts representing nine nations have logged 1,184 hours and 16 minutes of EVA time working outside the space station, or 49.3 days.

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Astronaut completes spacewalk right before setting US record
By MARCIA DUNN
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's yearlong spaceman, Scott Kelly, chalked up his first spacewalk Wednesday just hours before he sets a record for the nation's longest trip off the planet.
Kelly found himself repeatedly wiping away excess grease while lubricating the snares on the tip of the International Space Station's big robot arm. The job was sloppier and more time-consuming than expected, and couldn't be completed as time ran out.
"It's so messy," Kelly said.
Kelly and fellow spacewalker Kjell Lindgren spent seven hours outside tackling a long overdue list of maintenance chores. In addition to the routine lube work, they routed cable for a future docking port, removed insulation from an electronic switching unit, and covered an antimatter and dark matter detector. A few tasks had to be left undone.
They'll venture back out Nov. 6 for round two.
Thursday, meanwhile, promises to be another banner day for Kelly.
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In this frame grab from NASA Television, astronaut Kjell Lindgren performs maintenance outside the I …
In the wee hours of Thursday morning, just after midnight Eastern time, Kelly will break the American record for NASA's longest single space shot. That 215-day record — more than seven months — was set in 2007.
Kelly has been living at the orbiting lab since March. He is to remain there until March 2016. Russian Mikhail Kornienko is also part of the one-year experiment in preparation for eventual Mars expeditions, although it will fall shy of the 14-month world record held by a fellow cosmonaut, Valery Polyakov, who lived on Russia's old Mir space station in 1994 and 1995.
Former space station resident Michael Lopez-Alegria has been counting down the days until Kelly surpasses his record of 215 days, eight hours and 22 minutes. "Proud to pass the baton," he said in a tweet.
President Barack Obama already has relayed congratulations. In a phone call last week, Obama told Kelly his feat is "nothing to sneeze at." Kelly assured the president that even though he feels like he's been in orbit a long time and still has a long way to go, "it shouldn't be a problem getting to the end with enough energy and enthusiasm to complete the job."
"Records are made to be broken," Kelly noted.
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In this frame grab from NASA Television, astronaut Kjell Lindgren performs maintenance outside the I …
Earlier this month, Kelly broke the U.S. record for the most accumulative time in space: 383 days and counting over four missions. It will total 522 days by the time he returns to Earth, well short of the Russian record.
Before Wednesday's spacewalk, Kelly's identical twin, Mark, a retired astronaut, urged his brother to be careful but still have fun.
"Don't forget to take a good selfie!" Mark said via Twitter. He commanded the mission that delivered the antimatter-hunting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer in 2011; it was the next-to-last shuttle flight. Scientists wanted the device covered with a thermal blanket to keep it cooler and prolong its life.
As Lindgren gathered up cables 250 miles above Earth, Mission Control asked him to call out the serial number on one and wondered whether he knew when it was put there. He didn't.
"You were probably still in diapers," Mission Control informed the first-time space flier. "I'm still in diapers," he replied with a chuckle, getting a big laugh in Houston.
Yes, astronauts wear diapers during lengthy spacewalks.

NASA's Scott Kelly breaks US record for most days in space
October 16, 2015 3:16 PM

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This July 12, 2015 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Scott Kelly poses for a selfie photo in the "Cupola" of the International Space Station. On Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, Kelly broke the U.S. record for the most time spent in space Friday _ 382 days. (Scott Kelly/NASA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Waking up hundreds of miles above the Himalayas, astronaut Scott Kelly broke the U.S. record Friday for the most time spent in space with 383 days.
Kelly is more than halfway through a yearlong mission at the International Space Station and will eventually set a record for the longest single U.S. space mission.
Kelly tweeted back to Earth that he hopes that his eventual 500 plus days in orbit will be exceeded by someone visiting Mars. He tweeted that his day began with a strikingly beautiful view of the Himalayas and vowed to visit them.
Kelly and his ex-astronaut twin Mark, on the ground, are part of an experiment on the long-term effects of space.
Russia's Gennady Padalka holds the record with 879 days in space.

Copyright © 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Copyright © 2015 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

AmericaSpace
For a nation that explores
October 28th, 2015
First-Time Spacewalkers Complete EVA-32, Ahead of 'Extremely Busy' Winter of Resupply Operations
By Ben Evans

With red stripes on the legs of his suit for identification, Scott Kelly emerges from the Quest airlock to begin the United States' fourth EVA of 2015. Photo Credit: NASA
For the fourth time this year, a pair of astronauts ventured outside the Quest airlock of the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today (Wednesday, 28 October) and completed a number of activities in readiness for the future expansion of the orbital outpost to receive its first Commercial Crew visitors from 2017 onwards. Expedition 45 astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren, both embarking on their first career EVAs, spent seven hours and 16 minutes successfully installing thermal covers on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), tying down Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) on one of four Main Bus Switching Units (MBSUs), laying cables in readiness for Commercial Crew operations and lubricating the second Latching End Effector (LEE) on the space station's 57.7-foot-long (17.6-meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm. However, the astronauts' work took slightly longer than anticipated and another task—to install a Non-Propulsive Vent (NPV) back onto the Tranquility node—was deferred to a later date. Known as an "ISS Upgrades EVA", today's work comes on the heels of three months of detailed planning and was made possible when a "window" opened in the October-November timeframe, ahead of what ISS Operations Integration Manager Kenny Todd expects to be an "extremely busy" winter of Visiting Vehicle traffic.
As is customary in the ISS era, much of the training for today's EVA-32—the 32nd U.S. "Stage" EVA, executed out of the Quest airlock, in U.S.-built Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits and without a Space Shuttle being present—has been completed with the astronauts already in orbit. Kelly, who is now at the 60-percent-complete stage of his one-year mission with Russia's Mikhail Kornienko, was launched in late March, whilst Lindgren rocketed into orbit on 22 July, requiring them to utilize their pre-flight EVA Skills training, manuals, checklists and presentations and in-suit exercises in Quest. Earlier this month, Lindgren described his EMU as a "marvelous miniature spaceship" to his 44,500 Twitter followers and thanked the engineers, instructors and divers who had trained him to use the suit. For his own part, Kelly posted a suited self-portrait in the airlock and told his 587,000-strong Twitter audience that he was "Getting my game face on for a spacewalk".
Early this morning, assisted by fellow Expedition 45 crewmates Kimiya Yui of Japan—who served in the Intravehicular (IV) role, choreographing EVA-32 from inside the station—and Russia's Sergei Volkov, the two spacewalkers undertook 60 minutes of "pre-breathing" on masks, during which time the inner "equipment lock" of Quest was depressed from its ambient 14.7 psi to 10.2 psi. Upon completion of this well-trodden pre-EVA protocol, Kelly and Lindgren donned and purged their EMUs and the airlock's atmosphere was repressurized back up to 14.7 psi.
Today's spacewalkers were Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly (left) and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren. Image Credit: NASA
This allowed the men to enter a nominal pre-breathing regime, lasting 50 minutes, followed by a further 50 minutes of In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE). The latter was first trialed during the third EVA of the STS-134 shuttle mission in May 2011—which, coincidentally, was commanded by Kelly's identical twin brother, Mark—and serves to rapidly remove nitrogen from the spacewalkers' bloodstreams, thereby avoiding a potentially fatal attack of the "bends" and skirting the need for the EVA crew to "camp out" overnight in Quest. At length, Yui and Volkov transferred the fully-suited astronauts and their equipment, including the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) units, affixed to the lower segment of their life-sustaining backpacks, from the equipment lock into the outer "crew lock". Hatches between the locks were closed at shortly before 7:20 a.m. EDT and depressurization began.
When it reached 5 psi, it briefly halted for pressure and leak checks, then resumed until the crew lock achieved a condition of near-vacuum. EVA-32 officially commenced at 8:03 a.m. EDT, when Kelly and Lindgren transferred their suits' life-support utilities from ISS power over to internal batteries. Venturing outside first, Kelly—designated "EV1", bearing red stripes on the legs of his suit for identification—became the 212th human being since Alexei Leonov and the 120th American citizen since Ed White to perform a spacewalk. Meanwhile, in order to negate the need to return to the airlock during the remainder of the EVA, Lindgren ("EV2", clad in a pure white suit) passed out bags of equipment and then joined Kelly to become the world's 213th and America's 121st spacewalker.
"After being cooped up in the @Space_Station for the past 215 days," tweeted Kelly's identical twin brother, Mark, "@StationCDRKelly got to go outside for a walk." The twins were selected together as Space Shuttle pilots with the 16th class of NASA astronauts, way back in May 1996. Both have now flown four space missions: Mark has served twice apiece as a shuttle pilot and commander, whilst Scott has piloted one shuttle mission, commanded another and went on twice helm the ISS as its long-duration skipper.
Both Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly were embarking on their first career spacewalks with U.S. EVA-32. Photo Credit: NASA/Twitter/Kimiya Yui
Following standard "buddy checks" of each other's suits and tools, the pair set about their initial tasks by 8:40 a.m., with Kelly taking the MLI bag along the airlock "spur" and translating along the starboard side of the Integrated Truss Structure (ITS) to reach the MBSU location on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC)-2, at the junction of the S-1 and S-3 segments. Working quickly, he began tying down the MLI at the MBSU, in order to provide a clear movement path for the station's Mobile Base System (MBS), which offers a foundation for Canadarm2 to translate along the truss. Kelly was finished on this task shortly after 10 a.m. EST and, just a few minutes behind the timeline, he pressed ahead into the next of his scheduled tasks.
Meanwhile, Lindgren moved the Ballscrew Lubricating Tool (BLT)—previously used by Expedition 42's Terry Virts to grease one of Canadarm2's Latching End Effectors (LEE), during EVA-30 in February—and moved it over to External Stowage Platform (ESP)-2, to be employed by Kelly later in the spacewalk. ESP-2 resides on the port side of Quest and would be the location from which Kelly would conduct his intricate lubrication work. Next, Lindgren collected an Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) from ESP-2 and translated out to the 14,800-pound (6,700 kg) AMS, which is positioned on the Upper Inboard Payload Attach Site on the S-3 truss segment. He had reached the particle physics instrument by about 9:20 a.m., some 80 minutes into the EVA. Working quickly, Lindgren secured the APFR in place within minutes and set to work wire-tying a small "wedge" of MLI material between two of AMS' radiators, which then expanded, tent-like, to provide thermal protection. He then installed small and large MLI blankets over the AMS pumps, which have experienced some degradation in recent months, and was finished by 10:30 a.m., about 2.5 hours after leaving the Quest airlock.
Following his MBSU work, Kelly moved into perhaps the most complex stage of EVA-32: lubricating the Canadarm2 LEE. Since the 57.7-foot-long (17.6-meter) arm consists of two LEEs—allowing it to effectively "inchworm" its way along the football-field-sized truss structure—it was necessary for both "ends" to be thoroughly lubed, in order to resolve issues of "stickiness" and sluggish motion, which have created higher than expected electrical currents. To be fair, the Canadian-built arm has been aboard the ISS since April 2001. One LEE was successfully lubed by Terry Virts in February, with Kelly slated to tend to the LEE on the other end of the arm.
His work got underway shortly after 11 a.m. EST, about three hours into EVA-32, when he set up the APFR and was presented with the looming face of the LEE, whose extended latches and central ballscrew bore an uncanny similarity to the fearsome tripods in War of the Worlds. Since lubrication of the LEE was never intended to be done by spacewalkers, the BLT—which comprises a probe, wire ties and lots of tape—was employed by Virts in February and, today, by Kelly, to apply lubricant from a Grease Gun.
Kjell Lindgren works with the Orange and Purple-White data and power cables during the course of EVA-32. Photo Credit: NASA
After several "dry runs", he set to work applying lubricant shortly before 12:30 p.m., some 4.5 hours after departing the Quest airlock. Working "in the blind" at several stages, Kelly first attacked the LEE's central ballscrew, before moving onto the equalization brackets and latch deployments rollers for its four extended latches. His task was slow, methodical and incredibly fiddly and NASA later reported that "greasing numerous parts of the robotic arm took somewhat longer than anticipated", leading to the decision to forego the lubrication of one component, and Kelly's work was done by 1:30 p.m. EST.
Elsewhere, Lindgren had wrapped up his AMS activity and moved into retrieving a cable bag, containing power ("Purple-White") and data ("Orange") cables for future operations with Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-3—soon to be transferred from its current perch on the Tranquility node to the space-facing (or "zenith") side of the Harmony node—and one of two International Docking Adapters (IDAs). He initially "temp-stowed" the forward part of the cable onto a handrail on the Destiny laboratory, then routed the aft section towards the Unity node, with the orange cable first, then the purple-white cable. Lindgren's cable work was completed by 1:20 p.m. EDT.
By this point, almost 5.5 hours into EVA-32, it was evident that the spacewalk would run for longer than its planned 6.5 hours, and the astronauts were told to defer the NPV installation task until a later date. All primary activities had been successfully concluded and Kelly and Lindgren cleaned up their respective worksites and made their way back to the airlock. Repressurization was finalized at 3:19 p.m. EDT, with EVA-32 wrapped up after seven hours and 16 minutes. When placed into context, this EVA—the 189th spacewalk of the ISS era, since the initial excursion by STS-88 astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman, way back in December 1998—has pushed the cumulative time spent by humans working outside this multi-national habitat in the heavens to 1,184 hours, which represents 49.3 days, or more than seven weeks working in near-total vacuum.
Next up for Kelly and Lindgren is EVA-33, currently planned for Friday, 6 November, which will see the spacewalkers also spend around 6.5 hours working outside the space station. As outlined in a previous AmericaSpace article, this second EVA will see the men exchange roles, with Lindgren as EV1 and Kelly as EV2. Its principal objective can trace its heritage back to November 2012, when Expedition 33 spacewalkers Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide attempted to isolate an ammonia leak in the cooling system of the P-6 element of the ITS. It was speculated at the time that the leak possibly arose following an Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) strike to its Photovoltaic Radiator (PVR) or perhaps age-induced cracking, but by mid-2012 the leak had increased to 5.2 pounds (2.4 kg) per year, which represented about 10 percent of P-6's original ammonia load. This, in turn, raised the alarming risk that the critical 2B power channel—which carries major electrical loads across the whole ISS—could have been forced to shut down before the end of 2012.
Williams and Hoshide's EVA isolated the 2B coolant loop and used the Trailing Thermal Control Radiator (TTCR) for subsequent cooling, allowing engineers to pinpoint the exact location of the ammonia leak. However, six months later, in May 2013, ammonia "snow" was seen emanating from the 2B power channel, which necessitated a contingency EVA by Expedition 35 spacewalkers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn. The pair were unable to locate the source of the leakage, but removed, replaced and tested a suspect Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS), which was expected to yield additional clues for investigators in their search for a solution. More than two years later, Kelly and Lindgren's task on U.S. EVA-33 will be to restore the P-6 truss cooling system to the original state it was in prior to the Williams/Hoshide EVA.

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

Rookie Spacewalkers Perform Critical Space Station Work
by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer | October 28, 2015 03:33pm ET

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren makes his way towards the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the outside of the International Space Station near the beginning of his spacewalk with mission lead Scott Kelly on Oct. 28.
Credit: NASA View full size image
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren successfully completed their first-ever spacewalks today (Oct. 28), completing a handful of tasks vital to the International Space Station's longterm endurance.
NASA's 32nd International Space Station (ISS) spacewalk officially started at 8:03 a.m. ET (1203 GMT) and lasted for 7 hours and 16 minutes as Kelly and Lindgren performed a handful of important maintenance tasks, including putting additional shielding over a science experiment, lubricating the station's robotic arm and rerouting cables to a future docking site for commercial spacecraft.
Kelly, who commanded the spacewalk and is on day 214 of his yearlong stay on the ISS, went out first, and Lindgren followed several minutes later. For their next spacewalk, on Nov. 6, Lindgren will take the lead. [One Year in Space: Epic Space Station Mission in Photos]
Veteran spacewalker Tracy Caldwell Dyson — who spent more than 188 cumulative days in space, and a total of more than 22 hours outside the space station over the course of three spacewalks — walked the pair step-by-step through their mission tasks from NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston.
"You guys probably noticed that the sun came up, huh?" Caldwell Dyson said early on in the mission.
"Yep," Lindgren responded. "Beautiful."
"Well, don't forget those visors, if you haven't used them already — they'll come in handy when that big fireball is staring at you."
2 astronauts entered vastness of space for 1st time. Watch #spacewalk now: https://t.co/0Pr5m1bEAZ pic.twitter.com/NNlqEMxqhn
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) October 28, 2015
The duo's exit from the space station was delayed when Lindgren turned on the water to his suit a bit too soon, before the airlock had been fully decompressed. But, after careful observation to make sure there were no ill effects, the astronauts moved forward.
Once outside the space station, the astronauts split up to perform their initial tasks separately. Kelly removed insulation from a failed main bus switching unit, which controls the power sent from solar panels to the station, so it can be robotically removed later. Lindgren added a thermal wedge and a protective blanket to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the station's exterior, to shield the instrument from the sun and harsh space environment, and thus extend its life span.
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren opens the cover of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer in order to photograph it before putting on a cooling wedge and protective blanket during his first spacewalk on Oct. 28.
Credit: NASA
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The AMS, an experiment to search for dark matter, has been aboard the space station since 2011, in which time it has recorded more than 60 billion cosmic rays passing through. It was launched on the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, which was commanded by Kelly's twin brother, Mark.
.@StationCDRKelly begins next #spacewalk task with the @CSA_ASC robotic arm... https://t.co/bJ7m9O2twE https://t.co/YehsCpN01V
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) October 28, 2015
After removing and stowing the insulation, Kelly carefully made his way toward the station's main robotic arm, Canadarm2. NASA ground control moved the arm to within his reach so he could lubricate many of the joints at the end, which grabs ahold of cargo and visiting spacecraft. (NASA astronaut Terry Virts lubricated other joints in February.) Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui helped Kelly throughout the hours-long task by maneuvering the arm from inside the space station.
Lindgren, meanwhile, worked to reroute data and power cables to prepare for future commercial docking missions. When Dyson called an end to the spacewalk and the two prepared to head back inside, Kelly had nearly finished his laborious robotic arm task — greasing three out of the four target areas, which should decrease friction and make the arm easier to operate. The astronauts ran out of time to install a vent valve on the Tranquility module. (Spacewalk tasks are arranged from most to least vital; there will be a chance to install that valve on future spacewalks.)
The day-lit Earth stretches beneath astronaut Kjell Lindgren Oct. 28 as he makes his way over to reroute cables on the outside of the space station's Harmony module.
Credit: NASA
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Now, the duo has some time to relax before preparing for their second spacewalk next week — a complicated one on which they'll be reconfiguring a station cooling system and topping off its supply of ammonia.
Nov. 2 is the 15th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the ISS, NASA officials wrote on the space station blog — and during 189 total spacewalks, astronauts have ventured out to do the tasks necessary to keep the orbiting habitat running.
Scott Kelly is embarked on his third space mission, while Lindgren is a spaceflight rookie.
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