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ZL2VAL > SPACE 31.08.04 13:47l 100 Lines 4073 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 070106ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: ISS crew prepare for 4th EVA
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<VK6HGR<ZL2BAU<ZL2BAU<ZL2AB
Sent: 040831/1006Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:46566 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : SPACE@WW
*Expedition 9 Crew Prepares for Final Spacewalk *
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 27 August 2004
5:00 p.m. ET
The two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will
step outside their orbital home one more time next week during the
fourth and final spacewalk of their mission.
Clad in Russian spacesuits, ISS Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka
and flight engineer Michael Fincke will spend nearly six hours in space
on Sept. 3 to perform station maintenance and install communications
equipment for a European cargo pod.
While the fourth spacewalk for the Expedition 9 crew, it is the
astronauts' second planned extravehicular activity (EVA). Expedition 9's
previous spacewalk on Aug. 3 was also a scheduled EVA. Two additional
spacewalks conducted in June were unplanned repair jobs.
"Each of the spacewalks are risky," said Paul Boehm, Expedition 9 lead
EVA officer at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) during a press briefing
today. "This is a preplanned spacewalk, and Expedition 9 did train for
it before launch."
Working in space
The upcoming spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650
GMT), with the astronauts stepping outside the Russian Pirs docking
compartment in Orlan spacesuits with three primary tasks ahead of them.
First, Padalka and Fincke will replace a thermal flow control panel on
the station's Zarya control module.
Matt Abbott, Expedition 9's lead flight director at JSC, said the panel
is part of an air conditioning system for Zarya systems. The panel does
contain coolant that is somewhat toxic, though shouldn't pose any harm
to the crew if any is tracked into the ISS on the crew's spacesuits, ISS
controllers added.
Once that task is complete, Padalka and Fincke are expected to install a
series of tether leads on Zarya module handrails then make their way
down to the end of the station's Zvezda service module. There, they will
install three new antennas on a docking port that will be used by the
European automated transfer vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne next year.
"The ATV is not going to be there any earlier than October of next
year," said Mark Geyer, ISS manager for integration and operations,
adding that at least one more EVA will be required to complete
preparations for that vehicle.
The spacewalk should conclude with hatch closure at about 6:45 p.m. EDT
(2245 GMT).
Space station adrift
ISS controllers said they have learned from a torque situation that
prompted loss of communications with the Expedition 9 crew during their
last spacewalk.
In the Aug. 3 EVA, the space station's control moment gyroscopes - which
control the attitude of the space station - were unable to keep the ISS
oriented properly due to heavy momentum loads and the station began to
drift slightly.
"We were not actually drifting in space, just in orientation," Abbott
said. "We got 80 degrees out of attitude, and the station pitched
upwards."
The attitude change took about 30 minutes to reach its 80-degree
maximum, and led to power conservation procedures that shut down primary
S-band communications between the astronauts and the flight controllers.
With that experience in mind, mission controllers will not issue such
large power conservation measures during the upcoming spacewalk. The
space station will also be able to alternate between Russian thrusters
and U.S. gyroscopes to maintain orientation throughout the EVA.
"As always, we take what we can learn from this experience and throw
them into the next mission," Abbott said.
The Sept. 3 spacewalk will be the sixth EVA for Padalka and the fourth
for Fincke. It also marks the 13th spacewalk staged form the Pirs
docking compartment and the 56th in support of the ISS. NASA TV will
broadcast live coverage of the spacewalk beginning at 11:30 a.m. EDT
(1530 GMT).
73 - Alan, ZL2VAL @ ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 22:06 on 2004-Aug-31
Old Age
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Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about
your age and start bragging about it.
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