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ZL2VAL > SPACE 05.09.04 00:06l 89 Lines 4141 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : ISS04-50
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: ISS status report, #04-50
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<IW2ESA<IK1ZNW<VE3FJB<ZL2TZE<ZL2AB
Sent: 040904/2156Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:46895 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g $:ISS04-5
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : SPACE@WW
*International Space Station Status Report #04-50*
*6:30 p.m. CDT Friday, Sept. 3, 2004*
*Expedition 9 Crew*
Smoothly and ahead of schedule, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka
and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke completed the fourth and final
spacewalk of their six-month mission today. Padalka and Fincke spent
five hours, 21 minutes outside completing mainenance tasks and
installing antennas to prepare for the initial arrival of a new European
cargo ship next year.
Wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits, Padalka and Fincke began the spacewalk
at 11:43 a.m. CDT, emerging from the Pirs airlock affixed to the Zvezda
Service Module. It was Padalka's sixth career spacewalk and the fourth
for Fincke, all of his conducted during this expedition. The spacewalk
was supervised by Russian flight controllers at the Mission Control
Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.
After setting up tools and tethers, Padalka and Fincke quickly went to
work. On the Zarya module, they replaced a pump control panel that
measures the module's coolant levels. They then installed a series of
tether guides on four handrails. The guides are intended to prevent
future spacewalkers' tethers from becoming snagged.
As the Station moved into orbital darkness, the spacewalkers took a rest
break. During the break, flight controllers in Houston collected data on
the orientation of the outpost. The information will help determine if
the cooling systems of the Russian spacesuits contribute to changes in
the Station's orientation. Throughout today's spacewalk, the Station
remained in predicted orientations. No unanticipated measures were
needed to maintain its stability.
Padalka and Fincke spent two and a half hours on the exterior of Zvezda,
installing three communications antennas at its aft end. Those antennas,
along with other equipment installed during an Aug. 3 spacewalk, will be
used next year. They will guide the European Space Agency's unpiloted
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the "Jules Verne" cargo ship, to its
maiden docking with the Station. Three more ATV navigation antennas will
be installed by the next Station crew, Expedition 10, in February. The
Expedition 11 crew will install ATV communications gear inside Zvezda as
well.
Padalka and Fincke returned to Pirs and installed protective handrail
covers at one of the two airlock hatches. The covers will ensure tethers
do not inadvertently wrap around the handrails.
Fincke also photographed a suitcase-sized tray of Japanese commercial
experiments mounted on Zvezda to measure the effect of micrometeoroids
on a variety of materials. Called Micro-Particle Capturer and Space
Environment Exposure Devices, they were installed on Zvezda almost three
years ago.
With their work done, Padalka and Fincke returned to the airlock and
closed the hatch at 5:04 p.m. CDT. The spacewalk was the 56th in support
of Station assembly and maintenance and the 31st based from the Station.
In all, Padalka and Fincke have spent 15 hours and 45 minutes outside
the Station during their four spacewalks together. To date, spacewalkers
have spent more than 338 hours outside the Station for maintenance and
assembly work.
For information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station,
future launch dates, as well as a list of opportunities to see the
Station from anywhere on the Earth, visit:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
For details on Station science operations provided by the Payload
Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,
Ala., visit:
http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/
The next ISS status report will be issued on Friday, Sept. 10, or
earlier, if events warrant.
###
73 de Alan
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