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CX2SA > ISS 01.06.07 01:49l 98 Lines 4134 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 26713_CX2SA
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: ISS STATUS REPORT #SS07-29
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<F4BWT<IW2OAZ<CX2SA
Sent: 070531/2325Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:26713 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:26713_CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : ISS@WW
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
John Yembric
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
John Ira Petty
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
May 31, 2007
STATUS REPORT: SS07-29
International Space Station Status Report: SS07-29
Two International Space Station cosmonauts stepped outside Wednesday for
a 5-hour, 25-minute spacewalk, installing Service Module Debris
Protection panels and rerouting a Global Positioning System antenna cable.
Wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight
Engineer Oleg Kotov began their spacewalk from the Russian Pirs airlock
at 2:05 p.m. CDT. The spacewalk was scheduled to begin at 1:20 p.m., but
was delayed due to time required to troubleshoot a communications problem.
First, the cosmonauts moved to the Strela 2, one of the hand-operated,
telescoping cranes at the base of Pirs. They attached an extension to
the Strela boom, increasing its reach from 45 to 60 feet. With Kotov on
the end of the extension, Yurchikhin extended the boom to a point over
Pressurized Mating Adapter 3, or PMA-3, on the Unity connecting node.
Once in place, Yurchikhin, with guidance from Kotov, maneuvered the
Strela end effector to a grapple fixture on an adapter stowage rack. The
adapter is attached to PMA-3 and held three bundles of 17 debris panels.
The assembly is dubbed the "Christmas Tree."
Once the Christmas Tree was attached to the Strela and released from
PMA-3, Yurchikhin moved it and Kotov back to the small diameter of the
Zvezda Module. Yurchikhin joined Kotov there, and together they secured
it to a grapple fixture on Zvezda.
Next, they left the debris panel task and moved aft onto Zvezda's large
conical section. There they rerouted a cable for a Global Positioning
System to be used for future rendezvous operations with the European
Automated Transfer Vehicle. The ATV is an unpiloted cargo carrier with
almost twice the capacity of the Progress cargo craft. It is scheduled
to make its first launch later this year.
Once that task was completed, the cosmonauts moved back to the Christmas
Tree on the forward end of Zvezda, where they removed and opened one of
the three bundles of debris panels. That bundle held five panels. The
aluminum panels vary in size but are about an inch thick. They typically
measure about 2 by 3 feet and weigh 15 to 20 pounds.
Yurchikhin and Kotov installed the five panels on Zvezda's forward
section, the area between Zvezda's large and small diameters.
After the installation task, the spacewalkers moved back to Pirs and
into the airlock. Hatch closure marking the end of the spacewalk was at
7:30 p.m.
This was the first spacewalk for Yurchikhin and Kotov. On their second,
scheduled for June 6, the remaining 12 debris panels will be installed
on Zvezda. Additionally, the cosmonauts also will install a section of
an Ethernet cable on the Zarya module and a Russian experiment called
Biorisk on Pirs.
The three bundles and their adapter were delivered by space shuttle
Discovery during the STS-116 mission in December 2006 and attached to
PMA-3 by spacewalkers Bob Curbeam and Sunita Williams. Williams, an
Expedition 15 crew member, remained aboard the station as the
intravehicular officer for Wednesday's spacewalk, advising and keeping
the spacewalkers on schedule.
Six debris panels were previously installed during an August 2002
spacewalk by Expedition 5 Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer
Peggy Whitson. Those panels were delivered to the station by space
shuttle Endeavour during the STS-111 mission in June 2002.
For more about the crew's activities and station sighting opportunities,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html>
The next station status report will be issued Friday, June 1, or earlier
if events warrant.
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