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W4DPH > SAT 02.03.03 13:31l 57 Lines 2294 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-061.06
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: Two Astronauts on the ISS?
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0MRW<DB0SIF<DB0AIS<DB0WST<DB0ACH<DB0OVN<DB0GOS<ON0AR<
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Sent: 030302/1117Z @:W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM #:48725 [CLW] FBB $:ANS-061.06
From: W4DPH@W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 061.06 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. March 2, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-061.06
Two American astronauts aboard the international space station wiggled
and tugged to get out of bulky spacesuits by themselves to test whether
a two-person crew can stay aboard while the shuttle fleet is grounded.
Normally the space station has a three-person crew.
Flight managers wanted to see if the astronauts could put on and take
off their spacesuits by themselves without the assistance of a third
crew member. A member of a two-man crew would have to know how to take
off the suit alone in case the crewmate became incapacitated.
Commander Ken Bowersox and science officer Don Pettit completed the
test successfully in less than the allotted three hours on Monday. The
space station's third crew member, Russian flight engineer Nikolai
Budarin, videotaped the test and offered suggestions to his crewmates.
NASA and its international partners must decide whether to keep three
people aboard the station or reduce its crew to two. A two-person crew
would put less demands on supplies at the space station. Crew members
now must rely on Russia's space vehicles to deliver water, food and
supplies instead of the much larger shuttles.
The shuttles were grounded after Columbia disintegrated as it
re-entered the atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts.
A decision on when the shuttles will fly again will not come until an
investigation into Columbia is completed.
The space station crew members conducted the spacesuit test 246 miles
above Earth.
Bowersox struggled for several minutes to emerge from the bulky
spacesuit. He submerged his head into the suit and tugged on his
sleeves. When that didn't work, he took the pants portion off. He then
leaned his body onto tethers stretched across the air lock and used the
resistance of the tethers to pull off the top half of the suit.
Workers at NASA's Johnson Space Center applauded and Bowersox pumped
his fist in the air.
"The Sox kind of reminded me of a withering insect crawling out from
its chrysalis," said Pettit, using Bowersox's nickname. "Except that
insect turns into a beautiful butterfly."
[ANS thanks CNN for the above information.]
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