Sunday, November 7, 2010

Russian Cosmonauts Complete A 6 Hour Spacewalk

Russian Cosmonauts Complete A 6 Hour Spacewalk
Two Russian cosmonauts wrapped up a 5-hour, 58-minute spacewalk at 1:32 p.m. EDT Thursday, finishing the maintain of a laser communications try out amid a new platform for a concise optical camera system, the appointment of new spacewalk aids and an examination of snout covers. Dressed in Orlan spacesuits, Chase 36 Rush Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin began their immediate spacewalk during the well-chosen of a week whenever you like they opened the protect to the Sophisticated Get around Station's Pirs docking class at 7:34 a.m.

As the two spacewalkers motivated out to the first worksite on the Zvezda concentrate sequence, they carried a fusion EVA laptop and biaxial pointing platform upon which a concise optical camera system incentive be installed hip a innovative spacewalk. After attaching the meeting to a transitory luggage view, Yurchikhin and Misurkin broken up the Rise Onboard Laser Communications Categorization, which was installed on Zvezda in Majestic 2011 hip an Chase 28 spacewalk.

Rush Inventor Alexander Misurkin takes a thorough at a materials exposure try out hip an Chase 36 spacewalk. Plan Credit: NASA TV

As well as the laser communications try out broken up and momentarily stowed amid its defensive cover, the two spacewalkers began to join the camera platform before noticing that its base serving dish was not admiringly united. Principal, Russian fling controllers told the spacewalkers to stand down on the appointment, and Yurchikhin carried the platform assist in the sphere of the Pirs airlock. Allay, after seminal that the alignment cascade amid base serving dish of the EVA laptop and biaxial pointing platform possibly will be corrected after its appointment, Russian flight controllers directed the spacewalkers to recoup the platform from the airlock and join it at as orderly on the starboard side of Zvezda. Two cameras, lay aside to be delivered to station aboard a Climb weigh down craft in November, incentive be mounted on the platform hip a spacewalk orderly for December.

Misurkin and Yurchikhin then headed to particular locations on Zvezda to inspect six antennas that are used to service in administration navigation data hip the gathering and docking of European Inevitable Transfer Carry weigh down ships. The examination working work to invoice out the snout covers and tighten screws on any nonjudgmental covers. Rush Inventor Chris Cassidy observed one of the covers on the brink obtainable from the station on Monday, and Russian station officials wanted to set up its parentage and assure that the misuse covers are obstruct.

In the same way as Yurchikhin absolute the appointment of positive gap spanners - diplomacy used to service innovative spacewalkers in their wave from one sequence to pristine -- on the port side of Zvezda, Misurkin then headed over to the Poisk Mini-Research Module-2 somewhere he used a test kit to gather a particulate judgment from under a swath of thermal padding near here Poisk's protect. He the same photographed a materials exposure try out and associated cabling laterally Poisk.

Rush Inventor Fyodor Yurchikhin mechanism top the Pirs docking class of the Sophisticated Get around Arrangement hip an Chase 36 spacewalk. Plan Credit: NASA TV

Due to time constraints, the provoke of a foot prove from the hull of Zvezda to the new spacewalk laptop was delayed to a taking into consideration funny turn.

This was the 173rd spacewalk in fund of space station meeting and maintenance, the 8th in Yurchikhin's race and the third for Misurkin.

Credit: NASA

For the duration of Thursday's spacewalk, Cassidy and station Skipper Pavel Vinogradov were deserted to the Poisk sequence and their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft, like Rush Engineers Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Get around Administration were free to move about the U.S. chunk of the fascination.

Nyberg left faraway of her day feat amid the InSpace-3 try out, which examines colloidal fluids classified as modish materials, transitioning to a solid-like state in the apparition of a hypnotic local office. The InSPACE-3 group believes the skill gleaned from this investigation may distribute to new technologies and new activity processes based on the propose of having these nanoparticles act as self-assembling accommodation blocks for outsized structures.

Parmitano meanwhile rerouted an consume port on the Amine Swingbed. This technology remonstration is laboratory analysis a minor, best quality skillful carbon dioxide exclusion system. Collection and effectiveness are key factors as NASA begins accommodation the Orion Multi-Purpose Accomplice Carry that incentive force astronauts deeper in the sphere of space than always before.

Credit: NASA