At 8:24 a.m. EST, STS-129 spacewalkers Robert Satcher as well as Randy Bresnik switched their suits towards battery power, signaling the start of the mission’s third and final outing, NASA reported from Houston today. They are orbiting Earth 220 miles above the planet.At an elapsed time of an hour and 12 minutes, the spacewalk was about 20 minutes prior to the schedule. Three hours into the mission, they were still ahead of schedule.
Although today's spacewalk started about an hour late, Mission Control has decided to finish it at its original time, around 2 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). The "contingency" time listed in the original plan will be removed and the spacewalk is predicted to last about 5 hours and 30 minutes.
Atlantis Mission Specialist Mike Foreman is inside the International Space Station helping as the choreographer and relaying communications from Mission Control in Houston.
Robert Satcher and Randy Bresnik were scheduled for a six and a half hour spacewalk, though 30 to 45 minutes of it were set aside as "contingency" time for any tasks that require longer to complete than estimated. Since the mission's first two spacewalks accomplished more than was planned, this third excursion has taken on a number of new chores that originally were listed as mission "get ahead" tasks.
The first item on Robert Satcher's agenda was to transfer an oxygen-filled high pressure gas tank from the External Logistics Carrier (ELC) 2 to the Quest airlock. Space station robotic arm operators Leland Melvin and Barry Wilmore assisted with the move of the large, "doghouse" shaped tank.
Meanwhile, Randy Bresnik retrieved the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE 7) from Atlantis' payload bay and installed it on ELC 2. The pair will work together to remove Quest airlock debris shields and activate the high-pressure tank. The tank will be used to replenish airlock air that has been lost when spacewalkers exit and enter Quest. The installation took about 3 hours.
Subsequently, while Robert Satcher loosens a bolt on a starboard truss Ammonia Tank Assembly, Randy Bresnik will install fluid jumpers on the Port1/Port 3 and Starboard 1/Starboard 3 truss segments. Finally, while Randy Bresnik relocates an articulating portable foot restraint, Robert Satcher will install two camera covers and an insulating sleeve on the station's Mobile Base System.
Randy Bresnik completed installation of the MISSE 7 experiment on Express Logistics Carrier 2. This is the most recent in a series of experiments that expose materials and composite samples to space for several months before they are returned for experts to analyze. This could lead to stronger spacecraft materials and applications on Earth. This MISSE experiment actually is plugged into the space station's power supply.
The astronauts are scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Center on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving with Nicole Stott aboard. She has been conducting scientific experiments on the ISS for two months.
No comments:
Post a Comment