Approximately 3.5 hours into today’s spacewalk, astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly have completed the first of several steps to restore the port truss (P6) ammonia cooling system to its original configuration.
Kelly and Lindgren have returned ammonia to the desired levels in both the prime and back-up systems.
Watch the spacewalk on NASA Television at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren switched their spacesuits to battery power at 6:22 a.m. EST, signifying the start of today’s spacewalk, planned for 6 hours and 30 minutes.
Lindgren is wearing a spacesuit with red stripes and is designated EV1. His helmet camera displays the number 17. Kelly is wearing a spacesuit with no stripes and is designated EV2. His helmet camera displays the number 18.
The astronauts are embarking on the 190th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance to restore the port truss ammonia cooling system to its original configuration following a leak detection exercise three years ago that ultimately resulted in the replacement of an ammonia pump on the station’s truss.
NASA Television is broadcasting the spacewalk at www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.
NASA Television is providing live coverage of today’s U.S. spacewalk from the International Space Station. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 7:10 a.m. EST, or earlier, if the crew is ready to begin ahead of schedule, and will last about 6 hours and 30 minutes. NASA TV coverage begins at 5:30 a.m.
This is the second spacewalk for both Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren. They will venture out of the Quest airlock to configure the port truss (P6) ammonia cooling system to its original state. A spacewalk in November 2012 by astronauts Sunita Williams and Aki Hoshide tried to isolate a leak in the truss’ cooling supply by re-plumbing the system to a backup radiator, but the leak persisted and was subsequently traced to a different component that was replaced during a spacewalk in May 2013. Now leak-free, officials decided to restore the port truss cooling system to its primary method of dispelling heat.
The spacewalk is the 190th in support of space station assembly and maintenance and the second in nine days for Kelly and Lindgren.
Watch the spacewalk live at www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.
Two NASA astronauts are getting ready for their second spacewalk Friday morning while also conducting science. The rest of the global crew worked on orbital lab maintenance and continued international space research.
Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren organized their spacewalk tools today and attached checklists to their spacesuit cuffs. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, who will coordinate Friday’s spacewalk from inside the International Space Station, assisted Kelly and Lindgren with their tool checks.
The three astronauts also had time today for some science work to improve life on Earth and for future crews.
Lindgren downloaded data captured from tiny free-flying satellites known as SPHERES that test autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers and other flight techniques. Yui worked on the Capillary Flow Experiment with results potentially benefiting fluid systems on future spacecraft. Finally, Kelly took a test to measure his cognitive adaptation during his year-long spaceflight.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren are looking ahead to Friday morning’s spacewalk to return the port truss cooling system back to its original configuration after repair work completed in 2012. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui will assist the spacewalkers before they get out the door and coordinate their activities from inside the International Space Station.
Today, the trio reviewed the cooling system servicing spacewalk procedures and organized their tools. Kelly and Lindgren will work with ammonia fluid cables and tanks during the spacewalk scheduled for Friday at 7:10 a.m. EST. Yui joined the duo and trained for the possibility their spacesuits may come in contact with ammonia coolant flakes.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren are now looking ahead to their second spacewalk scheduled for Friday Nov. 6 at 7:10 a.m. EST. They will work outside for six-hours, 30-minutes to return a port truss cooling system to its original configuration after repair work during a previous spacewalk in 2012.
Kelly and Lindgren are inspecting their tethers today which keep spacewalkers attached to the International Space Station. They are also reviewing procedures for the upcoming spacewalk and organizing their tools.
Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, who is also the spacewalkers’ internal coordinator, worked in the Kibo lab module attaching science samples to an experiment platform. He then moved on to studying how plants grow in space without gravity to guide them.
On the Russian side of the orbital laboratory, the cosmonauts explored tools and acoustic methods to detect micrometeoroid impacts on the station. The veteran trio of Sergey Volkov, Mikhail Kornienko and Oleg Kononenko, also researched the physics of plasma crystals and how a crew member adapts to piloting a spacecraft.
Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly has been in space longer than any other NASA astronaut. Today he exceeds Michael Lopez-Alegria’s record of 215 days on a single spaceflight. He passed Michael Fincke’s record of 382 cumulative days in space on Oct. 16.
Kelly also completed his first spacewalk along with Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren on Wednesday. The duo worked outside for seven hours and 16 minutes on a series of tasks to service and upgrade the International Space Station. They wrapped a dark matter detection experiment in a thermal blanket, lubricated the tip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and then routed power and data cables for a future docking port.
Meanwhile, the crew is back at work today on advanced space science and routine laboratory maintenance. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui explored how plants grow without gravity to guide them. Kelly recorded his impressions of the space station’s living and working space for the Habitability study. Lindgren trained for the VIABLE experiment that researches microbe development on station surfaces.
The cosmonauts including Sergey Volkov, Mikhail Kornienko and Oleg Kononenko worked on scheduled tasks in the Russian segment of the orbital laboratory. They explored Earth photography techniques, the physics of plasma crystals and controlling a rover on the ground from space.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren ended their spacewalk at 3:19 p.m. EDT with the repressurization of the U.S. Quest airlock, having completed most of the major tasks planned for their excursion outside the International Space Station.
Kelly and Lindgren applied a thermal cover on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer; applied grease to a number of components in one of the latching ends of the Canadarm2 robotic arm; and began work to rig power and data system cables for the future installation of a docking port to the station that will be used for the arrival of the Boeing Starliner CST-100 and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Greasing numerous parts of the robotic arm took somewhat longer than anticipated, and flight controllers chose to forego the lubrication of one component. However, engineers are satisfied the work that was completed sufficiently enhances the performance of the latching end effector. A lower priority task to reinstall a valve on the station will be assigned to crew members during a future spacewalk.
The 7-hour and 16-minute spacewalk was a first for both astronauts. Crew members have now spent a total of 1,184 hours and 16 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 189 spacewalks.
Kelly and Lindgren will venture outside the International Space Station again on Friday, Nov. 6. The two spacewalks were scheduled around milestones in space. Tomorrow, Kelly becomes the U.S. astronaut who has lived in space the longest during a single U.S. spaceflight, and Monday the crew celebrates the 15th year of a continuous human presence in space aboard the station.
During the second spacewalk, the astronauts will restore a truss cooling system to its original configuration following a 2012 spacewalk in which another team of astronauts attempted to isolate a leak of ammonia coolant. They also will top off ammonia on the station’s truss reservoirs. NASA Television coverage will begin at 5:45 a.m. EST ahead of the spacewalk’s planned start time of 7:10 a.m.
Stay up-to-date on the latest space station news at: https://www.nasa.gov/station
Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes into today’s spacewalk, astronaut Kjell Lindgren successfully placed a thermal cover over the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) outside the International Space Station. First launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in May 2011, the AMS is collecting and analyzing billions of cosmic ray events and identifying dark matter.
Scott Kelly has been removing some insulation from a power switching unit on the station’s truss to facilitate its future robotic replacement.
Next up, Kelly will apply grease to several components of the 57.7 foot Canadarm2 robotic arm. Lindgren is working on routing power cables for the future installation of a docking port for commercial crew spacecraft.
Watch the spacewalk on NASA Television at: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#education
Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:03 a.m. EDT, signifying the start of today’s planned 6-hour, 30-minute spacewalk. NASA Television is broadcasting the spacewalk at www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Kelly is wearing a spacesuit with red stripes and is designated EV1. His helmet camera displays the number 18. Lindgren’s spacesuit is white without stripes; he is designated EV2. His helmet camera displays the number 17. This is the first spacewalk for both astronauts.
The first tasks for the astronauts will be to install a thermal cover over a dark matter detection experiment, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and to remove a piece of thermal insulation from a power switching unit to facilitate its robotic replacement in the future.
Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.
