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Forum:Space Shuttles - Space Station
Topic:ISS Expedition 36: US (22) spacewalk (7/09/13)
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After the spacewalkers exit the hatch, Cassidy will move to the top of the Z1 truss to remove and replace a Space-to-Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller. This unit, one of two that allows for independent strings of Ku-band communication for video and data, failed last year.

In parallel to this, Parmitano will head out to the Express Logistics Carrier-2 (ELC-2) on the starboard truss and retrieve two experiments that were part of Materials International Space Station Experiment-8, or MISSE-8.

The Optical Reflector Materials Experiment III (ORMatE-III) and the Payload Experiment Container, which assessed the impacts of the space environment on materials and processor elements, are slated to return to Earth aboard the SpaceX-3 commercial cargo craft later this year.

While he's out on the on the starboard truss, Parmitano will also photograph the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02) to provide the research team a visual assessment of the condition of this state-of-the-art particle physics detector.

The two spacewalkers will team back up to remove two Radiator Grapple Bars (RGBs) and install one on the port side truss and the other on the starboard side so they will be more strategically located.

The RGBs, which are intended to aid in the removal and replacement of failed thermal radiators, were delivered to the station aboard SpaceX-2. While riding at the end of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm under the control of flight engineer Karen Nyberg, Parmitano will transport the RGBs to the worksites where Cassidy will bolt them down.

As Parmitano rides the arm back from the starboard side to port, he will use this opportunity to remove a failed camera assembly. The Mobile Base Camera Light Pan-Tilt Assembly, which failed back in May 2012 just before the arrival of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, was one of the prime viewing systems for monitoring visiting vehicles.

Mission managers plan to bring the assembly back to Earth for refurbishment and return it to the station later as a valid spare.

While Parmitano removes the camera assembly, Cassidy will route power cables to support the addition of the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) scheduled to arrive at the station later this year. Cassidy will route cables from the Unity node to the interface between the Pressurized Mating Adapter-1 and the Zarya module. The station cosmonauts will complete that set up during a future spacewalk.

The new module, known as Nauka, will serve as a research facility, docking port and airlock for future Russian spacewalks and will replace the Pirs docking compartment.

With those tasks complete and the RGBs installed, Cassidy will begin the installation of two Z1 truss Y-bypass jumpers to provide power redundancy and stability for critical station components. The bypass jumper installation will be completed during the July 16 spacewalk.

In conjunction with some cable reconfigurations completed earlier this year inside Unity, the two Y-bypass jumpers will allow the station team to quickly regain critical loads in the event of a loss of one of the external power modules without the need to commit to a spacewalk.

The two spacewalkers will round out their excursion installing a multi-layer insulation cover to protect the docking interface of Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 mounted to the Harmony module.

Cassidy, who is designated EV1 for the spacewalk, will wear a U.S. extravehicular mobility suit bearing red stripes. This spacewalk will be the fifth of Cassidy's career.

Parmitano, designated EV2, will wear a spacesuit with no stripes and will be making the first spacewalk of his career. He will become the first Italian astronaut to walk in space.

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough at the Mission Control Center in Houston will provide ground support for the spacewalkers.

Robert Pearlman
Station astronauts complete first of two July spacewalks

Two Expedition 36 astronauts wrapped up a successful 6-hour, 7-minute spacewalk at 1:09 p.m. CDT (1809 GMT) on Tuesday (July 9), completing the first of two excursions this month to prepare the International Space Station for a new Russian module and perform additional installations on the station's backbone.

Flight engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency began the spacewalk at 7:02 a.m. CDT (1202 GMT) as they switched their spacesuits to battery power.

After the two spacewalkers exited the hatch, Cassidy moved to the top of the Z1 truss to remove and replace a Space-to-Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller. In parallel to this, Parmitano headed out to the Express Logistics Carrier-2 on the starboard truss segment and retrieved two experiments that were part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment-8, or MISSE-8.

While he was out on the on the starboard truss, Parmitano also photographed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02) to provide the research team a visual assessment of the condition of this state-of-the-art particle physics detector.

Cassidy meanwhile routed power cables to support the addition of the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module scheduled to arrive at the station later this year. Cassidy routed cables from the Unity node to the interface between the Pressurized Mating Adapter-1 and the Zarya module.

The two spacewalkers teamed back up to remove two Radiator Grapple Bars (RGBs) and install one on the port side truss and the other on the starboard side so they will be more strategically located.

While riding at the end of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm under the control of flight engineer Karen Nyberg, Parmitano transported the RGBs to the worksites where Cassidy bolted them down.

As Parmitano rode the arm back from the starboard side to port, he used that opportunity to remove a failed camera assembly.

With those tasks complete and the RGBs installed, Cassidy began the installation of two Z1 truss Y-bypass jumpers to provide power redundancy and stability for critical station components.

Working briskly ahead of the planned timeline, Parmitano installed a multi-layer insulation cover to protect the docking interface of Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 mounted to the Harmony module.

The two spacewalkers then moved on to a couple of get-ahead tasks — including the initial routing of cables from the Zarya module to Pressurized Mating Adapter-1 — before moving back into the Quest airlock to end the spacewalk.

With the completion of his fifth career spacewalk, Cassidy now has a total of 29 hours, 42 minutes of total spacewalking time to his credit. It was the first spacewalk for Parmitano and the first for an Italian.

Cassidy and Parmitano are slated to head back out the Quest airlock on July 16 for another spacewalk to complete the Z1 Y-bypass jumper installation and route additional cables.

Tuesday's spacewalk was the 170th in support of station assembly and maintenance, totaling 1,073 hours, 50 minutes.

rasorensonLooking at photo iss036e016853, I'm confused by the arrangement of modules reflected in Parmitano's visor.

The S band antenna at lower left suggests the zenith is toward the bottom. Either way, Columbus module is closest, then Harmony node and JEM on the far side. But what's the module appearing perpendicular to the JEM? It's too large to be the JEM logistics module (ELM-PS).

I just can't get a perspective that tells me what that is. The Leonardo PMM would not be docked to the JEM. There is no docking port opposite the JEM logistics module. I'm stumped.

Robert Pearlman
quote:
Originally posted by rasorenson:
It's too large to be the JEM logistics module (ELM-PS).
It is the ELM, but it is being distorted (elongated) by the curvature of Parmitano's helmet visor.
rasorensonThanks Robert. Sometimes I manage to deny the obvious. it looks like a lot of distortion relative to other parts.

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