posted 03-25-2019 04:23 PM               

NASA Updates Spacewalk Assignments

With the first in a series of three spacewalks successfully completed at the International Space Station, NASA has updated astronaut assignments for the remaining two spacewalks.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain conducted the first spacewalk in this series on March 22. Hague and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch now are preparing to conduct the second spacewalk Friday, March 29, during which they will continue work started on the first spacewalk to install powerful lithium-ion batteries for one pair of the station's solar arrays.

Koch had been scheduled to conduct this spacewalk with astronaut McClain, in what would have been the first all-female spacewalk. However, after consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station. McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best. Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it.

McClain now is tentatively scheduled to perform her next spacewalk – the third in this series – on Monday, April 8 with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques. Assignments for this spacewalk will be finalized following completion of the second spacewalk.

McClain and Saint-Jacques will lay out jumper cables between the Unity module and the S0 truss, at the midpoint of the station's backbone, during their April 8 spacewalk. This work will establish a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2. They also will install cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability.

The March 29 spacewalk is scheduled to start at 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT), while the April 8 spacewalk is set to start at 8:05 a.m. EDT (1205 GMT).

These will be the 215th and 216th spacewalks in the history of International Space Station assembly and maintenance. During the first spacewalk of the series, on March 22, McClain became the 13th woman to perform a spacewalk. Koch will become the 14th on March 29.

posted 03-26-2019 08:53 AM               

During training, Anne McClain comfortably wore a medium size suit and with the changes expected due to microgravity (e.g. spine straightening usually adds a couple of inches), she had the large as a backup. Once in space though, McClain reported only feeling comfortable in the medium.

Koch was only comfortable in a medium.

There is no requirement for two women to perform a spacewalk together, and McClain was not uniquely trained for the tasks of this EVA. Another astronaut was available, Nick Hague, who wore a large suit, so the plan changed.

On edit: See NASA's article: Spacewalk Reassignments: What’s the Deal?

quote:

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Originally posted by issman1:
Seems that NASA overhyped this...

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posted 03-29-2019 02:27 AM               

ISS Expedition 59: U.S. Spacewalk 53

Expedition 59 Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Christina Koch will exit the Quest airlock for about 6.5 hours of battery swaps to upgrade the International Space Station's power storage capacity. The duo will set their spacesuits to battery power about 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT) on Friday (March 29), signifying the start of their spacewalk.

This will be the 215th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Hague will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1), wearing the suit with red stripes. Koch will be designated extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), wearing the suit with no stripes.

This is the second battery replacement spacewalk this month. Hague and Koch will work on a second set of battery replacements on a different power channel in the same area of the station from the recent spacewalk on March 22. During that spacewalk, NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain and Hague replaced some nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for the power channel on one pair of the station's solar arrays.

The batteries were transported to the station in September aboard the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. The spacewalking work continues the overall upgrade of the station's power system that began with similar battery replacement during spacewalks in January 2017.

posted 03-29-2019 04:08 PM               

NASA Astronauts Complete 215th Spacewalk at Station

Expedition 59 Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA concluded their spacewalk at 2:27 p.m. EDT on Friday (March 29). During the six hour and 45-minute spacewalk, the two NASA astronauts successfully connected three newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries to replace the previous six nickel-hydrogen batteries that provide power for one channel on one pair of the station's solar arrays. The new batteries provide an improved and more efficient power capacity for operations.

The astronauts also did work to enable robotic specialists to remove one of the three new lithium ion batteries connected during last Friday's spacewalk that is not charging properly and replace it with the two older nickel hydrogen batteries. The swap will restore a full power supply to that solar array power channel.

In addition, the astronauts also completed several tasks to prepare the worksite for future spacewalkers who will complete similar operations to upgrade the batteries for the set of solar arrays at the end of the port side of the station's backbone structure known as the truss. Hague inspected the worksite interfaces for a portable foot restraint a spacewalker uses to anchor themselves during the battery upgrade work while Koch installed fabric handrails to help future spacewalkers move across the worksite.

This was the second spacewalk for Hague, who now has spent a total of 13 hours and 24 minutes spacewalking. It was the first spacewalk for Koch, who became the 14th female spacewalker.

Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency are scheduled to conduct another spacewalk April 8 to establish a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and install cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability.

Space station crew members have conducted 215 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 56 days, 4 hours and 24 minutes working outside the station.

posted 04-01-2019 01:06 PM               

Astronaut Anne McClain (Aidy Bryant) stops by Weekend Update to talk about NASA's canceling the first all-female spacewalk.

From (the real) Anne McClain on Twitter:

I am still laughing about this, and Aidy, your uniform looks impeccable!

We saw the Saturday Night Live skit, and it was hilarious. It had us crying.