WebProNews

Tag: spacewalk

  • Christina Koch Sets Record For Longest Spaceflight By Woman

    Christina Koch Sets Record For Longest Spaceflight By Woman

    Christina Koch checked off another milestone in her NASA career, taking the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, according to CBS News.

    The previous record holder, Peggy Whitson, spent 288 consecutive days in space, and still holds the overall U.S. record of nearly 666 days over five flights. Koch, as of December 28, has spent 289 consecutive days in space and is expected to reach 328 days by the time she returns to Earth in early February.

    “It’s a huge honor,” Koch told ‘CBS This Morning.’ “Peggy is a heroine of mine who’s also been kind enough to mentor me through the years. You know … it’s not so much how many days you’re up here, but what you do with each of those days. That reminds me to bring my best every single day.”

    Along the way, Koch also was part of the first all-female spacewalk on October 18, when she and Jessica Meir “ventured outside to replace a faulty battery charge-discharge unit. It was the first EVA by two women in the 54 years since the late Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov carried out history’s first spacewalk in 1965.”

    With a newfound focus on space, this is an important milestone for the history books.

  • NASA Spacewalk Finishes 1.5 Hours Early

    NASA Spacewalk Finishes 1.5 Hours Early

    Without a doubt, the most awe-inspiring and visually stunning movie of 2013 was Gravity, a movie concerning space starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. In Alfonso Cuarón’s film, both Clooney’s and Bullock’s characters are sent hurtling through space after their spacewalk goes awry following collision from space debris. Luckily for NASA, Saturday’s spacewalk saw none of the complications Clooney and Bullock faced.

    Saturday’s spacewalk was the first of three planned missions to replace a faulty unit on the exterior of the International Space Station. Ten days ago, a flow control valve malfunctioned inside of a pump module which controls the external and internal temperatures of the ISS. After the initial malfunction, NASA attempted to fix the situation from the ground by rerouting the mechanism through a different valve.

    While the solution worked temporarily, the situation was urgent enough that NASA elected to schedule a series of spacewalks to resolve the issue. The urgency to make the repair stems from the fact that the ISS is about to reach the point in the year where it receives the most direct sunlight, which runs from December 30 to January 9 this year. During this time, the ISS must perform barrel rolls (hopefully by tapping Z twice) in order to avoid overheating. Due to these evasive maneuvers, spacewalks and cargo shipments are not permitted, and hence the urgency of the situation.

    Originally, the astronauts were simply supposed to prep the pump module for module. Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins were able to finish the prep work in 3 hours, though, and were given permission to actually remove the module with their remaining 3.5 scheduled hours.

    Spacewalk Astronauts

    Leaving the astronauts out much longer than necessary was a potentially difficult decision for NASA, seeing as Hopkins was wearing the same suit which sprung a water leak last June when worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. Luckily for NASA and Hopkins, the repairs made to Parmitano’s suit held up and were of no concern.

    The only concern which did occur during the spacewalk had to do with temperature control: “The only issue that I personally am having is it’s very, very cold,” stated Mastracchio. In particular, it was Mastracchio’s toes that were cold. While Houston was able to warm Mastracchio’s little piggies by blowing warm air into his boots, Mastracchio ultimately called it quits 1.5 hours early due to the chilly conditions.

    The situation faced by Mastracchio and Hopkins Saturday was not unique. In 2010, astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson performed an almost identical procedure to repair the ISS’s cooling system. Due to their prior experience, Wheelock and Dyson were in Houston aiding Mastracchio and Hopkins during the repair efforts: “It’s a little bit [of] a different failure we’re facing this time around, but the spacewalks to remove the old pump module and replace it with a new spare is exactly the same as what we did in 2010. We’ve had a lot of lessons learned back then, and so we’ve implemented those changes into our procedure in the way that we prepare our suits and our tools, so we’ll be ready to go on Saturday,” stated Wheelock.

    Wheelock also spoke about the familiarity of the situation for Mastracchio and Hopkins, adding, “We practice all of these skills, just rehearse them over and over again in the pool. The crew has done these particular skills. The skills are the same, but space always has surprises for us, especially when we go outside.”

    Space may have had some unusual surprises for Hopkins as this was his first-ever spacewalk. Fortunately, he had an experienced partner to help out. This spacewalk marked Mastracchio’s seventh. His previous 6 spacewalks have totaled 38 hours and 30 minutes, placing him 14th on the lists of astronauts documenting the most hours of spacewalking.

    The next spacewalk is scheduled for Monday, December 23rd, while the third is currently scheduled for Christmas. However, due to currently being ahead of schedule, the third walk may not be necessary. If it does occur, the spacewalk on December 25 will be the first spacewalk to ever occur on Christmas.

    Images via YouTube

  • NASA Board to Investigate Spacewalk Malfunction

    NASA Board to Investigate Spacewalk Malfunction

    One week ago, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy glided outside the International Space Station (ISS) to do routine maintenance and prepare rigging cables for the arrival of a new Russian laboratory module. Shortly into the spacewalk, Parmitano reported excessive water floating free inside his spacesuit helmet and the spacewalk, which was scheduled to last for over six hours, was cut short.

    Today, NASA announced that it has appointed a new board dedicated to investigate the incident. The board is chaired by Chris Hansen, the ISS chief engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The other members of the five-person board are astronaut Mike Foreman; Sudhakar Rajula, a human factors specialist at Johnson; Joe Pellicciotti, the chief engineer at NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center; and Richard Fullerton, NASA’s ISS safety and mission assurance lead.

    According to NASA’s announcement, the board will “gather relevant information, analyze facts, conduct any necessary tests, identify the cause or causes of the anomaly and any contributing factors, and make recommendations to the NASA administrator to prevent similar incidents from occurring during future spacewalks.” The board will also examine past spacewalks, as well as maintenance and quality assurance procedures.

    The board’s investigation will coincide with a NASA engineering analysis that will resolve any equipment malfunctions to enable spacewalks to resume. The engineering team is currently examining the spacesuit and life support equipment Parmitano used during the spacewalk.

  • Spacewalk Cut Short by Wardrobe Malfunction

    Spacewalk Cut Short by Wardrobe Malfunction

    Early this morning, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy exited the International Space Station to conduct assembly and maintenance on the spacecraft. The spacewalk was scheduled to last around 6.5 hours and was being streamed live by the space agencies. The mission was cut short, however, by a malfunction in one astronaut’s spacesuit.

    Shortly into the spacewalk Parmitano reported that there was water floating in his spacesuit helmet, and that the back of his head was wet. NASA’s flight director quickly called an end to the spacewalk, and Parmitano and Cassidy made their way back into the space station.

    The cancellation made today’s spacewalk the second shortest in the history of the International Space Station. Engineers are now searching for the cause of the suspected leak in Parmitano’s helmet. NASA has stated that Parmitano was never in any danger and that none of the tasks he and Cassidy were scheduled to complete were urgent or would put the crew of the station in danger. In addition to routine maintenance, the astronauts were rigging cables to prepare for the arrival of a new Russian laboratory module.

    The relevant NASA footage of the spacewalk can be seen below. Parmitano can be heard at around the 1:50 mark confirming that the liquid in his helmet is not sweat.

  • Astronaut Luca Parmitano’s Selfie Puts Your Selfies to Shame

    I know that your hair looked super awesome when you decided to snap that selfie in the girl’s bathroom of your local Target. Yes, your face looks super cute – I love the way you pursed your lips. Brilliant.

    But your selfies suck compared to space selfies.

    Luca Parmitano is an Italian astronaut, currently aboard the International Space Station – and he’s just completed a spacewalk. Luckily, we have pictures.

    This is nothing new for Parmitano, who’s been taking photos from his spacewalk for the past 18 hours or so.

    Honestly – space, science, photos, social media…it’s just so damn cool.