Spacewalkers 'getting a workout' Shuttle cleared for return to Earth http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/07/10/space.shuttle.ap/index.html
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- With a gentle tug and a bit of a grunt, two spacewalkers from the shuttle Discovery removed a faulty part from the international space station's crucial rail car Monday. Astronauts were swapping out a severed cable reel, which provides power, video and data. "We're getting a workout," astronaut Mike Fossum said. Their more mundane tasks also involved installing a spare external pump compartment on the station's cooling system. The astronauts attached the pump compartment to the space station's robotic arm, and it was moved to where it will be installed on the station. The spacewalk came a day after the astronauts received the good news that everything appeared safe for them to return to Earth aboard Discovery. Astronauts Piers Sellers came out of the hatch first, followed by Fossum, as the space station and Discovery passed about 220 miles above Spain. "Everyone can hear you scream," said Fossum, in a twist on the tag line from the movie "Alien." Sellers retorted: "About the time I get outside, I'll put on my alien costume." The spacewalk lacked the drama of the astronauts' trip on Saturday, when they stood on the end of a 50-foot extension connected to the 50-foot shuttle robotic arm. They were testing the sometimes-oscillating assembly as a platform for making repairs to the space shuttle. (Watch astronauts test a daring spacewalk technique -- 2:15) The spacewalk, at the middle of space shuttle Discovery's 13-day mission, was expected to last under seven hours. The last spacewalk of the mission is scheduled for Wednesday. Replacing the cable on the rail car, or mobile transporter, is crucial for the continuation of construction of the space station. The cable was accidentally severed in December by a cable cutter. During Saturday's spacewalk, the astronauts immobilized a cable cutter on a duplicate cable leading to the transporter. The rail car could be put back into use as early as September when space shuttle Atlantis visits the space station with construction parts. Before the spacewalk began, robotics operators in Houston and Quebec remotely moved the transporter 27 feet so that it was easier to access by the astronauts. In what may be an awkward maneuver, Sellers was to hold the old 330-pound cable reel in one hand and the new one in the other. "The most challenging thing tomorrow is going to be just the choreography, going back and forth in the payload bay," Fossum said Sunday. "It's quite a ballet." Discovery's four other astronauts will help with the spacewalk by operating the station's robotic arm and giving directions from inside the orbiting space lab. The international space station's three crew members on Monday planned to pack up materials and trash that need to be taken back to Earth. The shuttle's crew awoke Monday to a recording of Coldplay's "Clocks," which was requested by Sellers' family. The shuttle's astronauts got welcome news Sunday when NASA managers cleared Discovery's thermal protective skin as safe for a return to Earth on July 17. Hundreds of images of Discovery were taken during liftoff, during the orbital flight to the space station and before docking with the complex to make sure the shuttle doesn't have any damage like the kind that doomed Columbia's seven astronauts in 2003. Foam falling from Columbia's external tank struck the shuttle's wings during liftoff and allowed fiery gases to penetrate the vehicle during re-entry. During last week's launch, Discovery's tank performed well and no pieces of insulating foam fell off the tank in excess of what was allowed, flight controllers told the astronauts. The controllers also provided details on why NASA managers had cleared as safe three items that previously had concerned them. A gap filler hanging out by about an inch from Discovery's belly was expected to be forced down to a third of an inch during re-entry, posing no problems. Two thermal blanket patches thought to be slightly damaged were cleared because tests on the ground showed that it would take far more force to dislodge them than they will experience during re-entry. Even if they became dislodged, they wouldn't damage the shuttle. Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
