Astronauts plan to step outside the international space station Monday to attach a new segment to the structure. During their task, engineers in Houston will decide whether a heat blanket on the space shuttle Atlantis will need to be fixed before re-entry. The peeled-back protective layer was discovered Saturday.
AP | 06/11/07
Astronauts James Reilly and Danny Olivas were planning to keep their eyes on their gloves Monday during the first spacewalk of Atlantis' visit to the international space station.
NASA Latest News about NASA began requiring spacewalkers to examine their gloves for damage after every task following the last shuttle flight, in December, when astronaut Robert Curbeam apparently cut an outer layer of his glove.
Curbeam was never in any danger -- in fact the cut was found during an examination on the ground several months later -- but NASA wants to make sure there is no chance a leak could develop while an astronaut is in space.
"If we do have damage to the glove, it will help us detect where on the vehicle we have a sharp edge," said Kirk Shireman, deputy program manager of the international space station.
More Power
Reilly and Olivas plan to connect a new, 35,000-pound segment to the space station and remove bolts and restraints that hold in place a solar array, also a part of the segment, to be unfolded later in the mission. The new solar array will add about 14 kilowatts of power-generating capability to the station. To put that in perspective, a 100-watt bulb left on for 10 hours uses one kilowatt.
Space station flight director Holly Ridings said Monday that preparations for the spacewalk have gone smoothly.
"Things have been going really well and we expect it to be the same to get our new truss installed," she said.
Torn Blanket
While the two spacewalkers are working, engineers in Houston 220 miles below will evaluate whether a peeled-back thermal blanket on Atlantis should be fixed before the shuttle returns home. The loosened blanket, covering a 4-inch by 6-inch area over a pod for engines, was discovered during an inspection of the space shuttle on Saturday.
A decision likely will be made in the next day or two. Engineers who studied past damage to the blanket area on other shuttle missions were uncomfortable with the piece sticking out during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Temperatures on the shuttle's heat shield can reach as high as 2,900 degree Fahrenheit during re-entry, although the heat on the blanket's location during re-entry only reaches 700 degrees to 1,000 degrees.
"The concern is that if it sticks up, you get additional heating," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team.
Engineers don't think it could burn through the graphite structure underneath the blanket, but they were worried it might cause some damage that would require repairs on the ground.
The rest of the vehicle appeared to be in fine shape, NASA said.
Coming Home
Atlantis docked with the space station on Sunday, and the crews of both spacecraft Latest News about spacecraft greeted each other with hugs and handshakes.
Prior to docking, astronauts inside the space station took photographs of the shuttle's belly when Atlantis was 600 feet below the orbiting outpost. Nothing "jumped out at us" during a review of the photos, Shannon said, although there did appear to be a few pieces of gap filler sticking out. Gap filler is material fitted between thermal tiles to prevent them from rubbing against each other.
U.S. astronauts Sunita Williams and Clayton Anderson also officially switched places, with Anderson taking Williams' seat on the space station. Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis after more than six months in space.
Anderson, who will spend four months at the station, appeared to be getting his bearings in his new home when Mission Control asked him how he was doing via radio.
"Aside from the fact that I don't know where anything is or how to do anything, I'm OK," he said.
AP | 06/11/07
Astronauts James Reilly and Danny Olivas were planning to keep their eyes on their gloves Monday during the first spacewalk of Atlantis' visit to the international space station.
NASA Latest News about NASA began requiring spacewalkers to examine their gloves for damage after every task following the last shuttle flight, in December, when astronaut Robert Curbeam apparently cut an outer layer of his glove.
Curbeam was never in any danger -- in fact the cut was found during an examination on the ground several months later -- but NASA wants to make sure there is no chance a leak could develop while an astronaut is in space.
"If we do have damage to the glove, it will help us detect where on the vehicle we have a sharp edge," said Kirk Shireman, deputy program manager of the international space station.
More Power
Reilly and Olivas plan to connect a new, 35,000-pound segment to the space station and remove bolts and restraints that hold in place a solar array, also a part of the segment, to be unfolded later in the mission. The new solar array will add about 14 kilowatts of power-generating capability to the station. To put that in perspective, a 100-watt bulb left on for 10 hours uses one kilowatt.
Space station flight director Holly Ridings said Monday that preparations for the spacewalk have gone smoothly.
"Things have been going really well and we expect it to be the same to get our new truss installed," she said.
Torn Blanket
While the two spacewalkers are working, engineers in Houston 220 miles below will evaluate whether a peeled-back thermal blanket on Atlantis should be fixed before the shuttle returns home. The loosened blanket, covering a 4-inch by 6-inch area over a pod for engines, was discovered during an inspection of the space shuttle on Saturday.
A decision likely will be made in the next day or two. Engineers who studied past damage to the blanket area on other shuttle missions were uncomfortable with the piece sticking out during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Temperatures on the shuttle's heat shield can reach as high as 2,900 degree Fahrenheit during re-entry, although the heat on the blanket's location during re-entry only reaches 700 degrees to 1,000 degrees.
"The concern is that if it sticks up, you get additional heating," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team.
Engineers don't think it could burn through the graphite structure underneath the blanket, but they were worried it might cause some damage that would require repairs on the ground.
The rest of the vehicle appeared to be in fine shape, NASA said.
Coming Home
Atlantis docked with the space station on Sunday, and the crews of both spacecraft Latest News about spacecraft greeted each other with hugs and handshakes.
Prior to docking, astronauts inside the space station took photographs of the shuttle's belly when Atlantis was 600 feet below the orbiting outpost. Nothing "jumped out at us" during a review of the photos, Shannon said, although there did appear to be a few pieces of gap filler sticking out. Gap filler is material fitted between thermal tiles to prevent them from rubbing against each other.
U.S. astronauts Sunita Williams and Clayton Anderson also officially switched places, with Anderson taking Williams' seat on the space station. Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis after more than six months in space.
Anderson, who will spend four months at the station, appeared to be getting his bearings in his new home when Mission Control asked him how he was doing via radio.
"Aside from the fact that I don't know where anything is or how to do anything, I'm OK," he said.
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