First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

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Station Crew Gears Up for Next Week’s Spacewalk

With the first planned excursion of Expedition 41 just a week away, the International Space Station’s six-person crew spent Tuesday preparing spacewalking tools and equipment, while managing a packed agenda of scientific research and maintenance.

Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and the team of five flight engineers began the day at 2 a.m. EDT, and after some time for morning hygiene, breakfast and an inspection of the station, they conducted a daily planning conference with the flight control teams around the world.

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Station Crew Checks Out Spacesuits, Conducts Research

The six-person Expedition 41 crew of the International Space Station was hard at work Wednesday supporting research with down-to-Earth benefits and gearing up for a series of spacewalks to maintain the orbiting laboratory.

Commander Max Suraev and his team of five flight engineers began the day at 2 a.m. EDT, with some time for morning hygiene, breakfast and an inspection of the station. Afterward the entire crew participated in a daily planning conference with the flight control teams around the world to review the day’s activities.

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Station Crew Conducts Biological Research, Assembles Hardware for Spacewalk

The six-person Expedition 41 crew of the International Space Station focused their attention Thursday on biological research and preparations for the first of three spacewalks planned for October, while the ground team worked to bring a newly installed weather monitoring instrument up to speed.

Late Wednesday, the International Space Station-Rapid Scatterometer, or ISS-RapidScat installed on the exterior of the Columbus module was activated by payload controllers at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The radar antenna of the device, which is designed to monitor ocean winds from the station’s vantage point, began spinning as planned, but the payload controllers decided to place the system in safe mode when they noted higher than expected temperatures in the instrument’s electronics. The antenna continues to spin normally while the ground team analyzes the data and learns how to manage the temperature.

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Alexander Gerst set for spacewalk

3 October 2014 ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst has spent four months in the relative safety of the International Space Station but on Tuesday he will venture into open space with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman on a seven-hour spacewalk.

The spacewalk’s main job is to move a failed cooling pump that was left in a temporary location by previous spacewalkers to its final position. Alexander and Reid will then install a unit that will allow the Station’s robotic arm to remain powered even when it is being relocated.

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Tasks for First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

NASA Spacewalk Officer Jaclyn Kagey narrates this 3-D animation depicting the events scheduled for the Oct. 7 spacewalk. Astronauts Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst will work outside the International Space Station to stow a failed pump module, replace a television camera and install a mobile transporter relay assembly.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia

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Tasks for First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

From NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, a mission briefing was held about two upcoming space walks on Oct. 7 and Oct. 15 to replace a failed power regulator and relocate a failed cooling pump.

The Briefing participants were:

-- Kenny Todd, space station integration operations manager

-- Scott Stover, NASA space station flight director

-- Jaclyn Kagey, U.S. spacewalk 27 officer

-- Kieth Johnson, U.S. spacewalk 28 officer

NASA Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency will exit the station's Quest airlock for the Oct. 7 spacewalk at about 8:10 a.m., both wearing U.S. spacesuits. NASA TV coverage of the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk will begin at 7 a.m. Wiseman will be extravehicular crew member one (EV1) and will wear a suit bearing red stripes. Gerst will be EV2 and wear a suit with no stripes. The astronauts will move a failed cooling pump from temporary to long-term storage on the station's truss. They also will install a new relay system that will provide backup power options to the mobile transporter, which moves the large robotic arm around the out outside of the space station.

Wiseman will venture outside Quest again Oct. 15, with NASA Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore, a new arrival to the space station, for another six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. The two-man team will replace a sequential shunt unit electronics box, a voltage regulator, on the starboard truss that failed in mid-May. Although the station has since operated normally on seven of its eight power channels, the voltage regulator replacement is considered a high priority. Wiseman, again designated EV1, and Wilmore, who will serve as EV 2, also will relocate external cameras and equipment to begin configuring the station for international docking adapters for future commercial crew vehicles. Coverage of this second spacewalk begins at 7 a.m. with the spacewalk expected to begin around 8:10 a.m. The spacewalks will be the 182nd and the 183rd in support of station assembly and maintenance. All three astronauts will be conducting the first spacewalks of their careers.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia

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Wiseman and Gerst Conduct First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

Astronauts Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency set their spacesuits to internal battery power at 8:30 a.m. EDT signifying the start of two Expedition 41 spacewalks in as many weeks. The spacewalkers will work outside the Quest airlock of the International Space Station for about 6-1/2 hours.

Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore NASA will operate the Canadian robotic arm in support of maneuvering Gerst during the course of the spacewalk and will serve as the spacewalk coordinator.

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Wiseman and Gerst Complete First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

Astronauts Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency completed the first of three Expedition 41 spacewalks at 2:43 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The spacewalkers worked outside the Quest airlock of the International Space Station for 6 hours and 13 minutes.

Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore NASA operated the Canadian robotic arm, maneuvered Gerst during the course of the spacewalk and served as the spacewalk coordinator.

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NASA Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk on ISS

Clad in U.S. spacesuits, Expedition 41 Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Oct. 7 to relocate a failed cooling pump and to install a power cable device designed to provide backup electrical capability to the station’s rail car system. The spacewalk was the 182nd in support of station assembly and maintenance and the first for both Wiseman and Gerst.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia