Because of concerns about a possible fire from faulty wiring or equipment inside the spacesuit, two future spacewalks were in jeopardy of being postponed, along with a lengthy delay in future assembly missions to the International Space Station. The announcement to lift the ban on spacewalks averted a possible lengthy delay in assembly missions to the space station.

Engineers at NASA determined that the smoky smell did not originate from an electrical short or a fire in the spacesuit. NASA spokesperson Lynette Madision reported, from Florida Today newspaper, “The suits are cleared. No indication of electrical (malfunction) or combustion exists."

Although they are not definite as to what caused the incident, NASA officials report that in 2002 a scrubbing canister of metal oxide (which is used to absorb carbon dioxide produced during the normal breathing cycle of astronauts (and humans, for that matter)) was found to smell smoky by another astronaut. Luckily for NASA, the metal oxide canister is only used during ground tests and is not included within the spacesuits when taken into space.

Thus, spacewalks by ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and ISS flight engineer Dan Tani are back on the schedule for Tuesday, November 20, 2007, and four days later on Saturday, November 24. The December 6, 2007 liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis and its STS-122 crew is also back on the schedule, as long as Whitson and Tani are able to complete their two spacewalks next week.

The pair of spaceworkers will be connecting power and data lines and ammonia coolant piping to the new Harmony module. The tasks need to be completed before the STS-122 crew can liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center with the European Space Agency’s Columbus research module in space shuttle Atlantis’ cargo bay.

The Columbus module will be attached to the Harmony connecting node, at one of its six docking ports. But, Harmony needs to be fully functioning before the shuttle mission can be launched. Three more spacewalks are also scheduled for the STS-122 mission to the space station—to connect Columbus to Harmony.

Atlantis can also launch on December 13th or 14th, so if the ISS astronauts need more time to complete work on Harmony, the current launch date of December 6th may slip a bit to accommodate the large number of jobs needed by the space station crew.

Two of the six docking ports on Harmony will be used to dock space shuttles to the International Space Station during assembly missions. The other four will be used to attach the ESA Columbus, the Japanese Kibo, and two other scientific laboratories.

Early in 2008, the Japanese Kibo laboratory module will join the Columbus module at another connecting point on Harmony.

The Italian-built Harmony, along with the PMA-2 (Pressurized Mating Adapter-2), was just recently moved—via the Canadian robotic arm worked by Tani while Whitson worked the connecting bolts—to the forward end of the space station’s U.S. Destiny laboratory.

So far, all activities are proceeding nominally for the STS-122 launch on December 6, 2007, at 4:31:38 p.m. EST (21:31:38 UTC). The crew consists of commander Stephen Frick, pilot Alan G. Poindexter, and mission specialists Leland D. Melvin, Rex J. Walheim, Hans Schegel (ESA astronaut from Germany), and Stanley G. Love. Léopold Eyharts, ESA astronaut from France, will also be on board as ISS Expedition 16 flight engineer, replacing Daniel Tani, who is currently onboard the space station. Tani will return with the STS-122 crew on their return to Earth, which is scheduled for December 17, 2007.

STS-122 is the 152nd manned space launch by the United States, the 121st space shuttle launch, and the 24th trip to the space station by a space shuttle.

Information about the STS-122 mission is found at the NASA website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts122/index.html
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