Science Third spacewalk contains “windshield wiper maneuver” | Third spacewalk contains “windshield wiper maneuver” |
|
| by William Atkins | |
| Monday, 09 June 2008 | |
|
Page 1 of 2
Space shuttle Discovery astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan were scheduled to begin their spacewalk at about 10:32 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (1432 GMT). However, they were ahead of schedule, causing their walk in space to start early.
The spacewalk consists primarily of replacing an empty nitrogen tank assembly (NTA) for the Station. However, in order to replace the nitrogen tank, one astronaut—Garan—must ride on the end of the Space Station’s 57-foot (17-meter) robotic arm from one side of the ISS to the other side while carrying a 550 pound replacement nitrogen tank. The maneuver is being called the “windshield wiper maneuver" as the robotic arm moves across the width of the Space Station. At the end of its journey, the robotic arm will be fully extended. Garan states, "If you think about it, I'm going to be on the end of the arm and as we're doing this windshield-wiper maneuver right here at the top, I'll be 80 feet above the station looking down at the station, looking down at the Earth, It's going to be really exciting, it's going to be really challenging, but I'm really looking forward to it." [Spaceflight Now.com: “Astronauts prepare for mission's final spacewalk”]
NASA mission specialist Karen Nyberg, assisted by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, will delicately operate the robotic arm with Garan strapped onto the portable foot restraints on the end of the arm while on the journey to replace the tank.
The nitrogen tank is about the size of a refrigerator. It is used to pressurize ammonia coolant lines, which provide cool air for various systems on the International Space Station. |
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
