Space garbage dumped along the spaceside by ISS crew

William Atkins
Thursday, 19 July 2007 20:48

Science - Space

On Monday, July 23, 2007, Anderson will perform a spacewalk (sometimes also called an extravehicular activity, EVA) to shove out a Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) and a camera stanchion.

The EAS is a 635 kilogram (1,400 pound) container consisting of two tanks of compressed nitrogen that was used to pressurize an external ammonia tank. The stanchion is a 96 kilogram (212 pound) stand that was used to a base for a camera.

The space-faring activity is a very fine-tuned job, one that Anderson has extensively practiced back on the Earth. NASA expects that the smaller sized equipment will disintegrate fully when as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. However, the larger EAS will likely survive its fall to the Earth in the form of small pieces.

James Oberg, NBC News space analyst, wrote a very interesting and informative article on just this topic back on November 20, 2006. His article “Space junk problem rising to new heights: Disposal of piano-sized space station piece poses challenges” can be found at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15817106/. The article also contains a photograph of the EAS.

NASA coverage of the ISS Expedition 15 spacewalk begins at 6 a.m. EDT on July 23rd, with the actual spacewalk beginning at about 6:30 a.m. You can watch the live spacewalk at NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/.