Next week, the International Space Station will continue preparing for an extravehicular mission to remove communications equipment and search for microbes. Expedition 72 crew members worked throughout the day on Wednesday, performing a number of advanced science experiments and cleaning tasks.
Station Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore are scheduled to begin the spacewalk at 8 a.m. ET on January 30th to remove the radio frequency group antenna assembly and remove microorganisms on the orbital outpost. We plan to spend about 6 and a half hours exploring. The two started their day by checking the extravehicular activity procedures inside the Quest’s airlock and servicing their spacesuit helmets. Williams and Wilmore then verified the fuel and power capacity of the SAFER, or simple aid device, for EVA rescue. If spacewalkers become disconnected from the station, they will use SAFER attached to their spacesuits to return to the station.
NASA flight engineers Nick Haag and Don Pettit will assist spacewalkers next week, and on Wednesday they will study robotic maneuvers for Canadarm 2, which will be used to assist in spacewalk missions and the removal of radio communications equipment. did. With Pettit as his backup, Haig will be at the controls of Canadarm 2, carefully guiding Williams, who will be attached to the tip of the robotic arm or latch end effector. Pettit and Haig will also assist spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits, guide them in and out of quests, and monitor spacewalk activities.
At the end of their shift, the four NASA astronauts reconvened inside the Harmony module to clean up and organize their belongings. The quartet disposed of trash, rearranged hardware to create more space, and conducted photographic inspections of Harmony for analysis on the ground.
Further Earth observations and advanced space maneuvering research were included in the schedule for the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting laboratory. Flight engineer Alexander Gorbunov first set up a camera with a spectrometer and pointed it out the window of the Zvezda service module to photograph the effects of the global disaster at different wavelengths. He then screwed on a cap packed with sensors that would record reactions as they practiced on the computer spacecraft, as well as robotic maneuvering techniques that the crew might use on future planetary missions.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin began his workday by servicing the acoustic and ventilation systems of the Zvezda and Zarya modules, before finishing his day exploring 3D printing tools in microgravity. Aviation engineer Ivan Wagner spends the day activating video equipment and uninstalling electronic hardware, then documents his experience communicating with international crews and controllers from around the world. I answered the questionnaire.
For more information about station activities, follow the space station blog, X’s @space_station and @ISS_Research, ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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