Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Russian Spacewalkers Maintain Experiments, Launch Ceremonial Flash Drive Into Space

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Fwd: Russian Spacewalkers Maintain Experiments, Launch Ceremonial Flash Drive Into Space

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: February 3, 2016 at 7:52:31 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian Spacewalkers Maintain Experiments, Launch Ceremonial Flash Drive Into Space

Russian Spacewalkers Maintain Experiments, Launch Ceremonial Flash Drive Into Space
By Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer | February 3, 2016 12:34pm ET
Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov hangs onto the outside of the International Space Station as he prepares to throw a flash drive into space Feb. 3. The flash drive contains video and messages from a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Russian Victory Day last year.
Credit: NASA TV
Two cosmonauts completed a spacewalk today to retrieve, install and adjust experiments clinging to the outside of the International Space Station and to jettison a ceremonial flash drive into space.
Sergey Volkov and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian federal space agency, known as Roscosmos, ventured outside the station today (Feb. 3) for a quicker-than-planned spacewalk of 4 hours and 45 minutes. The cosmonauts were assisted from inside the station by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and British astronaut Tim Peake, who went on their own spacewalk in mid-January (which was cut short when Kopra noticed water in his helmet).
The mission was Volkov's fourth spacewalk and mission commander Malenchenko's sixth — his first was almost 22 years ago, when Malenchenko was aboard Russia's Mir space station. Both of the spacewalkers are Soyuz pilots — they piloted the spacecraft that initially brought them to the station, three months apart. Their primary tasks on the spacewalk focused on maintaining many of the experiments arrayed outside the space station and checking for wear and tear. [The International Space Station: Inside and Out (Infographic)]
First task, @Volkov_ISS tosses flash drive containing Russian Victory Day messages into space over South America. https://t.co/lcJLOtd17z
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) February 3, 2016
When the spacewalk began, Volkov exited the space station first to complete an unusual task added to the to-do list just a few days ago: throwing into space a small flash drive that was used in a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Russian Victory Day on May 9, 2015. (Victory Day marks Nazi Germany's capitulation to the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.) The flash drive carries messages and video from last year's celebration.
To give the flash drive enough mass to be successfully thrown from the station, the cosmonauts attached it to an empty film canister filled with disposable towels. Volkov propelled the whole bundle into a retrograde orbit — the opposite direction to that of the space station — where it will not get in the station's way before spiraling down to burn up in Earth's atmosphere within a few weeks. Malenchenko filmed the flash drive's flight with a GoPro camera.
After that, the duo worked on several experiments on the outside of the space station, including bringing in the European Space Agency's EXPOSE-R Experiment, which was at the end of its 7-year run. EXPOSE-R housed biological and biochemical samples that were switched out over time to evaluate how they responded to space exposure. Along the same lines, they replaced a cassette container on another experiment that tests how materials are degraded in space over time.
Spacewalkers @Volkov_ISS & Yuri Malenchenko wave hello and check science gear as they soar 250 miles above Earth. https://t.co/XZCHxn2ewu
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) February 3, 2016
The spacewalkers also took samples from the outside of the International Space Station to check for thruster residue and captured detailed images of the Russian segment's exterior.
The two cosmonauts' final tasks included installing two devices called gap spanners, which will help crewmembers move around the space station's Russian segment on future spacewalks. They also waited until daylight to test a device that can apply a protective thermal control film to the outside of the space station. The film jammed as they tried to apply it to the sample board, so they spent some time trying to un-jam the applicator, racing to finish before night fell over the space station.
For their last task of the Feb. 2 spacewalk, cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov applied a new thermal control film to a sample board, testing a system that could help renovate the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA TV

As the two came in, Kopra and Peake assisted while U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko isolated themselves in a module of the Russian segment in case of any re-pressurization issues — a standard safety measure. Kelly and Kornienko are on Day 313 of their 340-day stay in space. In less than four weeks, the two will return to Earth along with Volkov.

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By William Harwood CBS News February 3, 2016, 5:02 PM
Cosmonauts stage smooth spacewalk
Two veteran cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station Wednesday, swapped out materials science space exposure samples, installed handrails needed for future spacewalks and tested an applicator and thin-film coatings that could prove useful reconditioning aged or damaged hull panels.
Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov began Russian EVA-42 at 7:55 a.m. EST (GMT-5), opening the hatch of the Pirs airlock compartment to space. Volkov then accomplished the first item on the agenda, releasing of a flash drive containing messages and videos collected last year marking the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, the Russian holiday marking the end of World War 2.
The cosmonauts then collected residue samples from the Pirs hatch and a window on the Zvezda command module before removing an experiment package known as EXPOSE-R, which exposed various biological and biochemical materials to the space environment.
Cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov work near the Pirs airlock compartment, using a tape applicator to roll specially coated tape onto a test panel. The coatings could prove useful in the future for reconditioning aged or damaged external panels.
NASA TV
Once disconnected, the experiment was carried back to the Pirs compartment so its samples eventually can be returned to Earth for laboratory analysis.
Malenchenko and Volkov then moved up to the Poisk module where they swapped out another set of space exposure samples and reoriented a thruster plume impingement monitor. They also attached another space exposure experiment before moving to the Zarya module and installing two handrails.
The final task of the spacewalk was testing an applicator similar in appearance to a packing tape dispenser. Using a test panel, the cosmonauts applied specially coated tape intended to test thin films that could prove useful reconditioning exterior panels.
A view from Malenchenko's helmet camera as he worked with the tape dispenser. Not surprising to anyone familiar with packing tape dispensers on Earth, the cosmonauts had to free up jammed tape on at least two occasions.
NASA TV
Not surprising to anyone who has used a packing tape dispenser on Earth, the applicator jammed at least twice, but the cosmonauts were able to free up the tape and continue the application of various coating "pages."
"It glued on so nicely, I don't even need to smooth it out," one of the cosmonauts commented after rolling on a section of coated tape.
With the final task complete, Malenchenko and Volkov collected their tools and re-entered the Pirs compartment, shutting the hatch and ending the four-hour 45-minute spacewalk at 12:40 p.m.
This was the 193rd spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the second so far this year, the sixth for Malenchenko and the fourth for Volkov. Total ISS EVA time now stands at 1,204 hours and 48 minutes, or 50.2 days.
Volkov plans to return to Earth on March 1 U.S. time, bringing Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly back to Earth after nearly one year in space. Malenchenko, who arrived at the station in December, will return to Earth with his two Soyuz TMA-19M crewmates, Timothy Kopra and British astronaut Timothy Peak, on June 5.
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