NASA to televise upcoming International Space Station spacewalks
Three American astronauts currently on board the International Space Station (ISS) will embark on three spacewalks in October. Those spacewalks are necessary to perform needed maintenance to the ISS. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the spacewalks on the agency’s website. NASA will also conduct an upcoming televised briefing to discuss the work our astronauts will be performing on the ISS.
NASA TV coverage of the spacewalks will begin at 6:30 a.m. on October 5, 10 and 18. Each spacewalk is scheduled to start at approximately 8:05 a.m. Those scheduled spacewalks may begin earlier if the crew is running ahead of schedule.
Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA will lead all three spacewalks, joined on October 5 and 10 by Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei, also of NASA. Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA will join Bresnik on October 18 for the third spacewalk.
During the first spacewalk, Bresnik and Vande Hei will replace one of two Latching End Effectors (LEE) on the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2. One of the Canadarm2 grappling mechanisms experienced a stall of its motorized latches last month, but the problem has had no effect on planned station operations. A spare LEE is stored outside on the station’s truss. Canadarm2 has two identical Latching End Effectors used to grapple visiting cargo vehicles and payloads, provide data and telemetry to the rest of the Canadian-built Mobile Base System and the unique capability to “walk” from one location on the station’s truss to another.
The second and third spacewalks will be devoted to lubricating the newly installed end effector and replacing cameras on the left side of the station’s truss and the right side of the station’s U.S. Destiny laboratory. The spacewalks will be the third, fourth and fifth of Bresnik’s career and the third for Acaba. Vande Hei will be conducting his first two spacewalks.
You can obtain additional information regarding the International Space Station and its crew by visiting the NASA website.
(Source and Image credits: NASA)
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
