Delayed spacewalk ends successfully
June 5, 2009
This NASA image shows a close-up of astronaut John Grunsfeld performing a spacewalk to work on the Hubble Space Telescope.
(AP) -- Two international space station crew members wrapped up a successful spacewalk Friday, the first since the size of the station's crew expanded from three to six last month.
The effort, which prepared the station for the addition of a new Russian module, started more than a half-hour late after sensors registered elevated carbon dioxide readings in the Orlon-MK space suits worn by both space walkers.
High concentrations of the gas can cause dizziness, nausea and other problems, but both crew members said they felt fine and a spokesman for the Russian space agency said the problem resolved itself.
Commander Gennady Padalka, a veteran Russian cosmonaut, and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt, a U.S. astronaut on his first space mission, installed a pair of antennae for automated rendezvous equipment during the 4-hour, 54-minute spacewalk.
They also hooked up electrical connectors for the antennae, and took photos of a manually operated crane used during Russian spacewalks.
The modifications were intended to prepare the station for the arrival of the Russian Mini Research Module-2, or MRM2, later this year. The module will serve as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles.
Padalka is a veteran of the Soviet-built Mir space station, and Friday's spacewalk was his seventh.
Both space walkers wore new Russian Orlan-MK suits, with advanced telemetry equipment. The computer in the suit's backpack processes data from the spacesuit's various systems and warns of malfunctions.
In an emergency, the computer flashes a contingency plan on an LCD screen on the right chest part of the spacesuit.
The space station's permanent crew expanded from three to six in May, with the launch of three crew members from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
-
Spacewalk begins after CO2 in spacesuits delay
Jun 05, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Station Crew Relaxes Before Second Spacewalk
Jul 14, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
International Space Station Crew Set For Friday Spacewalk
Jun 04, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
ISS crew complete spacewalk upgrade
Jan 14, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Progress M50 Docks ISS Bringing Vital Supplies to the Crew
Aug 14, 2004 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Never ending outer space.....
Feb 11, 2012
-
Neutron Star fragments?
Feb 11, 2012
-
stationary or not?
Feb 11, 2012
-
Scale of the Universe
Feb 10, 2012
-
Titan's lack of impact craters
Feb 09, 2012
-
Real pictures of black hole eating a star?
Feb 08, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Astronomy
More news stories
Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation
Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.
19 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
Salvage workers begin pumping fuel from Italian shipwreck
Salvage workers Sunday began pumping fuel from the shipwrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, a day ahead of schedule, officials said.
11 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Political leaders play key role in how worried Americans are by climate change: study
More than extreme weather events and the work of scientists, it is national political leaders who influence how much Americans worry about the threat of climate change, new research finds.
Feb 06, 2012 |
5 / 5 (8) |
75
NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists
US President Barack Obama's budget proposal to be submitted next week for 2013 will cut NASA's budget by 20 percent and eliminate a major partnership with Europe on Mars exploration, scientists said Thursday.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 10, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
58
Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago
(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact
Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...