Fri, Nov 16, 2007
Harmony Hook Up Planned For Tuesday
NASA has determined a
report of a smoke-like smell from a Russian cosmonaut testing his
spacesuit on the ground last week was an isolated case, and
shouldn't pose a problem for upcoming spacewalks at the
International Space Station.
As ANN reported, rookie
Mikhail Korniyenko, 47, also reported "heat behind his neck,"
coming from the suit's backpack-mounted life-support system during
a November 9 training exercise.
The test was quickly aborted, and the cosmonaut was hauled to
safety as technicians retrieved the suspect backpack. NASA briefly
banned all further spacewalks, as it investigated the matter.
While engineers could not duplicate the problem reported by
Korniyenko, they believe the most likely source of the odor was a
canister containing a metal oxide. The non-toxic chemical is used
to absorb carbon dioxide breathed out by astronauts during
spacewalks.
"There was no indication of combustion or an electrical event,"
NASA spokeswoman Lynette Madison told The Associated Press, after
restrictions on spacewalks were lifted Thursday afternoon. "We've
been cleared to conduct spacewalks."
That's good news for the crew onboard the ISS, as well as
mission planners on the ground. Next week, Expedition 16 commander
Peggy Whitson and astronaut Daniel Tani are scheduled to conduct
the final two spacewalks needed to connect the recently-installed
Harmony module to the ISS, ahead of December's mission of the
shuttle Atlantis to the station.
NASA says the first six-hour, 40-minute spacewalk planned for
next week will begin the external outfitting of the Harmony node in
its new position in front of the US laboratory Destiny. The
spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 0500 EST Tuesday.
A second spacewalk will wrap up external power hookups on
November 24.
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]