Realtime coverage of Russian EVA-29
By WILLIAM HARWOOD
CBS News
Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev returned to the Pirs airlock Wednesday and closed the hatch at 5:13 p.m EDT (GMT-4) to officially conclude a six-hour 23-minute spacewalk.
The cosmonauts successfully launched a 57-pound amateur radio satellite known as Radioskaf-V, but one of its two antennas apparently broke off earlier. Its ability to downlink data from a student experiment, Morse code signals for "ham" radio operators and recorded messages from participating students should not be affected, but the missing antenna will degrade the spacecraft's ability to receive commands from the ground.
Time lost troubleshooting the Radioskaf-V problem and unexpected trouble hooking up cables needed by an experimental high-speed laser communications terminal forced flight controllers to defer the planned move of a Russian space crane from the Pirs module to the upper Poisk docking compartment.
But the rest of the crew's objectives were accomplished with the retrieval of a rendezvous system antenna, photo documentation of another antenna that has experienced degraded performance, installation of the laser terminal and space exposure experiments. The cosmonauts also took time near the end of the spacewalk to photograph pictures of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, one of the founding fathers of Russian rocketry.
Today's spacewalk was the 161st devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the 10th so far this year, the third for Volkov and the first for Samokutyaev. Total station EVA time now stands at 1,015 hours and 32 minutes. Expedition 28 crew members have logged 12 hours and 54 minutes of EVA time during two spacewalks.
03:00 p.m. EDT Update: Amateur radio satellite deployed; cargo boom relocation deferred
Cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, assisted by Alexander Samokutyaev, manually launched a small 57-pound amateur radio satellite Wednesday after a delay to assess the potential impact of a missing antenna. It appears the antenna in question, one of two on the Radioskaf-V satellite, somehow broke off, although it was not clear when that might have occurred. But mission managers decided to press ahead with the deployment anyway and Volkov released the satellite at 2:43 p.m. EDT.
"It's moving beautifully, very nice," one of the cosmonauts radioed as the spacecraft sailed away to the rear of the International Space Station.
The missing antenna will reduce the satellite's performance by about 50 percent, a NASA official said. About the size of a kitchen toaster oven, the Radioskaf-V spacecraft was designed to transmit still images of Earth, along with recorded greetings from students around the world and a Morse code tracking beacon for "ham" radio operators around the world. A student experiment is on board to precisely measure the vacuum of space.
Volkov and Samokutyaev earlier installed a laser communications terminal on the station's Zvezda command module. But because of time lost during the initial attempt to deploy Radioskaf-V, and unexpected work to re-route cables needed by the laser communications terminal, flight controllers told the cosmonauts to forego a three-hour procedure to relocate a cargo crane currently attached to the Pirs docking module.
Given that decision, the only items remaining on the crew's flight plan are retrieval of a rendezvous system antenna, installation of a fresh set of materials science space exposure samples and photo documentation.
01:15 p.m. EDT Update: Laser terminal installed
Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev have installed a laser communications terminal on the outside of the International Space Station's Zveda command module that will allow external payloads to transmit data to the ground at up to 100 megabytes per second. The spacewalkers have jettisoned protective covers and are wrapping up cable routing to complete the task.
Once that work is complete, the cosmonauts will photograph a proximity operations antenna that has experienced degraded performance and retrieve a rendezvous system antenna before beginning work to move a Russian cargo crane from its current perch on the Pirs docking compartment to the upper Poisk module. At the end of the spacewalk, the cosmonauts plan to swap out a materials science space exposure experiment.
Engineers have not yet decided whether to launch a small amateur radio satellite. The satellite is equipped with two antennas, one to receive ground commands and one to transmit data to the ground. The commanding antenna does not appear to be deployed and it's not yet known whether the cosmonauts can correct that problem, whether mission managers might opt to launch the satellite as is or whether it will be brought back inside for additional troubleshooting.
11:40 a.m. EDT Update: Amateur radio satellite launch postponed
Possible problems with an antenna on a small amateur radio satellite prompted Russian flight controllers to call off the spacecraft's planned deployment during a spacewalk Wednesday by cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev.
Volkov, anchored to the base of a Russian crane attached to the Pirs airlock module, had disconnected a safety tether and was preparing to manually toss the 57-pound satellite overboard when the deployment was called off.
"Our deployment ... is not going to take place as planned," said NASA commentator Josh Byerly in mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "There are some questions over the configuration of the antennas on that satellite, it appeared there was just one from the views that we saw, there should be two. So to ensure that once that satellite is deployed it is in the proper configuration, the crew's going to return this back to the Pirs docking compartment and the airlock. So once again, the satellite deploy will not be taking place as planned."
Engineers were evaluating the apparent problem to determine if the satellite can be safely launched as is or whether additional troubleshooting might be required. Volkov and Samokutyaev, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their other planned activities, preparing to install a laser communications terminal on the hull of the Zvezda command module.
10:55 a.m. EDT Update: Russian EVA-29 begins
Running about 20 minutes behind schedule, cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev opened the hatch of the Pirs airlock module at 10:50 a.m. EDT Wednesday to officially kick off a planned six-hour spacewalk outside the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
It is the 161st EVA devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998 -- the 29th orchestrated by the Russians -- the 10th so far this year, the third for Volkov, call sign EV-1, and the first for Samokutyaev, call sign EV-2. Both cosmonauts are wearing Russian spacesuits equipped with NASA helmet cams.
The first task on the timeline is the manual deployment of a small 57-pound amateur radio satellite known as Radioskaf-V, which will be pushed away to the rear of the space station. The cosmonauts also plan to install a laser communications terminal on the Zvezda command module and replace materials science space exposure experiments. Other activities include retrieval of a rendezvous system antenna and the relocation of a manually operated crane from the Pirs module to the Poisk compartment on the upper side of the station.
The amateur radio satellite is a prototype in a joint program between the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp., or AMSAT, NASA, the Amateur Radio on ISS project and RSC Energia.
The small satellite "will transmit still-frame video Earth views from four onboard cameras, commemorative greetings in the native languages from students around the world, including messages to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space," according to a NASA news release.
"The satellite, which uses off-the-shelf equipment and software provided by AMSAT, also features a Morse code tracking beacon and will function as a space communications utility for use by 'ham' radio operators world-wide."
In case of problems repressurizing Pirs after the spacewalk, Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and Ronald Garan will spend the day inside the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft docked to the upper Poisk module directly across from Pirs on the other side of Zvezda's forward multi-hatch connecting node, which was sealed off for the EVA. Michael Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa will be isolated in the forward Zarya module and the U.S. segment of the station to ensure they have access to their Soyuz TMA-02M vehicle, which is docked to the Rassvet module attached to Zarya.
CBS News
Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev returned to the Pirs airlock Wednesday and closed the hatch at 5:13 p.m EDT (GMT-4) to officially conclude a six-hour 23-minute spacewalk.
The cosmonauts successfully launched a 57-pound amateur radio satellite known as Radioskaf-V, but one of its two antennas apparently broke off earlier. Its ability to downlink data from a student experiment, Morse code signals for "ham" radio operators and recorded messages from participating students should not be affected, but the missing antenna will degrade the spacecraft's ability to receive commands from the ground.
Time lost troubleshooting the Radioskaf-V problem and unexpected trouble hooking up cables needed by an experimental high-speed laser communications terminal forced flight controllers to defer the planned move of a Russian space crane from the Pirs module to the upper Poisk docking compartment.
But the rest of the crew's objectives were accomplished with the retrieval of a rendezvous system antenna, photo documentation of another antenna that has experienced degraded performance, installation of the laser terminal and space exposure experiments. The cosmonauts also took time near the end of the spacewalk to photograph pictures of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, one of the founding fathers of Russian rocketry.
Today's spacewalk was the 161st devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the 10th so far this year, the third for Volkov and the first for Samokutyaev. Total station EVA time now stands at 1,015 hours and 32 minutes. Expedition 28 crew members have logged 12 hours and 54 minutes of EVA time during two spacewalks.
03:00 p.m. EDT Update: Amateur radio satellite deployed; cargo boom relocation deferred
 |
| The boxy Radioskaf-V satellite, with just one of its two antennas deployed, prior to launch during a spacewalk Wednesday. (Photo: NASA TV) |
"It's moving beautifully, very nice," one of the cosmonauts radioed as the spacecraft sailed away to the rear of the International Space Station.
The missing antenna will reduce the satellite's performance by about 50 percent, a NASA official said. About the size of a kitchen toaster oven, the Radioskaf-V spacecraft was designed to transmit still images of Earth, along with recorded greetings from students around the world and a Morse code tracking beacon for "ham" radio operators around the world. A student experiment is on board to precisely measure the vacuum of space.
Volkov and Samokutyaev earlier installed a laser communications terminal on the station's Zvezda command module. But because of time lost during the initial attempt to deploy Radioskaf-V, and unexpected work to re-route cables needed by the laser communications terminal, flight controllers told the cosmonauts to forego a three-hour procedure to relocate a cargo crane currently attached to the Pirs docking module.
Given that decision, the only items remaining on the crew's flight plan are retrieval of a rendezvous system antenna, installation of a fresh set of materials science space exposure samples and photo documentation.
01:15 p.m. EDT Update: Laser terminal installed
Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev have installed a laser communications terminal on the outside of the International Space Station's Zveda command module that will allow external payloads to transmit data to the ground at up to 100 megabytes per second. The spacewalkers have jettisoned protective covers and are wrapping up cable routing to complete the task.
Once that work is complete, the cosmonauts will photograph a proximity operations antenna that has experienced degraded performance and retrieve a rendezvous system antenna before beginning work to move a Russian cargo crane from its current perch on the Pirs docking compartment to the upper Poisk module. At the end of the spacewalk, the cosmonauts plan to swap out a materials science space exposure experiment.
Engineers have not yet decided whether to launch a small amateur radio satellite. The satellite is equipped with two antennas, one to receive ground commands and one to transmit data to the ground. The commanding antenna does not appear to be deployed and it's not yet known whether the cosmonauts can correct that problem, whether mission managers might opt to launch the satellite as is or whether it will be brought back inside for additional troubleshooting.
11:40 a.m. EDT Update: Amateur radio satellite launch postponed
Possible problems with an antenna on a small amateur radio satellite prompted Russian flight controllers to call off the spacecraft's planned deployment during a spacewalk Wednesday by cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev.
Volkov, anchored to the base of a Russian crane attached to the Pirs airlock module, had disconnected a safety tether and was preparing to manually toss the 57-pound satellite overboard when the deployment was called off.
"Our deployment ... is not going to take place as planned," said NASA commentator Josh Byerly in mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "There are some questions over the configuration of the antennas on that satellite, it appeared there was just one from the views that we saw, there should be two. So to ensure that once that satellite is deployed it is in the proper configuration, the crew's going to return this back to the Pirs docking compartment and the airlock. So once again, the satellite deploy will not be taking place as planned."
Engineers were evaluating the apparent problem to determine if the satellite can be safely launched as is or whether additional troubleshooting might be required. Volkov and Samokutyaev, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their other planned activities, preparing to install a laser communications terminal on the hull of the Zvezda command module.
10:55 a.m. EDT Update: Russian EVA-29 begins
 |
| Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev are working through a planned six-hour spacewalk. (Photo: NASA) |
It is the 161st EVA devoted to space station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998 -- the 29th orchestrated by the Russians -- the 10th so far this year, the third for Volkov, call sign EV-1, and the first for Samokutyaev, call sign EV-2. Both cosmonauts are wearing Russian spacesuits equipped with NASA helmet cams.
 |
| A computer graphic showing the planned trajectory (in brown) of an amateur radio satellite that will be manually released by a spacewalking cosmonaut. (Photo: NASA) |
The amateur radio satellite is a prototype in a joint program between the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp., or AMSAT, NASA, the Amateur Radio on ISS project and RSC Energia.
The small satellite "will transmit still-frame video Earth views from four onboard cameras, commemorative greetings in the native languages from students around the world, including messages to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space," according to a NASA news release.
"The satellite, which uses off-the-shelf equipment and software provided by AMSAT, also features a Morse code tracking beacon and will function as a space communications utility for use by 'ham' radio operators world-wide."
In case of problems repressurizing Pirs after the spacewalk, Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and Ronald Garan will spend the day inside the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft docked to the upper Poisk module directly across from Pirs on the other side of Zvezda's forward multi-hatch connecting node, which was sealed off for the EVA. Michael Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa will be isolated in the forward Zarya module and the U.S. segment of the station to ensure they have access to their Soyuz TMA-02M vehicle, which is docked to the Rassvet module attached to Zarya.