Spacewalkers "Ready to Rock and Roll"
Discovery Astronauts Rick Mastracchio, Clay Anderson and Stephanie Wilson fielded questions from reporters early Saturday, taking a few moments to discuss the crew's upcoming spacewalks, a "space summit" next week, and the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13.
CBS News correspondent Peter King and CBS News space consultant William Harwood talked to the Discovery crew members:
Peter King: Let's start with Rick and Clay: You had a great first EVA yesterday, tomorrow morning you head out for the second of three [spacewalks]. What's the biggest challenge you face in tomorrow's EVA?
Rick Mastracchio: Tomorrow's EVA, we will be installing the new ammonia tank and removing the old ammonia tank. The biggest challenge is just the integration of all the robotics and the EVA. A couple of times during tomorrow's EVA we're going to have to lift up this 1,800-pound ammonia tank while the robotic arm folks, Stephanie and Jim Dutton, come in and grapple it. It's going to require a lot of teamwork to get that to work out smoothly.
Peter King: Stephanie, for the EVA and also for the late heat shield inspection, which is now going to be while you're attached to the station, what are the special challenges there? Are there a lot of clearances you have to look after on both the EVA and the inspection?
Stephanie Wilson: Always with the robotics operations clearances are a concern. Luckily, during EVA we have Clay and Rick to help us clear things. So when the (ammonia) tank gets close to structure, we're using their eyes for clearances. We wish we could have them outside also when we do this docked inspection. It is true that while we're docked, the clearances of the arm and the (sensor) boom to structure will be very tight and we don't always have cameras to get as good of a view as we would like to the station structure. But we'll do our best, we've got folks working on the ground, actually as we speak, reviewing procedures and getting all of that ready for us. So we expect it to go very well.
William Harwood: As you know, President Obama is visiting the Kennedy Space Center next week to discuss the administration's new space policy. I realize it's probably career limiting for astronauts to talk politics, but this is a major sea change. Some people think it's the end of manned space flight, some think it's a bold step forward. Clay, can you share the short version of what you think about this big change that's coming?
Clay Anderson: Life is full of changes and change is hard. We know that from many different aspects of all our lives. New parents find that change is a little tough in the beginning but eventually they figure it out. That's what we'll do with NASA and the space program. I have no idea what real changes are coming. There is one side, one view, and then there's the other side, and we'll just have to see how it all falls out.
A lot of people get paid a lot of money to figure out this stuff and my job's to go out and perform as an astronaut and do spacewalk duty. So we'll just have to see what happens.
William Harwood: Let me ask you an operator question in that case. You're obviously a shuttle veteran and you've lived on the space station. No matter what happens, it looks like the station's going to be the only game in town for quite a while in the manned spaceflight world. How confident are you that NASA and the partners can sustain the lab complex, keep it going, without the shuttle there to support it?
Clay Anderson: The shuttle was a big workhorse, but we have a lot of new players on the block. The Automated Transfer Vehicle from the European Space Agency, the H2 transfer vehicle from the Japanese, the Progress from the Russians, and the Soyuz. We have a lot of very talented countries participating in this endeavor and right now, I don't have any reason to believe that we can't continue to do what we've been doing all along. It just remains to be seen in the future. But I think, I have a high confidence in all these international partners being able to sustain the station and do some really excellent work.
Peter King: A lot of people are wondering what the president will say when he comes to the Cape this coming week. What do you hope to hear from him?
Rick Mastracchio: Well, I hope to hear that in the future NASA will be a big part, have a large part in the human spaceflight. Obviously, NASA is meant to be a leader of the country and a leader of the world in technology and innovation and that's what it's been for many, many years. I hope that NASA will continue to be that way and I have no doubt that it will be.
No matter which direction we take, I think NASA's going to be a big contributor to technologies and new ideas in manned spaceflight.
Peter King: This question is for any and all of you: You had a smoke alarm that got everybody scrambling early this morning. We know that turned out to be OK, but 40 years ago this coming week a very real emergency took place on Apollo 13. I'm just wondering your thoughts on that ... and what the Apollo 13 experience has meant to the program in the 40 years since it happened?
Stephanie Wilson: That's an excellent question and it really is a testament to teamwork. Flight crews, the mission control centers, the folks who train us and work on procedures, folks that get our vehicles ready and really know the ins and outs of the vehicles, really all have to come together in an emergency. But from every emergency, we learn something new, we update our procedures, we update our response times, and it really is an opportunity to get to be more familiar with things but also to come together and work better together as a team.
Peter King: For Clay and Rick, one quick question: You have just one day off between your EVAs. We know how hard it is physically. Is one day's rest really enough to recoup your energy and go back and do it again?
Clay Anderson: I've played a lot of sports in my life and there were a lot of days when we had doubleheaders and a lot of days we played basketball games in back-to-back days. I think we're very well-prepared. We're in pretty good shape for old men (Anderson is 51, Mastracchio 50), and I think we'll be ready to rock and roll.
For more info:
CBS News' Space Place: STS-131 Mission Update
NASA Shuttle Missions