[sarex] ISS Status Report: SS07-31

[Arthur Rowe]

> SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
>
>
>> June 6, 2007
>>
>> Katherine Trinidad
>> Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749
>> John Ira Petty
>> Johnson Space Center, Houston
>> 281-483-5111
>> STATUS REPORT: SS07-31
>>
>> INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS07-31
>>
>> HOUSTON - On Wednesday, the Expedition 15 crew completed the second 
>> spacewalk in eight days and continued preparations for space shuttle 
>> Atlantis' arrival at the International Space Station.
>>
>> Kotov, Yurchikhin during the second spacewalk of Expedition 15Image 
>> above: Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov (left) and Commander Fyodor 
>> Yurchikhin work outside the International Space Station during their 
>> second spacewalk. Image credit: NASA TV
TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov opened the 
hatch on the Pirs docking compartment at 9:23 a.m. CDT to begin a 
spacewalk lasting 5 hours and 37 minutes. The cosmonauts installed 
sample containers on the Pirs module for a Russian experiment. The 
experiment, called Biorisk, looks at the effect of space on microorganisms.
>>
>> Next, the spacewalkers strung a section of Ethernet cable on the 
>> exterior of the Zarya module. This completed the installation of a 
>> remote computer network that will enable commanding of the station's 
>> Russian segment from the U.S. segment, if necessary.
>>
>> Yurchikhin and Kotov later moved to the primary task on the agenda, 
>> putting up 12 debris shield panels on the conical section of the 
>> Zvezda module. Five panels were installed last week, and six others 
>> were installed in 2002 to improve the module's protection from 
>> micrometeroid debris strikes. The aluminum panels each measure 
>> approximately 2 feet by 3 feet and are 1 inch thick.
>>
>> Almost two and a half hours into the spacewalk, Russian controllers 
>> noticed unusual readings in Pirs and asked Yurchikhin to return to 
>> the module where he verified that the pressurized oxygen bottles were 
>> closed properly. Mission Control Moscow subsequently determined that 
>> a small amount of oxygen was flowing from a fluid umbilical that had 
>> not closed fully when it was disconnected from the spacesuit at the 
>> beginning of the spacewalk. Controllers closed the flow of oxygen to 
>> that umbilical to preserve the supply and restarted it during 
>> repressurization of Pirs after the spacewalk concluded.
>>
>> The spacewalk ended at 3 p.m. when the hatch on Pirs was closed. Both 
>> cosmonauts now have 11 hours and 2 minutes experience in the Russian 
>> Orlan spacesuits. This was the 83rd spacewalk in support of station 
>> assembly and maintenance, the 55th conducted from the station, and 
>> the 22nd conducted out of Pirs.
>>
>> During Wednesday's spacewalk, Flight Engineer Suni Williams remained 
>> aboard the station monitoring the spacewalk, exercising and 
>> conducting experiment activities. Earlier this week, she and her 
>> crewmates prepared the Quest airlock for the spacewalks planned 
>> during Atlantis' mission. They also packed her personal items and 
>> experiment results for her return to Earth aboard Atlantis. Early in 
>> the morning of June 16, Williams will exceed astronaut Shannon 
>> Lucid's mark for the longest spaceflight ever by a woman, 188 days 
>> and 4 hours.
>>
+ Read more about Wednesday's spacewalk 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/exp15_eva19.html> 


Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-117 crew will visit the International 
Space Station on Sunday after launching Friday at 7:38 p.m. Atlantis is 
delivering the S3/S4 truss segment, a new set of starboard solar arrays 
and batteries. Shuttle crew member Clayton Anderson will replace 
Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Suni Williams. Williams will return home 
aboard Atlantis when STS-117 completes its mission.





>> Commander Rick Sturckow and the crew of shuttle Atlantis are in 
>> Florida preparing for their scheduled launch Friday, June 8, at 7:38 
>> p.m. EDT. STS-117, due to dock to the station at 2:49 p.m. CDT 
>> Sunday, June 10, delivers a new set of solar array wings and a new 
>> station flight engineer, NASA astronaut Clay Anderson.
>> For more about the crew's activities and station sighting 
>> opportunities, visit:
>>
>> http://www.nasa.gov/station
>>
>>     
>> -end-
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>   
>