{"id":16524,"date":"2015-02-25T23:31:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T15:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/successful-spacewalk-ends-with-water-leak\/"},"modified":"2015-02-25T23:31:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T15:31:18","slug":"successful-spacewalk-ends-with-water-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/successful-spacewalk-ends-with-water-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful spacewalk ends with water leak"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS \u201cSPACE PLACE\u201d & USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n

\"Astronaut
Astronaut Terry Virts blows on a bubble of water that seeped into his helmet after Wednesday\u2019s spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Astronauts Barry \u201cButch\u201d Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday for the second of three spacewalks to help ready the lab complex for dockings by commercial crew capsules being built by Boeing and SpaceX. Back inside the station\u2019s airlock, Virts reported a small amount of water in his space helmet, but officials said he was never in any danger.<\/p>\n

Even so, given a near-catastrophic helmet leak in July 2013, engineers will need to troubleshoot the latest issue to make sure the suit\u2019s internal systems are healthy enough for Virts and Wilmore to carry out a third planned spacewalk Sunday.<\/p>\n

The problem was not noticed until Wilmore and Virts had returned to the station\u2019s airlock at the end of a successful six-hour 43-minute excursion. Along with a small blob of cold water floating in his helmet, Virts reported a water absorption pad at the back of the helmet, one of several safety measures implemented in the wake of the 2013 incident, was wet.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerry was saying he\u2019s got some water in his helmet, he just noticed it a minute ago,\u201d European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti told flight controllers in Houston. \u201cIt\u2019s about 3 inches in diameter, it\u2019s kind of pooling on the front side of the helmet above his eye level, and he does feel a little bit of squishiness in the back of the HAP (helmet absorption pad).\u201d<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, she said the pad was moist, but not saturated, possibly indicating the water flow did not begin until very late in the spacewalk. The frightening 2013 water intrusion was caused by clogged pores in an internal filter, but it was not immediately known what might have caused the problem Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not drink bag water,\u201d Virts reported after his helmet was off. \u201cThe drink bag bite valve was dry the whole time, that whole area of the helmet was dry and if you taste the water, it has a chemical taste, not exactly like chlorine but something like that. So it\u2019s some type of technical water, it\u2019s not drink bag water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virt\u2019s suit, serial number 3005, experienced a similar water intrusion after a spacewalk in December 2013, one of two that followed the much more serious incident the previous July. The December incident occurred at about the same time as the one Wednesday, when the airlock\u2019s pressure was holding at 5 pounds per square inch for routine post-spacewalk leak checks. How that timing might play into the troubleshooting was not known.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I saw just a little bit of water pooled in my helmet and it seemed normal because I was face down and that\u2019s where water pools,\u201d Virts said. \u201cExcept for when there\u2019s no gravity, so that\u2019s not normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue will be reviewed during an already planned space station Mission Management Team meeting Friday.<\/p>\n

The spacewalk began at 6:51 a.m. EST (GMT-5) and ended six hours and 43 minutes later, at 1:34 p.m., when the astronauts began repressurizing the station\u2019s Quest airlock.<\/p>\n

During a six-hour 41 minute EVA Saturday, Wilmore and Virts laid out eight bundles of cables near the front of the space station that will supply power and data to new docking port mechanisms that will be launched and installed later this year.<\/p>\n

During Wednesday\u2019s outing, they first removed a protective cover from a docking port extension on the front end of the space station that was once used by visiting space shuttles. The cover turned out to be fairly stiff, but the astronauts managed to stuff it in a stowage bag as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey Joe, please don\u2019t ask us how we did it,\u201d Virts joked with astronaut Joe Acaba in mission control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell you what, I wish I had a video of it,\u201d Wilmore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the \u2018stuff your sleeping bag in the bag in the morning\u2019 technique,\u201d Virts quipped.<\/p>\n

The spacewalkers then stowed no-longer-needed shuttle power cables that were disconnected Saturday before installing two final sets of power and data cables needed by the docking mechanisms.<\/p>\n

During a brief lull in the work, Wilmore took a moment to marvel at the view as the station passed 257 miles above the northeast coast of South America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enjoying this view,\u201d Wilmore said. \u201cI haven\u2019t gotten to do this much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a good view,\u201d Virts agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen blue that blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a color of blue I\u2019ve never seen before, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Virts said.<\/p>\n

Virts spent more than two hours lubricating the intricate capture mechanisms on the end of the station\u2019s Canadian-built robot arm. Using a long tool known as a BLT, for ball-screw lubricating tool, Virts applied the grease to internal components in a bid to reduce friction in the mechanism when the capture systems are activated.<\/p>\n

\"A
A view from Virts\u2019 helmet-mounted camera shows the Latching End Effector of the space station\u2019s robot arm. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Virts had no problems getting the grease into the capture mechanism, but he noted \u201cthis is definitely not a precision tool, I will say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNor a clean tool,\u201d observed Acaba, watching the slightly messy work through Virts\u2019 helmetcam.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not,\u201d Virts replied.<\/p>\n

While that work was going on, Wilmore worked on the left side of the station around the Tranquility module, making preparations for upcoming module relocations. He removed a protruding valve and a handrail to improve clearances for one of the module moves and released launch locks on Tranquility\u2019s forward and aft berthing ports.<\/p>\n

The astronauts ran ahead of schedule throughout the spacewalk, leaving time at the end to accomplish a few additional tasks to get a head start on their third spacewalk Sunday, assuming it stays on schedule.<\/p>\n

The goal of that excursion is to install antennas and associated cabling to permit communications with approaching and departing U.S. crew ferry capsules. Initial test flights are expected in 2017. By the end of their third EVA, Wilmore and Virts will have laid out and connected multiple cable bundles stretching some 670 feet.<\/p>\n

At least four additional spacewalks are planned later this year to complete the most extensive space station reconfiguration since the end of the shuttle era in 2011. Nearly 900 hours of crew time will be required for the spacewalks, robotic activity and work inside the station to ready the lab for arrivals and departures of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 ferry craft and SpaceX\u2019s piloted Dragon capsule.<\/p>\n

The new International Docking Adapters, or IDAs, are tentatively scheduled for launch aboard SpaceX Dragon cargo ships in June and December respectively. One will be attached to Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 2, the docking port extension on the front end of the forward Harmony module where Wilmore and Virts worked Wednesday to remove its protective cover.<\/p>\n

Before the second IDA can be installed, the station\u2019s robot arm will be used to move a storage compartment known as the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, from the Earth-facing port of the central Unity module to the forward port of the nearby Tranquility compartment. The Unity port will then be available for use by unpiloted cargo ships. The PMM move is targeted for the June timeframe.<\/p>\n

Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 3, the docking port extension needed by the second docking mechanism, is currently attached Tranquility\u2019s outboard port. It will be moved to the upper port of the Harmony module in October.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, another SpaceX cargo ship will bring up an inflatable module built by Bigelow Aerospace that will be attached to Tranquility\u2019s aft-facing port. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, will remain in place for two years as a technology demonstration project.<\/p>\n

During Wednesday\u2019s spacewalk, Wilmore\u2019s tasks included work to prepare common berthing mechanisms on Tranquility\u2019s forward and aft ports where the PMM and BEAM modules will be attached later.<\/p>\n

After the PMM and PMA-3 relocations, the second International Docking Adapter will be launched in the December timeframe aboard another Dragon cargo ship. It will be robotically attached to the end of PMA-3 atop Harmony.<\/p>\n

At that point, the International Space Station will have two ports for dockings by either Boeing or SpaceX crew capsules and two other ports for use by unpiloted cargo ships. All in all, some 880 hours of crew time will be needed to prepare for and carry out the seven planned NASA spacewalks, to install internal wiring and for the robot arm operations to install the docking adapters and relocate the PMM and PMA-3.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s spacewalk was the 186th devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the second of nine planned for this year (including a Russian EVA), the third for Wilmore and the second for Virts. Going into today\u2019s EVA, 120 astronauts and cosmonauts had logged 1,165 hours and 51 minutes of station spacewalk time, or 48.6 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS \u201cSPACE PLACE\u201d & USED WITH PERMISSION Astronaut Terry Virts blows on a bubble of water that seeped into his helmet after Wednesday\u2019s spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now Astronauts Barry \u201cButch\u201d Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday for the second of three spacewalks to help ready the lab […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1163,4133,4123,2547,1547,4027],"class_list":["post-16524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-butch-wilmore","tag-eva-30","tag-expedition-42","tag-ida","tag-spacewalk","tag-terry-virts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}