Showing posts with label Astronauts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astronauts. Show all posts
Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Mike Hopkins College football helped me prepare for repairing the International Space Station
Mike Hopkins College football helped me prepare for repairing the International Space Station
Astronaut Mike Hopkins works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Christmas Eve.
That evasive, poorly defined phrase “bringing your A game” gets thrown around a lot, chattered about senselessly by all kinds of emotionally chaotic athletes, only some of whom have any idea how to bring it, much less twice in a row.
Mike Hopkins knows how. Hopkins doesn’t play football in 100,000-seat stadiums anymore. He belongs to a different class of doer now, and he understands more about practical, technical, repetitive excellence than he ever did as a player. Like the kind he delivered up in space this week. If you really want to learn performance under pressure, study an astronaut.
Astronaut Mike Hopkins works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Christmas Eve.
That evasive, poorly defined phrase “bringing your A game” gets thrown around a lot, chattered about senselessly by all kinds of emotionally chaotic athletes, only some of whom have any idea how to bring it, much less twice in a row.
Mike Hopkins knows how. Hopkins doesn’t play football in 100,000-seat stadiums anymore. He belongs to a different class of doer now, and he understands more about practical, technical, repetitive excellence than he ever did as a player. Like the kind he delivered up in space this week. If you really want to learn performance under pressure, study an astronaut.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
NASA astronauts repair ISS pump in rare spacewalk
Two NASA astronauts have successfully repaired a critical cooling system pump at the International Space Station (ISS) after a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk.
US astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins completed a 7.5 hours spacewalk to replace the faulty ammonia pump whose internal control valve failed earlier this month, NASA said.
Following two spacewalks to replace a degraded pump module on the truss, or backbone, of the ISS, flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully restarted the new pump.
The pump module controls the flow of ammonia through cooling loops and radiators outside the space station, and, combined with water-based cooling loops inside the station, removes excess heat into the vacuum of space.
The new pump now is considered fully functional, but it will take some time to fully reintegrate the pump and Loop A of the two-loop external cooling system, NASA said.
Despite concerns about leaking spacesuits, astronauts reported no problems.
The suits have "functioned perfectly and have been bone dry" throughout the course of the spacewalk, NASA said.
Expedition 38 Flight Engineers Hopkins and Mastracchio retrieved a replacement pump from an external stowage platform near the end of the station's backbone, and installed it during a 7 hour, 30 minute spacewalk on Christmas eve, December 24.
Engineers at mission control sent a series of commands to the new pump module at the end of spacewalk to ensure that ammonia an excellent thermal conductor was flowing to the new pump module.
Main tasks of the spacewalk included the removal and installation of a spare pump module. The first task was to remove the spare pump module from the space station's External Stowage Platform-3.
Hopkins attached himself to the Canadarm2 and took a ride to the worksite. Mastracchio tethered himself to the station and translated to the S1 truss to assist his partner.
While doing the connection work, the duo demated ammonia fluid lines from a jumper box that enabled ammonia flow during the repair spacewalks.
After experiencing some difficulty disconnecting a fluid line the spacewalkers reported seeing ammonia flakes escaping a valve.
Once they were back in the Quest airlock the duo conducted ammonia decontamination procedures on their spacesuits, the space agency said.
All four fluid lines were successfully reconnected to the newly installed pump module restoring ammonia flow.
Hopkins and Mastracchio completed electrical connections to the pump module, power was successfully restored to the ammonia pump module.
This was the 176th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance.
US astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins completed a 7.5 hours spacewalk to replace the faulty ammonia pump whose internal control valve failed earlier this month, NASA said.
Following two spacewalks to replace a degraded pump module on the truss, or backbone, of the ISS, flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully restarted the new pump.
The pump module controls the flow of ammonia through cooling loops and radiators outside the space station, and, combined with water-based cooling loops inside the station, removes excess heat into the vacuum of space.
The new pump now is considered fully functional, but it will take some time to fully reintegrate the pump and Loop A of the two-loop external cooling system, NASA said.
Despite concerns about leaking spacesuits, astronauts reported no problems.
The suits have "functioned perfectly and have been bone dry" throughout the course of the spacewalk, NASA said.
Expedition 38 Flight Engineers Hopkins and Mastracchio retrieved a replacement pump from an external stowage platform near the end of the station's backbone, and installed it during a 7 hour, 30 minute spacewalk on Christmas eve, December 24.
Engineers at mission control sent a series of commands to the new pump module at the end of spacewalk to ensure that ammonia an excellent thermal conductor was flowing to the new pump module.
Main tasks of the spacewalk included the removal and installation of a spare pump module. The first task was to remove the spare pump module from the space station's External Stowage Platform-3.
Hopkins attached himself to the Canadarm2 and took a ride to the worksite. Mastracchio tethered himself to the station and translated to the S1 truss to assist his partner.
While doing the connection work, the duo demated ammonia fluid lines from a jumper box that enabled ammonia flow during the repair spacewalks.
After experiencing some difficulty disconnecting a fluid line the spacewalkers reported seeing ammonia flakes escaping a valve.
Once they were back in the Quest airlock the duo conducted ammonia decontamination procedures on their spacesuits, the space agency said.
All four fluid lines were successfully reconnected to the newly installed pump module restoring ammonia flow.
Hopkins and Mastracchio completed electrical connections to the pump module, power was successfully restored to the ammonia pump module.
This was the 176th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Astronauts wrap up successful spacewalk to fix station
Two NASA astronauts wrapped up successful repairs at the International Space Station on Tuesday after a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to fix an equipment cooling system.
Americans Rick Mastracchio, 53, and Mike Hopkins, 44, floated outside the orbiting lab for seven and a half hours to replace an ammonia pump whose internal control valve failed on December 11.
"We have a pump that is alive and well," said NASA commentator Rob Navias on the US space agency's live television feed ..
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/27896086.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Americans Rick Mastracchio, 53, and Mike Hopkins, 44, floated outside the orbiting lab for seven and a half hours to replace an ammonia pump whose internal control valve failed on December 11.
"We have a pump that is alive and well," said NASA commentator Rob Navias on the US space agency's live television feed ..
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/27896086.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Astronauts prepare for first spacewalk since helmet leak problem
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station prepared for an unexpected series of spacewalks by fabricating spacesuit snorkels they can use for breathing in case of another helmet water leak, NASA officials said on Wednesday.
The spacewalks, the first of which is slated to begin at 7:10 a.m. EST (1210 GMT) on Saturday, are needed to replace one of two cooling pumps outside the $100 billion complex, which flies about 250 miles above Earth.
U.S. spacewalks have been suspended since July after a spacesuit helmet worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano filled with water, causing him to nearly drown.
The underlying cause of the leak remains under investigation but engineers have learned enough to make modifications so the problem will not happen again, NASA managers told reporters during a conference call.
"I would be surprised if we have a problem with the suits," said space station program manager Mike Suffredini.
As a contingency, the spacewalkers' helmets will be outfitted with absorbent pads and home-made snorkels to funnel air from the body of the water-cooled suits into an astronaut's mouth, if needed.
The snorkels, which were fabricated by the crew on Sunday, are made from plastic water line vent tubes used in the spacesuits.
"This is your last resort," said Allison Bolinger, lead spacewalk officer. "If water is encroaching your face, similar to what happened to Luca, the crewmember can lean down and use this (the snorkel) to breathe."
First-time spacewalker Michael Hopkins will wear Parmitano's spacesuit, but it has been outfitted with a new fan pump separator, a device that circulates water and air and removes moisture from air.
The fan pump separator from Parmitano's suit was flown back to Earth for analysis and engineers found tiny holes in the water-separator portion of the device were clogged.
That allowed water to back up into the fan portion, get into a vent loop and enter the helmet, said space station flight director Dina Contella.
Still unknown is how the water was contaminated.
"Unfortunately, it's a pretty complicated water chemistry problem," Contella said.
Suffredini said: "We believe the lines we're using today are clean. We've put in new filters and we think the filter system works."
A new fan pump separator is among the cargo aboard Orbital Sciences Corp's first supply ship to the station which had been slated to launch this week. But it is being delayed until mid-January so NASA can tackle the higher-priority work of getting the station's cooling system back in operation.
One of two ammonia cooling systems shut down on December 11, forcing astronauts to turn off unnecessary equipment and suspend some science experiments.
The U.S. side of the station has a second cooling system, but it cannot accommodate all the gear.
Hopkins will be joined by six-time spacewalker Rick Mastracchio for three spacewalks to replace the faulty cooling system with a spare that is in storage outside the station.
In addition to Saturday's 6.5-hour outing, spacewalks are planned for Monday and Wednesday.
The spacewalks, the first of which is slated to begin at 7:10 a.m. EST (1210 GMT) on Saturday, are needed to replace one of two cooling pumps outside the $100 billion complex, which flies about 250 miles above Earth.
U.S. spacewalks have been suspended since July after a spacesuit helmet worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano filled with water, causing him to nearly drown.
The underlying cause of the leak remains under investigation but engineers have learned enough to make modifications so the problem will not happen again, NASA managers told reporters during a conference call.
"I would be surprised if we have a problem with the suits," said space station program manager Mike Suffredini.
As a contingency, the spacewalkers' helmets will be outfitted with absorbent pads and home-made snorkels to funnel air from the body of the water-cooled suits into an astronaut's mouth, if needed.
The snorkels, which were fabricated by the crew on Sunday, are made from plastic water line vent tubes used in the spacesuits.
"This is your last resort," said Allison Bolinger, lead spacewalk officer. "If water is encroaching your face, similar to what happened to Luca, the crewmember can lean down and use this (the snorkel) to breathe."
First-time spacewalker Michael Hopkins will wear Parmitano's spacesuit, but it has been outfitted with a new fan pump separator, a device that circulates water and air and removes moisture from air.
The fan pump separator from Parmitano's suit was flown back to Earth for analysis and engineers found tiny holes in the water-separator portion of the device were clogged.
That allowed water to back up into the fan portion, get into a vent loop and enter the helmet, said space station flight director Dina Contella.
Still unknown is how the water was contaminated.
"Unfortunately, it's a pretty complicated water chemistry problem," Contella said.
Suffredini said: "We believe the lines we're using today are clean. We've put in new filters and we think the filter system works."
A new fan pump separator is among the cargo aboard Orbital Sciences Corp's first supply ship to the station which had been slated to launch this week. But it is being delayed until mid-January so NASA can tackle the higher-priority work of getting the station's cooling system back in operation.
One of two ammonia cooling systems shut down on December 11, forcing astronauts to turn off unnecessary equipment and suspend some science experiments.
The U.S. side of the station has a second cooling system, but it cannot accommodate all the gear.
Hopkins will be joined by six-time spacewalker Rick Mastracchio for three spacewalks to replace the faulty cooling system with a spare that is in storage outside the station.
In addition to Saturday's 6.5-hour outing, spacewalks are planned for Monday and Wednesday.
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