Category Archives: Space Station

Let #39;s Listen: Mega Man IV (GB) - Wily Space Station (Extended)
Mega Man GameBoy Music Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCA50FB348272C9DA Mega Man NES LP Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu_f...

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Let's Listen: Mega Man IV (GB) - Wily Space Station (Extended) - Video

NASA Previews Spacewalks to Replace ISS Coolant Pump
During NASA Television press briefing from Johnson Space Center, agency managers discussed a series of planned spacewalks, Dec. 21, 23 and 25 by NASA astrona...

By: NASA

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NASA Previews Spacewalks to Replace ISS Coolant Pump - Video

International Space Station Back To Earth Expedition 36
International Space Station International Space Station Back To Earth Expedition 36 I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.co...

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International Space Station Back To Earth Expedition 36 - Video

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.Space station astronauts repaired a crippled cooling system during a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk Tuesday, braving a mini blizzard of noxious ammonia as they popped in a new pump.

It was the second spacewalk in four days for U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, and only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk ever.

NASA ordered up the spacewalks to revive a critical cooling loop at the International Space Station. All nonessential equipment had to be turned off when the line conked out Dec. 11, and many science experiments halted.

With Tuesdays success, the cooling system should be restored and all equipment back up and running by this weekend, according to NASA.

Its the best Christmas ever, Mission Control radioed as the 7 -hour spacewalk came to a close.

Merry Christmas to everybody, replied Hopkins. It took a couple weeks to get her done, but we got it.

Mastracchio and Hopkins removed the faulty ammonia pump during Saturdays spacewalk. On Tuesday, they installed the fresh pump.

Standing on the end of the stations main robotic arm, Hopkins clutched the 780-pound (353.8-kilogram), refrigerator-size pump with both hands as he headed toward its installation spot, and then slid it in. An astronaut working inside, Japans Koichi Wakata, gingerly steered the arm and its precious load.

Mike Hopkins taking a special sleigh ride on this Christmas Eve, Mission Control commentator Rob Navias said as the space station soared over the Pacific.

It was slow going because of a balky ammonia fluid line that sent frozen flakes of the extremely toxic substance straight at the men a mini blizzard, as Mission Control called it. The spacewalkers reported being surrounded by big chunks of the stuff that bounced off equipment and, in all probability, their suits.

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Space station astronauts complete repairs to cooling system on Christmas Eve spacewalk

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have received a gift just in time for Christmas: a new pump module to repair their ailing cooling system and to restore the outpost to full power.

NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins embarked on their second spacewalk together, setting out at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT) on Tuesday (Dec. 24) to complete the work they began Saturday to remove and replace an ammonia pump module with a faulty flow control valve.

"Houston from the airlock, we'd just like to say thanks to all the great folks doing all this hard work to get this space station back up and running," Mastracchio radioed at the end of the spacewalk, which concluded at 2:23 p.m. EST (1923 GMT), seven hours and 30 minutes after it began. [See photos from the Christmas Eve spacewalk]

"No, thank you guys," astronaut capcom Doug Wheelock replied from NASA's Mission Control in Houston. "It is the best Christmas ever. Thanks, guys."

"I'd just like to add to that," Hopkins said. "Fantastic work, merry Christmas to everybody. It took a couple of licks to get her done, but we got it."

The Christmas Eve EVA extravehicular activity, NASAs term for a spacewalk had the two astronauts retrieve a spare of the refrigerator-size cooling system device and install it on the space stations starboard, or right, side backbone truss. The 780-pound (355 kg) pump module replaced a faulty unit Mastracchio and Hopkins successfully and speedily removed three days ago.

The removal, which came just 10 days after a valve inside the module ceased working properly, was originally slated to be part of this second outing, but Mastracchio and Hopkins made quick work of disconnecting the degraded unit, allowing them the time to also remove and stow the module during the spacewalk Saturday.

Their get-ahead work negated the need for a planned third spacewalk.

Pump module in place

The failure of the flow control valve, which regulates the temperature of the ammonia coolant passing through the pump, resulted in restricting the space station to the use of just half of its cooling loop system needed to maintain equipment temperatures inside and outside of the outpost. Non-critical systems and science experiment hardware in two of the stations laboratories have been without power since the valve malfunctioned on Dec. 11.

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Space Station Gets New Pump for Christmas

Space walk may be required to fix space station cooling system
A spacewalk may be ordered to fix the International Space Station #39;s cooling system. Jeffrey Kluger, editor-at-large at Time Magazine has more on this and oth...

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Space walk may be required to fix space station cooling system - Video

Kirobo Robot Chats With Astronaut On Space Station
21 December 2013 A humanoid robot has held a conversation with an astronaut on the International Space Station, joking about life in a zero-gravity environme...

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Kirobo Robot Chats With Astronaut On Space Station - Video

International Space Station (ISS) UK pass 19/12/2013
The ISS passes over the UK, filmed with a Sony DSC-WX300 camera. Crystal clear against a black sky, even with a DSLR with standard lense.

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International Space Station (ISS) UK pass 19/12/2013 - Video

The spacewalk, which was broadcast live on NASA Television, was the first for NASA since July when the spacesuit helmet worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano began filling with water, a situation that could have caused him to drown.

The operation was prompted by the December 11 shutdown of one of the station's two U.S. ammonia cooling systems, which forced the crew to turn off non-essential equipment and shut down dozens of science experiments.

While the six-member crew is not in danger, the remaining cooling system cannot support the three laboratories and other modules on the U.S. side of the $100 billion station, a project of 15 nations. The Russian side of the station has a separate cooling system.

Engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston tried devising ways to bypass a suspected faulty pump valve, but with time running short, managers decided to have astronauts replace the pump, located outside the station, with a spare.

The work, which began shortly after 7 a.m. EST, went smoothly, with station flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins finishing up an hour earlier than expected.

They were able to not only disconnect the old pump, but also remove it from its pallet on the station's exterior truss, a task slated for a second spacewalk originally planned for Monday and later delayed until Tuesday, NASA said late on Saturday.

A third spacewalk, if needed, presumably also would slip one day, from Wednesday to Thursday.

NASA said an extra day was needed to prepare a backup spacesuit for Mastracchio to use.

"During repressurization of the station's airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion," NASA said in a statement.

The issue is not related to the water leak that was seen during the July spacewalk, NASA said.

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Astronauts nail first spacewalk to fix station's cooling system

Cosmic Log

Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News

37 minutes ago

Nearly two weeks after a faulty coolant valve crippled the International Space Station, two NASA astronauts went on a Christmas Eve spacewalk to get things back to normal.

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins opened the air lock and set the clock running at 6:53 a.m. ET for what's expected to be a six-hour-plus outing. They're due to install a refrigerator-sized coolant pump module with an assist from Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who's operating the station's 58-foot-long (18-meter-long) robotic arm.

Mastracchio was in the holiday spirit as he unpacked his tools for the job. "It's like Christmas morning, opening up a little present here," he joked.

Tuesday's spacewalk follows up on Saturday's successful operation to remove the faulty pump module. A valve inside that apparatus failed on Dec. 11, forcing one of the station's two ammonia coolant loops to go offline.

The cooling system plays an essential role in keeping the onboard electronics from overheating. When the first loop failed, NASA had to shut down non-essential systems and switch other systems over to the second loop, reducing the station's safety margin in the process. If the other loop were to fail, that would spark an emergency that could have forced the six-man crew to abandon the station.

A similar situation required three difficult spacewalks in 2010, but this time around, the repairs have gone more quickly than expected. Aided by the robotic arm, Mastracchio and Hopkins are scheduled to pull a spare pump module out of storage, set it in place and get it hooked up on Tuesday.

"If the reconnections go as smoothly as the disconnections did, we should be able to do everything we need to do in less than the six and a half hours that's planned," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told NBC News.

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Christmas Eve spacewalk aims to finish crucial space station repairs