Nanoracks airlock, attached to ISS, powers on for first time in months – Houston Chronicle

Nanoracks' Bishop Airlock was jolted to life Tuesday at 4:37 p.m.

The airlock, launched into space on Dec. 6 and attached to the International Space Station on Dec. 19, had been powerless until then. But on Tuesday afternoon, the space station's robotic arm attached to the airlock and turned it on.

Then came the magical words: operations nominal. That's space speak for everything is looking great.

Launch day: Airlock aloft as NASA uses Nanoracks technology for the Space Station

"'All vehicle operations are nominal' is kind of a phrase we like to use," said Brock Howe, the airlocks project manager at Nanoracks, "and people think, 'Oh, thats kind of boring.' But in reality, what that means is weve got 100 percent, an A+ on the vehicle right now.

The Bishop Airlock, designed, owned and operated by Webster-based Nanoracks, is the space station's first commercial airlock. In fact, it is the stations first permanent, complex element to be owned and operated by a commercial company.

Airlocks tend to conjure up images of science fiction movies. Astronauts step inside a room with two doors, put on a suit and, after waiting a few minutes, exit for the vast vacuum of space. The dome-shaped Bishop Airlock, however, will operate differently. Instead of two doors, it has a circular opening that is attached to the space station.

When attached, the airlock is pressurized and astronauts can fill it with satellites (ranging from the size of a loaf of bread to a refrigerator) to be deployed. They can also secure projects and experiments to the airlock to give them exposure to the vacuum and radiation of space.

Once astronauts leave the Nanoracks device, air is sucked out and the space station's robotic arm will disconnect the airlock from the space station. The robotic arm positions the airlock away from the station to deploy satellites, or the airlock can be attached to a different part of the stations exterior to expose those strapped-in experiments to space for prolonged periods of time.

On Tuesday, within 10 to 15 seconds of turning on the airlock, NASA could see that it was drawing power. It was working.

But telemetry, which is data on voltage, currents, temperature, etc., wasn't coming to the Nanoracks mission control in Webster.

There was five to 10 minutes of anxiety before the team realized that the telemetry was being sent to Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, but there was a ground issue preventing it from reaching the team in Webster.

Its on the ground," Howe said, "thats a much easier problem to fix.

About 30 minutes after the airlock was powered on, the team started receiving data. A cheer erupted across the room, and someone set off a glitter gun.

Preparing the airlock for launch: How do you ship a brand-new airlock destined for the Space Station? Very carefully.

The team toasted with Limoncello, a tradition started when the airlock's domed shell was being manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Italy. #MiniAirlock, a handheld version of the airlock, and Baby Yoda (known as Grogu, or The Child, on the Disney+ television series "The Mandalorian") were included in the celebrations.

There are a few more steps before the airlock is deemed operational. It must pass a leak check and be connected to the space station's power (rather than the robotic arm's power). Next week, astronauts are expected to float inside and finish the final configurations.

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Nanoracks airlock, attached to ISS, powers on for first time in months - Houston Chronicle