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Astronauts deliver baby Sputnik
Their mission nearing an end, the two astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS) took a spacewalk Monday to instal antennae and release a baby Sputnik amid heightened safety procedures and multiple breakdowns.
Their mission nearing an end, the two astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS) took a spacewalk Monday to instal antennae and release a baby Sputnik amid heightened safety procedures and multiple breakdowns.
American Leroy Chiao and his Russian crewmate, Salizhan Sharipov, left the ISS empty for the second time in just a few months, floating outside to perform the 220-mile-high maintenance work.
NASA and the Russian Space Agency instituted extra safety measures to avoid a repeat of the problem that occurred during the men’s spacewalk in January. Chiao got too close to firing thrusters during that first outing because of miscommunication, and so flight controllers put unambiguous rules in place for Monday’s outing.
Complicating the spacewalk this time was a seriously hampered stabilisation system.
Two weeks ago, a circuit breaker popped open and cut power to one of the gyroscopes needed to keep the space station stable and pointed in the right direction. The breakdown left the station running on only two gyroscopes, the bare minimum.
Flight controllers expected the two functioning gyroscopes to become overloaded, but said that the ISS would be fine drifting around Earth and pitching over, almost like a slow-motion cartwheel, for up to two orbits.
Engineers have yet to identify the source of the mysterious force that tilts the space station during spacewalks and causes the American-made gyroscopes to lose steering control. Each time, Russian thrusters have to take over, potentially exposing the crew to toxic fuel.
Chiao and Sharipov — marking their 165th day in orbit — had to instal antennae for a new type of cargo carrier due to fly next year. They also took out a one-foot-long, 11-lb satellite called Nanosputnik, designed for experimental manoeuvring by ground controllers.
The two ISS residents have spent the past weeks dealing with breakdowns, including an oxygen generator that still is not working. Over the weekend, they replaced a pump panel that is part of a critical cooling system. A fresh two-man crew will relieve them next month.
