Astronauts now begin to upgrade orbiting lab
When an astronaut goes on a spacewalk, he or she wears a spacesuit to keep themselves safe. They have the oxygen they need to breathe and water they need to drink. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The spacewalk by France’s Thomas Pesquet, 39, and American Shane Kimbrough, 49, officially began at 7:24am , when the duo switched their spacesuits to internal battery power.
- Pesquet and Kimbrough worked separately as they prepared to install new docking ports for the next generation of commercial spacecraft and do some minor space station repairs and maintenance.
Miami. A French and an American astronaut floated outside the International Space Station Friday for a spacewalk to upgrade the orbiting outpost for the arrival of future space crews.
The spacewalk by France’s Thomas Pesquet, 39, and American Shane Kimbrough, 49, officially began at 7:24am , when the duo switched their spacesuits to internal battery power.
Pesquet and Kimbrough worked separately as they prepared to install new docking ports for the next generation of commercial spacecraft and do some minor space station repairs and maintenance.
The new crew spaceships, being designed by SpaceX and Boeing, should begin flying astronauts to the station in the coming years, as early as 2018.
Currently, the only way the world’s astronauts can reach orbit is by buying a ride aboard Russia’s Soyuz capsules, at $81 million per seat.
Friday’s spacewalk is the second of Pesquet’s career, and the fifth for Kimbrough.
“Going outside is always a gee-whiz moment for me,” Kimbrough said in an interview on NASA television this week, adding that it was also “really satisfying” to see Pesquet perform so well on his first spacewalk back in January. On Thursday, Pesquet wrote on Twitter: “Feeling prepared for my second spacewalk tomorrow!”
Pesquet is the fourth Frenchman to ever walk in space, and the 11th European.
The goal for Friday’s 6.5 hour spacewalk was to prepare for the installation of the second of two parking spots for space taxis, known as the International Docking Adapter.
Pesquet spent the first half of his spacewalk inspecting a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak, but was unable to find evidence of any problems. Meanwhile, Kimbrough disconnected cables and electrical connections on the pressurized mating adapter (PMA-3) to prepare for its move Thursday, March 30, during another spacewalk.
In its new location, it will become the home for the second of two International Docking Adapters, to be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. (AFP)
