Spacewalking Battle Stuck Panel Astronauts, Wrangle Cables on the Space Station

Two spacecraft astronauts have completed their work today (8 April), despite a stubborn board on the ground. International Space Station this added several minutes of troubleshooting to their tasks.

Astronauts Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques spent six hours and 29 minutes doing several repairs and upgrade tasks. on the space station. The work of the Internet cables at the American laboratory caused some problems for the duo.

The astronauts had to remove a micrometric orbit debris shield to access certain cables to improve connectivity for space station experiments. One of the fasteners on the shield, however, refused to loosen. Finally, astronaut Jeanette Epps – who was guiding astronauts step by step through the spacewalk since NASA's mission control in Houston – suggested that Saint-Jacques seize a lever. He inserted it carefully under the panel, first verifying that he was in the right position before pushing.

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"I feel a movement," said Saint-Jacques, who was the first astronaut of the Canadian Space Agency to venture out of the ISS in 12 years. The two astronauts carefully balanced the lever bar under the shield before detaching the panel. "I have it!" Exclaimed Saint-Jacques. He and McClain exchanged a quick record before the end of the installation.

Epps said the first connectivity tests worked perfectly. "This is good news," said McClain, who was on his second outing in space. The panel, unfortunately, then refused to return, forcing astronauts to remove and reinstall a nearby handlebar to squeeze it into position. With this task completed, McClain secured the panel with long-lasting ties before the astronauts moved on to the next task.

(Image: © NASA TV)

Batteries, robot cables and test stand

This spacewalk, the 216th run by the astronauts at the space station, began half an hour earlier, at 07:31 EDT (11:31 GMT), when McClain and Saint-Jacques replaced their combination by an internal power. Their tasks included a task of picking up a March of March 22 Nick Hague of NASA, a member of McClain's crew and Expedition 59, has installed new lithium-ion batteries. As one of the batteries and its charge-discharge tray did not charge properly, McClain and Saint-Jacques set up a new adapter for subsequent robotics work.

After dealing with the cable and the shield with stubborn debris, the astronauts worked in support of the Canadian robotic arm, Canadarm2, which regularly raises equipment and facilitates repairs to the space station. The arm works well, but astronauts have proactively installed connecting cables to add a backup power source to the 18-year-old robot assistant.

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The astronauts then separated to complete the last set of tasks on file for this spacewalk. Saint-Jacques had the mission to install special support plugs (more commonly known as trunnion protectors) on the European Columbus module, but it did not recognize the configuration of the parts in front of it him on the site. Mission control staff decided to delay the installation for today and instead asked Saint-Jacques to take pictures for future investigations.

When these plugs are finally installed, they will organize future experiments mounted on a future external payload facility, Bartolomeo, which will arrive at the space station in 2020. Bartolomeo is named after the younger brother of Christopher Columbus, the famous European explorer whose Columbus Module is called.

"Looks like you know where you are going"

McClain, meanwhile, continued the cabling work of the Canadarm2. She crisscrossed different sites of the S0 Truss space station, trying to slip her bulky garment between the metal uprights without disturbing the connectors.

"Anne, it looks like you know where you are going," Epps joked, before suggesting McClain try to go to his next one-on-one site.

"I've tried this a few times," McClain replied, pointing out some parentheses. Epps said the mission control was ready with some alternative routes, if necessary. "I'm going to try again," McClain says before carefully returning to the farm to do more cabling work on the Canadarm2.

McClain then did a few quick strokes on the Canadarm2 wiring, while Saint-Jacques (having finished cleaning his last job site) was relaxing for a few minutes in front of the Quest airlock. After McClain joined, the duo went into the airlock and the exit into space officially ended at 2 pm. EDT (16:00 GMT).

The next exit is scheduled for May 29 by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Alexey Ovchinin.

(Image: © NASA TV)

Tips from a former astronaut

Before the St. Jacques walk today, the previous release into the space of the Canadian Space Agency was done 12 years ago, in 2007, by Dave Williams. (The last Canadian citizen to go out into space was NASA Drew Feustel, which has nine releases in space, including a trio played in 2018.)

Williams spoke to St. Jacques on Saturday and provided him with last-minute tips, such as how to move fingertips into the structure of the space station, Williams told Space.com during a phone interview at the headquarters of the CSA, near Montreal.

"In discussing with David, one of the big differences in the shuttle program was that we would continue to train until midlife," Williams said. During missions to space stations, crews are usually equipped with exit skills in space and are then tasked with specific tasks.

(Image: © NASA TV)

Williams added that his first two spacewalks were focused on specific tasks, while the latter was more of a space station style after the former NASA astronaut. Rick Mastracchio had a hole in his combination glove during an earlier outing; Mission Control has modified the tasks of the last exit in Williams' space to fit the situation.

Williams remarked that, coincidentally, when the airlock was depressurized and repressurized, the Canadian flag on the Santiago suit was visible in the window to the inside of the space station. He said it gave "an incredible sense of pride" and made him think of the future of the Canadian Space Program. Canada has recently become the first international partner to join NASA's lunar bridge program, a space station supposed to operate in orbit around the moon in the 2020s. Canada plans to build a robotic arm called Canadarm3 to support this project, inspired by the nation's success at the International Space Station.

The exit into the space of today "asks you about the future," he said, adding that it made him think of the position of the next generation of Canadian astronauts and the progress of their schooling.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.