Two astronauts finally (March 5) shut down difficult solar installations outside the International Space Station that had stopped a previous set of astronauts just a few days earlier.
Expedition 64 astronauts Kate Rubins from NASA (with a red-striped spacecraft) and Soichi Noguchi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) worked 6 hours and 56 minutes in the air vacuum, and most of the time hung unusually far away from the core of the International Space Station (ISS).
They worked at a remote location at the back of the station to continue upgrading the older 4B and 2B solar panels. The panels were first installed during the spacecraft STS-97 in 2007 and, of course, deteriorated over time.
Related: The International Space Station inside and out (infographic)
NASA’s goal is to eventually add a new set of Boeing-manufactured panels on top of each of the station’s eight arrays to increase the station’s current power stations by 20% to 30%. These solar panels will be sent on a future SpaceX Dragon cargo mission, but first the astronauts had to get the support struts in place.
The astronauts switched to spacecraft battery power at 06:37 EST (1137 GMT) – and officially began the spacewalk – and left the US Quest airlock. From there, the spacewalkers turned hard left and moved hand-in-hand along the P6 structure.
“We’ll go slow,” Noguchi said cheerfully after NASA gave permission to venture far beyond the station’s harbor side. It was a long journey that took the astronauts a few minutes to reach. “Keep my teeth clean,” Noguchi reported as he carefully threaded his way along the truss, with safety lines attached to the space station.
There they continued last Sunday (February 28) from Rubins and NASA astronaut Victor Glover from Space Street. Rubins struggled to get herself and a portable portable foot control (APFR) in the right position to look at the first site, at the 4B solar panel.
“I’m in the perfect body position for that APFR right now,” she reported to Mission Control.
Rubins and Francisco Rubio, the ‘intravehicular crew member’ in Houston who sent instructions from Mission Control, compared her efforts to working in ‘the pool’. The pool is the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, a swimming facility where astronauts practice space walks before the flight.
“Unfortunately, I think we get the easier positions in the pool,” Rubio joked from Mission Control.
“It’s not that bad,” Rubins whispered, working in microgravity all the way to her fourth space street.
An error occurred almost immediately for Rubins as she worked to place the already assembled “top triangle” struts of an adjustment kit on the 4B solar. Three of the four bolts move smoothly with her pistol grip tool – a kind of modified space drill – but the fourth does not work together. Rubins slides the bolt in and out of place and says she does not see that it is properly secured.
Rubio consulted with his colleagues on the ground to see what to do next, and the consensus in Mission Control seems to be that the last bolt was not necessary after all. ‘We are good with three of four bolts [secured], so we’re going to print and call it a good installation, ‘he reported.
Rubins’ next task was to move back out of foot control to receive more props from Noguchi. Removing herself from her fixed place took effort. “And I’m out of here,” she cheerfully reported after a few more minutes of effort.
The astronauts had less trouble putting the other props in place on 4B, and thanked each other regularly for keeping up with all the pieces. They then moved to a second workplace to fix a sticky bolt on the 2B series of adaptation packages that delayed some of the planned installation work by almost a week.
Mission Control and the astronauts proceeded cautiously and rushed in the required bolts and finally fastened all the 2B mod kit props to the ISS and work began on Sunday. The only minor damage to the job was when Rubins noticed a ‘precise’ shed on her right glove. No leak was detected, but Rubins asked her to keep the rest of the spacious walk close to her colleague – just in case.
Related: What it’s like to work in space with bulky EVA gloves
Closer to the six-hour mark of a planned 6.5-hour spacewalk, NASA looked at the remaining levels of oxygen and water in the spacecraft to determine if they would continue with any “starting” tasks that the spacewalkers could follow if they had time. The agency eventually decided not to proceed and to hold the additional tasks for a future spacecraft team. These non-urgent tasks include cabling to the European Space Agency’s new external platform Bartolomeo external platform, and the removal and replacement of a system that receives video from spacewalkers.
Upon completion of the most important work of the space wall, Noguchi and Rubins cleaned up the 2B workplace, made the long journey back to the station core next to the P6 truss, and then climbed back into the Quest airlock for reprint. The spacewalk ended at 13:33 EST (1833 GMT).
Friday’s spacewalk was the 236th spacewalk to support the compilation of space stations; it was the fourth each for Rubins and Noguchi, with Noguchi breaking the record for most Japanese space walks. According to remarks on NASA Television, Noguchi and Akihiko Hoshide equaled the Japanese record at Sunday’s space race, with three space steps each.
The most spacewalk for a woman is seven, a record shared by NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Sunita Williams; Whitson has nearly three hours more cumulative time “outside” than Williams, with a total of 53 hours and 22 minutes of extra activity.
The ground support team includes Rubio, capcom and NASA’s record astronaut Christina Koch, flight director Chris Edelen, and chief aerospace officer Art Thomason. NASA Expedition 64 astronauts Glover and Mike Hopkins (the packing pencil) helped the spacewalkers from inside the space station.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.