"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...


Most stories quote the NASA assertion, "The Soyuz relocation cleared the
Pirs Docking Compartment, which doubles as an airlock, for spacewalks now
scheduled for January and March."

But haven't they already done an EVA from Pirs with the Soyuz in place on
Pirs, like, on the last Expedition?

Was this a requirement, or a desirement? And was it really connected with
the EVAs, or with the next Soyuz docking?

I was wondering about this myself, since the drawings I've seen make it look
like there is a large hatch on the side of Pirs, which should make EVA's
possible even with a Soyuz attached to its docking port:

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/.../iss/iss5.html

Perhaps this has to do with contingencies like not being able to close the
hatch on Pirs. If your one and only Soyuz is attached to Pirs when this
happens, would it be possible to enter the Soyuz orbital module while still
wearing Russian EVA suits?

Jeff
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