Station Crew to Conduct Spacewalk; ISS Cameras Catch Storm

Station Crew to Conduct Spacewalk; ISS Cameras Catch Storm

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike
Fincke are slated to begin the fourth spacewalk of their mission at 11:50
a.m. CDT (1650 GMT) today and conclude it about 5:45 p.m. CDT (2245 GMT).

Their objectives include installing three antennas on the exterior of the
Zvezda Service Module that will aid the automated docking of a new Station
supply craft, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, set to arrive next
year. Other tasks include replacement of a pump panel on the Zarya module
that is part of the Russian segment's cooling system; installation of guides
for spacesuit tethers on Zarya handrails; and the installation of handrail
covers near the Pirs Docking Compartment hatch.

NASA TV will provide live coverage of the spacwalk.

Throughout the week, the Expedition 9 crew and external ISS cameras have
captured still images and video of Hurricane Frances as it has marched
westward in the Atlantic Ocean. New imagery and video, including pictures of
looking into Frances' eye, were taken Thursday and Friday and downlinked to
the ISS Mission Control Center in Houston.


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info

The astronauts have been out for a couple hours already, no kinks in the suits
so far.

They have performed a first in space: a planned pollution of LEO: they
litterally trew away antenna covers and station cameras showed the rubbish
floating away from station.

They'll need to install "no littering in space" signs an and around the
station's orbit :-)

Does anyone know why they threw these covers out instead of bringing thjem
back into the station and disposing of them through a progress ?

John Doe writes:

They have performed a first in space: a planned pollution of LEO: they
litterally trew away antenna covers and station cameras showed the rubbish
floating away from station.

This certainly isn't the first; I've seen footage from MIR where they
threw away quite sizable equipment.

Does anyone know why they threw these covers out instead of bringing thjem
back into the station and disposing of them through a progress ?

I think progress are of finite size and they'll have lots of rubbish.
And the covers may be light enough to decay from orbit soon anyway.


Jochem

--
"A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no
longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take
away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

They have performed a first in space: a planned pollution of LEO: they
litterally trew away antenna covers and station cameras showed the
rubbish floating away from station.

Did they plan which direction to throw them in (away from the
direction of motion, I suppose)?

Are they lightweight enough that their orbit can be counted upon to
decay quickly?

I would assume that someone looked into these things, and I'd be
curious to know what their reasoning was.

This certainly isn't the first; I've seen footage from MIR where they
threw away quite sizable equipment.

They tossed of a hubble solar panel too
HAVE A GREAT DAY!