First Excursion Outside ISS Deemed A Success

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 06.11.07 2330 EDT: They're gonna fix it after all. Late Monday night, NASA engineers determined a fourth spacewalk will be needed during the space shuttle Atlantis' stay at the International Space Station, so astronauts may tack down the insulating blanket apparently blown out of place during the orbiter's launch last week.

"The better part of valor was just to go and secure [this blanket] and not worry about it anymore," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team that is overseeing Atlantis' mission, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Engineers were concerned the gap in the blanket -- apparently caused by air becoming trapped under the insulation during launch -- would expose the shuttle to potential overheating risk during reentry.

The addition of a fourth spacewalk means Atlantis will also remain in orbit two days longer than planned. The orbiter is now slated to return from its mission on June 21.

About one hour ago, Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and John "Danny: Olivas successfully completed tasks during STS-117’s first spacewalk to activate the International Space Station’s newest component. The 6-hour, 15-minute excursion concluded at 2217 EDT.

NASA reports Reilly and Olivas went to work after the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment was installed onto the station. They made power, data and cooling connections between the station and the S3/S4. The spacewalkers also released locks and launch restraints on the segment’s solar arrays and prepared its radiator and rotary joint for operation.

The radiator was deployed during the spacewalk. The solar arrays will be unfurled Tuesday, and S3/S4 activation activities will continue during STS-117’s second spacewalk, slated to take place Wednesday afternoon.

Original Report

STS-117 and Expedition 15 crewmembers used a robotic arm Monday morning to attach a new truss segment onto the International Space Station, as preparations continued for the start of the first of three planned spacewalks this week.

Robot arm operators began moving the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment into position shortly after 1100 EDT, NASA reports, for attachment onto the end of the station's Starboard 1 segment. The new truss was attached at 1428 EDT.

Attachment of the truss was delayed for more than an hour because the station's attitude control gyroscopes became saturated. Flight controllers resolved what NASA termed a "common" issue -- with a little help from the docked shuttle, according to The Houston Chronicle -- and installation resumed.

It remains unclear what impact, if any, the gyro-related delay with have on the planned spacewalk by Jim Reilly and John "Danny" Olivas to begin activation of the S3/S4. During a 6.5-hour spacewalk, scheduled for Monday evening Eastern time, the duo will make power, data and cooling connections between the station and the S3/S4, which contains a new set of solar arrays.

Reilly and Olivas will also release locks and launch restraints on the segment's solar arrays and rotary joint, in anticipation of the array's unfolding later this week.

Elsewhere on the station, astronaut Sunita Williams formally traded places on the ISS crew with new Expedition 15 crewmember Clayton Anderson, with the swapping of each other's contoured seat frames onboard the Soyuz capsule now berthed at the ISS. Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis.

In a candid moment with ground controllers in Houston, Anderson was asked how he was adjusting to life onboard the ISS. "Aside from the fact that I don't know where anything is or how to do anything, I'm OK," he said.

NASA has warned spacewalkers to keep a careful eye on the gloves they use during their spacewalks, due to a small tear found in the outermost layer of one of astronaut Robert Curbeam's gloves months after he returned to earth onboard Discovery last December.

"If we do have damage to the glove, it will help us detect where on the vehicle we have a sharp edge," Kirk Shireman, deputy program manager of the ISS, told the Chronicle.

NASA continues to examine photos of a peeled-back thermal blanket (shown below) atop Atlantis' port orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. Though the agency believes the graphite and aluminum skin below will be able to withstand the roughly 700-degree temperatures the area sees during reentry, engineers are concerned additional heating from the blanket's protrusion could raise the thermal threshold above acceptable levels.

The concern isn't burn-through, per se... but rather increased temperatures would cause damage requiring extensive repairs once Atlantis is back on the ground.

FMI: www.nasa.gov