The Waste and Hygiene Compartment, or toilet, on the International Space Station.
Crew: Captain Scott ”Maker” Tingle, USN
ISS Location: Low Earth Orbit
Earth Date: 27 Jan 2018
Earth Time (GMT): 14:45
The smoke detectors have been setting off alarms. This happens routinely due to dust circulating in the modules, but every alarm is taken seriously. This is the third time that the alarm has sounded while I was using the Waste & Hygiene Compartment (toilet). I am starting to think that my actions are causing the alarms…. maybe I should change my diet?
NASA astronaut Scott Tingle prepares for his first spacewalk.
Crew: Captain Scott ”Maker” Tingle, USN
ISS Location: Low Earth Orbit
Earth Date: 23 January 2018
Earth Time (GMT): 22:00
We just finished a 20-hour work day. I spent nearly 11 hours in the spacesuit, and 7 hours and 24 minutes doing a spacewalk. The view was amazing. The changes from day to night, and back to day were phenomenal. My fellow astronaut Mark Vande Hei and I completed the primary task of replacing the Latching End Effector, or hand, for the robotic arm, but a software glitch kept us waiting and we were unable to complete any get-ahead tasks. I thought we had plenty of time and estimated that we had only been outside for a few hours. I was very surprised to find that we had worked for over 7 hours. Wow, I guess time really does fly by when you are having fun!
NASA astronaut Scott Tingle is pictured during a spacewalk to swap out a degraded robotic hand, or Latching End Effector, on the Canadarm2.
Veteran Astronauts Conclude Spacewalk for Thermal Maintenance
The Earth passes 250 miles below spacewalker Ricky Arnold today while he is attached to the tip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm in the middle of swapping television camera gear.
Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA completed the fifth spacewalk of this year at 2:10 p.m. EDT, lasting 6 hours, 31 minutes. The two astronauts moved the Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS) from a spare parts platform on the station’s truss to the Dextre robotic arm. The PFCS drives and controls the flow of ammonia through the exterior portions of the station’s cooling system. The team then removed and replaced a camera group and a degraded Space to Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller, and was also able to complete several get-ahead tasks.
Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 54 days, 16 hours and 40 minutes working outside the station in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory.
For more information about the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov/station.
Veteran Spacewalkers Begin Excursion for Station Maintenance
NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold (left) and Drew Feustel (right) are pictured inside their U.S. spacesuits for a fit check verification ahead of a pair of spacewalks. Norishige Kanai (center), from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, assisted the duo in and out of the spacesuits during the sizing process.
Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:39 a.m. EDT, signifying the official start of today’s planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Watch the spacewalk live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Feustel is wearing the suit bearing the red stripes, and Arnold’s suit has no stripes. Views from a camera on Feustel’s helmet are designated with the number 17, and Arnold’s is labeled with the number 18. Feustel is designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) for this spacewalk, the eighth of his career. Arnold, embarking on his fourth spacewalk, is extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2).
NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold is pictured inside a U.S. spacesuit for a fit check verification ahead of a pair of spacewalks.
NASA Television has begun coverage of today’s spacewalk, as Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA work outside the International Space Station for approximately 6.5 hours. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:10 a.m. EDT.
The objective of today’s spacewalk will be to move a component called a Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS) from a spare parts platform on the station’s truss “backbone” to the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (Dextre) robotic arm. The PFCS drives and controls the flow of ammonia through the exterior portions of the station’s cooling system. Robotics controllers on Earth will use Canadarm2 and Dextre to perform final installation on the port-side truss for checkout.
Follow along on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Keep up with station and crew activities via Twitter @space_station.
