Astronaut Rick Mastracchio works outside the
International Space Station during the first of a series of spacewalks to
replace a degraded ammonia pump module.
Image Credit: NASA TV
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Spacewalker Rick Mastracchio works to disconnect
the fluid lines from the degraded pump module in this view from the NASA
astronaut's helmet camera.
Image Credit: NASA TV
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Expedition 38
Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins wrapped up a 5-hour,
28-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 12:29 p.m. EST
Saturday, completing the first in a series of excursions aimed at replacing a
degraded ammonia pump module associated with one of the station's two external
cooling loops that keeps both internal and external equipment cool.
A second spacewalk to install a replacement pump module, originally planned
for Monday, is now scheduled for Tuesday.
The extra day will allow time for the crew to resize a spare spacesuit on the
space station for use by Mastracchio. During repressurization of the station's
airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit
Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion.-- specifically
whether water entered into the suit's sublimator inside the airlock. The flight
control team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston decided to switch to a
backup suit for the next spacewalk.
This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a
July spacewalk by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA's
Chris Cassidy. Both Mastracchio and Hopkins reported dry conditions repeatedly
throughout Saturday's activities and the two were never in danger.
NASA Television coverage of Tuesday's spacewalk will begin at 6:15 a.m. EST.
The spacewalk scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m.
Astronaut Rick Mastracchio holds the degraded pump
module while the International Space Station's robotic arm guides the module to
a grapple fixture.
Image Credit: NASA TV
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During
Saturday’s spacewalk, the two astronauts focused on removing a degraded pump
module from Loop A of the station’s external Active Thermal Control System. That
pump module encountered a problem Dec. 11 when an internal valve stuck in an
incorrect position, causing temperatures in the station’s cooling lines to drop.
After exiting the Quest airlock Saturday, Hopkins made his way out to the
worksite at center of the Starboard 1 truss segment. Mastracchio meanwhile
attached himself to a foot restraint at the end of the station’s 57-foot robotic
arm so that Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata, the robotics operator for the
spacewalks, could fly Mastracchio to the worksite and position him for his
various tasks.
The two spacewalkers first spent some time demating four ammonia fluid line
“quick disconnects” from the pump module.
Once the four fluid lines were disconnected, Mastracchio and Hopkins worked
to attach the fluid lines to a pump module jumper box, which allows the ammonia
to reach the system’s plumbing in the ammonia and nitrogen tanks to keep it in a
liquid state.
Afterward the spacewalkers installed a generic thermal cover over the pump
module jumper and ammonia fluid lines.
With the spacewalk proceeding well ahead of schedule, Mission Control in
Houston informed Mastracchio and Hopkins that they could press ahead with the
first task originally planned for Monday’s spacewalk –removing the degraded pump
module from the starboard truss and attaching it to a stowage location on the
Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation (POA) on the station’s railcar,
or Mobile Base System.
While Hopkins set up the POA and an adjustable grapple fixture, Mastracchio
removed the five electrical connectors from the pump module and unfastened the
module from the truss.
With Mastracchio holding the 780-pound pump while he was attached to the end
of the robotic arm, Wakata guided the arm to attach the module to the grapple
fixture and activated the snares to hold it in place.
Mastracchio now holds 43 hours and 58 minutes of spacewalking time during
seven spacewalks, and Hopkins now holds 5 hours and 28 minutes during one
spacewalk.
Saturday’s spacewalk was the 175th in support of space station assembly and
maintenance
NASA Transforms Access to Low-Earth Orbit, Touches
Interstellar Space, Makes Unprecedented Discoveries and Develops Cutting-Edge
Technologies in 2013
In 2013, NASA helped U.S. commercial companies transform access to low-Earth
orbit and the International Space Station even as one of the agency's venerable
spacecraft was confirmed to have reached interstellar space, and engineers moved
ahead on technologies that will help carry out the first astronaut mission to an
asteroid and eventually Mars.
"Even in a time of great change and transition, NASA employees stayed focused
on what it takes to get the job done -- returning space station resupply
launches and the jobs they support back to the United States, developing
cutting-edge technologies that will help us send American astronauts to an
asteroid and Mars, uncovering new knowledge about our home planet and the
universe and helping develop cleaner and quieter airplanes," NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden said. "It's all the hard work and dedication from the NASA folks
on the frontlines that keep the United States the world’s leader in space
exploration."
The following are some of NASA's top stories this year:
Commercial Space Progress
A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA has returned the International Space Station resupply missions to the United States in a powerful partnership with U.S. companies SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, who are investing here and creating good-paying jobs for American workers.
A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA has returned the International Space Station resupply missions to the United States in a powerful partnership with U.S. companies SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, who are investing here and creating good-paying jobs for American workers.
NASA remains committed to launching American astronauts from U.S. soil within
the next four years. Recent progress includes key milestones in commercial crew
development met by three American companies: Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada
Corporation; a Nov. 19 request for proposals on the Commercial Crew
Transportation Capability contract (CCtCap), designed to ensure commercial
companies meet NASA’s safety requirements for transporting NASA and
international partner crews to the International Space Station; unfunded Space
Act Agreements with other potential commercial providers; and creation of a
Space Technology Program focused on breakthrough innovations that will change
future transportation options. These accomplishments have been bolstered by the
extension of International Space Station operations to 2020, enabling expanded
commercial and research opportunities.
Enabling Deep Space Exploration
The primary destination of these commercial launches, the International Space Station, celebrated 15 years in orbit in November, and crew members have lived and worked aboard the station non-stop since October 2000.
The primary destination of these commercial launches, the International Space Station, celebrated 15 years in orbit in November, and crew members have lived and worked aboard the station non-stop since October 2000.
Interest in human spaceflight remains extremely high, and this year NASA
welcomed new astronaut candidates from a near-record applicant pool of more than
6,000. Half of the class is women, which is the highest percentage in any class
to date. These astronaut candidates are the explorers who will first fly on
commercial rockets to low-Earth orbit and help us execute missions to an
asteroid and Mars.
2013 was a year of progress toward new capabilities as the agency's new Space
Launch System (SLS) heavy lift rocket completed its preliminary design review
and the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle reached many milestones on its path to
undertake its first flight test in 2014. The heat shield that will protect Orion
on that mission’s re-entry next year was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center
for installation; NASA reached an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA)
to partner on the spacecraft's service module; and Orion itself underwent loads
testing, a water recovery test, and full power-up.
NASA and 12 of its international partners released a Global Exploration
Roadmap, sending a clear signal that the global community is committed to a
unified strategy of deep space exploration, with robotic and human missions to
destinations that include near-Earth asteroids, the moon and Mars.
Asteroid Mission
The public imagination has been captured by the mission NASA announced in April to redirect an asteroid into a stable retrograde orbit in the vicinity of the moon using cutting-edge space technology, such as solar electric propulsion. This will allow astronauts to visit the asteroid, study its characteristics and bring samples home. In November, NASA held a workshop to discuss about 100 of the best ideas the agency has received from around the world about both identifying asteroids and figuring out what to do about those that are a threat, as well as how to best carry out the asteroid redirect mission. The mission formulation review has been completed, and NASA will move into mission baseline discussions in 2014.
The public imagination has been captured by the mission NASA announced in April to redirect an asteroid into a stable retrograde orbit in the vicinity of the moon using cutting-edge space technology, such as solar electric propulsion. This will allow astronauts to visit the asteroid, study its characteristics and bring samples home. In November, NASA held a workshop to discuss about 100 of the best ideas the agency has received from around the world about both identifying asteroids and figuring out what to do about those that are a threat, as well as how to best carry out the asteroid redirect mission. The mission formulation review has been completed, and NASA will move into mission baseline discussions in 2014.
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft, having completed
its original mission, was reactivated this year to hunt for asteroids.
OSIRIS-REx, NASA's robotic mission to return samples from an asteroid, moved
from formulation to the development phase in 2013.
NASA also announced an Asteroid Grand Challenge to find and characterize
asteroid threats and gather ideas for capturing and redirecting an asteroid for
human exploration. The public is incredibly interested in asteroids, and the
agency expects strong participation in this initiative.
Amazing Science
NASA science this year uncovered new knowledge about our home planet and the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Analysis showed the Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered interstellar space and, at 12 billion miles away, is the most distant man-made object ever created.
NASA science this year uncovered new knowledge about our home planet and the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Analysis showed the Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered interstellar space and, at 12 billion miles away, is the most distant man-made object ever created.
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) launched in
September to study lunar dust and help us better understand other planetary
bodies and their formation. It also carried the Lunar Laser Communication
Demonstration (LLCD) -- breakthrough new technology to improve communication
with deep space missions that the agency will continue to refine and
advance.
In June, NASA launched the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
spacecraft to study how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up.
In February, NASA’s Van Allen Probes discovered a third Van Allen Radiation
Belt around the Earth.
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) was launched in February for the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to maintain one of the longest-term imagery data
sets about our Earth ever -- more than 40 years.
Earth Science continues to be a high priority, and our amazing fleet of
Earth-observing satellites helped us see how an amplified greenhouse effect is
shifting the northern latitudes' growing season. A study this year of Landsat
data yielded the best view to date of global forest losses and gains during this
century.
One of the International Space Station's most prominent scientific
experiments produced its first results in April. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
(AMS) is a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector located on the
exterior of the orbiting laboratory. Scientists hope that by measuring cosmic
rays, AMS will provide new data about the formation of the universe, antimatter,
and evidence of the mysterious dark matter believed to make up most of the
universe.
The Kepler mission awed scientists and the public with new exoplanet
findings, including discovery of numerous planets in the habitable zone. NASA
will be evaluating Kepler data for years to come, as well as exploring the
possibility of doing new science investigations with the spacecraft.
The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's successor to the Hubble Space
Telescope, continued to move toward its 2018 launch. In November, the
telescope's primary mirror backplane support structure, essentially the spine of
the massive telescope, completed a rigorous testing regime. The final three of
Webb's 18 primary mirrors arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., this month for integration. Once in orbit, the 18 hexagonal
mirror segments will work together as one 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror,
the largest ever flown and the first to deploy in space.
Elsewhere in astrophysics, scientists saw one of the brightest gamma-ray
bursts ever with the Fermi, Swift and NuSTAR telescopes and learned more about
the black hole at the center of the Milky Way using the agency's Chandra X-ray
Observatory. Fermi celebrated five years in orbit and NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope celebrated 10 years of incredible science.
Mars
Mars is the centerpiece of NASA's planetary exploration. The Curiosity rover continues to explore the planet, and in its first year already has accomplished its primary goal of determining that Mars could indeed have supported life in the past, possibly much later than originally thought. Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector instrument is helping scientists assess round-trip radiation doses for a human mission to Mars.
Mars is the centerpiece of NASA's planetary exploration. The Curiosity rover continues to explore the planet, and in its first year already has accomplished its primary goal of determining that Mars could indeed have supported life in the past, possibly much later than originally thought. Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector instrument is helping scientists assess round-trip radiation doses for a human mission to Mars.
NASA also launched in November its next mission to the Red Planet, the Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which will study the
Martian upper atmosphere from orbit. NASA's 2016 InSight mission narrowed its
landing sites for Mars while the Mars 2020 team outlined its goals for our next
rover to the planet.
Aeronautics – the First 'A' in NASA
Here on Earth, NASA continued to mark progress in developing the next generation of air transportation systems (NextGen).
Here on Earth, NASA continued to mark progress in developing the next generation of air transportation systems (NextGen).
A new computer software tool developed by NASA's aeronautical innovators --
the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) -- allows commercial aircraft
to be sequenced for takeoff so that they are able to climb directly to their
enroute travel altitudes instead of being required to make multiple intermediate
level-offs as in the past. NASA officially presented this innovative software to
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during a ceremony at the FAA's
headquarters in Washington on Aug. 6. With PDRC, controllers will be able to
improve the overall efficiency of air traffic management by reducing missed or
delayed departures and allowing more aircraft to depart within a given
timeframe.
NASA announced a new aeronautics strategy with six areas of focus to help
address upcoming challenges in global air transportation. The agency also tested
alternate jet fuel in its DC-8 flying laboratory; selected eight large scale
technology demonstrations to advance concepts for reducing aviation impact on
the environment; chose six companies to partner on advanced composite materials
research to enable a significant reduction in development to certification time;
and flew the X-48C hybrid-wing body subscale aircraft to demonstrate concepts
for cleaner and quieter air travel.
Developing Technologies for the Future
This year, NASA created a Space Technology Mission Directorate to help advance the cutting-edge technologies it will need for future missions. The agency completed testing on a prototype composite cryogenic propellant tank with a 25 percent reduction in cost and 30 percent reduction in weight, resulting in increased payload capacity.
This year, NASA created a Space Technology Mission Directorate to help advance the cutting-edge technologies it will need for future missions. The agency completed testing on a prototype composite cryogenic propellant tank with a 25 percent reduction in cost and 30 percent reduction in weight, resulting in increased payload capacity.
NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne hot-fire tested a 3-D printed rocket engine
injector, marking a first step in using additive manufacturing to support space
travel.
The agency began the next chapter in NASA's improved entry, descent and
landing capabilities through the completion of a test of a full-scale supersonic
inflatable decelerator. The test successfully demonstrated the ability to deploy
and pull a large parachute through the dynamic loads it would experience at
Mars, using a helicopter to drop the ringsail parachute and a rocket sled to
pull the parachute with 90,000 pounds of force. This technology will increase
the current capability to land heavy payloads on Mars by as much as 25
percent.
In April and November, NASA sent three Cubesats -- two early designs and one
more mature -- to space as part of the agency's Small Spacecraft Technology
Program. The first three PhoneSats successfully orbited Earth for a week,
sending back pictures and demonstrating that an off-the-shelf commercial smart
phone can serve as a spacecraft operating computer. The fourth PhoneSat launched
in November and is expected to be in space for a year, proving the longevity of
a smart phone cubesat in space, powered by solar panels.
NASA strengthened its early stage pipeline with the nation’s brightest and
best by engaging in more than 400 activities with 75 accredited U.S.
universities to enable future missions and our continued leadership in space.
For the third consecutive year, NASA awarded competitive technology fellowships
for graduate research on the agency’s most difficult space technology
challenges. Sixty-five new fellowships were awarded this year, bringing to 193
the total number of graduate student space technology development efforts funded
to-date. Several fellowship graduates already are making an impact in the
nation’s aerospace and innovation workforce.
Public Engagement, Economic and Societal Benefits
NASA also continued to transfer the benefits of exploration to improving life on Earth. NASA and Homeland Security, for instance, collaborated on the Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) prototype to detect life signs in piles of rubble after a disaster. The portable device is based on radar technology NASA uses for planetary exploration.
NASA also continued to transfer the benefits of exploration to improving life on Earth. NASA and Homeland Security, for instance, collaborated on the Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) prototype to detect life signs in piles of rubble after a disaster. The portable device is based on radar technology NASA uses for planetary exploration.
NASA continues to effectively engage the public, and this year, the
International Space Apps Challenge drew more than 9,000 hackers, designers and
explorers in 83 cities around the world to contribute their ideas to space
exploration missions. The agency's Minority University Research and Education
Program (MUREP) funded 148 interns and continued to help draw minority students
into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.
NASA launched the Exploration Design Challenge (EDC) to teach students about
radiation and the challenges it presents for human space exploration. A
cooperative effort with Lockheed Martin, the EDC allows students to become
virtual crew members on the maiden Exploration Test Flight of the Orion
multipurpose crew vehicle, currently scheduled for September 2014. More than
112,000 students are current participants in the EDC, which aligns with the
agency's STEM education priorities.
NASA's Twitter account, with 5.5 million followers, is the most followed in
government while millions also engage with the space program through Facebook,
Google+ and other platforms, and the agency's new Instagram profile drew more
than 400,000 followers. NASA's website had its second-busiest year on record
with 115 million visits.
NASA will build on the achievements of 2013 as it looks ahead to a busy new
year where the agency is already preparing for more milestones in commercial
space, the first flight test of the Orion spacecraft, five Earth Science
launches, and many more accomplishments.
For more about NASA's missions, research and discoveries, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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