April 30, 2024

Leak in the Void: Cosmonauts Contend With Coolant Mishap During Spacewalk

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (red stripes) and Nikolai Chub (blue stripes) prepare a synthetic radar communications system for setup throughout their seven-hour and 41-minute spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV
The two cosmonauts likewise released a nanosatellite to evaluate solar sail innovation; however, the nanosatellites solar sail stopped working to release as far as cameras might track its departure from the station. The cosmonauts likewise installed a synthetic radar communications system. One of 4 panels on the radar system was not able to be fully released throughout the work and the spacewalk will be accepted a future date.
Post-Spacewalk Procedures and Upcoming Spacewalks
At the end of the spacewalk, before reentering the Poisk airlock, the two spacewalking cosmonauts as usual inspected the Roscosmos Orlan spacesuits and the tools utilized throughout the spacewalk to look for indications of coolant and rub out any coolant as essential. The cosmonauts also wiped down their suits and tools as normal after repressurization to further decrease intro of trace infects into the area station environment. Additional filtration will then be used inside the spaceport station in order to quickly scrub the atmosphere of any remaining traces of pollutant.
Roscosmos spacewalker Oleg Kononenko (fit with red stripes) connected to the Strela boom outside the International Space Station about 250 miles above Earth throughout a spacewalk on December 11, 2018. Credit: NASA
This was the 6th spacewalk in Kononenkos career, and the first for Chub. It is the 268th spacewalk for spaceport station assembly, upkeep, and upgrades.
Up next, NASA astronauts Loral OHara and Jasmin Moghbeli will perform a spacewalk on Monday, October 30. Live coverage of the spacewalk begins at 6:30 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the firms website. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at about 8:05 a.m. and last about six-and-a-half hours.
Throughout U.S. spacewalk 89, OHara and Moghbeli will exit the stations Quest airlock to complete the elimination of a defective electronics box from an interactions antenna bracket and replace among twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. It will be the very first spacewalk for both astronauts.

Throughout the spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub inspected and photographed an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose lab module, as well as isolated the radiator from Naukas cooling system. One of four panels on the radar system was not able to be totally released throughout the work and the spacewalk will be delayed to a future date.
At the end of the spacewalk, before reentering the Poisk airlock, the 2 spacewalking cosmonauts as normal checked the Roscosmos Orlan spacesuits and the tools utilized throughout the spacewalk to look for signs of coolant and wipe off any coolant as required. Up next, NASA astronauts Loral OHara and Jasmin Moghbeli will perform a spacewalk on Monday, October 30. Live coverage of the spacewalk begins at 6:30 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agencys website.

Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko (left) and Nikolai Chub (best) of Roscosmos. Credit: NASA
Roscosmos cosmonauts finished a spacewalk on October 25, completing crucial jobs consisting of the Nauka module radiator evaluation and nanosatellite release. Regardless of facing a coolant leak and partial solar sail implementation issues, the mission was concluded effectively.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub concluded their spacewalk on October 25 at 9:30 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 41 minutes.
Key Activities During the Spacewalk
Throughout the spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub checked and photographed an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, as well as isolated the radiator from Naukas cooling system. Throughout the radiator evaluation, a bubble of coolant was released at the leak site. This required the cosmonauts to clean down their matches before continuing.