Monday, 9 June 2008

STS-124 Mission Report #16

STS-124 Report #16

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – Astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan are prepared this morning to conduct the third and final spacewalk of Discovery’s mission to the International Space Station.

Fossum and Garan will focus their attention on changing out a nitrogen tank assembly on the station’s starboard truss. They will retrieve the new tank from a storage platform on the port truss.

Garan will be riding the station’s arm back and forth as he moves the tank into place. The ride should be spectacular. Garan, holding the large depleted tank assembly, will ride the fully extended Canadarm2 from the tank's installation area on the starboard truss to its stowage area on the port truss, and then ride back with the new tank assembly. The ride has been dubbed the "windshield wiper maneuver"

The two astronauts also will remove some of the launch locks and insulation from the robotic arm that is located on Kibo. They also will work to install the port truss camera that was retrieved during the second spacewalk of the mission. The crew worked to repair that camera yesterday inside the station in advance of today’s spacewalk.

If time and logistics allow, Fossum will perform another inspection of the port solar alpha rotary joint (SARJ). His attention will be on retrieving some samples of the grease lines that he saw during the second spacewalk of the mission.

The crew was awakened this morning at 4:32 a.m. by the theme music from "The Mickey Mouse Club."

Nick.

http://www.spaceboosters.co.uk/

No comments: