Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques is taking his first spacewalk this morning.
Saint-Jacques and U.S. astronaut Anne McClain tackled battery and cable work outside the International Space Station on Monday.
It was the third spacewalk in just 2½ weeks for the space station crew. Today’s walk is expected to last 6½ hours.
The astronauts hustled through their part in battery swap-outs that began last month. “All right, you rock,” Mission Control radioed.
Next up: laying cable outside the 250-mile-high outpost to provide a backup power circuit for the station’s Canadarm2 and expand wireless communications.
The ongoing battery work involves reinstalling two old batteries. One of six new lithium-ion batteries did not work, so McClain had to remove an adapter plate she put in.
In this photo provided by NASA, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, centre left, works outside the International Space Station, Monday, April 8, 2019. (NASA via The Associated Press)
Last week, flight controllers used the space station’s robot arm to remove the failed battery along with an associated charging device. Working remotely, the controllers also installed a spare charging device and one of the old batteries made of nickel hydrogen. The second outdated battery will go in — robotically — later this week.
NASA said it will send up another new battery, although it’s uncertain when. Until then, this combination of old and new batteries is expected to work fine, according to managers.
Their six-month mission began in December. The next spacewalk will be next month by the two Russians on board. Two other Americans round out the six-person crew.
McClain was supposed to take part in a spacewalk in late March alongside Christina Koch, but the first-ever all female spacewalk was scuttled because of concern around the safety of the spacesuits available to the astronauts.
This decision was based on my recommendation. Leaders must make tough calls, and I am fortunate to work with a team who trusts my judgement. We must never accept a risk that can instead be mitigated. Safety of the crew and execution of the mission come first. https://t.co/VU9QNaHHlK
Instead, Koch went out with colleague Nick Hague. The pair successfully installed new lithium ion batteries and completed tasks aimed at improving power supply.
Saint-Jacques — a doctor, engineer and astrophysicist — blasted off from Kazakhstan alongside McClain and Oleg Kononenko of Russia in early December.
He’s the first Canadian Space Agency astronaut to travel to space since Chris Hadfield in 2013.
from Update Trend News http://bit.ly/2VuzP65
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