International Space Station Status Report: SS06-036

International Space Station Status Report: SS06-036

Space station crewmen Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter worked quickly through scheduled spacewalk tasks Thursday, then completed three get-ahead jobs, or extra tasks, and were ready for more. Mission Control assigned two more jobs, which the astronauts also completed.

Williams and Reiter wrapped up their productive 5-hour, 54-minute excursion and began repressurizing the Quest airlock at 3:58 p.m. EDT. The astronauts left the airlock in U.S. spacesuits at 9:04 a.m. EDT. Station Commander Pavel Vinogradov helped them with spacewalk preparations and getting into their suits. It was the first time in more than three years a third crewmember had been available for those tasks on the orbiting laboratory.

Williams, designated lead spacewalker, or EV1, wore the U.S. spacesuit with red stripes. Reiter, EV2, wore the all-white suit. Astronaut Steve Bowen acted as spacewalk intravehicular officer and coached the astronauts from the International Space Station Flight Control Room in Houston’s Mission Control Center. Williams and Reiter quickly got ahead of their timeline. First, they installed the Floating Potential Measurement Unit. The device measures the electrical potential of the station so procedures can be devised to minimize arcing hazards, or the jumping of current from a conductor to a ground, as the station grows.

Their second job was to install two containers for MISSE, the Materials on International Space Station Experiment. The suitcase-like containers are left open to evaluate the long-term effects of space exposure on a variety of materials. The idea is to identify optimal materials for use in future spacecraft. MISSE 3 went on one of the high-pressure tanks around the crew lock, while MISSE 4 was installed on Quest’s outboard end. The two astronauts then went on to separate jobs. Williams installed a controller for a thermal radiator rotary joint on the S1 truss, while Reiter replaced a computer on the truss.

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