Working outside in the cold at the ISS
January 15, 2016 7:30 AM Subscribe
Britain's first official astronaut, Tim Peake, is hard at work today outside the International Space Station on a spacewalk, going on live as of 10:40am EST.
Peake and fellow astronaut Tim Kopra are fixing a failed thingamajig and moving around some doodads in preparation for future commercial spacecraft.
Peake and fellow astronaut Tim Kopra are fixing a failed thingamajig and moving around some doodads in preparation for future commercial spacecraft.
Big Tim and Little Tim would work, but possibly cause an international incident.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:39 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:39 AM on January 15, 2016
Helen Sharman is Britain's first official astronaut.
Tim is doing an amazing thing, but can we please call him Britain's first male astronaut?
Just 15 years after a British woman flew to a space station, Tim Peake, the first British man to fly to orbit, follows that intrepid journey.
posted by Combat Wombat at 7:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [23 favorites]
Tim is doing an amazing thing, but can we please call him Britain's first male astronaut?
Just 15 years after a British woman flew to a space station, Tim Peake, the first British man to fly to orbit, follows that intrepid journey.
posted by Combat Wombat at 7:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [23 favorites]
The first astronaut that Britain will admit to, at any rate...
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
YEAH, MR. WHITE. YEAH, SCIENCE.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Will it be a silly spacewalk?
posted by chillmost at 7:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by chillmost at 7:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
It'd tickle my funnybone for this to be shown on the big screen outside Wimbledon, so us Brits could gather on the hill and shout C'mon, Tim!
posted by A Robot Ninja at 7:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by A Robot Ninja at 7:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Watching this livestream is delightfully cool. I am thrilled at the combination of mundanity (they're clipping carabiners and plugging in Ethernet cables) and futuristic wonder (They're IN SPACE! With the Earth beautiful and serene in the background).
posted by Gelatin at 7:52 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Gelatin at 7:52 AM on January 15, 2016
Tim is doing an amazing thing, but can we please call him Britain's first male astronaut?
Exactly. I was going "No, I remember Britain's first astronaut, they went up to Mir for a week."
Now, it's fair to say he's Britain's first EVA astronaut/Space Walker, Dr. Sherman did not EVA. He will (well, is...) and he'll be the UK astronaut on orbit for the longest time, if he isn't already.
He is Britain's first astronaut with the ESA, Dr. Sherman took part as part of a private UK-Russia program.
posted by eriko at 7:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Exactly. I was going "No, I remember Britain's first astronaut, they went up to Mir for a week."
Now, it's fair to say he's Britain's first EVA astronaut/Space Walker, Dr. Sherman did not EVA. He will (well, is...) and he'll be the UK astronaut on orbit for the longest time, if he isn't already.
He is Britain's first astronaut with the ESA, Dr. Sherman took part as part of a private UK-Russia program.
posted by eriko at 7:53 AM on January 15, 2016
There are some who call me ... Tim.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Peake is the first astronaut from Britain to be selected and trained specifically to be an astronaut. Helen Sharman was the first Briton in space, period. It's a subtle difference and not a huge one in the sense that both are awesome.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:58 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:58 AM on January 15, 2016
Yoda on the desk!
posted by slipthought at 7:59 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by slipthought at 7:59 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Whoops, that should be "UK-USSR", not "UK-Russia."
posted by eriko at 8:00 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eriko at 8:00 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Mission Control looks like a movie set. Except for all those binders on shelves behind the workstations. All that high tech and they still have hard copy on hand (perhaps as a backup?).
posted by Gelatin at 8:06 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Gelatin at 8:06 AM on January 15, 2016
There are some who call me ... Tim.
That was my first thought, also. I'm so ashamed.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:12 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
That was my first thought, also. I'm so ashamed.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:12 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is really interesting to watch. I never realized how choreographed and planned out every single move is. It's all like, take your waist anchor and clip it onto D-ring 23A, then look for handrail 248. Now attach your cable to the forward stanchion of handrail 231, and give us a helmet, glove, CO2 check. Find bolt Alpha-6 and you're go to give it 20 turns counter-clockwise. I guess that's why fairly simple tasks like installing a cable end up taking six hours, and presumably it's because if the cable flies off into space because the tether was detached from the waist belt before being hooked onto the stanchion, that's a real bummer considering it took an hour to get out of the airlock and, for that matter, maybe that was the only cable that arrived on the resupply module that was launched back in December.
posted by Dr. Send at 8:15 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Dr. Send at 8:15 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
'tis a pity that Bowie never got to see a fellow Briton go on a spacewalk.
posted by schmod at 8:19 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by schmod at 8:19 AM on January 15, 2016
In related news a wrapper with half eaten fish and chips and a empty can of cider have been added to the Wikipedia list of LEO space debris.
posted by srboisvert at 8:19 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:19 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I never realized how choreographed and planned out every single move is. It's all like, take your waist anchor and clip it onto D-ring 23A, then look for handrail 248. Now attach your cable to the forward stanchion of handrail 231, and give us a helmet, glove, CO2 check. Find bolt Alpha-6 and you're go to give it 20 turns counter-clockwise.
What's even more amazing is that this specific spacewalk wasn't planned, it occurred to due to not super serious malfunction with the power doohickey. So the astronauts have been studying the moves they're going to make on this spacewalk for the past few days, in order to do it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:29 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
What's even more amazing is that this specific spacewalk wasn't planned, it occurred to due to not super serious malfunction with the power doohickey. So the astronauts have been studying the moves they're going to make on this spacewalk for the past few days, in order to do it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:29 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Helen Sharman is Britain's first official astronaut.
Fun Sharman fact - her flight back from space was on Soyuz TM-11 on 26 May 1991. Before then next scheduled flight from Mir after that one a whole bunch of people over in Moscow decided that this Gorbachev chap should be overthrown and started a coup.
As a result, poor old Sergei Krikalev ended up stuck on Mir for a record 313 days whilst his country collapsed down on Earth.
Basically, by chance Sharman got the last train out of Dodge.
I only realised this after a recent visit to the Science Museum's amazing Cosmonaut exhibition. Can you imagine the epic meltdown the British press (and Foreign Office) would have had if she'd been scheduled to come back on TM-12 instead, and had been stuck up there as well?
posted by garius at 8:34 AM on January 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
Fun Sharman fact - her flight back from space was on Soyuz TM-11 on 26 May 1991. Before then next scheduled flight from Mir after that one a whole bunch of people over in Moscow decided that this Gorbachev chap should be overthrown and started a coup.
As a result, poor old Sergei Krikalev ended up stuck on Mir for a record 313 days whilst his country collapsed down on Earth.
Basically, by chance Sharman got the last train out of Dodge.
I only realised this after a recent visit to the Science Museum's amazing Cosmonaut exhibition. Can you imagine the epic meltdown the British press (and Foreign Office) would have had if she'd been scheduled to come back on TM-12 instead, and had been stuck up there as well?
posted by garius at 8:34 AM on January 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
At least when working on this ship when you drop a bolt you don't need to fish in the bilge for several hours. And I bet I'd loose fewer tools if I had a half dozen guys looking over my shoulder all the time. I still wonder if they secretly on their break slip out the airlock and zoom around playing duck dodger!
posted by sammyo at 8:45 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by sammyo at 8:45 AM on January 15, 2016
Having recently had to fix a stuck thingamajig on my slowblower in relatively mild -20 degree cold, I feel slightly better able to appreciate the feeling of working with thick gloves like that. Three times I dropped a nut or a bolt in the snow. Probably could've used some help from mission control.
posted by sfenders at 8:50 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by sfenders at 8:50 AM on January 15, 2016
Mission Control looks like a movie set.
More correctly, movie sets looks like NASA mission control centers. Remember, they actually control missions from there.
This room is FCR1 at Houston. FCR1 is dedicated to the ISS, since the ISS is a 24 hour mission. Consoles that you can see in the wide 3/4 view. The one closest to us is ADCO (Attitude Determination and Control Officer), behind that is ISO (Inventory and Stowage Officer) , then behind it is the old CATO (comm and tracking), the last is ATLAS (Atmosphere, Thermal, Lighting and Articulation Specialist). I'll explain ATLAS in a minute.
Moving back to the front, the three positions on the far console are (from closest to away) SPARTAN (Station Power, Articulation, Thermal, and Analysis ), THOR (Thermal Operations, assisting SPARTAN,) and PAO (Public Affairs). Behind them is ETHOS (Electrical and Thermal Operations), Ops Plan (Operation Planning) and PLUTO (Plug-in Port Utilization Officer). Behind them is FD (Flight Director), CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator), TOPO (Trajectory Operations Offices)/VVO (Visiting Vehicle Officer, when something is docking) and RIO (Remote Interface Officer -- in contact with the other international control centers.)
Last, behind them in the last row, is EVA (Extravehicular Activities), Surgeon (Flight Surgeon), and GC (Ground Control.) GC is responsible for the FCR itself.*
On the close in shot, the gentleman in the white shirt and tie, but no jacket, is the active CAPCOM. I believe the guy who's often standing is Flight, but usually, Flight is talking and writing a lot more, so it may be the guy who's sitting closest to us.
The three consoles we don't see are OSO (Operations Support Officer), ROBO (Robotics Operations Systems Officer) and TITAN (Telemetry, Information Transfer, and Attitude Navigation.)
About ATLAS and TITAN. Those are used when activities on the station are at a normal tempo -- each takes about 1/3rd of the control positions. TITAN handles CATO, ODIN and ADCO, ATLAS takes THOR, ETHOS, ROBO and OSO. But when things are busy, like now, the individual stations are manned. Yes, the names were deliberately contrived to form words and form the names of two manned boosters. When they combined the old PHALCON and THOR positions, I was sure they'd somehow name it SATURN, but they went with EHTOS instead. The old name for PLUTO was NETWORK, PLUTO was a combination of NETWORK and INCO from the Space Shuttle era, but given a name (which has become a thing in NASA.) ADCO, FD, GC, RIO and CAPCOM are always manned, SURGEON is on standby but isn't moved to another position, ditto PAO. The rest are manned as needed, but the normal crew in quiet times is TITAN, ATLAS, ADCO, GC, RIO, FD and CAPCOM.
It's also worth noting that in every bit of documentation, the position is called FD, but it's always spoken "Flight" and the sign has Flight Director written out in full.
* They're also the guy who get the worst command. "Flight, GC: Lock the doors." That's the first step of the plan they switch to when they lose a spacecraft. No GC ever wants to hear it, and no FD ever wants to order it. It's only happened once, for STS-107. STS-51L was the reason they created the procedure. They lock the doors so that nobody leaves before they ensure all the data is saved, and that nobody talks to them about what they saw, so they can record what they saw without interference. Flight Director LeRoy Cain was the guy who had to give the command, at that point, the room was no longer working an active mission. Andy Weir is his novel also notes this usage, anything further is spoiler fodder.
posted by eriko at 8:52 AM on January 15, 2016 [24 favorites]
More correctly, movie sets looks like NASA mission control centers. Remember, they actually control missions from there.
This room is FCR1 at Houston. FCR1 is dedicated to the ISS, since the ISS is a 24 hour mission. Consoles that you can see in the wide 3/4 view. The one closest to us is ADCO (Attitude Determination and Control Officer), behind that is ISO (Inventory and Stowage Officer) , then behind it is the old CATO (comm and tracking), the last is ATLAS (Atmosphere, Thermal, Lighting and Articulation Specialist). I'll explain ATLAS in a minute.
Moving back to the front, the three positions on the far console are (from closest to away) SPARTAN (Station Power, Articulation, Thermal, and Analysis ), THOR (Thermal Operations, assisting SPARTAN,) and PAO (Public Affairs). Behind them is ETHOS (Electrical and Thermal Operations), Ops Plan (Operation Planning) and PLUTO (Plug-in Port Utilization Officer). Behind them is FD (Flight Director), CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator), TOPO (Trajectory Operations Offices)/VVO (Visiting Vehicle Officer, when something is docking) and RIO (Remote Interface Officer -- in contact with the other international control centers.)
Last, behind them in the last row, is EVA (Extravehicular Activities), Surgeon (Flight Surgeon), and GC (Ground Control.) GC is responsible for the FCR itself.*
On the close in shot, the gentleman in the white shirt and tie, but no jacket, is the active CAPCOM. I believe the guy who's often standing is Flight, but usually, Flight is talking and writing a lot more, so it may be the guy who's sitting closest to us.
The three consoles we don't see are OSO (Operations Support Officer), ROBO (Robotics Operations Systems Officer) and TITAN (Telemetry, Information Transfer, and Attitude Navigation.)
About ATLAS and TITAN. Those are used when activities on the station are at a normal tempo -- each takes about 1/3rd of the control positions. TITAN handles CATO, ODIN and ADCO, ATLAS takes THOR, ETHOS, ROBO and OSO. But when things are busy, like now, the individual stations are manned. Yes, the names were deliberately contrived to form words and form the names of two manned boosters. When they combined the old PHALCON and THOR positions, I was sure they'd somehow name it SATURN, but they went with EHTOS instead. The old name for PLUTO was NETWORK, PLUTO was a combination of NETWORK and INCO from the Space Shuttle era, but given a name (which has become a thing in NASA.) ADCO, FD, GC, RIO and CAPCOM are always manned, SURGEON is on standby but isn't moved to another position, ditto PAO. The rest are manned as needed, but the normal crew in quiet times is TITAN, ATLAS, ADCO, GC, RIO, FD and CAPCOM.
It's also worth noting that in every bit of documentation, the position is called FD, but it's always spoken "Flight" and the sign has Flight Director written out in full.
* They're also the guy who get the worst command. "Flight, GC: Lock the doors." That's the first step of the plan they switch to when they lose a spacecraft. No GC ever wants to hear it, and no FD ever wants to order it. It's only happened once, for STS-107. STS-51L was the reason they created the procedure. They lock the doors so that nobody leaves before they ensure all the data is saved, and that nobody talks to them about what they saw, so they can record what they saw without interference. Flight Director LeRoy Cain was the guy who had to give the command, at that point, the room was no longer working an active mission. Andy Weir is his novel also notes this usage, anything further is spoiler fodder.
posted by eriko at 8:52 AM on January 15, 2016 [24 favorites]
The IDA they're working with is the International Docking Adapter. Rather than all the fancy acronyms, it's simple. There are two docking port types on the ISS, which we can describe simply as Russian and American. The American one is smaller, because they sized it to match the built-in docking port on the Shuttle. Now that the Shuttle isn't flying, they're converting all the ports to the Russian standard, which is not only larger, but carries power, cooling and data.
Oop, we're terminating the EVA early!
posted by eriko at 9:02 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oop, we're terminating the EVA early!
posted by eriko at 9:02 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oops, EVA terminated due to Kopra reporting a small amount of water in his helmnet and dampness in his spacesuit. Mission Control basically told them "get the hell back in side".
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:02 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:02 AM on January 15, 2016
Well that's what you get for peeing in your suit.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:04 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:04 AM on January 15, 2016
Water in the helmet -- yeah. It's really easy to drown in space -- there's not that much room and you can't open the helmet, and it won't drain, because there's no gravity.
posted by eriko at 9:04 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:04 AM on January 15, 2016
It's not an emergency situation though, but they are being careful, especially after that water leak problem on Luca Parmitano's spacewalk in 2013.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The major of replacing the Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) has been achieved so it's pretty successful EVA. The unit has been powered back up and is working great.
Peake is tying down what he was working on and collecting tool bags, while Kopra is heading back to the airlock. The water seems to be getting a bit thicker he reported, but still not a huge concern.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Peake is tying down what he was working on and collecting tool bags, while Kopra is heading back to the airlock. The water seems to be getting a bit thicker he reported, but still not a huge concern.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Parmitano came very close to an absolutely horrid death. They're still trying to figure out a way to vent that safely. On the Apollo suits, you could open the purge valve and crank the O2 feed to full, and that should have pushed the water down, but of course, on the lunar surface, they had gravity and it would flow down anyway. I don't know if the current suits have that.
The purge valve (the Apple, the red ball on the front of the suit) was there for emergency cooling. On the ISS, you're close to an airlock, if you lose cooling, you go back inside. On the Lunar surface, you might be well away from the LEM, and you'd possibly had to walk. On the Rover, they even carried a hose to allow the two crew to link their spacesuits, so that one suit's cooling system could cool both suits.
posted by eriko at 9:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The purge valve (the Apple, the red ball on the front of the suit) was there for emergency cooling. On the ISS, you're close to an airlock, if you lose cooling, you go back inside. On the Lunar surface, you might be well away from the LEM, and you'd possibly had to walk. On the Rover, they even carried a hose to allow the two crew to link their spacesuits, so that one suit's cooling system could cool both suits.
posted by eriko at 9:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
They're discussing who enters the airlock first now, with Mission control wanting Kopra to go in first, so Peake is free to close the outer door if things go south while Kopra was would in position to enter the ISS first.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016
They are switching who's going back in first. And they're definitely in the "get him in mode," they're happy with a bag just being velcroed closed, rather than strapped down.
posted by eriko at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016
Though it seemed somewhat odd that Mission Control was discussing the entry order with the astronauts. I would have thought they would have ordered that from a safety/operations concern.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:14 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:14 AM on January 15, 2016
Note how big the airlock controls are -- you have to work them with pressurized gloves.
posted by eriko at 9:16 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:16 AM on January 15, 2016
And if things stay non-emergency, they want Peake to grab a couple of tool bags, but only if they things stay smooth aka "you have time". Kopra is hooking himself up to the stations internal oxygen/water/power supplies I think? Probably safer. Lots of status updates wanted from Kopra.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:17 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:17 AM on January 15, 2016
I would have thought they would have ordered that from a safety/operations concern.
MCC is very much collaborative. They're watching from a distance, the astronauts are there. Flight may be responsible for the success of the mission, but the guy in charge is the Commander. There may well have been a solid reason for maintaining the original order, by asking "what do you think of that" what they're really asking is "do you see anything wrong with this plan that we don't know about?"
This is a great CAPCOM. Clear voice, no hesitation, knows the role and what they're trying to accomplish.
posted by eriko at 9:18 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
MCC is very much collaborative. They're watching from a distance, the astronauts are there. Flight may be responsible for the success of the mission, but the guy in charge is the Commander. There may well have been a solid reason for maintaining the original order, by asking "what do you think of that" what they're really asking is "do you see anything wrong with this plan that we don't know about?"
This is a great CAPCOM. Clear voice, no hesitation, knows the role and what they're trying to accomplish.
posted by eriko at 9:18 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm sure they'll be fine, but "not in any danger whatsoever" seems like an exaggeration.
posted by sfenders at 9:19 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by sfenders at 9:19 AM on January 15, 2016
Kopra is hooking himself up to the stations internal oxygen/water/power supplies I think?
I think so.
I'm sure they'll be fine, but "not in any danger whatsoever" seems like an exaggeration.
What they mean is "in any immediate danger." It could be that he's on the verge of a major failure, but the situation right now isn't dangerous. It's just a sign that it could become very dangerous.
posted by eriko at 9:21 AM on January 15, 2016
I think so.
I'm sure they'll be fine, but "not in any danger whatsoever" seems like an exaggeration.
What they mean is "in any immediate danger." It could be that he's on the verge of a major failure, but the situation right now isn't dangerous. It's just a sign that it could become very dangerous.
posted by eriko at 9:21 AM on January 15, 2016
A British astronaut! Somebody inform Eddie Izzard.
Next in the agenda: Getting a British shoe salesman to discover new shoes that no one has ever seen before.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:22 AM on January 15, 2016
Next in the agenda: Getting a British shoe salesman to discover new shoes that no one has ever seen before.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:22 AM on January 15, 2016
Kopra reporting that more water doesn't seem coming in, forming etc. The other astronauts on the interior are ready with towels and other stuff. They'll also be taking photos of Kopra and his suit for documentation.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:23 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:23 AM on January 15, 2016
SCU - "Service and Coolant Umbilical." He's now getting power and cooling from the station rather than his suit's life support system.
posted by eriko at 9:25 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:25 AM on January 15, 2016
See what a huge PITA working in zero G? Everything, including you, is moving all the time -- even if it's tied to you, things are swinging around.
posted by eriko at 9:27 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:27 AM on January 15, 2016
3 members are on the inside by the airlock, 2 are in the airlock, wonder what the remaining guy is up to?
Lots of back and forth as Peake goes through the hatch closing, while MC helps/verifies him through the checklist.
See what a huge PITA working in zero G? Everything, including you, is moving all the time -- even if it's tied to you, things are swinging around.
Yeah, cables and bags keep drifting in front of Peake's handheld checklist for closing the hatch. How annoying.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on January 15, 2016
Lots of back and forth as Peake goes through the hatch closing, while MC helps/verifies him through the checklist.
See what a huge PITA working in zero G? Everything, including you, is moving all the time -- even if it's tied to you, things are swinging around.
Yeah, cables and bags keep drifting in front of Peake's handheld checklist for closing the hatch. How annoying.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on January 15, 2016
Pressurizing -- that's why the VOX kept breaking open.
posted by eriko at 9:30 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:30 AM on January 15, 2016
Nice, the Tim's are thanking Mission Control for all the help and support.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:31 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:31 AM on January 15, 2016
What's that "hardline" vs "pride"?
posted by slipthought at 9:32 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by slipthought at 9:32 AM on January 15, 2016
Note that NASA deliberately doesn't suppress alarms when they crop up as the result of normal operations. It's a test of the alarm, and if you don't get the alarm, then something is up. I'm guessing the alert is for cooling, the EMU's sublimator doesn't work except in a vacuum. They had the same thing during the Apollo depress/repress -- one time, the hatch closed halfway through exit and Al Bean got an unexpected warning tone, because enough water had sublimated to raise the pressure over the ability of the sublimator to work.
posted by eriko at 9:33 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eriko at 9:33 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I never realized how choreographed and planned out every single move is. It's all like, take your waist anchor and clip it onto D-ring 23A, then look for handrail 248. Now attach your cable to the forward stanchion of handrail 231, and give us a helmet, glove, CO2 check. Find bolt Alpha-6 and you're go to give it 20 turns counter-clockwise.
I was going to find and link to a really harrowing account of the astronaut who nearly drowned from water in his helmet on a spacewalk a few years ago. He said the hardest part for all of them was that even once he was in the airlock, they had no choice but to follow all those procedures. The idea that he might drown in the airlock while they were making their way through the process was horrifying.
But when I went to google for it, I learned that today's spacewalk has been terminated due to water in Tim Peake's helmet. Six minutes ago they were in the airlock.
posted by not that girl at 9:33 AM on January 15, 2016
I was going to find and link to a really harrowing account of the astronaut who nearly drowned from water in his helmet on a spacewalk a few years ago. He said the hardest part for all of them was that even once he was in the airlock, they had no choice but to follow all those procedures. The idea that he might drown in the airlock while they were making their way through the process was horrifying.
But when I went to google for it, I learned that today's spacewalk has been terminated due to water in Tim Peake's helmet. Six minutes ago they were in the airlock.
posted by not that girl at 9:33 AM on January 15, 2016
Ahh. This guy was the EVA CAPCOM, the lady is the normal duty CAPCOM. She may well have been talking to the inside crew during the EVA, but the PIO feed was only set to the EVA CAPCOM.
The fact we haven't heard her yet...there she is, they have her connected to the PIO feed now.
posted by eriko at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016
The fact we haven't heard her yet...there she is, they have her connected to the PIO feed now.
posted by eriko at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016
There's a pause as the airlock reaches 5lbs per inch pressure, to check and make sure everything is working right. Once that's ok'ed, they'll proceed to the full 14psi and open the airlock.
Yeah, having go through all these procedures in an emergency situation would be nerve wracking.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016
Yeah, having go through all these procedures in an emergency situation would be nerve wracking.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016
LOS -- loss of signal. Usually because of a station handover, or you're behind the moon. AOS -- Acquisition of signal.
posted by eriko at 9:38 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:38 AM on January 15, 2016
Wow, the guy who was on EVA with Parmitano is right there in MCC (and is currently the chief astronaut.)
posted by eriko at 9:42 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:42 AM on January 15, 2016
Damn. The ISS crews have just short of 50 days total EVA time.
posted by eriko at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by eriko at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2016
Heh, the spacewalkers will be going through an Expedited Doffing (official term!) to get their suit helmets off and out of any immediate danger, potential or otherwise.
The CAPCOM is Gregory Reid Wiseman, who was on the ISS in 2014. Chris Cassidy, who was on the spacewalk when Parmitano's water problems occurred is also in the room, talking to Wiseman.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The CAPCOM is Gregory Reid Wiseman, who was on the ISS in 2014. Chris Cassidy, who was on the spacewalk when Parmitano's water problems occurred is also in the room, talking to Wiseman.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Expedited Suit Doffing Exercise." That is so NASA.
posted by eriko at 9:46 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by eriko at 9:46 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
The current CAPCOM is Jessica Meir. She hasn't had a flight yet, earned her silver pin in July 2015. Red Wiseman flew with Expedition 40/41, Chris Cassidy flew on STS-127 and Expedition 35.
They have slightly relaxed the rule that the CAPCOM has to be an experienced astronaut on the ISS, because they just don't have enough experienced astronauts to man the position 24/7/365. So, astronauts who have completed training but haven't had a flight often sit as CAPCOM on the ISS.
posted by eriko at 9:51 AM on January 15, 2016
They have slightly relaxed the rule that the CAPCOM has to be an experienced astronaut on the ISS, because they just don't have enough experienced astronauts to man the position 24/7/365. So, astronauts who have completed training but haven't had a flight often sit as CAPCOM on the ISS.
posted by eriko at 9:51 AM on January 15, 2016
ISS is in blackout situation for video feed, but they do have audio. That hatch is open and Kopra has been pulled inside, they're taking photos of him and his suit. Mission Control is hungry for more info, but the station astronauts seem understandably occupied.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Scott Kelly reported they collected about 15cc (a tablespoon) of water from the helmet.
posted by cmfletcher at 10:00 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by cmfletcher at 10:00 AM on January 15, 2016
Video is back! Kopra's helmet is off, 3 other astro/cosmonauts are working around him, collecting water from the leak and taking photos. Peake's just chilling out in the airlock for the moment.
Flight has finally stopped pacing, sat down and is no longer aggressively chewing gum (?).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:01 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Flight has finally stopped pacing, sat down and is no longer aggressively chewing gum (?).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:01 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Here is Luca Parmatino's blog post about his experience. Now that Peake and Kopra are OK, folks might find it interesting in a hair-raising near-death experience sort of way. I felt like I learned a lot about how things are done from this.
These NASA people are really working their checklists! A model for us all.
"Expedited Suit Doffing Exercise." That is so NASA.
My next m/m romance novel needs to have an astronaut in it so I can use this line in a cheesy pre-coital kind of way.
And hey, as I type: station video is back up at NASA TV.
posted by not that girl at 10:02 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
These NASA people are really working their checklists! A model for us all.
"Expedited Suit Doffing Exercise." That is so NASA.
My next m/m romance novel needs to have an astronaut in it so I can use this line in a cheesy pre-coital kind of way.
And hey, as I type: station video is back up at NASA TV.
posted by not that girl at 10:02 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, I think the US EVA suits are 30-40 years old at this point. Obviously they've been refurbished and maintained, but yeah, OLD.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:02 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:02 AM on January 15, 2016
Brandon, eriko, hello there fellow MetaFilter NASA nerds. I just belatedly realized this thread has been mostly the three of us telling each other things we already know because we're obviously all watching the feed.
I miss Reid Wiseman's days on the ISS. He did a great twitter feed, with a lot of stuff about how you do ordinary day-to-day things, and about what it was like to acclimate. I remember him talking about the tops of his feet hurting at first because hooking them under bars is how astronauts hold themselves in place.
posted by not that girl at 10:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I miss Reid Wiseman's days on the ISS. He did a great twitter feed, with a lot of stuff about how you do ordinary day-to-day things, and about what it was like to acclimate. I remember him talking about the tops of his feet hurting at first because hooking them under bars is how astronauts hold themselves in place.
posted by not that girl at 10:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just belatedly realized this thread has been mostly the three of us telling each other things we already know because we're obviously all watching the feed.
Guilty, but it's so interesting to talk about!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:23 AM on January 15, 2016
Guilty, but it's so interesting to talk about!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:23 AM on January 15, 2016
three of us telling each other things we already know
I'm enjoying the additional background from Metafilter's NASA correspondent team. Please keep it up!
posted by cmfletcher at 10:28 AM on January 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm enjoying the additional background from Metafilter's NASA correspondent team. Please keep it up!
posted by cmfletcher at 10:28 AM on January 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
I love how Chris Cassidy can't pronounce "globules." These guys are so amazing, it's probably the only thing he can't do.
posted by slipthought at 10:37 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by slipthought at 10:37 AM on January 15, 2016
Cassidy is now head of the astronaut office! Sweet, it seems like an astronaut can get into position, then go back to flight status after a while. Nice.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM on January 15, 2016
Since I don't have audio on this computer, I'm glad for the color commentary. Thanks!
btw, I'm almost done re-reading Chris Hadfield's book, "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth." It includes very interesting stuff about astronaut training and the time he was blinded by a droplet of soapy water while on an EVA.
posted by bentley at 10:46 AM on January 15, 2016
btw, I'm almost done re-reading Chris Hadfield's book, "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth." It includes very interesting stuff about astronaut training and the time he was blinded by a droplet of soapy water while on an EVA.
posted by bentley at 10:46 AM on January 15, 2016
After getting out the suit, Kopra changed clothes and came back on camera to answer any questions from Mission Control. But obviously he's fine and eager to help find the problem.
Mission Commander Scott Kelley was overseeing the bagging up of samples and downloading of photos. He apologized for not organizing the photos and that MC would have to sort through them. There's something charming about that, I've seen it occur in various situations back here on Earth. Everyone always takes tons of photos with digital camera.
The Flight Director will be appearing soon for an interview!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Mission Commander Scott Kelley was overseeing the bagging up of samples and downloading of photos. He apologized for not organizing the photos and that MC would have to sort through them. There's something charming about that, I've seen it occur in various situations back here on Earth. Everyone always takes tons of photos with digital camera.
The Flight Director will be appearing soon for an interview!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Flight Director Royce told the spacewalkers the same thing he tells every EVA crew at the start of the walk: "The objective it get you back inside safely. In between opening and closing the hatch we'll do some other things, but we need to get you back inside safely, that's the prime goal" (paraphrasing).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The decision to terminate the EVA was due to water forming on Kopra's visor.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:59 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:59 AM on January 15, 2016
They didn't do an expedited re-pressurizing, just a normal one. They were in a 'terminate' mode, which gives a bit of time to collect tools and what not. 'Abort' mode is drop everything and come back inside now.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:01 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:01 AM on January 15, 2016
Flight jokes that Kopra and Peake taking time out to "give thank you speeches at the oscars" from the airlock was a good sign that things were just fine with them.
Flight Director's name was Royce Renfrew. Finally got it at the end, the audio and speaking can be fuzzy sounding at times.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:06 AM on January 15, 2016
Flight Director's name was Royce Renfrew. Finally got it at the end, the audio and speaking can be fuzzy sounding at times.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:06 AM on January 15, 2016
And that's it for the live broadcast, woot!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:08 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:08 AM on January 15, 2016
I really appreciate you guys narrating that for us. There's no way I would have sat through that but it was an interesting read, especially with all the additional background information.
posted by bleep at 11:21 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 11:21 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I had no live feed but felt like I was there as I was reading the mefite commentary. Y'all are a great resource for info. Thanks!
posted by mightshould at 11:24 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by mightshould at 11:24 AM on January 15, 2016
Sweet, it seems like an astronaut can get into position, then go back to flight status after a while. Nice.
Deke Slayton did it.
posted by eriko at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Deke Slayton did it.
posted by eriko at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2016
Yeah, but Al Shepard did it so much better. Resigned, but not before nominating himself to command a Moon landing mission.
John Young did it for the Shuttle flights too. Looking at the list of Chiefs of the Astronaut Office, it almost seems to be thing. Go manage the office, then get back into the rotation. Though I don't think they do the backup crew rotating to prime crew anymore.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:17 PM on January 15, 2016
John Young did it for the Shuttle flights too. Looking at the list of Chiefs of the Astronaut Office, it almost seems to be thing. Go manage the office, then get back into the rotation. Though I don't think they do the backup crew rotating to prime crew anymore.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:17 PM on January 15, 2016
Also, I think the US EVA suits are 30-40 years old at this point.
Spacesuit, by Nicholas de Monchaux is an absolutely fascinating account of the development and history of the suits developed for Apollo. it's worth a read even if you are not a space dork.
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:20 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Spacesuit, by Nicholas de Monchaux is an absolutely fascinating account of the development and history of the suits developed for Apollo. it's worth a read even if you are not a space dork.
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:20 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
John Young did it for the Shuttle flights too
Actually, he didn't resign for the Shuttle flight. He did have Al Bean doing the work when he was working up STS-1. He didn't even do that much when he commanded STS-9. The trend of actively stepping down from the office started with Robert Gibson. Young didn't step down until 1987, when he because a Special Assistant to the JSC Director, dealing with Engineering, Operations and Safety. He didn't retire from NASA until 2004, at the age of 74.
Deke didn't step down for his flight, Deke stepped down because he'd lost flying status and had resigned from the Air Force, and became Director of Flight Crew Operations, which put him in charge of the Chief of the Astronaut Office. He resigned that permission when NASA and the FAA restored his flight status in 1970, and while he didn't directly ask for the ATSP, it was made really clear to everybody that Deke was going to get the next flight that was being worked up, and he did. Almost killed him too and the other two when Nitrogen Tetroxide fumes got into the capsule. NTO/MON is probably the second nastiest stuff NASA uses on a regular basis. They use it because it's the best storable oxidizer there is, everything else is less powerful or cryogenic. The fact that it self ignites with Hydrazine is even better. Speaking of which, that's the nastiest stuff NASA works with on a regular basis, and they'd love to replace both of them.
posted by eriko at 12:53 PM on January 15, 2016
Actually, he didn't resign for the Shuttle flight. He did have Al Bean doing the work when he was working up STS-1. He didn't even do that much when he commanded STS-9. The trend of actively stepping down from the office started with Robert Gibson. Young didn't step down until 1987, when he because a Special Assistant to the JSC Director, dealing with Engineering, Operations and Safety. He didn't retire from NASA until 2004, at the age of 74.
Deke didn't step down for his flight, Deke stepped down because he'd lost flying status and had resigned from the Air Force, and became Director of Flight Crew Operations, which put him in charge of the Chief of the Astronaut Office. He resigned that permission when NASA and the FAA restored his flight status in 1970, and while he didn't directly ask for the ATSP, it was made really clear to everybody that Deke was going to get the next flight that was being worked up, and he did. Almost killed him too and the other two when Nitrogen Tetroxide fumes got into the capsule. NTO/MON is probably the second nastiest stuff NASA uses on a regular basis. They use it because it's the best storable oxidizer there is, everything else is less powerful or cryogenic. The fact that it self ignites with Hydrazine is even better. Speaking of which, that's the nastiest stuff NASA works with on a regular basis, and they'd love to replace both of them.
posted by eriko at 12:53 PM on January 15, 2016
Oh yeah, that's the stuff! Sweet, sweet, slightly arcane details of some space program.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:12 PM on January 15, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:12 PM on January 15, 2016
Oh gosh, thanks for the fascinating commentary, I made my flip comment about dropping bolts while watching some of the work on the second monitor and was called away until now. My standard space comment is that we need machine shops up there but I think I'll revise it for a call for vastly more boring (safe) spacewalks!
posted by sammyo at 1:56 PM on January 15, 2016
posted by sammyo at 1:56 PM on January 15, 2016
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