Two NASA spacewalkers exchanged vital solar panel batteries in the International Space Station On Thursday (July 16), almost completing the extensive replacement work necessary to keep the laboratory in orbit until at least 2024.
NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken He quickly reviewed his tasks, removing six old nickel-hydrogen batteries in the ISS’s far starboard S6 armor. The duo also installed three lithium-ion battery replacements and placed a new high-definition camera outside the lab in orbit. (Lithium-ion batteries are twice as efficient as their predecessors, so only half of the new ones are needed.)
Astronauts completed the 6-hour spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), at 1:10 pm EDT (1710 GMT), approximately 30 minutes earlier than planned. Near the end of the spacewalk, Cassidy and Behnken noted some possible oddities with the pins holding the Quest airlock hatch in place; the astronauts took photos for mission control to analyze later. Another NASA spacewalk is planned for July 21.
Related: Photos from the spacewalk: the international space station receives an upgrade
Behnken and Cassidy, each on their ninth spacewalk, originally had to remove five of the six nickel-hydrogen batteries in the S6 truss. But after 4.5 hours out of the orbiting lab, they were an hour early and had time to tackle a little extra work.
Calling the duo from NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk relayed happy news from the ground crews.
“There is a plan that meets here to consider making the final battery,” said Kutryk, who was assigned to guide the spacewalkers through their tasks.
Minutes later, the astronauts launched, quickly removing the battery. Spacewalkers began to joke about the ease of their work: “There has to be another removal. It never ends.”
With laughter ringing behind him in mission control, Kutryk allowed the crew to continue speaking for a moment before joining the jokes: “We cautiously share his optimism.”
It seemed that the worst problem spacewalkers faced was dealing with the bright sun as they pulled out the first new lithium-ion battery from an external paddle delivered by Canadarm2, a robotic arm led by the NASA astronaut Doug Hurley from inside the ISS.
“You have that sun,” Behnken commented as he watched Cassidy, who was unscrewing the battery while looking directly into the light.
“The worst sun you can have,” Cassidy said, not moving from her perch.
“Right in your face,” Behnken confirmed.
Related: Expedition 63 mission to the International Space Station in photos
Cassidy finished unscrewing and carefully removed the boots of a portable footrest that held it in place. Floating freely, he added: “I think there was an EVA questionnaire a couple of years ago asking, ‘Do you really need this so hard? [spacesuit] visor?’ I think the answer is yes, just like in baseball. “
“Copy that,” Kutryk replied laconically.
In the past 3.5 years, several spacewalk teams have removed 48 old ISS batteries and replaced them with 24 new ones. A recently installed lithium-ion battery was shortened in April 2019 and will be replaced during a future spacewalk, a NASA television station said.
The agency did not disclose a replacement date, but added that the new battery is awaiting installation on the space station after launched on a SpaceX robotic replenishment mission in December 2019.
Once the last battery replacement is complete, the long upgrade work will finally be completed, giving the space station ample power to continue work until its planned operational end in 2024. (Various partners, including NASA, are considering extending ISS operations to at least 2028.)
The station’s power depends on keeping the batteries in good condition. The ISS goes into orbital darkness 16 times a day as it surrounds our planet. When the station’s solar panels are not exposed to direct sunlight, batteries are necessary to distribute power for experiments and basic functions like cooking.
New lithium-ion batteries are rated to last 10 years and will therefore need to be replaced less frequently than less efficient nickel-hydrogen batteries, which it only has about 6.5 years lifespan. Some of the older batteries are now on the outer pallet, which will then be released to burn naturally in Earth’s atmosphere. The other old batteries will be permanently stored on the ISS.
This was the third spacewalk conducted during the laboratory’s current Expedition 63 into orbit, as Behnken and Cassidy also performed battery replacements in June 26th and 1st of July. All three spacewalks have worked with lithium-ion batteries sent into space in May. aboard Japan’s HTV-9 robotic freighter.
Flight director Allison Bolinger, Kutryk, and NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who served as ISS CapCom (“capsule communicator”), assisted the crew at JSC. In space Hurley and Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner assisted with space suit operations.
Thursday’s excursion was the 230th overall spacewalk in support of ISS assembly and operations, according to statistics provided during the NASA broadcast.
Hurley and Behnken arrived at the ISS on May 31 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. its Demo-2 test mission it is SpaceX’s first manned space flight. Cassidy, Vagner and Russian cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin launched to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on April 9.
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